Author: Zoe Skyforest

3718 Articles

Google Maps, Now On The NES

September 2, 2021 by 8 Comments

Many years ago, Google created one of its famous April Fools jokes suggesting it would make an 8-bit version of Google Maps for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. [ciciplusplus] decided it needed to become a reality, however, and set to work. (Video, embedded below.)

It’s a suitably blocky, low-resolution implementation, but it nevertheless is a mapping app running on an NES. Zooming in and out is via the A and B buttons, while the D-pad is used to scroll. Country and city labels are rendered on the map in the relevant areas in a charming old-school font.

The project uses a Raspberry Pi 3A+ and a Cypress Semiconductor FX2LP microcontroller, which fits inside a NES cartridge. It works the same way as the earlier NES Doom project which uses the Raspberry Pi to feed data to the NES’s Picture Processing Unit. It’s achieved with a simple bit of code burned on a ROM inside the cartridge, which boots up the NES and primes it to receive data from the Raspberry Pi via the FX2LP.

In current form, it’s not capable of doing much more than allowing the user to scroll around and zoom in on parts of the map. We’d love to see a fully-fledged version that could deliver driving directions or similar, however. If you end up achieving such a feat, be sure to let us know. Continue reading “Google Maps, Now On The NES” →

Neat Little Airboat Built From Old Drone Parts

September 2, 2021 by 3 Comments

Multirotor drones tend to need quality and well-matched parts in order to stay balanced and in the air. However, crash enough drones and you might find you’ve got plenty of mistmatched bits and pieces lying around. In just this vein, [Jason Suter] decided to raid his junk box and built himself a little FPV airboat using spare parts.

The airboat consists of a 3D printed hull, paired with a separate power module. The power module houses the flight controller, and mounts twin motors on the rear. Fitted with three-blade props, they propel the boat and allow it to be steered with differential thrust instead of a rudder. It’s then fitted with a camera to allow it to be piloted with an FPV headset.

Handling still isn’t perfect, and water on the FPV antenna causes some issues with video transmission. However, it’s a fun project that makes good use of old parts. Of course, if you’re having vibration problems with your own FPV projects, consider building a vibration-absorbing mount. Video after the break.
Continue reading “Neat Little Airboat Built From Old Drone Parts” →

3D Printing Your Own Sturdy Lens Caps

August 31, 2021 by 13 Comments

Lens caps are important for protecting expensive camera lenses from damage. Dust, grit, and other nasty things will all quickly spoil the quality of a shot, and can even permanently damage a lens if you’re unlucky. However, lens caps are also lost quite easily. Thus, it’s useful to be able to make your own, and [DSLR CNC DIY] has the low down on how to do it. 

The benefit of printing your own lens caps is customization. No matter the oddball size and shape of your lens, when you’re 3D printing your own cap, you can design it to fit. The video also shows off the benefits of being able to embed text right into the body of the cap, so you’re never confused as to which cap goes with which lens. The caps use the metal lever from a binder clip in order to provide the clamping force necessary to hang on to the lens. It’s an improvement over some living-hinge designs that grow weaker over time.

Overall, if you’ve got a bunch of lenses that need a new cap, this could be the project for you. It’s also likely much cheaper and easier than hunting down replacement caps for obscure lenses online. Alternatively, contemplate what you could do with fancy lens adapters. Video after the break. Continue reading “3D Printing Your Own Sturdy Lens Caps” →

Hacker Claims Honda And Acura Vehicles Vulnerable To Simple Replay Attack

August 30, 2021 by 25 Comments

Keyless entry has become a standard feature on virtually all cars, where once it was a luxury option. However, it’s also changed the way that thieves approach the process of breaking into a car. After recent research, [HackingIntoYourHeart] claims that many modern Honda and Acura vehicles can be accessed with a simple replay attack using cheap hardware. 

It’s a bold claim, and one that we’d love to see confirmed by a third party. The crux of the allegations are that simply recording signals from a Honda or Acura keyfob is enough to compromise the vehicle. Reportedly, no rolling code system is implemented and commands can easily be replayed.

Given these commands control features like unlocking the doors, opening the trunk, and even remote starting the vehicle, it’s a concerning situation. However, it’s also somewhat surprising. Rolling code technology has been around for decades, and makes basic replay attacks more difficult. Range extender attacks that target keyfobs sitting inside homes or gas stations are more common these days.

Whether Honda has made a security faux pas, or if there’s something more at play here, remains to be seen. If you’ve got more information, or have been able to recreate the same hack on your own Honda, be sure to let us know. 

helicopter

Re-Engineering An RC Helicopter Via Tinkercad

August 20, 2021 by 5 Comments

Radio control toys can be great fun to play with. However, at the bottom end of the market, sometimes you find you’ve bought something that just doesn’t work quite right. [saulemmetquinn] found that with a cheap RC helicopter, and set about re-engineering the design in Tinkercad.

The entire frame of the original helicopter was discarded, replaced with one made out of CAD-designed and 3D printed components. The end result is far lighter and less cumbersome than the original design, while also managing to look a lot more like an actual helicopter. It also served to correct some of the problems which [saulemmetquinn] stated made the original toy difficult to fly.

Assembling your own tiny helicopter motors and mechanisms would be quite difficult, and time consuming. [saulemmetquinn] was instead able to leverage the good parts of the original design, and build something better from that. It’s very much the essence of hacking, right there.

We’ve seen other toy helicopters hacked too, like the famous Syma S107G. If you’ve got your own tiny flying hacks, be sure to drop us a line.

Racks of ASIC mining hardware

Bitcoin In For Bumpy Ride As China Crackdown Shakes Things Up

August 20, 2021 by 105 Comments

Bitcoin. The magical internet money is often derided as “worthless” and “made up” by those who forget that all currencies only have value because we believe in them. Perhaps the world’s strongest currency not backed up by guns and ammo, Bitcoin nonetheless remains a controversial invention, as do the many cryptocurrencies that followed in its wake.

Recently, the Chinese government has cracked down on operations within the country. With China hosting the world’s largest fraction of Bitcoin mining capability, it’s sent shockwaves through the network and had a huge effect in a multitude of ways. Here’s what’s going down.

Continue reading “Bitcoin In For Bumpy Ride As China Crackdown Shakes Things Up” →

Ultrasonic levitation rig.

Phased Array Levitation Is Science In Action

August 18, 2021 by 8 Comments

Levitation may seem like magic. However, for certain objects, and in certain conditions, it’s actually a solved technology. If you want to move small particles around or do experiments with ultrasonic haptic feedback, you might find SonicSurface to be a useful platform for experimentation.

The build comes to us from [UpnaLab], and is no small feat of engineering. It packs in 256 ultrasonic emitters in a 16×16 grid, with individual phase control across the entire panel. This allows for the generation of complex ultrasonic wave fields over the SonicSurface board. Two boards can be paired together in a vertically opposed configuration, too. This allows the levitation of tiny particles in 3D space.

As you might expect, an FPGA is pressed into service to handle the heavy lifting – in this case, an Altera CoreEP4CE6. Commands are sent to the SonicSurface by a USB-to-serial connection from an attached PC.

The board is largely limited to the levitation of small spherical pieces of foam, with the ultrasonic field levitating them in midair. However, the project video shows how these tiny pieces of foam can be attached to threads, tapes, and other objects in order to manipulate them with the ultrasonic array.

It may not be a simple project, but it serves as a great basis for your own levitation experiments. Of course, if you want to start smaller, that’s fine too. If you come up with any great levitation breakthroughs of your own, be sure to let us know.