You’ve probably seen aerial surveillance drones. You also probably know that GSM towers can be spoofed to fool unsuspecting users into connecting and having their phone security compromised. Well at this year’s Blackhat conference recently held in Las Vegas, security researchers Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins demoed their Wi-Fi Aerial Surveillance Platform (WASP) capable of […]
Author Archives: the machinegeek
Arduino vitamin/pill reminder
Having to remember to take a vitamin or medication periodically can easily result in missed doses. If it’s a vitamin, probably no big deal. But if its a medical maintenance drug a missed dose can have serious consequences. Ryan Blace from ibuildthings informs us of his latest project, a vitamin/pill reminder. He designed this Arduino […]
Arduino TNC
Amateur radio operators use various digital data modes for radio communications. One such mode is known as packet radio, which transmits data in groups or “packets” of bytes. As described by the ARRL, “packet radio allows improved throughput and error control. The basic protocol for packet radio is AX.25. Transmission speeds typically range from 300 […]
Steampunk record player
The eccentric thinkers at asciimation have developed a phonograph using the Arduino. In the steampunk tradition, the turntable is steam powered and made from scrap parts. The speed is controlled by the Arduino using six magnets and a coil as a pickup. They use the PID controller library in controlling the servo based on the […]
Robotic eyebrows
Chris from PyroElectro sends this link to his simple animatronic project using a PIC 18F452: This project serves as an introduction into animatronics by using some off-the-shelf hobby servos as actuators to move a pair of eyebrows on a dummy face. The project shows animatronics newbies how even a pair of eyebrows with limited movement […]
Engineering Radio from Digikey
Earlier this year, Digikey began sponsoring Engineering Radio. It’s an online radio program/podcast hosted by Joe Desposito, Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Design magazine, and is dedicated to providing engineers with the latest news in the electronics industry. There are currently 23 online shows archived, with new content added weekly. You can access the online player for […]
QUUB: tiny computing stackable dev board
GRAYnomad (Rob Gray) describes the QUUB as follows: QUUB is a Small Form Factor processor and co-processor design like this ATMega1284-AU based core processor board (above). The basic system topology is that of a “core” processor and up to 16 addressable daughter boards known as “stackables”. Stackables can be smart (with co-processors) or dumb (just […]
Serial port monitor software
The crew at Adafruit remind us of a handy serial port monitoring tool for Windows known as PortMon. PortMon is an old school Microsoft utility used for monitoring all serial and parallel activity on a system. While USB rules the day for most PC-peripheral communications, PortMon can help when reverse engineering serial devices by sniffing […]
Bluetooth Morse keyboard assists the disabled
In an effort to assist computer users with disabilities limiting their keyboard dexterity, the crew at Zunkworks developed this wireless Morse code based keyboard interface device. The user keys in the desired characters using the “dot” and “dash” buttons on the left of the board and the Arduino based device converts these Morse code characters […]
Wireless pixels
Andrea Belloni from SuLuLab writes: We realized this project for the “Arduino Day” in Rome 14/04/2011. For it we used two JeeNode (Arduino variant with wireless module on-board), one Rainbowduino + RGB LED Matrix and one PC with Processing. The Processing sketch generate the “plasma” animation and sends the images stream to the first JeeNode […]
DARwIn-OP robot is open source
This robot kicking the beer can around in this video is known as DARwin-OP. This the result of an Open Platform Humanoid Project sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States and developed by RoMeLa at Virginia Tech with collaboration with University of Pennsylvania, Purdue University and Robotis Co., based on the […]
Digi releases WiFi Xbee modules
Digi has announced the release of a WiFi version of the popular Xbee modules. They share a common XBee footprint with previous Xbee modules, and provide flexible SPI and UART serial interfaces. The product release sheet, getting started guide and other docs are available from the Digi docs page. Several models are available, including with […]
Hackerspace passports
Here’s a really cool idea: hackerspace passports. Mitch Altman, developer of the TV-B-Gone and Brain Machine, has designed a Hackerspace Passport, to provide official, non-government issued credentials to hackers, makers and time travelers visiting hackerspaces and cons throughout the solar system. He writes: I created Hackerspace Passports to: -help promote people visiting as many hackerspaces […]
Nuntius: the Garden Avenger robot
In this video Trossen Robotics debuts their Garden Avenger Robot. David Dorhout, the bots developer writes: A couple of years ago I first saw one of those self contained game systems that consist of just the joystick and the AV wires that you plug into your TV. I was simply amazed at the simplicity and […]
Arduino and open source go to sniper school
Antipasto Hardware posts this cool project demonstrating how to use an Arduino and a TouchShield to keep track of shot patterns while at the range. This is a quick video showing off the Arduino Liquidware TouchShield Slide, and Bjorn Entperprises camo case, all Open Source Hardware based, at the firing range with a Remington 700 […]
App note: BodyCom
The BodyCom system is a new short-range wireless connectivity technology that uses the capability of the human body to transport a few signals that provide intuitive, simple, and safe communication between two electronically compatible devices. Communication between BodyCom system devices occurs when they are within a few centimeters of the human body: a simple proximity […]
CPLD FLASH memory write cycles
All components using rewritable memory have a finite limit on the number of program/erase cycles they are specified to endure. Researching this issue yields the following data in regard to CPLD memory write cycle specs: Xilinx XC9572XL 10,000 Xilinx Coolrunner-II XC2C64A 1,000 Altera’s Max V CPLD 1,000 Altera’s Max 3000A/7000 100 Lattice Semi MachXO2 100,000 […]
Video: Hackers vs makers
Are you a hacker or a maker? If you answered “yes”, then you understand the proposition of this video. Intel_Jim gave this talk at Ignite Intel in Portland, OR on July 12, 2011, publicly explaining what we already know: that true hackers and makers are people who like to tinker with gadgets to make them […]
FBI analyzes new gadgets for surveillance potential
If you look with a suspicious eye at new technology, wondering whether that new phone or gadget has the potential to intrude on your privacy, you’re not alone. According to this 84 page FBI Tech Newsletter, the Bureau has been paying attention to emerging computer and telecommunications technologies and assessing them to determine whether they […]
Tutorial: Using SD/micro SD cards with an Arduino
Our friends at Adafruit have posted this tutorial on using SD and Micro SD cards with Arduino. This is a great resource for beginners looking to expand their knowledge as well as advanced users who want to brush up on microcontroller interfacing skills. They use the latest version of the Adafruit SD Card library available […]