Bay Area Maker Fair 2012: Dangerous Prototypes is the recipient of an Editor’s Choice booth award!

The Dangerous Prototypes booth is a 2012 Editor’s Choice recipient! Congratulations to Skot who is almost certainly responsible for this with his blingy Digit Grid. After we show off the ribbon in a workshop video we’ll sent it to Skot.

This is our third year sharing or winning the Editor’s Choice award. It’s not quite clear what it means, for all we know everybody gets one. Either way, we’re just jazzed to be here.

Openmoko USB product ID and IEEE OUI (Ethernet MAC address) range available

Kelvin informs us that Openmoko is making available USB Product ID and IEEE OUI (MAC Address) allocations to the community. According to the Openmoko wiki, “As the Openmoko products have been discontinued, Openmoko Inc. is opening up the use of its Vendor ID for use by the Free and Open Source software and hardware communities. This means you can simply register your devices and will get an allocation of a Product ID for free.”

Check the Openmoko site for details.

Harald Welte’s blog via the contact form.

Workshop Update for May 22, 2012

We are back in the workshop from the Bay Area Maker Faire, expect our full report to start tomorrow.

We continue the work on the Part Ninja firmware. We implemented part specific functions for many parts. These functions figure out the pinout, and calculate part specific values, like the forward voltage for Diodes, hFE for transistors, resistance for resistors etc…

The buck-boost dc-dc converter is nearing completion. We are currently designing the over-voltage protection.

In the office we continue to do bookkeeping and filing for 2012.

MSP430 based wireless temperature sensor

Toxic239 shared his wireless temperature sensor project based on the MSP430 microcontroller. It uses a 14.089 MHz carrier frequency which is modulated using Morse code, outputting “CALLSIGN T<TEMP> 73”. The source files are available in the forum.

For an upcoming low altitude party balloon flight :D we had to put together a simple Morse transmitter. The idea is to use the  cheapest MSP430 (USD 1.27 on digikey) to measure temperature and send continuously a simple message “CALLSIGN T<TEMP> 73”. The generator and RF power amplifier is built using 74AC00 and a quartz for 20m (14.089 MHz) with output filtered via a Pi filter.

Via the forum.

 

 

#FreePCB via Twitter to 2 random RTs

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

Continue reading “#FreePCB via Twitter to 2 random RTs”

Scalable 12V solar power system and battery charge controller


Squonk writes about this scalable solar charger he’s located:

An unconventional, scalable high efficiency 12V solar power system and battery charge controller with low voltage cutout to protect the battery. (ideal for systems of 50W or less).

The most common solar charger consists of a Schottky diode to prevent the battery from draining into the PV panel and a shunt regulator that effectively short circuits the panel once the battery is fully charged.
One problem with this approach is diode losses and the resulting heat. If a 50W 12V panel supplies 4A to the battery, the Schottky diode will drop about 0,4V across it dissipating about 1,6W of heat. This requires a heat sink and loses power to heat. The problem is that there is no way of reducing the volt drop, paralleling diodes may share current, but the 0,4V will still be there. The circuit uses a MOSFET in stead of the usual diode and the primary power loss is resistive.
Continue reading "Scalable 12V solar power system and battery charge controller"

Soldering Iron Driver v1.5 built with a DIY PCB

Download the source files from our SVN, mask the copper layer with toner-transfer, or UV exposure method, and etch the board with some acid. Once complete you’ll have your very own home-built Soldering Iron Driver v1.5. This is what Alex has done, and so far he seems happy with it.

Ok, here is a pic of it. Yes, i am crazy to have soldered it double sided, and it looks strange, but could not wait.

Via the forum.

PIC18F2550 breakout board free PCB build

Fcobcn built the PIC18F2550 Breakout Board free PCB. The PIC18F2550 is a really popular USB chip from Microchip. There are lots of projects floating around the internet for it, as well as some of our own, like the USB IR Toy, USB LCD Backpack, etc… This is a breakout board for the 28pin SOIC package version that will help you get started with PIC18F2550 USB design.

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.

Via the forum.

Bus Pirate v4 back in stock

Bus Pirate v4 is back in stock at Seeed Studio. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff. It’s got a bunch of features an intrepid hacker might need to prototype their next project.

v4 has some great new features, but if you want a tool that “just works” the v3 is still your best bet.

You can get a Bus Pirate v4 for $40, including worldwide shipping.

Workshop update for May 21st, 2012

Today we’re getting back to the workshop from our Bay Area Maker Faire visit. Over the next few days you can expect the full coverage, and a few videos. Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for lots of pictures from the Maker Faire and the after party.

In the workshop we are figuring out a way to add a buck-boost dc-dc converter to the Bus Pirate. For now we’re using the standard buck-boost topology being driven with a microcontroller.

We made a 3D model of the MMA7455L breakout board and rendered an image of it. That will be up later today.

The firmware for the Part Ninja has gone through cleanup, and proper documentation was added to all the existing functions. We also made some schematics to explain the way it figures out various electronics parts.

In the office we sent out the coupon codes to this Sunday’s free PCB winners. We are also following up on some new stock update requests.

DCC 2011 – PhoneSat: sub $10k spacecraft


Mike Safyan is an amateur radio operator KJ6MVL who works at NASA. In this talk from the 2011 ARRL/TAPR DCC in Baltimore, Mike describes the PhoneSat project, whose goal is to produce a functioning satellite module for under $10,000. Picture a Nexus Android phone, Arduino and RF transmitter inside a 10cc standard flight-safe housing cube sent into space. The project uses the phone’s sensors and camera with the data stored on an SD card. A one-way 440 MHz radio data downlink is also provided, and the integrated Arduino board performs watchdog/Lazarus duties.

Mike has tested the PhoneSat so far on a near space balloon and a small rocket with positive results. The next stage is planning for a full cube-sat launch.

You can read more about the PhoneSat project at the NASA open government page.

3D Model: MMA7455L breakout board

Our latest 3D model is the MMA7455L breakout Board. This project lets you get familiar with the MMA7455L 3-axis accelerometer that comes in the hard to solder LGA package. We use it in our USB POV Toy.

Check out our tutorial on how to build 3D models from Cadsoft Eagle board files, as well as the tutorial on how to render life like images with Kerkythea.

The models will be published in the Dangerous Prototypes 3D warehouse collection. They are also uploaded to our SVN. You can find them inside the “art” folders in the respective project folders.

Get one for $15 at Seeed Studio

Liquidware Amber 7” open source hardware Android tablet

Liquidware is developing a 7” open source hardware Android tablet called Amber.

The Amber is a 7” projected capacitive tablet driven by a 1 GHz, ARM Cortex-A9 OMAP3730 from Texas Instruments. We’ve customized a version of Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 to run on the Amber, and its 2 USB host ports offer high-speed USB and serial communications to a pretty wide range of devices. WiFi, Ethernet, cellular, and battery configurations are available as part of the Enhanced or Pro versions of the Amber.

Via Adafruit.