Hyperloop: Fast, But At What Cost?

December 9, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 162 Comments

When it comes to travelling long distances, Americans tend to rely on planes, while the Chinese and Europeans love their high speed rail. However, a new technology promises greater speed with lower fares, with fancy pods travelling in large tubes held at near-vacuum pressures. It goes by the name of Hyperloop.

Virgin Hyperloop recently ran the first-ever passenger test of a Hyperloop vehicle, reaching 100 mph on a short test track.

Spawned from an “alpha paper” put together by Elon Musk in 2013, the technology is similar to other vactrain systems proposed in the past. Claiming potential top speeds of up to 760 mph, Hyperloop has been touted as a new high-speed solution for inter city travel, beating planes and high speed rail for travel time. Various groups have sprung up around the world to propose potential routes and develop the technology. Virgin Hyperloop are one of the companies at the forefront, being the first to run a pod on their test track with live human passengers, reaching speeds of 100 mph over a short 500 meter run.

It’s an exciting technology with a futuristic bent, but to hit the big time, it needs to beat out all comers on price and practicality. Let’s take a look at how it breaks down.

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Home-Crafting A Motorcycle Throttle Hold

December 8, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 38 Comments

Cruise control is a common feature on automobiles, though less so in the motorcycle market. Given that continual throttle application on long rides can be a real pain in the wrist, many riders long for such a convenience. As a cheat solution, bolt-on locks that hold the throttle at a set position are available, though quality varies and generally they need to be activated by the throttle hand anyway. [Nixie] wanted a solution that would leave the right hand entirely free, and held, rather than locked, the throttle.

The device [Nixie] came up with is essentially a brake that fits inside the throttle handle and holds it in position. This is achieved with a mechanism that presses a pair of small brake shoes into the inside of the throttle, holding it from rotating back to neutral when the rider lets go. The brake is activated by a control on the left handlebar via a Bowden cable, allowing [Nixie] to activate the throttle hold on the highway and use the right hand to check pockets or simply rest.

It’s a tidy build, and [Nixie] does a great job of explaining the various design choices and the intricacies of the Bowden cable actuated mechanism. It’s anything but a one-size-fits-all build, but other enterprising machinists could certainly duplicate the design for other motorcycles without too many problems.

For those interested in more traditional cruise control, we’ve featured a teardown of a simplistic 90s Jeep system before. Video after the break.

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Norway Leads The Charge To Phase Out Internal Combustion; China And The UK To Follow

December 7, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 194 Comments

Climate change promises to cause untold damage across the world if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels for much longer. Despite the wealth of evidence indicating impending doom, governments have done what humans do best, and procrastinated on solving the issue.

However, legislatures around the world are beginning to snap into action. With transportation being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions — 16% of the global total in 2016 — measures are being taken to reduce this figure. With electric cars now a viable reality, many governments are planning to ban the sale of internal combustion vehicles in the coming decades.

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Leaking Data By Ultrasound

December 6, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 19 Comments

Human ears are capable of perceiving frequencies from roughly 20 Hz up to 20 kHz, at least when new. Correspondingly, our audio hardware is designed more or less to target these frequencies. However, there’s often a little extra capability at the upper edges, which [Jacek] shows can be exploited to exfiltrate data.

The hack takes advantage of the fact that most computers can run their soundcards at a sample rate of up to 48 kHz, which thanks to the Nyquist theorem means they can output frequencies up to around 24 kHz — still outside the range of human hearing. Computers and laptops often use small speaker drivers too, which are able to readily generate sound at this frequency. Through the use of a simple Linux shell script, [Jacek] is able to have a laptop output Morse code over ultrasound, and pick it up with nothing more than a laptop’s internal microphone at up to 20 meters away.

[Jacek] enjoys exploring alternative data exfiltration methods; he’s previously experimented with Ethernet leaks on the Raspberry Pi. Of course, with any airgap attack, the real challenge is often getting the remote machine to run the exfiltration script when there’s no existing remote admin access to be had. Video after the break.

