Alternate Threaded Inserts For 3D Prints

April 15, 2024 by Donald Papp 21 Comments

The usual way to put a durable threaded interface into a 3D print is to use a heat-set insert, but what about other options? [Thomas Sanladerer] evaluates a variety of different threaded inserts, none of which are actually made with 3D printing in mind but are useful nevertheless.

There are a number of other easily-available threaded inserts, including the rivnut (or rivet nut), chunky hex socket threaded inserts intended for wood and furniture, heli-coils or helical inserts (which resemble springs), self-tapping threaded inserts (also sold as thread adapters), and T-nuts or prong nuts. They all are a bit different, but he measures each one and gives a thorough rundown on how they perform, as well as offering his thoughts on what works best.

[Thomas] only tests M5 fasteners in this video, so keep that in mind if you get ideas and go shopping for new hardware. Some of the tested inserts aren’t commonly available in smaller sizes. Self-tapping threaded inserts, for example, are available all the way down to M2, but the hex socket threaded inserts don’t seem to come any smaller than M4.

These threaded inserts might be just what your next project calls for, so keep them in mind. Heat-set inserts are of course still a great option, and our own Sonya Vasquez can tell you everything you need to know about installing heat-set inserts into 3D printed parts in a way that leaves them looking super professional.

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The BBC Micro, Lovingly Simulated In VR

April 14, 2024 by Donald Papp 5 Comments

The BBC Micro was many peoples’ first exposure to home computing, and thanks to [Dominic Pajak], you can fire up this beloved hardware in WebXR. Is it an emulator? Yes, but it’s also much more than that.

The machine, the CRT, the keycaps, and even the sounds of the original keypresses are all brought to life as accurately as possible. The result is not just an emulator. It’s a lovingly-made BBC Micro simulator you can use with a VR headset. Or just use your browser and type on your real keyboard if you like.

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Dump A Code Repository As A Text File, For Easier Sharing With Chatbots

April 14, 2024 by Donald Papp 16 Comments

Some LLMs (Large Language Models) can act as useful programming assistants when provided with a project’s source code, but experimenting with this can get a little tricky if the chatbot has no way to download from the internet. In such cases, the code must be provided by either pasting it into the prompt or uploading a file manually. That’s acceptable for simple things, but for more complex projects, it gets awkward quickly.

To make this easier, [Eric Hartford] created github2file, a Python script that outputs a single text file containing the combined source code of a specified repository. This text file can be uploaded (or its contents pasted into the prompt) making it much easier to share code with chatbots.

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Git Good, By Playing A Gamified Version Of Git

April 12, 2024 by Donald Papp 6 Comments

What better way to learn to use Git than a gamified interface that visualizes every change? That’s the idea behind Oh My Git! which aims to teach players all about the popular version control system that underpins so many modern software projects.

Git good, with a gameified git interface.

Sometimes the downside to a tool being so ubiquitous is that it tends to be taken for granted that everyone already knows how to use it, and those starting entirely from scratch can be left unsure where to begin. That’s what creators [bleeptrack] and [blinry] had in mind with Oh My Git! which is freely available for Linux, Windows, and macOS.

The idea is to use a fun playing-card interface to not only teach players the different features, but also to build intuitive familiarity for operations like merging and rebasing by visualizing in real-time the changes a player’s actions make.

The game is made with beginners in mind, with the first two (short) levels establishing that managing multiple versions of a file can quickly become unwieldy without help. Enter git — which the game explains is essentially a time machine — and it’s off to the races.

It might be aimed at beginners, but more advanced users can learn a helpful trick or two. The game isn’t some weird pseudo-git simulator, either. The back end uses real git repositories, with a real shell and git interface behind it all. Prefer to type commands in directly instead of using the playing card interface? Go right ahead!

Oh My Git! uses the free and open-source Godot game engine (not to be confused with the Godot machine, a chaos-based random number generator.)

Lamp Becomes Rotating, Illuminated Sign For Festival Table

April 2, 2024 by Donald Papp 5 Comments

Two things we love are economical solutions to problems, and clever ways to use things for other than their intended purpose. [CelGenStudios] hits both bases with a simple illuminated and spinning sign made from a lamp and a couple economical pieces of hardware: an LED bulb, and a solar-powered product spinner. Both are readily and cheaply available from your favorite overseas source.

The first step in making a cheap illuminated sign is to not buy one, but instead make do with a standing lamp. Plug a bright LED bulb into the socket, decorate the lampshade with whatever logos or signs one wishes to display, and one has an economical illuminated sign suitable for jazzing up a table at an event. But what really kicks it up a notch is making it rotate, and to do that is where the clever bit comes in.

Mounting the lampshade to the solar turntable body yields a simple, rotating, illuminated sign.

The first attempt used a BBQ rotisserie motor to turn the whole lamp, but it was too loud and not especially stable. The second attempt used a “disco ball effect” LED bulb with a motorized top; it worked but turned too quickly and projected light upward instead of into the lampshade.

The winning combination is LED bulb plus a little solar-powered turntable onto which the lampshade mounts. As a result, the lampshade spins slowly when the lamp is turned on. It might not be the most durable thing to ever come out of a workshop, but as [CelGenStudios] says, it only needs to last for a weekend.

The basic concept is far more simple than it might sound, so check it out in the video (embedded below) to see it in action. Curious about what’s inside those little solar spinners? Skip to 5:55 in the video to see how they work. And if you’re intrigued by the idea of using solar power for motive force but want to get more hands-on with the electrical part, we have just the resource for turning tiny motors with tiny solar cells.

Thanks to [Bike Forever] for the tip!

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Fire Up The 3D Printer And Build Yourself A Spiderbot

April 1, 2024 by Donald Papp 12 Comments

Robots are cool, so check out [Atlin Anderson]’s Spiderbot (video, embedded below) which can be made with 3D printed parts, hobby servos, and ESP32-CAM module for control and a first-person view. Looking for a new project? All of the design details are shared online if you’d like to make a hexapod of your own.

We like the effort [Atlin] put into minimizing hardware fasteners in the design of the 3D-printed parts, and aiming for a modular concept that leaves things open for expansion or modification. There’s plenty of room in the chassis for more hardware, with a convenient peg system for snap-fitting assemblies.

Control is done wirelessly via a mobile phone with an app created using the MIT App Inventor, a fantastic tool that is still going strong as a capable and accessible way to make an Android app.

As for the ESP32-CAM module that drives it all, it is a great piece of hardware with capabilities that are leveraged very nicely here. We’ve seen other projects make good use of it as well, from this 1/64 scale micro RC car to an oddball tripod camera robot.

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Exploit The Stressed-out Package Maintainer, Exploit The Software Package

March 31, 2024 by Donald Papp 11 Comments

A recent security vulnerability — a potential ssh backdoor via the liblzma library in the xz package — is having a lot of analysis done on how the vulnerability was introduced, and [Rob Mensching] felt that it was important to highlight what he saw as step number zero of the whole process: exploit the fact that a stressed package maintainer has burned out. Apply pressure from multiple sources while the attacker is the only one stepping forward to help, then inherit the trust built up by the original maintainer. Sadly, [Rob] sees in these interactions a microcosm of what happens far too frequently in open source.

Maintaining open source projects can be a high stress activity. The pressure and expectations to continually provide timely interaction, support, and updates can easily end up being unhealthy. As [Rob] points out (and other developers have observed in different ways), this kind of behavior just seems more or less normal for some projects.

The xz/liblzma vulnerability itself is a developing story, read about it and find links to the relevant analyses in our earlier coverage here.