how-to

887 Articles

Hardware hacking how-tos

Second Life UPS Mark II: A UPS For Low-Voltage DC Applications

December 17, 2023 by 17 Comments

When you have a whole stack of devices and appliances that all have an AC to DC adapter and which you’d like to put on an uninterruptable power supply (UPS), you could do the obvious thing and get an off-the-shelf UPS with myriad AC outputs. In the case of a 19″ rack this means wrangling a power strip or two and any combination of differently sized AC/DC adapters into the rack, with questionable efficiency and waste heat dumped into the rack. This is where a DC-only UPS like [Maciej Grela]’s Second Life UPS Mark II provides an interesting alternative.

At its core it’s a pretty simple concept: A single 400Watt power supply handles the AC/DC conversion from mains to 24 VDC, which feeds the battery charger as well as the outputs. These outputs include 5 VDC, 12 VDC and Vrail, with the latter being either the output from the PSU, or the battery voltage. In case of AC power failure, an LT4416 dual power path controller handles the switch-over from the PSU output to the internal batteries. In the article, [Maciej] covers how the buck modules for the 12 & 5 VDC rails were sized, along with the conversion of an old rack-mounted network switch into a UPS. Continue reading “Second Life UPS Mark II: A UPS For Low-Voltage DC Applications” →

Hacker Tactic: Internal ESD Diode Probing

December 14, 2023 by 15 Comments

Humans are walking high voltage generators, due to all the friction with our surroundings, wide variety of synthetic clothes, and the overall ever-present static charges. Our electronics are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), and often they’re sensitive in a way most infuriating – causing spurious errors and lockups. Is there a wacky error in your design that will repeat in the next batch, or did you just accidentally zap a GPIO? You wouldn’t know until you meticulously check the design, or maybe it’s possible for you to grab another board.

Thankfully, in modern-day Western climates and with modern tech, you are not likely to encounter ESD-caused problems, but they were way more prominent back in the day. For instance, older hackers will have stories of how FETs were more sensitive, and touching the gate pin mindlessly could kill the FET you’re working with. Now, we’ve fixed this problem, in large part because we have added ESD-protective diodes inside the active components most affected.

These diodes don’t just help against ESD – they’re a general safety measure for protecting IC and transistor pins, and they also might help avoid damaging IC pins if you mix. They also might lead to funny and unexpected results, like parts of your circuit powering when you don’t expect them to! However, there’s an awesome thing that not that many hackers know — they let you debug and repair your circuits in a way you might not have imagined.

Continue reading “Hacker Tactic: Internal ESD Diode Probing” →

How To Talk To Your Scope

November 21, 2023 by 21 Comments

It used to be only high-end test equipment that had some sort of remote control port. These days, though, they are quite common. Historically, test gear used IEEE-488 (also known as GPIB or, from the originator, HPIB). But today, your device will likely talk over a USB port, a serial port, or a LAN connection. You’d think that every instrument had unique quirks, and controlling it would be nothing like controlling another piece of gear, especially one from another company. That would be half right. Each vendor and even model indeed has its unique command language. There has been a significant effort to standardize some aspects of test instrument control, and you can quickly write code to control things on any platform using many different programming languages. In a few posts, I will show you just how easy it can be.

The key is to use VISA. This protocol is defined by the IVI Foundation that lets you talk to instruments regardless of how they communicate. You do have to build an address that tells the VISA library how to find your device. For example: “TCPIP::192.168.1.92::INSTR.” But once you have that, it is easy to talk to any instrument anywhere.

I say that thinking it is a problem is half right because talking to the box is one task of the two you need to complete. The other is what to say to the box and what it will say back to you. There are a few standards in this area, but this is where you get into problems. Continue reading “How To Talk To Your Scope” →

Lessons Learned: Plastic Injection Molding For Products

October 14, 2023 by 23 Comments

Injection molding is one of the technologies that makes the world go round. But what does it actually look like to go through the whole process to get a part made? [Achim Haug] wrote up a blog post that does a fantastic job of explaining what to expect when getting plastic enclosures injection molded in China.

These air quality monitors required a two-part enclosure.

Injection molding a part requires making a custom mold, which is then used by an injection molding machine in a shop to crank out parts. These are two separate jobs, but in China the typical business model is for a supplier to quote a price for both the mold as well as the part production. [Achim] describes not only what navigating that whole process was like, but also goes into detail on what important lessons were learned and shares important tips.

One of the biggest takeaways is to design the part with injection molding in mind right from the start. That means things like avoiding undercuts and changes in part thickness, as well as thinking about where the inevitable mold line will end up.

