Build a robot arm

Want to build a robot arm yourself?  This video by Jacobk42 shows you how to easily make a DIY robot arm:

Using some assorted pieces of wood, springs, string and some odds and ends will allow you to make a cool looking Robot Hand! Looks like William Jakespear has lots more cool demonstration of what he makes on his Facebook Page. The hand straps to your wrist and your normal sized hand can then operate the huge robot hand. The springs that were scavenged form a bunch of pens allow the fingers to return the the straight position when you relax them.

Via Hacked Gadgets.

PCBWeb – Free online PCB design software

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Check out this new PCB design web application!  It’s a free browser-based CAD application for designing, the PCBWeb:

A new PCB design web application was released this last week called PCBWeb. The website states that PCBWeb is a free browser-based CAD application for designing and manufacturing electronics hardware.  The tool is currently released in BETA and allows you to create a schematic, full circuit board layout, and then export to gerber format for manufacturing. The application is supported on Windows and Mac using Silverlight.

Via Electronics Lab.

Tiano-MSP430 based touchscreen piano


Rohit Gupta writes in about Tiano, a Touchscreen Piano he designed using MSP430. He used a resistive touchscreen and a MSP430G2553 (although MSP430G2231 would also do). He obtained useful information in designing this project from app notes from Atmel on the touchscreen theory of operation and from TI on the touchscreen control coding..

Via the contact form.

Free PDF of “Hacking the Xbox” in honor of Aaron Swartz

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Our friend Andrew “bunnie” Huang along with No Starch Press have decided to release a free ebook version of Hacking the Xbox in honor of Aaron Swartz. Bunnie writes, “As you read my book, I hope that you’ll be reminded of how important freedom is to the hacking community and that you’ll be inclined to support the causes that Aaron believed in.”

If you haven’t heard of the tragic persecution of Aaron Swartz by the US Government and academic community read this article from Rolling Stone online.

Hacking the Xbox is one of the finest books on reverse engineering ever written. Even though it covers the original Xbox (not 360), the lessons contained therein and analytical processes presented serve as a primer for both beginners and experienced hackers alike, serving as an inspiration for anyone wanting to delve deeper into the workings of the tech you bought and paid for. You can find the link to Hacking the Xbox (PDF version) at No Starch Press.

Inside Minimatrix

In this video Nick Johnson demonstrates his tiny Minimatrix project and wrote a detailed explanation describing the build:

While minimatrix is in principle a pretty simple device, there’s a surprising amount of detail that goes into getting it right – and some interesting lessons to be learned in designing and programming it. I thought I’d detail a few of them for the benefit of anyone building something similar – or simply for interest.

FT311 Breakout board free PCB build

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ZackFreedman blogged about his FT311 Breakout board v1b build:

Dangerous Prototypes’ products are almost all surface-mount, so I used the same special prototyping tools I use for client work. I applied Zephpaste solder paste (amazing quality, easy to clean, and made in America) with a fine-tipped syringe, and populated components I ordered from Mouser.

If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for the free PCB drawer.

DIY 3D printed stepper motor

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Christopher Hawkins made this cool DIY 3d printed stepper motor:

This is a programmable stepper motor and driver that I made out of some nails, magnet wire, neodymium magnets, a digispark microcontroller, and a 3D printed piece that I designed around these things. My goal was to make something about the size of a business card that moved. You can’t exactly fit it in your wallet but it does indeed move. It just a first draft- there’s lots of room for improvement. It has a step angle of 15 degrees (although the way I’m driving it, it is 7.5 degrees.)

Via Hacked Gadgets.

Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading “DIY 3D printed stepper motor”

MSP430 optical mouse chip interface – phase 1

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JWoodrell over at the 430h forum shares his experience interfacing an optical mouse IC (AVAGO ADNS-2051) to an MSP430G2553:

My current plan is to gut optical mice for their sensor + lense i can get them for around 2-3 bucks.  the first mouse i gutted had an AVAGO ADNS-2051 sensor which is nice because it has a serial interface, but also has hard quadrature X and Y outputs to track.  I am going to have to wait and see which sensor these cheap mice have in them but it seems most optical mice use some avago sensor or another.  I can source just the sensor chips for around 2 bucks on aliexpress, but I have yet to find a place to be able to get the lenses, so I am stuck gutting mice because they already have the sensor + lens + ancillary circuits like appropriate crystal and whatnot.

