Bringing The Pi Camera Into Focus With LEGO

July 22, 2020 by 6 Comments

Ever since the high-quality camera for the Raspberry Pi was released a few months back it has been the center of attention for many hacks. In this quick build [Martin Mander] shows us how to make a servo-powered focusing mechanism entirely from LEGO.

The inspiration for this project came to him while he was working on his 1979 Merlin Pi Camera and found that setting the focus just right is vital in order to get good quality pictures. So he set himself the goal to build a mechanism that allows him to focus the camera precisely and remotely.

It is the plethora of LEGO-compatible parts that are available off-the-shelf that make such a project possible without the use of any 3D printed components. He not only found a LEGO-compatible continuous rotating servo but also a LEGO-compatible case for the Pi, and a LEGO cogwheel which almost fits exactly onto the camera lens. He also added a tripod mount to the case that allows him to set up the camera anywhere. The camera and focussing mechanism are controlled with a custom GUI based on guizero Python 3 library and the camera can be accessed remotely via VNCViewer.

If you prefer 3D printing over LEGO there are also other stylish Raspi HQ camera builds.

Video after the break.

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CBS Announces Functional Tricorder Replica For 2021

July 22, 2020 by 61 Comments

It’s taken 54 years, but soon, you’ll finally be able to buy a fully-functional version of the tricorder from Star Trek. Announced on the official website for the legendary sci-fi franchise, the replica will be built by The Wand Company, who’ve previously produced a number of high-quality official Star Trek props as well as replicas for Doctor Who and the Fallout game series.

Admittedly, we’re not sure what a “fully-functional tricorder” actually is, mainly because the various on-screen functions of the device were largely driven by whatever bind Kirk and Spock managed to find themselves in that week. But the announcement mentions the ability to scan radio frequencies, pull in dynamic data from environmental sensors, and record audio. The teaser video after the break doesn’t give us any more concrete information than the announcement, but it does seem to confirm that we’ll be viewing said data on the device’s iconic flip-up display.

Now as the regular Hackaday reader knows, fans have been building extremely impressive “functional” tricorders for some time now. Unlike the sleek 24th century versions seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the original tricorder prop was rather clunky and offers plenty of internal volume for modern goodies. Cramming a Raspberry Pi, LCD, and a bunch of sensors into an inert replica is a relatively approachable project. So it will be interesting to see how the official version stacks up to what’s already been done by intrepid hackers and makers.

The official tricorder won’t be available until summer of 2021, but you can sign up to be notified when it’s your turn to beam one up. While the $250 USD sticker price might keep the more casual Trekkers at bay, it’s actually a bit cheaper than we would have assumed given the amount of time and money we’ve seen fans put into their own builds.

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Jan Czochralski And The Silicon Revolution

July 22, 2020 by 39 Comments

If you were to travel back in time to the turn of the previous century and try to convince the average person that the grains of sand on just about any beach would be the basis of an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars within 100 years, they’d probably have thought you were crazy. Aside from being coarse, rough, and irritating, sand is everywhere, and convincing anyone of its value would be a hard sell, unless your interlocutor was a real estate visionary with an appreciation of the future value of seaside property and a lot of patience.

Fast forward to our time, and we all know the value of the material that comes from common quartz sand: silicon, specifically the ultra-purified crystals of silicon that end up as the wafers we depend on to build the circuitry of life. The trip from beach to chip foundry is a long and non-obvious one which would not have been possible without the insights of an undistinguished Polish student and one-time druggist who discovered the process that made the Information Age possible: Jan Czochralski.

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Robot, Sudo Fold My Laundry

July 22, 2020 by 11 Comments

[Ty Palowski] doesn’t like folding his many shirts. He saw one of those boards on TV that supposedly simplifies folding, but it does require you to manually move the board. That just won’t do, so [Ty] motorized it to create a shirt folding robot.

The board idea is nothing new, and probably many people wouldn’t mind the simple operation required, but what else are you going to do with your 3D printer but make motor mounts for a shirt folding machine? The folding board is, of course, too big for 3D printing so he made that part out of cardboard at first and then what looks like foam board.

