Surviving The FAA Regulations: Modelers Move Indoors

January 8, 2016 by 46 Comments

New FAA rules are making radio-controlled aircraft a rough hobby to enjoy here in the USA. Not only are the new drone enthusiasts curtailed, but the classic radio-controlled modelers are being affected as well. Everyone has to register, and for those living within 30 miles of Washington DC, flying of any sort has been effectively shut down. All’s not lost though. There is plenty of flying which can be done outside of the watchful eye of the FAA. All it takes is looking indoors.

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The Smallest MIDI Synthesizer?

January 8, 2016 by 32 Comments

Dang. [Mixtela] has just managed a seriously cool hack: running an entire MIDI synthesizer on an ATTiny85 to create what he claims is the worlds smallest MIDI synthesizer. That’s it on the left, next to a standard MIDI cable plug. microMidi3-guts-thumbThe whole thing is so small it fits inside a MIDI plug and can run off the power supplied by the MIDI output, driving a small pizeo buzzer. Considering that the ATTiny85 has just 8Kb of memory and 512 bytes of RAM, this is no small feat (get it?). To create the sound, [Mixtela] simply drives the buzzer with PWMed square waves, creating the glorious early chiptunes sound that every retro gamer will recognize.

He even decided to implement some MIDI commands beyond just playing notes, including pitch bending, and is considering ways to add polyphony to his small miracle. Sure, it isn’t going to win any awards for sound quality, and without optoisolators it doesn’t really fit the MIDI spec. But it works, and remember that MIDI synthesizers used to be big, expensive devices that required a degree in sound engineering to program. Now, thanks to hackers like [Mixtela], you can build your own from parts that cost only a couple of dollars.

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Add Seinfeld Bass Riffs To Any Doorway

January 8, 2016 by 19 Comments

It’s not the most involved hack we’ve seen this week, but it’s definitely creative and made us laugh. [Grant] and some friends were joking around about how cool it would be to have sitcom-style entry music fire off every time someone came in through a door, but in real life. You know, like everyone wants to have their own theme music? This is the same idea, but the Seinfeld equivalent. (Video embedded below the break.)

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A few simple parts later (Arduino, MP3 shield, magnetic door reed switch) and a tiny bit of code to randomize which bass riff plays, and it’s a done deal. Like we said, it’s not rocket science, but it’s a humorous addition to what looks like a well-stocked game room. (Is that a Joust console we see?)

For even greater comic effect, why not add Seinfeld bass riffs to your skateboard ramps?

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Conductive Silicone Makes Flexible Circuits

January 7, 2016 by 46 Comments

Flexible circuits and wearables seem to be all the rage these days. We’ve got conductive paint, glue, and even thread. So how about conductive silicone? Well, as it turns out — it’s not that hard to make.

[Andrew Quitmeyer] has been researching flexible circuits for a while now, and recently stumbled upon an expired patent for flexible ignition cables, using carbon fibers mixed with a conductive silicone. He started playing around with it, and discovered that by dissolving pieces of carbon fiber in rubbing alcohol, letting it dry, and then mixing it into a 2-part silicone you get pretty good electrical conductivity. In fact, in the range of 40-150ohms, which is actually pretty darn impressive!

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Simple Solar Mason-Jar Lights

January 7, 2016 by 12 Comments

[Michael Mogenson] built Firefly Jar – a simple circuit to light up firefly_jar_01flickering LEDs inside a standard Mason Jar, to give away to friends and family for the holidays. Given it’s simplicity and through-hole design, it’s an ideal project for a “learn to solder” class or for those wanting to get started with building some really simple electronics. There’s just a handful of parts and putting it together shouldn’t take long. Given that he’s made available all of the source design files, it should be easy for others to spin off the project.

A 55mm solar cell fits on top of the 63.5mm diameter PCB, which in turn fits perfectly in a standard Mason Jar with a collar lid. When in the light, the solar cell charges two 1.2V NiMH batteries. This also switches off the P-channel MOSFET, turning the LED’s off. The LED’s are turned on only when the solar cell voltage is low and the Ni-Mh batteries are charged. A 2.1V LDO directly drives the two LEDs with built-in flickering circuits, eliminating the need for any further parts. Check out the video of the Firefly Jar below.

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Raspberry Pi Zero – Programming Over USB

Raspberry Pi Zero – Turning The Pi Into A USB Gadget, Over USB

January 7, 2016 by 18 Comments

[gbaman] has figured out a simpler way to program the new Raspberry Pi Zero over USB without modifying the board. Why is this useful? One example which appealed to us was setting the Zero’s USB port up as a mass storage device. Imagine plugging in your Pi powered robot, dragging and dropping a Python script into the mass storage device that shows up, and pressing a button on the robot to run the new script. Pretty fancy for $5.00.

You can get the PI to emulate a whole range of devices from a USB MIDI controller to a simple USB serial interface. We’re excited to see what uses people come up with. Unfortunately the Pi Zero is still out of stock most everywhere as we wait for the next production run to finish. Though if you’ve got one, why not check out a few of our thoughts and experiences with the device!

[gbaman] based his work off the work done by [Dave-0] and others over at the Raspberry Pi forums. [LadyAda] also has a version of this hack, which we covered, that involves soldering a header to the pi and using a UART adapter.

[via Hacker News]

SpacewΛr Comes To Life From Bonus Formlabs Printer Parts

January 7, 2016 by 13 Comments

What might you do with a few extra stereolithographic 3D printer parts? Why not make a galvo display and resurrect a couple of classic vector graphic games of yore? That’s exactly what [Matt] did. With a few extra Formlabs components and a Haskell implementation of Spacewar, [Matt] can kick back and blast his extraterrestrial foes on the surface of his Formlabs cover.

[Matt’s] source code drives the Form 2 controller board to output laser graphics on the surface of a Form 1 case. These parts might be a commodity for this Formlabs Engineer, but the output is nothing short of spectacular, given the game and USB drivers were put together from scratch. In case you want to give the Haskell source code a try, [Matt’s] kindly included an alternative software-only display using OpenGL.

Unless you’ve just upgraded from Form 1 to Form 2, odds are pretty low that you can pull this one off without breaking either your printer or your wallet. Fortunately, [Alvaro] has paved the way with a stellar galvanometer display that began as a few parts from eBay. At last! Once our Formlab printer warranties expire, we’ll know where to start looking for parts for that mosquito killer we needed.

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