Smart Pants Sound Alarm When Your Fly Is Undone

It’s always embarrassing to be told your fly is down. Even moreso when you realize it’s been that way since you returned from the bathroom an hour ago. [Guy Dupont] has built a device to solve this awkward issue once and for all. (Nitter)

Pictured: The Hall effect sensor and magnet attached to the zipper.

The pants contain a Hall effect sensor which has been attached inside the fly of the jeans, at the bottom of the zipper. The zipper pull itself was then fitted with a strong magnet, which triggers the sensor when the zipper is in the open position. An ESP32 in the pocket of the jeans is tasked with monitoring the sensor. If it detects that the zipper has been down for too long, it sends a notification to the wearer’s smartphone to zip up. We kind of wish they’d sound an ear-splitting klaxon, but that might draw undesired attention to the wearer.

Zipper position monitoring seems like a nightmare at first, but [Guy]’s hack shows us that it’s actually trivial with this method. The system does, however, add significant complication to what was previously a totally-analog pair of pants. Don’t expect “Big Jeans” to jump on this tech, as maintenance and waterproofing issues would likely make the hardware a pain to deal with in real life.

Plus, just imagine the frustration every morning. “Sorry, mate, not ready to head out yet – I’ve gotta pair my jeans with my smartphone.”

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Hoverboard Circles Bastille Day

According to reports, a turbine-powered flying board buzzed around Bastille Day celebrations carrying its inventor [Franky Zapata] toting a rifle to promote the military applications of the Flyboard Air. You can see the video record, below.

We’ve heard the board costs a cool $250,000 so you may want to start saving now. There are several versions including one that qualifies in the United States as an ultralight. The board Zapata used can reach speeds of 190 km/h and can run for up to 10 minutes, although the website claims 200 km/h is possible and the company also claims to routinely reach 140 km/h. and 6 minute flight times.

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Drones Rain Down Rat Poison On The Galapagos

If your favorite movie is Ratatouille, now would be a good time to read a different article. Rats on the Galápagos Islands are an invasive species and eradication is underway. This is not a first for the islands, and they are fiercely protected since they are the exclusive home to some species including the distinctive tortoise from which the island derives its name and of course finches. Charles Darwin studied the finches while writing On the Origin of Species. So yeah, we want to keep this island from becoming unbalanced and not disturb the native wildlife while doing it. How do we check all these boxes? Technology! Specifically, hexacopters carrying rat poison.

The plan is simple, drive a truck to a central location, release the hounds drones and fifteen minutes later they come back after flying high above the indigenous wildlife and dropping pest control pellets. The drones save time and labor, making them a workhorse rather than a novelty. This work experience on their resume (CV) could open the door to more dirty work or more wholesome activities. Who is to say that the same drones, the exact same ones, couldn’t deliver plant seeds, or nourishing food to the dwindling species harmed by the rat population explosion.

What would you deliver with drones? How about providing parcels or just learning a better way to navigate?

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Building A Quadcopter With A CNC Mill And A 3D Printer

Quadcopter

Quadcopters are a ton of fun to play with, and even more fun to build. [Vegard] wrote in to tell us about his amazing custom DIY quadcopter frame that uses a commercial flight control system.

Building a quadcopter is the perfect project to embark upon if you want to test out your new CNC mill and 3D printer. The mechanical systems are fairly simple, yet result in something unbelievably rewarding. With a total build time of 30 hours (including Sketchup modeling), the project is very manageable for weekend hackers. [Vegard’s] post includes his build log as well as some hard learned lessons. There are also tons of pictures of the build. Be sure to read to read the end of the post, [Vegard] discusses why to “never trust a quadcopter” and other very useful information. See it in action after the break.

While the project was a great success, it sadly only had about 25 hours of flight-time before a fatal bird-strike resulted in quite a bit of damage. Have any of your quadcopters had a tragic run-in with another flying object? Let us know in the comments.

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