Don’t Miss Watching This Solar Eclipse High Altitude Balloon Online

August 20, 2017 by 8 Comments

[Dan Julio] let us know about an exciting project that he and his team are working on at the Solid State Depot Makerspace in Boulder: the Solar Eclipse High Altitude Balloon. Weighing in at 1 kg and bristling with a variety of cameras, the balloon aims to catch whatever images are able to be had during the solar eclipse. The balloon’s position should be trackable on the web during its flight, and some downloaded images should be available as well. Links for all of that are available from the project’s page.

High altitude balloons are getting more common as a platform for gathering data and doing experiments; an embedded data recorder for balloons was even an entry for the 2016 Hackaday Prize.

If all goes well and the balloon is able to be recovered, better images and video will follow. If not, then at least a post-mortem of what the team thinks went wrong will be posted. Launch time in Wyoming is approximately 10:40 am Mountain Time (UTC -07:00) Mountain Daylight Time (UTC -06:00) on Aug 21 2017, so set your alarm!

A Digital LCD Makeover For An Analogue CRT Spectrum Analyser

August 20, 2017 by 9 Comments

[Seb Holzapfel, VK2SEB] has a rather nice spectrum analyser, a Hewlett Packard 141T. It’s an entirely analogue instrument though, so it lacks some of the sophisticated features you might expect to see on its modern counterparts.

One feature the HP does have is a vertical deflection output that in effect allows the trace to be reproduced on an oscilloscope. [Seb] has taken that and applied it to an STM32F746 Discovery board with its associated LCD touchscreen to produce an interface for the HP that includes modern features such as trace normalisation and a waterfall view. Along the way he’s had to make a voltage level converter to render the HP’s scan output into a range acceptable for the ST board.

He goes into detail on his software for the project, which he is at pains to remind us is still very much a work in progress. He notes that the HP has a range of other outputs (on those “D” sockets that include co-axial connectors) that provide information about its band and scan settings, so there is ample possibility for further customisation.

If you are interested in this project then the code is all available via GitHub, otherwise you can watch his video below the break. He’s labelled it as “Part 1”, so we look forward to more on this project.

Continue reading “A Digital LCD Makeover For An Analogue CRT Spectrum Analyser” →

How To Eclipse When All You Have Is A Welding Helmet

August 20, 2017 by 86 Comments

What do you do if you don’t trust cheap eclipse-watching glasses from the internet? What about if everyone’s sold out? Well, if you want to watch the eclipse and you have an auto-darkening welding helmet, you can do what [daniel_reetz] did and hack something together with a remote and your welding helmet to let you see the eclipse without blinding yourself.

Essentially, the hack tricks the helmet’s sensors into thinking it’s very bright. [Daniel_reetz] accomplishes this by gluing a remote with an infrared LED to the side of the helmet and covering it with a 50mm plastic lid. There are two sensors on [daniel_reetz]’s helmet, so he covers the other one with aluminum tape. What this means is that when he presses a button on the remote, the lid-covered sensor thinks it’s very bright out and since the other sensor is covered, it darkens the lens of the mask.

I’m sure some of our readers could come up with a more sophisticated method that would allow you to do something other with your hand than press the remote buttons, but this is a quick and easy hack that’ll get you able to take a quick look at the eclipse – assuming you have a welding mask capable of shading to level 13 or 14. If you are hoping to catch a glimpse of the eclipse, check out the safety guide from NASA just to make sure your eyes are safe. For another method of viewing the eclipse, check out this wearable pinhole camera. For another welding mask hack, check out this augmented reality mask.

Continue reading “How To Eclipse When All You Have Is A Welding Helmet” →

Analysing 3D Printer Songs For Hacks

August 20, 2017 by 8 Comments

3D printers have become indispensable in industry sectors such as biomedical and manufacturing, and are deployed as what is termed as a 3D print farm. They help reduce production costs as well as time-to-market. However, a hacker with access to these manufacturing banks can introduce defects such as microfractures and holes that are intended to compromise the quality of the printed component.

Researchers at the Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Georgia Institute of Technology have published a study on cyber physical attacks and their detection techniques. By monitoring the movement of the extruder using sensors, monitored sounds made by the printer via microphones and finally using structural imaging, they were able to audit the printing process.

