Prusa Picks Up The Pace With New MK4S Printer

August 12, 2024 by Tom Nardi 28 Comments

One of the things you’re paying for when you buy a 3D printer from Prusa Research is, essentially, your next 3D printer. That’s because Prusa’s machines are designed to be upgraded and modified as time goes on. An upgrade kit is always released to allow each older printer to be converted into its successor, and while there’s occasionally been some debate about whether or not it’s the most cost-effective choice, at least it is a choice you have as an owner.

If you’ve got a Prusa MK4, you’ll soon get to make that decision for yourself. Announced earlier today, the new MK4S brings some notable changes to last year’s printer. The $99 upgrade is scheduled to be available by the end of the month for existing owners, but if you’ve been on the fence about joining Team Orange and Black, you can purchase the MK4S right now in both kit and assembled forms for the same price ($799 and $1,099 respectively) as the previous MK4.

Continue reading “Prusa Picks Up The Pace With New MK4S Printer” →

Homebrew Relay Computer Features Motorized Clock

August 3, 2024 by Tom Nardi 7 Comments

Before today, we probably would have said that scratch-built relay computers were the sole domain of only the most wizardly of graybeards. But this impressive build sent in by [Will Dana] shows that not only are there young hardware hackers out there that are still bold enough to leave the transistor behind, but that they can help communicate how core computing concepts can be implemented with a bundle of wires and switches.

Created for his YouTube channel WillsBuilds, every component of this computer was built by [Will] himself. Each of the nine relay-packed protoboards inside the machine took hours to solder, and when that was done, he went out to the garage to start cutting the wood that would become the cabinet they all get mounted in.

Continue reading “Homebrew Relay Computer Features Motorized Clock” →

Hackaday Podcast Episode 282: Saildrones, A New Classic Laptop, And SNES Cartridges Are More Than You Think

August 2, 2024 by Tom Nardi 1 Comment

In this episode, the CrowdStrike fiasco has Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi pondering the fragility of our modern infrastructure. From there the discussion moves on to robotic sailboats, the evolving state of bespoke computers, and the unique capabilities of the Super Nintendo cartridge. You’ll also hear about cleaning paintings with lasers, the advantages of electronic word processors, stacking 3D printed parts, and the joys of a nice data visualization. They’ll wrap the episode up by marveling at the techniques required to repair undersea fiber optic cables, and the possibilities (and frustrations) of PCB panelization using multiple designs.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

As always, the Hackaday Podcast is available in DRM-free MP3 for offline listening.

Continue reading “Hackaday Podcast Episode 282: Saildrones, A New Classic Laptop, And SNES Cartridges Are More Than You Think” →

LightBurn Turns Back The Clock, Bails On Linux Users

July 31, 2024 by Tom Nardi 217 Comments

Angry Birds, flash mobs, Russell Brand, fidget spinners. All of these were virtually unavoidable in the previous decade, and yet, like so many popular trends, have now largely faded into obscurity. But in a recent announcement, the developers of LightBurn have brought back a relic of the past that we thought was all but buried along with Harambe — popular software not supporting Linux.

But this isn’t a case of the developers not wanting to bring their software to Linux. LightBurn, the defacto tool for controlling hobbyist laser cutters and engravers, was already multi-platform. Looking forward, however, the developers claim that too much of their time is spent supporting and packaging the software for Linux relative to the size of the user base. In an announcement email sent out to users, they reached even deeper into the mid-2000s bag of excuses, and cited the number of Linux distributions as a further challenge:

The segmentation of Linux distributions complicates these burdens further — we’ve had to provide three separate packages for the versions of Linux we officially support, and still encounter frequent compatibility issues on those distributions (or closely related distributions), to say nothing of the many distributions we have been asked to support.

We’re not sure how much of their time could possibly be taken up by responding to requests for supporting additional distributions (especially when the answer is no), but apparently, it was enough that they finally had to put their foot down — the upcoming 1.7.00 release of LightBurn will be the last to run on Linux.

Continue reading “LightBurn Turns Back The Clock, Bails On Linux Users” →

Printed Portable Computer Inspired By The Classics

July 28, 2024 by Tom Nardi 3 Comments

These days, laptop computers are all more or less the same, at least externally. Some are thicker than others, they might come in different colors, or with a 360° hinge that lets you flip the screen around the back and use it as a tablet, but overall they’ve all got the same shape and proportions. The industry, and indeed the users, eventually agreed on the best way to make a computer portable and are now fully committed to it.

But that wasn’t always the case. In the 1980s there were a number of laptops from the likes of Toshiba, Tandy, and even IBM that took a slightly different approach to the clamshell design. These computers featured ultra-wide displays with a hinge located closer to the center of the computer, giving the machine a distinctive “trunk” in the back. It’s these classic machines that clearly inspired [Michael Mayer] to design the Portable Pi 84.

[Michael] says that the 3D printed enclosure was largely designed around the 40% ortholinear keyboard, which itself is based on the Happy-Keyboard from [Luis Alegría]. The rest apparently just fell into place, such as the fact that the 1600 x 600 Waveshare 9.3 inch display happens to be almost the perfect size to cover the keyboard below it.

