Posted Aug 27th 2008 2:23PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: misc hacks, peripherals hacks, daily
[Kyle Stewart] sent us this
quick AVR project. He designed it to sit vertically on his breadboard to take up less space. It doesn't use any surface mount components, to make the assembly easier. You can download the schematic, parts list, and eagle files for the project on his blog.
Posted Aug 26th 2008 10:30PM by Eliot Phillips
Filed under: daily, digital audio hacks
Reader [Kelly Regan] flies large scale RC planes, but would often need someone call out flight sequences while rehearsing. Not wanting to impose on fellow club members, [Kelly] built a
sequencer caller from a cheap MP3 player. It just required extending the FWD key to a pin header. Those pins are connected to a custom switch on the back of the controller. Each maneuver is recorded with 30 seconds of padding and then added to a playlist. Once the maneuver is complete, a quick press of the button moves on to the next track. It's always nice to see people building devices that the consumer electronics industry probably wouldn't.
Posted Aug 25th 2008 9:56AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: misc hacks, daily, security hacks
[Zach Barth] has released
Ruckingenur II, the game of reverse engineering. The latest in his Games for Engineers series, it is a full game with multiple levels and live action cut scenes. Set with a military theme, the goal is to reverse engineer enemy items. Pictured above is a lock to a weapons cache.
The pixelized style is consistent throughout. Even the cut scenes have the effect. The reverse engineering is fun enough to keep you interested while you learn. There is an in game help system that keeps you on track as well. Our only suggestion is that he get some better costumes next time!
Posted Aug 23rd 2008 4:30PM by Eliot Phillips
Filed under: portable video hacks, daily
Popular Mechanics contributor [Anthony Veducci] wanted a
virtually indestructible video player that he could use anywhere. Not finding a commercial solution, he decided to build his own. He already had a large waterproof case and another for the
iPod Touch. The 8" display came from an iPod accessory. Unfortunately it was developed before Apple implemented their stupid accessory locking, so he had to use an Apple approved video cable through several adapters to get it to work. The speakers were also salvaged parts. The case was assembled using a jigsaw and a whole lot of epoxy. The speaker openings are covered with latex from a pair of gloves and everything is sealed with silicone. We're usually trying to escape technology when we head outside, but we'll be looking back at this the next time we need to ruggedize something.
[via
Gizmodo]
Posted Aug 22nd 2008 2:49PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: peripherals hacks, daily, digital audio hacks
[D.St-Amand] is designing the
SyncMaster, a compact modular midi controller, from scratch. The design focuses on a modular build where you can swap out pieces like the one pictured above to achieve different layouts. Not only is it modular, but its very compact. Shown next to some common competitors, it looks very sleek.
Development seems to be moving forward, the pictures have been updated frequently. Lets hope to see a fully functional demo some time soon. Some more detailed information on the build might be nice as well. This may remind you of our story on
MachineCollective. While there are similarities in that they're modular, SyncMaster appears to be a much more polished and portable product. Keep us updated [D.St-Amand].
Posted Aug 21st 2008 3:15PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: peripherals hacks, robots hacks, daily
Hot on the heels of the
Wii missile launcher,
Das Uber Airsoft Gun Turret is here to put our past
airsoft turrets to shame. Made by [Miltron_B],
this autonomous beast not only has gorgeous LED indicators, it has lasers. Three of them. Three freaking lasers. Take a moment to wipe the drool from your chin.
We've seen plenty of turrets before, but this one really excels in design. It features two webcams for more precision detection and tracking and when set to manual mode, it can be controlled with an XBox 360 controller. He's posted great pictures of the process with a step by step break down. Tons of useful links are included to help you out.
Someone should construct a
Portal sentry gun case for this thing and add voice clips.
Posted Aug 20th 2008 9:17AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: handhelds hacks, playstation hacks, daily
[Eric Ruckman] sent us this awesome
Guitar Hero hack. He wanted to get a more "true to the series" game play out of his DS when playing Guitar Hero: On Tour. If you've seen the adapter that
comes with it, you'll understand his desires. He found a wireless PS2 Guitar Hero controller on EBay to hack.
He's cut a hole in the controller and removed all the guts.
In the picture above the DS fits in the hole to allow strumming in the correct position. The controller buttons are connected to the DS by wiring into the adapter. He's added an FM transmitter to the controller so he can play the sound through his home sound system.
Continue reading Hack Guitar Hero DS into a guitar controller
Posted Aug 19th 2008 11:31AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: ipod hacks, portable video hacks, daily
[jongscx] picked up a Myvu personal media viewer and promptly began scheming about improvements. He decided he wanted to be able to
watch any input on the device, not just an Ipod.
After some messing about with different inputs, he eventually calls Myvu to ask some questions. Surprisingly, he gets the engineer who designed the thing. The engineer turns out to be pretty helpful and is happy to help him hack the device. [jongscx] ends up finally getting it to work and posts the schematic for the world to see.
