Mobile phone reading an NFC tag with information on a garden plant

NFC Puts A Stake In The Ground

August 15, 2023 by Michael Shaub 21 Comments

Sometimes we have a new part or piece of tech that we want to use, and it feels like a solution looking for a problem. Upon first encountering NFC Tags, [nalanj] was looking for an application and thought they might make a great update to old-fashioned plant markers in a garden. Those are usually small and, being outside 24/7, the elements tend to wear away at what little information they hold.

[nalanj] used a freeform data structuring service called Cardinal to set up text information fields for each plant and even photos. Once a template has been created, every entry gets a unique URL that’s perfect for writing to an NFC tag. See the blog post on Cardinal’s site for the whole process, the thought behind the physical design of the NFC tag holder, and a great application of a pause in the 3D print to encapsulate the tags.

NFC tags are super hackable, though, so you don’t have to limit yourself to lookups in a plant database. Heck, you could throw away your door keys.

This Kinetic Art Display Uses A Gin Bottle

August 7, 2023 by Dave Rowntree 8 Comments

[David McDaid] likes gin. So in homage to their favourite tipple, a certain brand of Scottish origin, a kinetic art project was brewed. Tabled as a Rube Goldberg machine — it’s not — but it is a very smart marble run type installation, dripping with 3D printed parts and a sprinkling of blinkenlights.

The write-up shows the degree of pain we go through with building such contraptions, apparently [David] burned through 2.5 kg of PLA filament despite the bill of materials requiring a mere 660 g. Much experimentation, trial and error, and plenty of print-and-reprint-until-good-enough, resulted in a clean looking run with some neat features. We particularly like the use of a stainless steel jigger to add a touch of metallic ting, to the soundscape produced. The whole show was put together in Fusion 360, since all those tight tolerances do not make for a simple construction without a lot of fiddling around with the layout. Once it was a sound, layout was prototyped on a wood board, which was subsequently used a drill template for the final acrylic version.

On the electronics side of things, an Arduino Nano clone is on control duty, reading an IR trip sensor to fire of a simple light effect, illuminating the gin bottle in a slick fashion. These machines need a mechanism to raise the balls against that pesky force of gravity, in this instance a 3D printed custom chain was constructed, driven with a stepper motor in turn driven from a TMC2208. You see, this thing lives in the kitchen, so the aim was to keep all the noise from the mechanics to a minimum so only the noise of LDPE balls rattling around can be heard. They are the star of the show after all! The build looks nice and would certainly be something we’d like to see on the wall. Obviously we’ve seen a few marble runs over the years. Here’s an interesting one that uses an elevator mechanism, and another project that shows how to generate runs procedurally.

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Open-Source Cell Phone Based On ESP32

August 3, 2023 by Bryan Cockfield 40 Comments

Over the past decade or so, smartphones have exploded in popularity and seamlessly integrated themselves into nearly every aspect of most people’s lives. Although that comes with a few downsides as well, with plenty of people feeling that the smart phone makes it a little too easy to waste time and looking to switch to something simpler, like an older-style flip phone. If this style of phone is more your speed, take a look at this DIY cell phone which takes care of everything a phone really needs to do. (Google Translate from French)

The phone uses an ESP32 at its core, with a SIM800L GSM modem to interact with the cell network, including retrieving the system time. A small battery is included as well as all of the support circuitry for charging it as well as a USB interface that can communicate to a PC. The operating system for the phone is built from the ground up as well, with a touch screen interface allowing the user to make phone calls, send text messages, store contacts, and a few other basic features. There’s also a GPS application though, allowing the phone to know basic location information.

Another perk of this device is that its creator, [Gabriel], made the design schematics, print files for the case, and the operating system software completely open source for anyone to build this phone on their own. Everything is available on the project’s GitHub page. It’s a fairly remarkable achievement, especially considering [Gabriel] is only 16. And, if you’re not one to eschew modern smart phone technology there are some DIY smart phones available to build as well.

Thanks to [come2] for the tip!

Splitting 3D Prints Into Parts Can Add Strength

July 28, 2023 by Donald Papp 5 Comments

One of the great things about 3D printers is their ability to make a single part all at once. Separating a part into multiple pieces is usually done to split up objects that are too big to fit on the 3D printer’s print bed. But [Peter] at Markforged (manufacturers of high-end 3D printers) has a video explaining another reason: multi-part prints can benefit from improved strength.

