Make Your Own Infrared Camera On The Cheap!

May 23, 2016 by James Hobson 51 Comments

This is a super fun hack that’s been around for ages — but now with cheap full 1080P HD camera availability, it’s probably a good time to make your own infrared camera!

It’s actually a very easy modification to perform. All cameras are capable of “seeing” infrared light, but for standard photography and video, you don’t want to see the infrared light. So most sensors just have an infrared filter in front of the sensor, to block out any excess infrared light. If you remove it … you have a converted infrared camera.

The following video shows exactly how to modify a camera to do this. It is a bit misleading though as it labels it as a thermal camera; and while it is seeing “infrared”, it’s not actually full thermal infrared, like a FLIR or Seek Thermal can see — it’s a mixture of visible and near infrared light. You will be able to see some hot things glowing through the camera, but not to the same degree as a real thermal imaging device. Continue reading “Make Your Own Infrared Camera On The Cheap!” →

16 Megapixel Outdoor Security Camera On The Cheap

May 23, 2016 by James Hobson 61 Comments

Looking for a high quality security camera? Despite digital cameras continually getting better, and less expensive, security cameras haven’t seemed to follow the same path. So? Better make your own.

[donothingloop] was looking for an outdoor, network capable camera of high resolution. He Some people might have thought about using the Raspberry Pi camera module, but let’s be honest — it’s not great. Instead, he found a pair of used Nikon Coolpix L31 cameras, and he only paid $15 for the both of them.

Now the Nikon Coolpix L31 isn’t exactly the sports edition, so to make this an outdoor security camera, it’s going to need an enclosure. An outdoor halogen work lamp enclosure fit the bill perfectly. It’s rugged, already has the glass built into it, and at $12 the cost of this project wasn’t going anywhere!

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DIY Jigsaw Table Makes Cutting Wood Even Easier

May 21, 2016 by James Hobson 26 Comments

Power tools are fantastic. They make short work of whatever you throw at them, but compared to their big brothers (i.e. full size powered tools you can’t move), they’re less accurate, and difficult for precision work. Then there’s the hybrid tools — power tools you can mount in stands or bases to get better control of your work piece. Some are designed for this, some aren’t. But sometimes, making your own stand for a power tool can be pretty darn easy.

[Yonatan] needed a bandsaw for one of his projects, and not being overly confident in his jigsaw skills (the tool he did possess), he decided to upgrade it, by building a jigsaw table. Still not quite a bandsaw, but almost. Continue reading “DIY Jigsaw Table Makes Cutting Wood Even Easier” →

Subsea ROV Has 6 Degrees Of Freedom + Autopilot

May 18, 2016 by James Hobson 16 Comments

This is what happens when you give Norwegian engineering students half a year to develop an ROV for their class.

The team utilized 3D printing to design and print their own thruster propellers and ducts for the ROV. It’s powered by HobbyKing motors with VESC speed controllers. This allows them to get from 0.6 to 30N of thrust from each propeller at 12V. Because of this accuracy they’re able to use a PID system to do automatic pitch, roll and depth control!

The electronics are housed in a 200mm acrylic tube (15mm wall thickness) with aluminum end caps and o-rings — an exact pressure rating is not given, but the team could flood the chamber with non-conductive oil to increase that even more — they just don’t need to for tests in a swimming pool. The undersea wire connectors they use (Subconn) are rated for 700 and 600 bar!

Continue reading “Subsea ROV Has 6 Degrees Of Freedom + Autopilot” →

The Ultimate Traveler’s Toolkit

May 14, 2016 by James Hobson 9 Comments

Looking for a better way to store your tools during transportation? While we certainly wouldn’t recommend trying to check this thing as a carry-on (oh and prepare for it to be searched even in checked luggage), this clever use of a road case is probably one of the best tool boxes we’ve ever seen.

This is [Robb Godshaw’s] tool box. It’s been developed over the past five years as he’s become a skilled maker. You might remember him best from his ironic project “Why are we limited to C-Clamps?” — a clamp offering of the entire alphabet.

He also picked up the road case close to home for Hackaday — at Apex Electronics Surplus in LA — one of our favorite places to find parts. But the most clever part of the project is the way he’s divided the case for different tools.

Continue reading “The Ultimate Traveler’s Toolkit” →

Captain America’s Mighty Shield With 7200N Of Powerful Electromagnets!

May 13, 2016 by James Hobson 57 Comments

At Hackaday, sometimes we nerd out a bit too hard over comic book movies. With Captain America: Civil War in theaters, I knew I had to do a project dedicated to the movie — so I made a ridiculously over powered electromagnet bracer. The hope? To attract a Captain America replica shield from short distances.

I had the idea for this project a while ago after watching Avengers: Age of Ultron.

If you’re not familiar, it appears Captain America gets a suit upgrade (presumably from Stark himself) that features some pretty awesome embedded electromagnets allowing him to call his shield back to him from afar.

Now unfortunately, electromagnets aren’t that strong and I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve quite the same effect as good ol’ CGI — but I’d be darned not to try! Continue reading “Captain America’s Mighty Shield With 7200N Of Powerful Electromagnets!” →

Upgrading A Nexus 5 EMMC To 64GB

May 10, 2016 by James Hobson 41 Comments

Sometimes we feel confident in our soldering skills (but only sometimes) — and then we see something like this done.

Someone over on the XDA developers forum managed to upgrade his Nexus 5 from 16gb to 64gb — and not only that, upgraded the eMMC type from 4.5 to 5.0 so it writes and reads much faster.

While the details on the actual conversion are a bit vague, we did manage to dig up another video of someone replacing an eMMC chip from a Samsung Note 2.

It most certainly is possible… but would you look at the size of that chip!

Continue reading “Upgrading A Nexus 5 EMMC To 64GB” →