He says his hands are full with some other projects right now, but hopefully he'll do an official write up with pictures of the final product soon.
[DrNathan] wrote in to note that [RetroPlayer] was responsible for much of the work as well as contacting the engineer.
[thanks, DrNathan]
Posted Aug 18th 2008 2:30PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: misc hacks, peripherals hacks, daily
[toymotorhead] pieced together this
USB controlled power strip to help with his electrical bill. His goal was to be able to have devices turned off automatically when he shut down his computer as well as powered on when he turned his computer on. Another requirement was that the USB be isolated to protect the motherboard from spikes.
The cost of the parts in total were less than $30, and consisted of a solid state relay, some fuses, and some transient voltage surge suppressing diodes. The unit only switches power off or on depending on whether or not the computer is powered up, it doesn't control the outlets via software. He goes pretty in depth as to how everything works as well as showing nice diagrams and pictures. This should be a fairly quick and simple project, as long as you take the proper precautions for working with high voltage.
Posted Aug 16th 2008 3:01PM by Eliot Phillips
Filed under: laptops hacks, pcs hacks, daily
As promised, [tnkgrl] has published
part two of Acer Aspire One upgrade. In part one she added Bluetooth and more RAM. This time around she focuses on the storage. The subnotebook comes from the factory with an 8GB SSD. The flash based storage readily unplugs from a small ZIF connector. [tnkgrl] replaced it with a 60GB PATA Samsung drive salvaged from an iPod. It's a 1.8inch disk and is only 5mm thick, so it can be tucked under the motherboard. Knowing its previous use, it should prove fairly resilient. You can view a
video of the swap and
more photos on Flickr.
Up next is part three, where she'll add 3G support.
Posted Aug 15th 2008 10:31AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: home hacks, daily, security hacks
In the same vein as our recent
Defcon article on
biometric cloning, White Wolf Security has released this article about turning a
biometric door lock into a trojan. They note that there are many common ways to break into one, from harvesting fingerprints to using gummy bears to fake a finger. This hack involves having full access to the unit so you can disassemble it.
The unit has a system built-in where you can touch a 9-volt battery to some connectors on the bottom to power it in case of a building power failure. The researchers simply routed some wires from the motorized lock to the plates used for the 9-volt and then reassembled the lock. The door can then be opened at any time without verification, even if the software on the unit is reset.
[Thanks, dwight]
Posted Aug 14th 2008 11:30AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: laptops hacks, pcs hacks, daily
[tnkgrl], a regular around here, is at it again. This time she has modded an Acer Aspire One subnotebook to have
internal Bluetooth. She's released part 1 of a multi part tutorial on beefing up the Aspire One. In this part, she covers disassembly, adding more RAM, and adding the Bluetooth hardware. She suggests that you look at her
Bluetooth install on an Asus 701 to find more information as the process is nearly identical.
Part 2 of the tutorial is going to cover upgrading the SSD to a 1.8" PATA hard drive and putting it back together.
Posted Aug 13th 2008 12:00PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: peripherals hacks, daily, digital audio hacks
[Julien Bayle] has posted this great breakdown of building an
RGB monome clone. He is a musical performer using
Ableton Live. He wanted to do away with the need for a computer screen and found that the
monome would have been perfect had it been RGB. So he decided to build his own.
The parts list for the entire project is as follows:
- 1x Arduino board
- 4x Sparkfun breakout PCB
- 4x Sparkfun buttons pads (like our door lock)
- 4x Sparkfun buttons bezel
- 64x RGB LEDs common cathode
- 64x Diodes Small Signal (1N4148)
- 1x MAX7221 (LED Driver)
- 1x 74HC164 (8-Bit Serial-In, Parallel-Out Shift Register)
- 1x 74HC165 (8-Bit Parallel-In, Serial-Out Shift Register)
He also has files for the schematics and source code as well as information on how to assemble and test it.
The RGB aspect is still under development. He is using the
LEDMatrix-Serial Interface-RGB from Sparkfun Electronics to run it. It is expensive, but is exactly what he was looking for.
There aren't very many pictures of the project, and none of the working RGB unit. He makes up for it in sheer information. Many parts have links to manufacturers or support forums. Hopefully he'll post some pictures and video of the final product soon.
Posted Aug 12th 2008 10:58AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: robots hacks, daily
BP Australia has commissioned an
online game where you get to drive robots around an obstacle course. Make no mistake, these are real robots. Actually they are modified versions of the
Surveyor SRV-1 vehicles that are popular with research labs, and schools everywhere.
Go to the website, get in queue and pray for no clouds. These babies are solar powered, so you'll have to try to get in while its day time in Australia. The entire set is built in miniature, so you feel like you're driving a tank around a city.
[via
Robots Dreams]
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