This part can be easily printed as a single piece, but it can be made nearly twice as strong when printed as two, and combined.

The idea is this: filament-based 3D printers generally create parts that are strongest along their X-Y axis (relative to their manufacture) and weakest in the Z direction. [Peter] proposes splitting a part into pieces with this in mind. Not because the part is inconveniently large or has tricky geometry, but so the individual pieces can be printed in orientations that provide the best mechanical strength.

This is demonstrated with the simple part shown here. The usual way to print this part would be flat on a print bed, but by splitting the parts into two and printing each in their optimal orientation, the combined part withstands nearly twice as much force before failing.

[Peter]’s examples use Markforged’s own filaments, but gives advice on more common polymers as well and the same principles apply. This idea is one worth keeping in mind the next time one is seeking to optimize strength. because of how simple it is.

We’ve seen a variety of methods to toughen up or ruggedize prints in the past, but they’re usually more complex (or at least messier.) Examples include embedding braided steel cable, embedding fiberglass mesh, applying electroplating to a printed structure, and plain old embedding some bolts and washers to buffer load-bearing areas.

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A Nifty 3D Printed RC Car

July 27, 2023 by Lewin Day 9 Comments

Once upon a time, a remote controlled (RC) car was something you’d buy at Radio Shack or your local hobby store. These days, you can print your own, complete with suspension, right at home, as this project from [Logan57] demonstrates.

The design uses standard off-the-shelf hobby-grade components, with a brushed motor and controller for propulsion, and small metal gear servo for steering. The latter is a smart choice given there’s no servo saver in the design. Save for the fasteners and bearings, all the other parts are 3D printed. The hard components are produced in PETG or PLA, while flexible TPU is used for both the tires and the spring elements in the suspension system. It’s a double-wishbone design, and should serve as a good education should you later find yourself working on a Mazda Miata.

Building your own RC car isn’t just fun, it opens up a whole realm of possibilities. Sick of boring monster trucks and race cars? Why not build a 10×10 wheeler or some kind of wacky amphibious design? When you do, we’ll be waiting by the tipsline to hear all about it. Video after the break.

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Beautifully Rebuilding A VR Headset To Add AR Features

July 25, 2023 by Donald Papp 12 Comments

[PyottDesign] recently wrapped up a personal project to create himself a custom AR/VR headset that could function as an AR (augmented reality) platform, and make it easier to develop new applications in a headset that could do everything he needed. He succeeded wonderfully, and published a video showcase of the finished project.

Getting a headset with the features he wanted wasn’t possible by buying off the shelf, so he accomplished his goals with a skillful custom repackaging of a Quest 2 VR headset, integrating a Stereolabs Zed Mini stereo camera (aimed at mixed reality applications) and an Ultraleap IR 170 hand tracking module. These hardware modules have tons of software support and are not very big, but when sticking something onto a human face, every millimeter and gram counts.

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Hackaday Prize 2023: Tilting Mechanical Panels Make A Beautiful Display

July 17, 2023 by Donald Papp 13 Comments

Mechanical displays use a variety of different methods to represent data with physical objects, and [AIRPOCKET]’s Mechanical Display aims to be a platform anyone can use. Each “pixel” in this display is a panel of some kind, and different effects can be had by moving individual panels to different angles. Not only can images be represented, but the patterns of the movements themselves can be beautiful as well.

The panels are an important part of how the display presents, so the design makes them easy to change out.

These sorts of displays are fertile ground for artistic expression (one memorable implementation of this basic idea was the wooden mirror, which used varnished tiles of wood) but anyone looking to use the concept has usually been on their own when it comes to implementation.

The idea [AIRPOCKET] has is to make this kind of installation easier to implement. This method uses economical mini RC servos and 3D-printed pieces to create modular segments that can be assembled into whatever configuration one may need.

The material of the panels matters, too. Just below the page break, you can see a large unit with each “pixel” consisting of a mirrored square that reflects daylight. There’s also a video of an earlier prototype that uses some ridged two-color pieces to create a simple 4×4 three-level greyscale display.

There are a lot of possibilities if [AIRPOCKET] can make this sort of display more easily accessible, and that makes it a contender in the 2023 Hackaday Prize.

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