Hacker Hotel 2023 Had A Very Cool Badge

March 10, 2023 by 8 Comments

One effect of the global pandemic was that there were relatively few events in our sphere for a couple of years. This and that other by-product of COVID-19, the chip shortage, meant that over the past year we’ve been treated to several event badges that should have appeared in 2020 or 2021, but didn’t due to those cancelled events. We were lucky enough to receive probably the last of these delayed badges in mid February, as we made the journey to the central part of the Netherlands to Hacker Hotel 2023.

A Puzzle, A 4-Bit Computer, And An Artwork

The badge takes the form of a rectangular PCB with all parts on the top side. The brains of the operation is an RP2040, and it’s powered by a CR2032 coin cell in a holder.  It’s divided into two parts, the top third which carries the circuitry and the lower two thirds of which as a row of buttons and LEDs. It’s pretty obvious from the start that it has data and address lines of a 4-bit computer, and as well as these there is an evident serial port and a USB socket. The artwork comes form the same artist whose work graced both the previous Hacker Hotel badge and the MCH2022 badge, and the rear of the PCB makes full use of all layers to create a mystical puzzle. The sum is to create a puzzle game intended to entertain the visitor, take them round the venue, and find clues to an eventual solution. I love the design both from an artistic and technical viewpoint, but have to admit that the puzzle aspect isn’t really my thing. Thus here we’ll concentrate on the badge hardware and production, and mention the puzzles only in passing. Continue reading “Hacker Hotel 2023 Had A Very Cool Badge” →

Cornell Updates Their MCU Course For The RP2040

March 10, 2023 by 16 Comments

The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University has made [Bruce Land]’s lectures and materials for the Designing with Microcontrollers (ECE 4760) course available for many years. But recently [Bruce], who semi-retired in 2020, and the new lecturer [Hunter Adams] have reworked the course and labs to use the Raspberry Pi Pico. You can see the introductory lecture of the reworked class below.

Not only are the videos available online, but the class’s GitHub repository hosts extensive and well-documented examples, lecture notes, and helpful links. If you want to get started with RP2040 programming, or just want to dig deeper into a particular technique, this is a great place to start.

From what we can tell, this is the third overhaul of the class this century. Back in 2012 the course was using the ATmega1284 AVR microcontroller, and in 2015 it switched to the Microstick II using a Microchip PIC32MX. Not only were these lecture series also available free online, but each has been maintained as reference after being replaced. One common thread with all of these platforms is their low cost of entry. Assuming you already have a computer, setting up the hardware and software development environment for these modules costs less than the price of a pizza dinner, a fact no doubt appreciated by the ECE department’s budget director.

We’ve covered this course before back in 2015 when it first changed. Another free online course on embedded system design is from [Prof James Conrad] at UNC Charlotte, based on the Renasas RX63N microcontroller — the UNC Charlotte team drove development of the autonomous vehicle project we covered back in 2009. If you know of other online embedded systems classes, let us know in the comments below.

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A Tape Loop Echo You Can Build

March 10, 2023 by 18 Comments

Echo and reverb are now electronic audio effects done in a computer or an integrated circuit, but originally they were achieved through mechanical means. Reverb units used springs, and echo units used loops of magnetic tape. As a musician hankering after a mechanical tape echo unit, [Adam Paul] was left with no choice but to build his own. We featured an early prototype, but now he’s back with a finished version that’s intended to be replicated by other musicians.

The unit takes a cassette mechanism from one of the last still-manufactured players available through the usual sources. It splits record and play heads, with the normal cassette replaced with a tape loop made from extra-thick computer tape. A custom PCB replaces most of the electronics, and the auto-reverse system is disabled.

The result is a functional tape echo system, as can be seen in the video below the break. This is ready to build yourself, with everything on a GitHub repository and an extremely comprehensive build guide, so do any of you fancy a go?

Read about the device’s earlier incarnation here.

