2022 Sci-Fi Contest: Nixie Calculator Is Resplendent In Walnut Enclosure

April 14, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 8 Comments

The Nixie tube is one of the most popular display technologies amongst the hacker and maker set. Glowing numerals can warm even the coldest heart, particularly when they’re energized with hundreds of volts. [ohad.harel] used these glorious displays to build the TORI Nixie Calculator, with beautiful results.

The build uses seven IN-12 Nixie tubes for numerals, along with an IN-15A which displays mathematical symbols like +, %, and M. It’s equipped with a 32-key keyboard using mechanical key switches. Everything is wrapped up in a beautiful walnut enclosure that fits the tubes and keyboard perfectly, giving the final build a nice mid-century aesthetic.

Impressively, it goes beyond the basic usual calculator functions, also handling conversions between metric and imperial units. It’s a nice feature that would make it a wonderful tool to have on one’s desk beyond the simple aesthetic charm of the Nixie tubes.

Nixie projects never seem to die. Their beauty and warmth captivates builders to this day. Indeed, we’ve even seen some makers go to the trouble of creating new tubes from scratch!

PiSquare Lets You Run Multiple HATs On A Raspberry Pi

April 13, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 8 Comments

The Raspberry Pi’s venerable 40-pin header and associated HAT ecosystem for upgrades has been a boon for the platform. It’s easy to stack extra hardware on to a Pi, even multiple times in some cases. However, if you want to run multiple HATs, and wirelessly at that, the PiSquare might just be the thing for you.

The PiSquare consists of a board featuring both RP2040 and ESP-12E microcontrollers. It interfaces with Raspberry Pi HATs and even lets you run multiple of the same HAT on a single Raspberry Pi, as it’s not actually directly using the UART, SPI, or I2C interfaces on the host Pi itself. Instead, the PiSquare communicates wirelessly with the Pi, handling the IO with the HAT itself.

It’s unclear how this works on a software level. Simply using existing software tools and libraries for a given Raspberry Pi HAT probably won’t work with the wireless PiSquare setup. However, for advanced users, it could serve a useful purpose, allowing one Raspberry Pi to command multiple HATs without the fuss of having to run more single-board computers where just one will do. Boards will be available on Kickstarter for those interested in the device.

We’ve seen other creative things done with the Raspberry Pi and the HAT system, too. If you’ve been cooking up your own neat hacks for the platform, drop us a line!

2022 Sci-Fi Contest: A Hand-Following Robot, Powered By Arduino

April 13, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest No comments

If there’s one thing audiences love in sci-fi, it’s a cute robot companion that follows the heroes around. If you want one of your own, starting with this build from [mircemk] could be just the ticket.

The build relies on the classic Arduino Uno microcontroller, which talks to a HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor module and two infrared sensors in order to track a human target and follow it around. Drive is thanks to four DC gear motors, driven by a L293D motor driver, with a two-cell lithium battery providing power for everything onboard.

The robot works in a simple manner, following a hand placed in front of the robot’s sensors. First, the robot checks for the presence of an object in front using the ultrasonic sensor. If something is detected, the twin infrared sensors mounted left and right are used to guide the robot, following the hand.

It’s not a sophisticated algorithm, and it won’t really let your robot follow you down a crowded street. However, it’s a great project to learn on for beginners and could serve as a great entry into more advanced projects using face tracking or other techniques. Video after the break. Continue reading “2022 Sci-Fi Contest: A Hand-Following Robot, Powered By Arduino” →

Desktop Soundbar Is Ideal For PC Use

April 13, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 17 Comments

Soundbars are a rather strange category of speaker, most typically used with televisions to add some punch that the drivers crammed into a flatscreen TV simply can’t match. [Matt] of DIY Perks wanted a soundbar that was better suited to use on a computer desk rather than in a loungeroom, and set about creating one.

Regular soundbars aren’t great for a computer desk as they tend to deliver sound directed at one’s chest rather than one’s ears. [Matt]’s design instead angles its speakers slightly upwards, aimed at the user’s head as it should be. The build uses reclaimed wooden flooring for a cheap source of pretty wood that isn’t as ugly or flaky as MDF.

The design acts as a monitor stand and keyboard hutch, raising the screen to a comfortable height for viewing. The speakers themselves are in acoustic enclosures mounted on either side, also helping to provide good stereo separation. A subwoofer is also built into the shelf to add some bass response, with an impressively-neat bass chamber design. Finished off with some LED lights and a USB hub, the design delivers great sound along with a lovely desk environment for getting work done.

[Matt] does love a nice DIY build; his water-cooled outdoor TV is a particular delight. Video after the break.

Continue reading “Desktop Soundbar Is Ideal For PC Use” →

Lego Fourteen-Segment Display Needs Plenty Of Motors

April 12, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 1 Comment

Hackers love 7-segment displays, and will gladly wax lyrical about the silly words you can almost spell on them and so on. Less appreciated are their bigger cousins, the fourteen and sixteen segment displays, which get all alphanumeric about things and are thus much easier for humans to read. You can even build the former out of Lego, as [ord] demonstrates.

A look at the mechanism driving the display.

The “segments” are made up of Lego shafts that are pushed up through a yellow matrix of holes when they are switched “on.” A full seven motors are used to make the single-character display work, each one driving two segments. Two Lego Powered Up controller bricks are required to drive everything going on here, making the final design not just mechanically complicated, but electronically complicated as well.

Amusingly, those don’t come cheap, either; the parts total cost of this build is likely somewhere between $50-100 US. You probably don’t want to build an entire scrolling message board using this design, even if it does look resplendent in black and taxi yellow.

We’ve seen [ord]’s work before, too, in the form of these mechanically magnificent 7-segment Lego displays. Video after the break.

Continue reading “Lego Fourteen-Segment Display Needs Plenty Of Motors” →

Hacking An Experimental ESA Satellite

April 12, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 5 Comments

Hacking these days means everything from someone guessing your password and spamming your contacts with toxic links, to wide-scale offensive cyberattacks against infrastructure by sophisticated operators backed by nation states. When it comes to hacking satellites, though, [Didelot Maurice-Michel] found himself tangling with some hardware belonging to the European Space Agency.

As part of an event called HackCYSAT, hackers were invited to attack the ESA’s OPS-SAT, a CubeSat intended to demonstrate improved techniques for mission control and more advanced satellite hardware. The computer hardware on board is ten times more powerful than other existing ESA satellites, and aims to take satellite technology on a new leap forward.

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Skip The Shipping, Print Your Own Cable Chains

April 12, 2022 by Zoe Skyforest 11 Comments

CNC machines and 3D printers tend to have plenty of cabling which must be neatly managed while the machine moves. If not properly taken care of, wires can easily end up tangled in the moving bits leading to a dead machine at best, and some kind of raucous fire at worst. [Nikodem Bartnik] decided to create his own cable chains for his CNC build to keep everything in check.

The benefit of cable chains is that they stop cables splaying everywhere while still allowing them to move as needed with the axes of the machine. [Nikodem] created 20mm and 40mm chains for his build, affixed into the aluminium extrusion with bolts and T-nuts for easy assembly. The chains are assembled by hand, with 3D printed clips that hammer in place to hold the cables inside once inserted.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from buying cable chains off the shelf. But if you don’t want to wait for shipping in this era of cursed supply chains, or you want a cable chain you can customize to perfectly suit your machine, making your own could be the way to go.

Continue reading “Skip The Shipping, Print Your Own Cable Chains” →