3D Printed Linkage Produces Automatic Hacksaw!

April 8, 2016 by 35 Comments

The more tools you have the better. Unfortunately, not everyone has the space, or the money for full-size equipment. Looking to expand his maker capabilities, [Bruno] had the clever idea to turn a hand-tool, into a power tool. One we’ve never even seen before — a powered hacksaw.

Using his 3D printer he designed a linkage system, not unlike a steam locomotive drive to turn rotary motion from a geared motor into linear motion. Not only that, it also angles the hacksaw as it goes. 3D printed brackets hold the hacksaw in place, and weight can be added to the top to adjust the cutting speed. He even 3D printed a guide for his vice to line up the material to where the blade will cut.

It’s a bit slow, but it’s fantastic at making cuts! Continue reading “3D Printed Linkage Produces Automatic Hacksaw!” →

The Most Immersive Pinball Machine: Project Supernova

April 8, 2016 by 30 Comments

Over at [Truthlabs], a 30 year old pinball machine was diagnosed with a major flaw in its game design: It could only entertain one person at a time. [Dan] and his colleagues set out to change this, transforming the ol’ pinball legend “Firepower” into a spectacular, immersive gaming experience worthy of the 21st century.

A major limitation they wanted to overcome was screen size. A projector mounted to the ceiling should turn the entire wall behind the machine into a massive 15-foot playfield for anyone in the room to enjoy.

 

With so much space to fill, the team assembled a visual concept tailored to blend seamlessly with the original storyline of the arcade classic, studying the machine’s artwork and digging deep into the sci-fi archives. They then translated their ideas into 3D graphics utilizing Cinema4D and WebGL along with the usual designer’s toolbox. Lasers and explosions were added, ready to be triggered by game interactions on the machine.

pinnball-ocr-comp

To hook the augmentation into the pinball machine’s own game progress, they elaborated an elegant solution, incorporating OpenCV and OCR, to read all five of the machine’s 7 segment displays from a single webcam. An Arduino inside the machine taps into the numerous mechanical switches and indicator lamps, keeping a Node.js server updated about pressed buttons, hits, the “Lange Change” and plunged balls.

The result is the impressive demonstration of both passion and skill you can see in the video below. We really like the custom shader effects. How could we ever play pinball without them?

Continue reading “The Most Immersive Pinball Machine: Project Supernova” →

EPROM Timer

April 7, 2016 by 29 Comments

[glitch] had a cheap EPROM eraser with very few features. Actually, that might be giving it too much credit: it’s barely more than a UV light that turns on when it’s plugged in and turns off when it’s plugged out unplugged. Of course it would be nice to implement some safety features, so he decided he’d hook it up to a software-controlled power outlet.

Of course, controlling a relay that’s wired to mains is old hat around here, and in fact, we’ve covered [glitch]’s optoisolated mains switch already. He’s gone a little beyond the normal mains relay project with this one, though. Rather than use a microcontroller to run the relay, [glitch] wrote a simple Ruby script on his computer to turn the EPROM eraser on for the precise amount of time that is required to erase the memory.The Ruby script drives the relay control directly over a USB to serial adapter’s RTS handshake pin.

[glitch]’s hack reminds us that if you just need a quick couple bits of slow output, a USB-serial converter might be just the ticket. You could imagine driving everything from standard lamps to your 3D printer’s bed heater (provided you use similar hardware), but it’s especially helpful for [glitch] who claims to forget to turn off the eraser when it’s done its job, which leaves a potentially dangerous UV source just lying about. It’s always a good idea to add safety features to a dangerous piece of equipment!

Put Words In Your Dog’s Mouth With A Talking Dog Collar

April 7, 2016 by 21 Comments

It’s just a little past Halloween, but Adafruit’s talking dog collar, modeled after the movie Up, is still a nice fusion between crafting and hacking.

One reason that Adafruit is so popular is that every time they sell us something, they give us some of the worlds best tutorials and libraries for free. For this project they’re using their Bluetooth LE board and their Audio FX board with a few more mundane vitamins to construct the collar. We’re sure the enterprising hacker could find alternatives if they so choose.