Compared to many of the other custom computer builds we’ve covered, the rear compartment of the Portable Pi 84 provides ample free space for the various system components. That includes the Raspberry Pi 4 that runs the show, a UPS “hat” that powers the system via a pair of 21700 batteries, and even a set of amplified speakers. It looks like there’s still plenty of room in the back for additional gear, such as an RTL-SDR or perhaps even a cartridge slot.

A particularly nice feature of this build are the inset panels on the rear of the machine, which allow for the various ports and connectors to be reconfigured by the user without having to re-print the entire case — one could imagine a replacement panel that features a connector for an external WiFi antenna, for example. We also like the use of heat-set inserts throughout the case, which will not only make the build sturdier, but means the case can be opened and closed regularly without fear of stripping out the screw holes.

So is this a computer or a cyberdeck? It’s hard to say. We tend to think that a proper deck needs to have a more unique physical layout, and technically this form factor was actually fairly popular at one point. But whatever you want to call builds like this, we’re stoked to see them become more common and better documented. Long live the truly personal computer.

OSHW Model Rocket Kit Embraces The Hexagon

July 27, 2024 by Tom Nardi 19 Comments

If you’ve ever built a model rocket, you’ll know there’s not a whole lot to them. Essentially it’s a cardboard tube, a plastic nosecone, some fins, and a little clip that will keep it riding the launch rail as it accelerates off the pad. Extra points awarded if you add in a parachute, but strictly speaking, even that’s a luxury. Stick an Estes motor in that thing and send it.

But pointing out that lightweight cardboard tubes can be tricky to ship without getting crushed, [Concrete Dog] has come up with HEXA, a clever model rocket kit that uses pre-scored cardstock instead. The immediate advantage is that this allows the rocket to be shipped as flat sheets of material, but as a secondary bonus, once folded into its final shape the rocket has an awesome hexagonal cross section.

As with a traditional kit, both the nosecone and fins are plastic. Except here they’ve been 3D printed in either PLA or PETG depending on their proximity to he hot and fiery area of the rocket. [Concrete Dog] says the printed parts are largely ready to fly as-is, but that some quality time with a piece of sandpaper and a coat of paint could improve the aerodynamics a bit if you were so inclined.

Ready for the best part? [Concrete Dog] has decided to release all of the design files for the rocket under the CERN Open Hardware Licence, meaning you’re free to reproduce and modify the rocket as you see fit. In fact, on July 24th, the HEXA rocket was officially certified as Open Hardware by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) — a first for a DIY rocket, as far as we can tell.

Continue reading “OSHW Model Rocket Kit Embraces The Hexagon” →

George Washington Gets Cleaned Up With A Laser

July 27, 2024 by Tom Nardi 5 Comments

Now, we wouldn’t necessarily call ourselves connoisseurs of fine art here at Hackaday. But we do enjoy watching [Julian Baumgartner]’s YouTube channel, where he documents the projects that he takes on as a professional conservator. Folks send in their dirty or damaged paintings, [Julian] works his magic, and the end result often looks like a completely different piece. Spoilers: if you’ve ever looked at an old painting and wondered why the artist made it so dark and dreary — it probably just needs to be cleaned.

Anyway, in his most recent video, [Julian] pulled out a piece of gear that we didn’t expect to see unleashed against a painting of one of America’s Founding Fathers: a Er:YAG laser. Even better, instead of some fancy-pants fine art restoration laser, he apparently picked up second hand unit designed for cosmetic applications. The model appears to be a Laserscope Venus from the early 2000s, which goes for about $5K these days.

Now, to explain why he raided an esthetician’s closet to fix up this particular painting, we’ve got to rewind a bit. As we’ve learned from [Julian]’s previous videos, the problem with an old dirty painting is rarely the paining itself, it’s the varnish that has been applied to it. These varnishes, especially older ones, have a tendency to yellow and crack with age. Now stack a few decades worth of smoke and dirt on top of it, and you’ve all but completely obscured the original painting underneath. But there’s good news — if you know what you’re doing, you can remove the varnish without damaging the painting itself.

In most cases, this can be done with various solvents that [Julian] mixes up after testing them out on some inconspicuous corner of the painting. But in this particular case, the varnish wasn’t reacting well to anything in his inventory. Even his weakest solvents were going right through it and damaging the paint underneath.

Because of this, [Julian] had to break out the big guns. After experimenting with the power level and pulse duration of the 2940 nm laser, he found the settings necessary to break down the varnish while stopping short of cooking the paint it was covering. After hitting it with a few pulses, he could then come in with a cotton swab and wipe the residue away. It was still slow going, but it turns out most things are in the art conservation world.

This isn’t the first time we’ve covered [Julian]’s resourceful conservation methods. Back in 2019, we took at look the surprisingly in-depth video he created about the design and construction of his custom heat table for flattening out large canvases.

Continue reading “George Washington Gets Cleaned Up With A Laser” →