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No-Battery Pressure Sensors For Bike Tyres

December 6, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 55 Comments

Finding out you’ve got a flat tyres halfway into a long ride is a frustrating experience for a cyclist. Maintaining the

While the epoxy does a great job of sealing the PCB to the valve extension, the overmoulding process would likely be key to producing a product with shelf-quality fit and finish. This test run was done with 3D printed ABS moulds.

correct tyre pressures is key to a good ride, whether you’re stacking up the miles on the road or tackling tricky single track in the mountains. [CaptMcAllister] has put together a device that makes keeping an eye on your tyres easy.

The device consists of an ultra low power microcontroller from Texas Instruments, paired with a pressure sensor. Set up for Near Field Communication, or NFC, it’s designed to be powered by the smartphone that queries the microcontroller for a reading. We featured a prototype back in 2015 which required mounting the device within the inner tube of the tyre itself. However, this required invasive installation and the devices tended to wear out over time due to flex damaging the delicate copper coil antenna.

The new design consists of the same microcontroller hardware, but mounted in a modified valve extension that fits to the fill valve of the bicycle tyre. The PCB is directly epoxied on to the valve extension, ensuring air can’t leak out over time. The assembly is then overmoulded in an injection moulding process to provide further sealing and protection against the elements. This should help immensely in rough-and-tumble mountain biking applications.

The new device provides a simple screw-on solution for tire pressure monitoring that’s set and forget — no batteries required. [CaptMcAllister] is currently investigating options for a production run, and given the simple design, we imagine it couldn’t be too hard to rattle off a few hundred or thousand units. We could imagine it would also pair well with a microcontroller, NFC reader, and a display setup on the handlebars to give live readings where required. We look forward in earnest to seeing where this project goes next!

Hybrid Respirator Uses Repurposed Filters

December 5, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 15 Comments

With the coronavirus raging worldwide, 2020 has seen major shortages of personal protective equipment impact healthcare workers and individuals alike. This has led many to improvise their own solutions. One of the more complete offerings we’ve seen is this hybrid respirator build from [Ben Howard].

[Ben’s] build goes above and beyond the usual craft project masks. It uses a laser-cut chipboard frame to fit three HEPA filters, originally designed for the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. Two are used for exhalation, while one is used for inhalation. A small blower fan is installed with the intake filter, to provide mild positive pressure when breathing in. The assembly is wrapped up in fabric, using layers of spandex, fleece, and ripstop nylon to provide the best possible seal against the wearer’s face.

It’s a build that should appeal to those who want to breathe cleaner air and also protect others from exhaled particles that can spread respiratory viruses. We’ve seen all kind of masks hit the scene this year; the graphene-impregnated variety is one of the more interesting designs. Still, one can hope that future years lead to less reliance on such measures!

Underwater Drone Faces Trial By Water

December 3, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 7 Comments

Underwater Remote Operated Vehicles, or ROVs as they’re typically known, generally operate by tether. This is due to the poor propagation of radio waves underwater. [Simon] wanted to build such a drone, but elected to go for an alternative design with less strings attached, so to speak. Thus far, there have been challenges along the way. (Video, embedded below.)

The underwater drone uses a 3D printed chassis, replete with googly eyes that go a long way to anthropomorphizing the build. Four motors are used for control, with two for thrust in the horizontal plane and two mounted in the vertical plane for attitude control. This allows the drone to be set up at neutral buoyancy, and moved through the water column with thrust rather than complicated ballast mechanisms. The build aims to eschew tethers, instead using a shorter cable to link to a floating unit which uses radio to communicate with the operator on the shore.

The major struggle facing the build has been sealing the chassis against water ingress. This is where the layered nature of 3D printing is a drawback. Even with several treatments of paint and sealant, [Simon] has been unable to stop water getting inside the drone. Further problems concern the excess amount of ballast required to counteract the drone’s natural buoyancy due to displacement.

Regardless of the struggles, we look forward to seeing the next revision rectify some of the shortcomings of the current build. We’re sure [Simon’s] experience building an electric surfboard will come in handy. Video after the break.

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