Multitool Alarm System

February 9, 2011 by Mike Szczys 44 Comments

Here’s a way to make sure you don’t leave your Leatherman multitool somewhere. It’s an alarm system that will start a timer when the tool is removed from the holster. After five minutes the module beeps to remind you to put the tool back where it belongs. Annoying? Possibly, but if you’re not done with your work just press the ~~reed~~ leaf switch on the module to reset the timer. A PIC 12F683 handles the timing and generates the waveform for the piezo buzzer. Perhaps this could have been accomplished with a dual 555 chip like the LM556 (one timer for the countdown and another for the piezo waveform) but the PIC has power-down modes available that should make the button batteries last a long time.

Ossmann Talks About Ubertooth At Schmoocon

February 9, 2011 by Mike Szczys 9 Comments

[Michael Ossmann’s] talk from Schmoocon about his open source Bluetooth test tool called Ubertooth is now available to watch online. The video really fills in the gaps from the first time we looked at the project, as he covers why he took on the challenge, and what has happened since. He talks about how his work with the IM-ME helped in choosing hardware along the way, and the choices he made while developing the USB dongle. His hardware considerations included parts that didn’t require a nondisclosure agreement (keeping it open source) and that were available in single quantities so that individuals could build and populate their own boards quite easily.

We’ve embedded the talk after the break. The project is coming along great, and his Kickstart funds have almost doubled the original goal.

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Logisim: Open Source Digital Logic Simulator

February 9, 2011 by Mike Szczys 28 Comments

[Spi Waterwing] wrote in to make sure that we were aware of Logisim, a Java-based open source digital logic simulator. We’ve used Atanua quite a bit in the past but hadn’t heard of this program. It seems to have a pretty big educational following and right off the bat it’s got a feature we’ve always wanted, the ability to build your own ‘black box’ logic devices. That is to say you can build your own circuit out of logic gates and then package it into a part to be plopped into your next design. What it doesn’t have is the series logic chips that we’re used to with Atanua, but you can build your own with the black box feature if you really need that kind of functionality.

So grab a copy and try building that binary calculator project from last month.

Mixed I/O Testing Module

February 8, 2011 by Mike Szczys 7 Comments

Needing to test the display interface for a multitude of different sensors [Fileark] built himself this analog and digital input/output simulator. Along the bottom is a double row of trimpots that adjust analog voltages. Each voltage is measured by the Arduino inside and its value is displayed on the graphic LCD screen to confirm that the hardware you’re testing is making correct measurements. There’s also digital I/O in two different forms. To the upper left are momentary push buttons but the DIP switch bank below that allows the same connections to be toggled on and off. It’s not an automated test bed, but if you’ve got a lot of I/O, or a lot of hardware to test this will save you some real time.

Don’t miss the demonstration video after the break.

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Rotary Wall Plug From Scrap

February 7, 2011 by James Munns 7 Comments

Rotary tools such as a Dremel are useful to have around for all sorts of tasks in a workshop, including cutting, polishing, and grinding. [Konstantin] sent us in his home made wall mount rotary tool based off of parts from a blender and an old bench top jigsaw. Unlike a Dremel where the motor is in the hand held part of the tool, this setup hides the blender motor (which provides the power) behind a wall panel, and is controlled via the blender’s speed settings buttons. We could see this configuration allowing for more delicate work due to the reduction of weight in hand, as well as the added bonus of a near impossibility of losing this tool. Overall an excellent re-purposing of leftover parts, be sure to check out [Konstantin]’s blog for more build info and photos.

More 555 Projects To Enjoy

February 7, 2011 by James Munns 9 Comments

We love all of the projects that are coming out for the 555 design contest, so we thought we would share a couple more that have caught our collective eye. Have a 555 project of your own? Be sure to share it with us, and keep an eye out for the contest submission dates. Read on for a few of our project picks.

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Versaloon Ported To STM8 And STM32 Discovery Boards

February 6, 2011 by Mike Szczys 11 Comments

[Bingo] did some work porting Versaloon for STM8 and STM32 discovery boards. Versaloon is a multiple-architecture programmer that we saw a few weeks back. At its center is an STM32 microprocessor, which greatly simplifies the work necessary to use the two discovery boards instead. Flashing the firmware to the boards will zap the ST-link firmware and [Bingo] doesn’t know of a way to restore that so be warned. This hack is still pretty fresh off the bench, but so far it looks like vsprog and OpenOCD both work just fine with the new hardware.