The collar is made of leather and 3D printed props. They went with alkaline batteries rather than lithium, to keep their doggy companion a little safer. All the electronics are hidden under the various props and the wiring is routed behind the belt. To control the app, the different sound bytes are mapped to buttons on their Bluetooth-to-serial phone app.

It’s a good starter tutorial, and the concept applied differently would definitely be good for at least one good prank on a coworker or friend.

 

Red Bricks: Alphabet To Turn Off Revolv’s Lights

April 7, 2016 by 65 Comments

Revolv, the bright red smart home hub famous for its abundance of radio modules, has finally been declared dead by its founders. After a series of acquisitions, Google’s parent company Alphabet has gained control over Revolv’s cloud service – and they are shutting it down.

Customers who bought into Revolv’s vision of a truly connected and automated smart home hub featuring 7 different physical radio modules to connect all their devices will soon become owners of significantly less useful, red bricks due to the complete shutdown of the service on May 15, 2016.
Continue reading “Red Bricks: Alphabet To Turn Off Revolv’s Lights” →

A Look Into The Future Of Slicing

April 7, 2016 by 48 Comments

I’ve had a few conversations over the years with people about the future of 3D printing. One of the topics that arises frequently is the slicer, the software that turns a 3D model into paths for a 3D printer. I thought it would be a good idea to visualize what slicing, and by extension 3D printing, could be. I’ve always been a proponent of just building something, but sometimes it’s very easy to keep polishing the solution we have now rather than looking for and imagining the solutions that could be. Many of the things I’ll mention have been worked on or solved in one context or another, but not blended into a cohesive package.

I believe that fused deposition modelling (FDM), which is the cheapest and most common technology, can produce parts superior to other production techniques if treated properly. It should be possible to produce parts that handle forces in unique ways such  that machining, molding, sintering, and other commonly implemented methods will have a hard time competing with in many applications.

Re-envisioning the slicer is no small task, so I’m going to tackle it in three articles. Part One, here, will cover the improvements yet to be had with the 2D and layer height model of slicing. It is the first and most accessible avenue for improvement in slicing technologies. It will require new software to be written but does not dramatically affect the current construction of 3D printers today. It should translate to every printer currently operating without even a firmware change.

Part Two will involve making mechanical changes to the printer: multiple materials, temperatures, and nozzle sizes at least. The slicer will need to work with the printer’s new capabilities to take full advantage of them.

Finally, in Part Three, we’ll consider adding more axes. A five axis 3D printer with advanced software, differing nozzle geometries, and multi material capabilities will be able to produce parts of significantly reduced weight while incorporating internal features exceeding our current composites in many ways. Five axis paths begin to allow for weaving techniques and advanced “grain” in the layers put down by the 3D printer.

Continue reading “A Look Into The Future Of Slicing” →

Hackaday World Create Day: April 23rd

April 7, 2016 by 14 Comments

It’s time to get out and have some fun with other Hackaday people in your area and we have the perfect opportunity. Be part of Hackaday World Create Day on Saturday, April 23rd. This is all about meeting others for an afternoon of creativity.  You might even find your engineering dream team! As part of World Create Day you’ll and brainstorm an amazing creation and connect with the people in your area that round out your own skills (electrical, mechanical, design, etc.).

This is the first ever worldwide event Hackaday has organized, and it’s made possible by all of the people who volunteered to organize a Hackaday Meetup in their area. We have heard from more than 100 of you so far and [Liz Krane] has done an amazing job following up with each organizer to get everything set up. You can still sign up to host (or co-host) and use the map to join a meetup already organized in your area.

We’re just getting started but the first added are in Ottawa Canada, Lagos Nigeria, Lynchburg, Virginia, and Puducherrry, India. We have more on the way in Malaysia, Greece, South Africa, India, Cyprus, New Zealand, France, Mexico, China, and many locations in the USA.

We’re sending out World Create Day sticker packs — created by [Joe Kim] and [Michael Guilfoil] — as fast as we can set up the Meetup pages. We will be on the lookout for Hackaday Meetups and World Create Day projects to feature right here on the Hackaday front page. Carve out 4/23 from your calendar and get excited, you don’t want to miss this!