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Videos Teach Bare Metal RP2040

March 9, 2023 by 31 Comments

When we write about retrocomputers, we realize that back in the day, people knew all the details of their computer. You had to, really, if you wanted to get anything done. These days, we more often pick peripherals and just assume our C or other high level code will fit and run on the CPU.

But sometimes you need to get down to the bare metal and if your desire is to use bare metal on the RP2040, [Will Thomas] has a YouTube channel to help you. The first video explains why you might want to do this followed by some simple examples. Then you’ll find over a dozen other videos that give you details.

Any video that starts, “Alright, Monday night. I have no friends. It is officially bare metal hours,” deserves your viewing. Of course, you have to start with the traditional blinking LED. But subsequent videos talk about the second core, GPIO, clocks, SRAM, spinlocks, the UART, and plenty more.

As you might expect, the code is all in assembly. But even if you want to program using C without the SDK, the examples will be invaluable. We like assembly — it is like working an intricate puzzle and getting anything to work is satisfying. We get it. But commercially, it rarely makes sense to use assembly anymore. On the other hand, when you need it, you really need it. Besides, we all do things for fun that don’t make sense commercially.

We like assembly, especially on platforms where most people don’t use it. Tackling it on a modern CPU is daunting, but if you want to have a go, we know someone who can help.

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Physics-Controlled Component Auto-Placer

March 9, 2023 by 9 Comments

[Jarrett] recently stumbled upon a class of drawing algorithms called force-directed graphs, which artificially apply forces to the elements. The final graph is then generated by applying the laws of physics and letting the system reach equilibrium. This can often result in a pleasing presentation of things like mind maps and other diagrams without having to hand-place everything. He realized that this approach almost mimics the way he places components when doing a PCB layout. Out of curiosity or intense boredom, we’re not sure which, he decided to implement this in a tool that interacts with KiCad ( see animated GIF below the break ).

He has to ignore certain nets such as power and ground rails, because they distort the result. This simulation treats the nets as springs, and the center of each footprint behaves a charged particle. [Jarrett] added a twist, literally, to the usual implementations — each net pulls on its pin, not the part center, and therefore the chips will both rotate and be pushed around as the system stabilizes.

The results are sometimes quite striking. Useful? Dubious, but maybe!

The project code is up on GitHub, but is very experimental and he is unlikely to carry it further. Among the missing features, the Python code must be tweaked for each different netlist files and other parameters, and there is no way to feed the result back into KiCad. But this is enough for [Jarrett], who only set out to see if the concept was possible. The code is available if anyone wants to try their hand at taking this to the next level.

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Power Tool Battery Fume Extractor

March 9, 2023 by 19 Comments

A solder fume extractor is something we could probably all use. While there isn’t much to them, [Steven Bennett] put a lot of thought into making one that was better for him, and we admired his design process, as well as the extractor fan itself. You can see the finished result in the video below.

The electrical design, of course, is trivial. A computer fan, a switch, and a battery — in this case, a Makita power tool battery. But the Fusion 360 design for the 3D printed parts got a lot of thought to make this one of the best fume extractor fans we’ve seen.

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A Guided Tour Of The NES

March 9, 2023 by 9 Comments

No matter your age or background, there’s an excellent chance you’ll recognize the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) at first glance. The iconic 8-bit system not only revitalized the gaming industry, but helped to establish the “blueprint” of console gaming for decades to come. It’s a machine so legendary and transformative that even today, it enjoys a considerable following. Some appreciate the more austere approach to gaming from a bygone era, while others are fascinated with the functional aspects of console.

The NesHacker YouTube channel is an excellent example of that latter group. Host [Ryan] explores the ins and outs of the NES as a platform, with a leaning towards the software techniques used to push the system’s 6502 processor to the limits. Even if you aren’t terribly interested in gaming, the videos on assembly programming and optimization are well worth a watch for anyone writing code for vintage hardware.

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