Observing A Plant’s Vascular System With X-Ray Video

November 23, 2021 by Mike Szczys 2 Comments

[Ben Krasnow] has a knack for showing us what’s inside of things while they’re moving. This week’s Applied Science experiment has him making time-lapse X-ray videos of things. This plant’s vascular system is just one of a few examples, the others being a dial clock and the zoom lens on a DSLR.

The trick here is having an X-ray sensing panel that can be reused. It takes around five seconds of exposure to grab each 40×40 cm frame which are then assembled back into video.

Now watching mechanisms move is cool — [Ben’s] video back in 2015 to show what a phonograph needle in the groove of a vinyl record looks like under a scanning electron microscope is still one for the coolest “camera tricks” we’ve ever seen pulled off. But watching the vascular system of a plant function is the recipe for one of those ah-ha educational moments, so we hope that 7th-grade biology teachers everywhere will find their way to this video.

The apparatus is described in great detail, but regular Hackaday readers will most likely want to focus in on the teardown of the X-ray panel, which [Ben] describes as a giant digital camera sensor tuned for receiving the X-rays. The source is a 50 kV 1 mA tube that he compares to what is used at the dental office. (Obviously this requires forethought to ensure his automated time-lapse setup will fail safe with the X-ray tube.) A Cyclone III FPGA drives the panel, communicating with the sensor array via two Ethernet interfaces.

A friend sent a the broken panel to [Ben] and he was able to easily repair a MOSFET that got knocked out of place. [biluni] shows up in the comments of this video, sharing his recollection from working in the industry 15 years ago that a panel like this would have cost $150k! But considering the stellar resolution, and repeatable use, it sure as heck beats the old film process.

Continue reading “Observing A Plant’s Vascular System With X-Ray Video” →

Hackaday Remoticon: What’s Happening Right Now

November 20, 2021 by Mike Szczys 1 Comment

Here’s what you need to know to take part in the Hackaday Remoticon Today.

Watch all of today’s talks on the live stream
Interact with everyone by joining Discord

Notable Events:

All talk and schedule information is available on the conference webpage, but here are the things you don’t want to miss (all times are Pacific time zone):

10:10 am | Keynote: Keith Thorne
5:25 pm | Keynote: Jeremy Fielding
6:25 pm | Hackaday Prize Ceremony
7:35pm | After party live set from DJ Jackalope — watch on Twitch, socialize on Discord

Hackaday Remoticon: What’s Happening Right Now

November 19, 2021 by Mike Szczys No comments

Here’s what you need to know to take part in the Hackaday Remoticon Today.

Watch all of today’s talks on the live stream
Interact with everyone by joining Discord

Notable Events:

All talk and schedule information is available on the conference webpage, but here are the things you don’t want to miss (all times are Pacific time zone):

11:10 am | Keynote: Elicia White
5:15 pm | Hacker Trivia: https://youtu.be/uRpUdQi31tg
6:15pm | Bring-a-Hack: Remoticon ticket holders will receive an email on how to join, we’ll also share that info in the Discord

DJ Jackalope playing live set at Hackaday Superconference

DJ Jackalope Live Set Will Close Out Hackaday Remoticon

November 15, 2021 by Mike Szczys 2 Comments

Remoticon is almost here, but by Saturday night it’ll be gone! The best sendoff we can think of is with a party, and DJ Jackalope is playing a live set to make that happen.

We’ve been lucky to have live music from DJ Jackalope at numberous Hackaday Superconferences immediately after the Hackaday Prize ceremony. This year she reached out and suggested we continue the tradition, offering up her Twitch stream as the audio/video platform.

Everyone can enjoy the music, and still socialize via the Remoticon Discord server (invites will be sent out on Wednesday). Her set is scheduled to begin at 7:35 pm Pacific time on Saturday, November 20th.

But really you should plan to show up on the Remoticon live stream for Jeremy Fielding’s keynote at 5:25 pm followed by the Hackaday Prize ceremony at 6:25 pm — if not for the entire day. You can see why we need to cap the evening with a party!