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The WISE In NEOWISE: How A Hibernating Satellite Awoke To Discover The Comet

July 22, 2020 by 8 Comments

Over the last few weeks the media has been full of talk about NEOWISE, one of the brightest and most spectacular comets to ever pass through our solar system that you can still see if you hurry. While the excitement over this interstellar traveler is more than justified, it’s also an excellent opportunity to celebrate the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope it was named after. The discovery of this particular comet is just the latest triumph in the orbiting observatory’s incredible mission of discovery that’s spanned over a decade, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

In fact, WISE has been operational for so long now that its mission has evolved beyond its original scope. When it was launched in December 2009 from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, its primary mission was scheduled to be completed in less than a year. But like many NASA spacecraft that came before it, WISE achieved its original design goals and found itself ready for a new challenge. Though not before it spent almost three years in hibernation mode as the agency decided what to do with it.

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Pine Made Phones, Laptops, And Now… Soldering Irons?

July 22, 2020 by 37 Comments

The TS100 smart soldering iron may have some new competition. Pine — the people best known for Linux-based phones and laptops — though the world needed another smart soldering iron so they announced the Pinecil — Sort of a knock off of the TS100. It looks like a TS100 and uses the same tips. But it does have some important differences.

It used to be a soldering iron was a pretty simple affair. Plug in one end; don’t touch the other end. But, eventually, things got more complicated and you wanted some way to make it hotter or cooler. Then you wanted the exact temperature with a PID controller. However, until recently, you didn’t care how much processing power your soldering iron had. The TS100 changed that. The smart and portable iron was a game-changer and people not only used it for soldering, but also wrote software to make it do other things. One difference is that the device has a RISC-V CPU. Reportedly, it also has better ergonomics and a USB C connector that allows for UART, I2C, SPI, and USB connections. It also has a very friendly price tag of $24.99.

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BadPower Vulnerability In Fast Chargers Might Make Phones Halt And Catch Fire

July 22, 2020 by 21 Comments

A few days ago, Chinese researchers from technology giant Tencent released a paper outlining a firmware vulnerability in several types of fast charger power bricks (translated). The attack is known as BadPower, and it works by altering the default parameters in the firmware of fast chargers to deliver more power to devices than they can handle, which can cause them to overheat, melt, or catch fire.

The ancient and basic USB charging spec provides 0.5 A at 5 V, which is equal to 2.5 W. In theory, that’s all you’ll ever get from those types of chargers. But the newer generation of chargers are different. When you plug your phone into a fast charger, it negotiates a voltage and charging speed with your phone before passing it any power.

Fast chargers can push power at 20 V or more to speed up the charging process, depending on the charger and connected device. If the phone doesn’t do fast charging, it will default to the 5 V standard. Researchers claim the BadPower attack is capable of harming devices whether or not they include a fast charging feature. When a capable device is connected, the charger will still negotiate for 5V, but instead give 20V and wreak havoc.

In the demo after the break, one of the team uses a malicious device disguised as a phone to push the BadPower firmware change to a fast charger that’s hooked up to a voltmeter. Before the attack, the charger gives 5V. After the attack, it gives 5V for a few seconds before jumping up near 20V. Then they connect the now-dirty charger to two identical illuminated magnifying glasses. In one the chip lets the smoke monster out rather violently, and the chips of the other emit sparks.

The researchers tested 35 of the 200+ fast charging bricks currently on the market and found that 18 of them were vulnerable to BadPower, including 11 that can be exploited through the charging port itself. They believe the issue is fixable with a firmware update.

What is not available is enough information to verify this research, or a list of brands/models that are vulnerable. Researchers say the findings were submitted to the China National Vulnerability Database (CNVD) on March 27th, so the absence of this information may be a product of manufacturers needing more time to patch the vulnerability.

What do you think? We say halfway decent chargers shouldn’t be open to firmware attacks from the devices they are charging. And any halfway decent phone should have built-in electrical protection, right?

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