Chris made a mutant video game controller, console, and more, all wrapped up in a small project box. Check out the list of features: Propeller Board USB, Net Server, BlueSmirf Bluetooth, X-bee, DeadOn RTC, Lipo and onboard charger, On board USB-FTDI-Serial for both Prop and LCD, 4 gigs of SD card space (2 cards), IR […]
Category Archives: hacks
Dual-screen Nexus One
follower presents his project using a USB accessory to create a “dual screen” Nexus One with SMS notification & time display. Besides the Nexus One phone, the hardware consists of an Arduino Duemilanove with ATmega328, a SparkFun USB Host Shield and 2×16 LCD display. This hack is made possible by Android’s Open Accessory API. The […]
Hijack development pack for iPhone
Seeed Studio launched an iPhone hardware development board call the Hijack development pack: Do we have any iPhone users here? What were you thinking when Google released ADK for Android devices? You probably want to have an equal chance to play your mobile devices with open source hardware as we did. The idea of connecting […]
Pen testers build a better mousetrap
Netragard is a security company that provides anti-hacking services (penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, web application security testing, etc) to its customers via the realistic reproduction of threats. In a recent assignment the client specified that the test could not use social engineering or physically access client facilities. With their work cut out for them, Netragard […]
Laser range finder testing
Dino at hacked a laser range finder this week: I decided to test mine on an Arduino and build a setup that could be mounted to the back of my vehicle as a backup proximity warning device. Something that would readout the distance on a dash mounted LCD and sound an audible warning below a […]
ProCoCo cart: Propeller-based Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 cartridge
If you’re into retro computing, this project may be for you. Plainsteve developed this custom cartridge for the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 (CoCo 2) last Fall and released the details recently on his blog. The project is based on the Parallax Propeller and unlike other CoCo cartridges which simply play a program from ROM, […]
Hacking the PIC 18F1320
Andrew “Bunnie” Huang is well known for his Xbox hacks. He wanted to try out some reversing techniques on programmed PIC 18F1320 chips he acquired in order to read the secured FLASH memory. After having the PICs commercially decapped, he analyzed the silicon under an electron microscope revealing the location of security bits relative to […]
Motherboard’s sound builders
Kaley Bolt writes: This particular installment of Sound Builders takes the Motherboard team to the “Anti-Theory Workshop” of Reed Ghazala, the father of circuit bending. It’s a nice timely tease for this year’s Bent and I think fans of Dangerous Prototypes would be really into it. With Ghazala as our guide, we navigate the history […]
Wireless networked AT keyboard
Creative technology student Pieter Pelt and Hybrid Worlds present this project detailing how to connect an old AT style computer keyboard to a PC via Arduino and Xbee modules and using the Teensy PS2Keyboard library. Using Xbee allows for keyboards which are not only wireless, but also networked so that several keyboards can be meshed […]
Hacking a PIR RF signal with PIC 12F683
Deepak from Mindfront.net acquired a PIR alarm sensor module which transmitted a digital code over 433 MHz RF to signal an alarm receiver. The problem: he didn’t have the factory receiver. So he set out to sniff the transmitted RF signal using a RCR-433-AS receiver module with the data out fed into an oscilloscope. This […]
Junk box constant current dummy load
Another constant current dummy load. This one is capable of up to 10amps at 40volts. Since I’m planning to build two bench power supplies, I needed to build a current load to test them. So, I’m going to show you my version of the dummy load. Please note that this project was built ONLY using […]
Adafruit + Instructables make it Tweet challenge
Adafruit announced a Make It Tweet Challenge: We’re teaming up with Instructables to bring you the Make It Tweet Challenge. Ever wish you had a tweeting coffee pot that would announce via Twitter when a pot was ready? What about a potted plant that twittered when it needed to be watered? This is your chance […]
IR LED speed camera license plate blocker
Siliconfish used to build IR cameras for a living, so he knows something about the effects light of various IR wavelengths can have on a camera. When his town installed photo cameras on the traffic lights, he decided to experiment with an array of IR LEDs mounted on a license plate frame to see what […]
Pressure and temperature sensor demo
Here’s Big Mess o’ Wires simple pressure and temperature demo: I described an idea for a hiking data analyzer based around an old cell phone LCD, a pressure/temperature chip, and an ATmega microcontroller. Since then, I’ve received the parts and built a simple demo that exercises everything. It’s not very exciting yet, but it demonstrates […]
Micropower data collection
Here’s Big Mess o’ Wires on micropower data collection: Hallelujah! After substituting an external 32768 Hz crystal as the timer clock source for my hiking data logger, I’ve reduced the sleep mode (LCD off) supply current to less than 0.01 mA! It’s actually below the resolution of my multimeter– the meter just reads zero. Previously […]
Arduino to Android IO on the cheap (aka Poor Man’s NFC)
Joe Desbonnet was looking for a cheap and easy way to transfer data from an Arduino to an Android device. The hack he devised requires only a 1-meter length of wire wound into a coil, a resistor and diode. He writes: This is a little hack that allows very low bandwidth communications in one direction […]
OpenHack Europe: Node.js and practical hacking with Javascript
The Yahoo-sponsored OpenHack Europe 2011 is in progress in Bucharest, Romania. One of the latest presentations was Reid Burke’s Achieving Greatness with Node.js. While only the slides are available at this time, they are quite informative and include links to additional content. If you’re wondering how this relates to open source hardware, see slides 24-25. […]
Hacking police car live video cams
Today embedded systems are proliferating in business and government enterprises. One growing trend is to embed live video cameras in police vehicles, so that command headquarters can have a real time view of what’s going on in and around police cruisers. Here’s a white paper by digitamunition describing how a penetration tester went about gaining […]
Web thermostat with Arduino
Boris made a web-based thermostat using Arduino. The project is designed to control an heating system in order to keep the temperature in a room above a certain value, which can be set from Internet or a Personal Computer by LAN, because ours is not a simple thermostat but a complex unit managed by Arduino, […]
Sony Ericsson posts instructions for hacking their Android phones
Recent news regarding Sony and hackers does not generally relate to cooperation. However, Sony Ericsson’s new openness to hacking of their Android phones is a different story. Their Developer Blog has posted detailed instructions on how to build a Linux kernel and flash it to their Android phone. This is supposedly to continue their open […]