A lot of studies have popped up in the last year or so including papers discussing remote data exfiltration on Makerbots that talk about the type of defects introduced. In a paper by [Belikovetsky, S. et al] titled ‘dr0wned‘, such an attack was documented which allowed a compromised 3D printed propeller to crash a UAV. In a follow-up paper, they demonstrated Digital Audio Signing to thwart Cyber-physical attacks. Check out the video below.

In this new study, the attack is identified by using not only the sound of the stepper motors but also the movement of the extruder. After the part has been manufactured, a CT scan ensures the integrity of the part thereby completing the audit.

Disconnected printers and private networks may be the way to go however automation requires connectivity and is the foundation for a lot of online 3D printing services. The universe of Skynet and Terminators may not be far-fetched either if you consider ambitious projects such as this 3D printed BLDC motor. For now, learn to listen to your 3D printer’s song. She may be telling you a story you should hear.

Thanks for the tip [Qes] Continue reading “Analysing 3D Printer Songs For Hacks” →

Stun Gun Vs 220v Mains Electricity

August 19, 2017 by 20 Comments

Those fearless Ukrainians are at it again! This time around they’re giving wall outlets some high voltage stun gun shocks and observing the results, as [Kreosan] decided to see what would happen when you use a stun gun on mains electrical sockets. Surprisingly, they are still alive and well, and creating more videos. .

Shocking a light switch blew up some light bulbs, while shocking an extension cord with a TV plugged in blew the TV up. It seems these guys never run out of appliances to fry, or totally insane experiments to try out that no one else would really have the stomach for.

Although their experiments are on the extreme side of things they do know what they are doing, as they are electrical professionals, So maybe sit this one out unless you too really know what you are doing and understand the risks. The video is below the break for your enjoyment.

We have featured some of their equally scary hacks in the past, like mains voltage EL wire and wirelessly charging your phone from high voltage overhead power lines.

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Embiggen Your Eclipse 2017 Experience With A Sun Funnel

August 19, 2017 by 7 Comments

As exciting as Eclipse 2017 is going to be this Monday, for some folks it might appear a bit — underwhelming. Our star only occupies about half a degree of the sky, and looking at the partial phase with eclipse glasses might leave you yearning for a bigger image. If that’s you, you’ll need to build a sun funnel for super-sized eclipse fun.

[Grady] at Practical Engineering is not going to be lucky enough to be within the path of totality, but he is going to be watching the eclipse with a bunch of school kids. Rather than just outfitting his telescope with a filter and having the kids queue up for a quick peek, he built what amounts to a projection screen for the telescope’s eyepiece. It’s just a long funnel, and while [Grady] chose aluminum and rivets, almost any light, stiff material will do. He provides a formula for figuring out how long the funnel needs to be for your scope, along with plans for laying out the funnel. We have to take exception with his choice of screen material — it seems like the texture of the translucent shower curtain might interfere with the image a bit. But still, the results look pretty good in the video below.

Eclipse 2017 is almost here! How are you planning to enjoy this celestial alignment? By proving Einstein right? By studying radio propagation changes? Or just by wearing a box on your head? Sound off in the comments.

Continue reading “Embiggen Your Eclipse 2017 Experience With A Sun Funnel” →

Make A Badge When There Is No Badge Yet

August 19, 2017 by 10 Comments

What do you do when your keenly anticipated hacker camp releases details of its upcoming badge and you really want to have a go at coding for it, but there are no badges for you to try yet? If you are [Artdanion], this is not a problem, you simply build your own.

He found his requirement to interface with genuine hardware exceeded the abilities of the emulator that the SHACamp 2017 badge team had thoughtfully provided, so he reached for breakout boards for the ESP32, the MPR121 touch sensor, and the e-ink display, and assembled his own clone on a piece of stripboard. Not only did it provide him with enough to develop his own apps, he found when he brought it to the event that the public release of the official firmware ran on it with only a few configuration tweaks. He had an official event badge, that wasn’t the event badge. Is this the first time this has been done? We think it might be.

The home-made badge is an impressive piece of work, but it ties into an observation we made at the end of our review of the official version of the SHA2017 badge. The use of an ESP32 with well-designed peripherals and a solid firmware means that this is a design that is likely to form the bedrock upon which some future badges are built. [Artdanion] has proved how straightforward it is to clone, we’d like to be so bold as to make the prediction that we’ll see more developments of this platform at future events. Meanwhile this home-made badge is a neat achievement, and we can only imagine the surprise of the SHA2017 badge team on being presented with a clone of their work for reflashing.