[Achim] found that hiring a been-there-done-that mold expert as a consultant to review things was a huge help, and well worth the money. As with any serious engineering undertaking, apparently small features or changes can have an outsized impact on costs, and an expert can recognize and navigate those.

In the end, [Achim] says that getting their air quality monitor enclosures injection molded was a great experience and they are very happy with the results, so long as one is willing to put the work in up front. Once the mold has been made, downstream changes can be very costly to make.

[Achim]’s beginning-to-end overview is bound to be useful to anyone looking to actually navigate the process, and we have a few other resources to point you to if you’re curious to learn more. There are basic design concerns to keep in mind when designing parts to make moving to injection molding easier. Some injection molding techniques have even proven useful for 3D printing, such as using crush ribs to accommodate inserted hardware like bearings. Finally, shadow lines can help give an enclosure a consistent look, while helping to conceal mold lines.

Making A Concrete Sign

October 14, 2023 by 18 Comments

While paging through the feed a few days ago our attention was caught by something a little away from the ordinary in Hackaday terms, a DIY video about creating cast concrete signage from [Proper DIY] which we’ve placed below the break. A deceptively easy-looking mould-making process has a few tricks that  will make the difference between a hard-wearing sign that lasts for years, and a lump of concrete.

So, to make a cast concrete sign, you throw together a mould with some letters, and chuck in some concrete? Not so fast, because the key appears to be preparation, and ensuring that there are no 90-degree corners on the mould parts. The letters are carefully shaped and sealed with varnish before being attached to the mould with silicone adhesive, and all the corners are beveled. Finally a light oil is used as a release agent, and hefty vibration takes care of any air bubbles.

The result is a set of signs, but we can see these techniques finding uses outside signage. For example, how about casting using a 3D printed mould?

Continue reading “Making A Concrete Sign” →

A Buzzing, Flashing Phone Ringer For The Elderly

October 11, 2023 by 8 Comments

For a lonely person, elderly or otherwise, the sound of a ringing phone can be music to the ears, unless of course it’s another spam call. But what good is a phone when you can’t hear it well enough to answer?

[Giovanni Aggiustatutto] was tasked with building an additional ringer for a set of cordless landline phones belonging to an elderly friend. Rather than try to intercept the signal, [Giovanni] chose to simply mic up the phone base that’s connected to the phone port on the router and send a signal over Wi-Fi to a second box which has a loud piezo buzzer and a handful of LEDs.

At the heart of this build is a pair of ESP8266 Wemos D1 minis and an Arduino sound sensor module inside a pair of really nice-looking 3D printed boxen that may or may not have been inspired by an IKEA air quality sensor. On the receiving side, a green LED indicates the system is working, and the red LEDs flash as soon as a call comes in.

All the code, schematics, and STL files are available for this build, and between the Instructable and the build video after the break, you should have no trouble replicating it for the hard-of-hearing in your life.

Continue reading “A Buzzing, Flashing Phone Ringer For The Elderly” →

Polish Up Your Product With Graphic Overlays

October 8, 2023 by 17 Comments

[Kevin Hunckler] recently did some in-house manufacturing for a product and shared his experiences in adding high-quality custom graphic overlays or acrylic panels to give the finished units a professional look. The results look great and were easy to apply, making his product more attractive without needing much assembly work.

A graphic overlay with transparent areas, a cutout, and adhesive backing to fit an off-the-shelf Hammond enclosure.

Sadly, when doing initial research he was disappointed to find very little information on the whole process. While in the end it isn’t terribly complex, it still involved a lot of trial and error before he zeroed in on what the suppliers in the industry expect. Fortunately, everything can be done with tools most hackers probably already have access to.

The process seems to us somewhat reminiscent of having PCBs manufactured. One defines the product housing, outlines the overlay, creates the artwork, defines an adhesive layer, and makes a design document explaining each layer and important feature. [Kevin] provides examples of his work, one of which fits an off-the-shelf Hammond enclosure.

Professionally-made acrylic panels or graphic overlays is something worth keeping in mind for hobbyists and those who might engage in desktop manufacturing, as long as the costs are acceptable. Rather like PCBs, costs go down as quantities go up. [Kevin]’s 50 mm x 50 mm overlay cost about 1 USD each in quantity 200, but only 0.50 USD each when buying 500.

These may be great for low or middling quantities, but that doesn’t mean one is out of options for prototypes or micro quantities. We have seen fantastic results adding full-color images to 3D prints, and even using a 3D printer to draw labels directly onto prints.