All speaker and schedule info is available on the Remoticon website. Be sure to grab a free ticket; we’ll remind you about the live stream links, and that’s also how you’ll get access to Friday night’s Bring-a-hack. It bums us out that we can’t be together in person this year, but we’re going to do everything possible to enjoy each others’ company — come be a part that!

Hackaday Podcast 144: Jigs Jigs Jigs, Fabergé Mic, Paranomal Electronics, And A 60-Tube Nixie Clock

November 12, 2021 by Mike Szczys 2 Comments

Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys get caught up on the week that was. Two builds are turning some heads this week; one uses 60 Nixie tube bar graphs to make a clock that looks like the sun’s rays, the other is a 4096 RGB LED Cube (that’s 12,288 total diodes for those counting at home) that leverages a ton of engineering to achieve perfection. Speaking of perfection, there’s a high-end microphone built on a budget but you’d never know from the look and the performance — no wonder the world is now sold out of the microphone elements used in the design. After perusing a CNC build, printer filament dryer, and cardboard pulp molds, we wrap the episode talking about electronic miniaturization, radionic analyzers, and Weird Al’s computer.

Take a look at the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Direct download (55 MB)

Continue reading “Hackaday Podcast 144: Jigs Jigs Jigs, Fabergé Mic, Paranomal Electronics, And A 60-Tube Nixie Clock” →

Last Call For Hackaday Remoticon Shirts

November 8, 2021 by Mike Szczys 3 Comments

Hackaday conferences have a long history of excellent T-shirt designs and this year’s Remoticon is no different. If you want one of your own, you need get on that before Friday. The only way to score on is to buy one of the T-Shirt + General Admission tickets by November 11th — it gets you into all of the conference events just like the free ticket, but also scores you a shirt. (Shipping within the US is free, international delivery costs an additional $10.) What you see above is the actual test print, modeled by Aleksandar Bradic who designed this and all of the shirt from past Hackaday conferences.

Of course the most important thing is that you don’t miss Remoticon, and there is a free ticket which will remain available through the end of the conference, but you can help us with the logistics by getting one now.

The full list of speakers and the schedule is now available on the conference website. We’re delighted to have Elecia White, Keith Thorne, and Jeremy Fielding present keynote talks, and 16 additional speakers on a range of hardware-related topics. (This is notable: we originally planned for a single day of talks but were blow away by all the proposals and doubled the speaking slots!)

You can’t quite rub elbows with all your friends from afar, but you can certainly spend time together in the conference Discord, during the Hacker Trivia (form teams if you like!), at the Bring-a-Hack inside Gather Town, and at the afterparty which will include a live set from DJ Jackalope.

Everyone Who Bought a Shirt, Read This!

If you bought a shirt and have already claimed it using the code we emailed to you, thank you, you are all set.

If you already bought a shirt but haven’t claimed it, check your email. You need to respond to the Google form we sent you. If you bought a T-shirt ticket and didn’t get an email from us, let us know. All shirts need to be claimed by November 15th! Gogogo!

If you plan to order your shirt right now, here’s what will happen. Buy your ticket following the link at the top of this article. We will email you a poll question about domestic or international shipping because we have to use two different ordering interfaces for these — logistics are hard. We will then email you a redemption code and link where you can choose your size and shipping address.

We Appreciate The Patience All of You Have Shown

Thank you to everyone for your amazing patience through this process. We wanted to replicate the experience of walking into Supercon and getting a shirt at the check-in table. Shipping logistics made that a bit harder, but everyone involved has been super awesome about it and that feels really good. See you at Remoticon a week from Friday!

Hackaday Podcast 143: More Magnesium Please, Robot Bicep Curls, Malamud’s General Index, And Are You Down With EMC?

November 5, 2021 by Mike Szczys No comments

Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams catch up on a week’s worth of hacks. Get a grip on robot hands: there’s an eerily human one on offer this week. If you’re doing buck/boost converter design, the real learning is in high-frequency design patterns that avoid turning your circuits into unintentional radiators. Those looking for new hobbies might want to take up autonomous boat racing. We saw a design that’s easy enough to print on the average 3D printer — and who doesn’t want to build their own jet boat? We’ll wrap up the episode by digging into magnesium sources, and by admiring the number of outfits who are rolling their own silicon these days.

Take a look at the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Direct download (50 MB)