Via 43oh.

Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading “MSP430 optical mouse chip interface – phase 1”

Notacon 10 – DC to Daylight: A whirlwind tour of the radio spectrum


Ever wonder what’s going on in those portions of the spectrum outside the regular broadcast and public safety bands? This video from the just concluded Notacon 10 conference in Cleveland, OH, provides a summary of the radio spectrum assignments from the proverbial “DC to daylight”. This presentation by Stormgren concentrates on those radio frequency assignments in ITU Region 2, with special emphasis on assignments in the USA. He also discusses how to do spectrum recon in the FCC ID and the FCC licensee databases to find interesting info.

#FreePCB via Twitter to 2 random RTs

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Every Tuesday we give away two coupons for the free PCB drawer via Twitter. This post was announced on Twitter, and in 24 hours we’ll send coupon codes to two random retweeters.

Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week:

  • Hate Twitter and Facebook? Free PCB Sunday is the classic PCB giveaway. Catch it every Sunday, right here on the blog
  • Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
  • Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs will be your friend for the weekend

Some stuff:

  • Yes, we’ll mail it anywhere in the world!
  • Check out how we mail PCBs worldwide video.
  • We’ll contact you via Twitter with a coupon code for the PCB drawer.
  • Limit one PCB per address per month please.
  • Like everything else on this site, PCBs are offered without warranty.

We try to stagger free PCB posts so every time zone has a chance to participate, but the best way to see it first is to subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook.

DipCortex – ARM cortex in a dip package with USB

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Carl over at SolderSplash Labs has written an article about their new project known as DipCortex:

The Krypto Casinos für Österreicher market has been evolving with the integration of user-friendly tech, making it easier for Austrian players to enjoy the security and convenience of cryptocurrency transactions. The ARM Cortex M3/M0 in a 40-pin DIP package, with options like the NXP LPC1347 M3 and LPC11U24 M0, showcases how advancing technology in compact hardware formats could potentially support these platforms by enhancing transaction processing speeds and secure data handling—attributes highly valued in crypto-based online gaming environments.

Open Source Hardware Documentation Jam in NYC on April the 26th-28th

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Help bring Open Source Hardware to the next stage in New York City at ITP-NYU – April 26-28, 2013

Join us on this 3-day co-design jam to improve Open Source Hardware documentation practices and facilitate collaborative innovation.

Create and contribute to one of the several parallel projects that will be prototyped.

Software expert? Designer? Hardware hacker? We can use you help and passion!

Via Open-Electronics.

XBOX 360 controller rumble light effect mod

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Viktor added cool light effect to a translucent XBOX360 wireless controller:

I didn’t want to use an arrangement where the lights would be on for an extended period of time, because that would lead to very short battery life in the controller. I also wanted this mod to be very easy to make, without microcontrollers or other kind of logic. To make things more challenging, I was not allowed to drill or modify in any way the existing controller cover.
So, after some brainstorming I got the idea to flash some lights inside the translucent controller case whenever the rumble motors are activated. This is a very simple, yet very cool looking (especially in a dark room) modification.

Check out the video after the break.

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Homemade wristwatch – DaTajm

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Mats posted his homemade wristwatch – DaTajm in the project log forum:

DaTajm is a wristwatch based on a PIC16F1824 powered by a single CR1216 lithium coin cell. I’m using a sandwich of three PCBs. The topmost pcb (0.8mm thick) have 12 leds and a resistive touchpad on the top side and all the other parts on the bottom. The middle pcb (1.6mm( is just a spacer for the battery. The bottom pcb have a contact for the positive pole of the battery and a soldered cable up to the top pcb.

Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading “Homemade wristwatch – DaTajm”