Make has a nice roundup of 3D printer startups. There’s interviews with Ultimaker, a new startup in the Netherlands, and Bre Petis from Makerbot.
Via Make.
Instructables is joining Autodesk
Congratulations to Eric, Christ, Laura, and the whole Instructables team! Instructables, the world’s largest show and tell, has joined 3D-modeling powerhouse Autodesk.
Instructables was a great platform for our first how-tos, and we still enjoy posting there and entering the contests.
the whole team is staying on, our policies haven’t changed, you still hold copyright to your projects, we’ll still run awesome contests, and the Robot isn’t going anywhere. However, we’ll now have the resources to make some improvements to the site I know our authors and community will love.
Inside word is that Autodesk values the user experience over ad revenue. Cruising the site today yielded no ads, even with our little friend disabled. Instructables has taken some flack in recent years for aggressive advertising. It looks like that is on the way out.
We wish you success in the future, and look forward to the next contest with prizes like AutoCAD, Maya, and 3ds Max.
Free PCB drawer site update complete
The new free PCB drawer theme is online. It’s a stylish new way to shop for your free PCBs.
Get free PCB coupons three times a week:
- Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
- Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs while you wait for the weekend
- Free PCB Sunday, right here on the blog
Once you build a board, post a picture and we’ll send you another code. It’s like unlimited free PCBs.
No success with the giveaways? We also give PCBs to wiki authors, guest posters, and other contributors.
Do you have a PCB you’d like to give away? Contact us, maybe there’s a place for it in the free PCB drawer.
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 award winning DARwIn series humanoid robots in development since 2004.
DARwIn-OP (Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence – Open Platform) is an affordable, miniature-humanoid-robot platform with advance computational power, sophisticated sensors, high payload capacity, and dynamic motion ability to enable many exciting research, education, and outreach activities.
DARwIn-OP is a true open platform where users are encouraged to modify it in both hardware and software, and various software implementations are possible (C++, Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, etc.) The open source hardware is not only user serviceable thanks to its modular design, but also can be fabricated by the user. Publicly open CAD files for all of its parts, and instructions manuals for fabrication and assembly are available on-line for free.
We found the DARwIn-OP listing for $12,000 as a special order from Trosson Robotics. For that price, we’d expect him to retrieve the beer and open it, not just kick the car around. It would have been a particularly interesting AI learning experiment had DARwIn picked the can up and opened it after kicking it around the floor…
Via Robots Dreams.
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 whip antenna onboard or with RPSMA antenna connector, each listing for around $49.00. A development kit is available for $149.00.
Sjaak explores tiny, powerfull PICs
In the forum we get questions like ‘what PIC should I use’ or ‘is this the right PIC for my purpose?’. We mostly use big PICs with lots of I/O, plenty RAM, and heaps of Flash. Not because we really need them, but because we are lazy and sloppy coders.
We tend to forget about the smaller chips. Today we were surprised to see so many features crammed into the PIC 12F family of chips. There are 8 pin uCs crammed with functions like multiple timers, EUSART, PWM, Capacitive touch, ADC, DAC, onboard 1% oscillators. Best of all, many come dirt cheap, under $1 in low quantities.
We will talk about the current flagship of the 12F family: 12(L)F1822. These cute little device come in hobbyist friendly 8-pins DIP- and SOIC- or an Ian-terrifying DFN-package. The DFN is a 3x3mm flat chip that is just 0.9mm thick and can be used when space is a serious issue. Continue reading “Sjaak explores tiny, powerfull PICs”
Free PCB store: New look preview
Soon the free PCB store will get an update. This is a screenshot of the new look on a default Zencart install. A few bugs remain, but it should be up today or tomorrow.
Over the next few weeks the entire site will get an update. All our mock-ups and work in progress are posted here. The forum update is already in progress.
The wiki will be the last site to get an update. We want it to look more like appealing documentation, and less like a wiki. It will be styled to match the other sites, and all the wiki-ness will be hidden until you log in. We’d also like to add the schematic symbols from the blog theme to the wiki section headers.
Pirateship Bus Pirate GUI source code released
A graphic interface for the Bus Pirate is a common request. Pirateship was the first to be released more than a year ago. It hasn’t been actively developed, but the source code is now available and hopefully someone will run with it.
Via the comments.
Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors.
Free PCB Sunday: Pick your PCB
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service.
This week we’re giving away coupon codes for the free PCB drawer to the first two commenters. Pick your own PCB.
You get unlimited free PCBs now – finish one and we’ll send you another!
Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:
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 around the world as possible;
-increase collaboration;
-increase cross-polination so we can all learn from one another;
-encourage all hackerspaces to support each other;
(And it’s fun.)These Hackerspace Passports look a lot like US Passports, but no fingerprints needed! And, rather than a requirement for passing borders, they are intended to encourage it!
If each hackerspace and hacker con makes their own stamp, then people can get their Hackerspace Passport stamped everywhere they go.
Of course the design is free and open source, so the artwork is available for download from the Noisebridge site.
Via Adafruit.
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 brilliance of the concept. You just plug it in and play.
Nuntius is based on the same basic concept of those systems except it’s a robot. The controller it a biomechanical input device that consists of a propeller proto board that measures the position of a 6 axis “mini arm” that you articulate with your hand just like you would if you were actually there. The propeller then send the data via a XBEE to the robot.
The BOM includes 2 Propeller proto boards,
1 Propeller proto board enclosure, 2 XBees, 1 Parallax Wheel Kit, 2 Parallax HB-25 Motor Controllers, Servos and Servo Brackets from Lynxmotion and a wireless camera. No link to code or schematic was provided.
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 Centerfire Rifle.
The Arduino and TouchShield Slide are running the Sniper Training App (available for free, and open source at www.liquidware.com) which helps track shots for measurement and cluster metrics.
All the parts and source code are available for free and are open sourced over at www.liquidware.com and antipastohw.blogspot.com.
Free PCB Sunday: Pick your PCB
We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service.
This week we’re giving away coupon codes for the free PCB drawer to the first two commenters. Pick your own PCB.
You get unlimited free PCBs now – finish one and we’ll send you another!
Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:
App note: I2C fan speed controller
This app note describes how to control the speed of a small fan, like those in a computer case:
Controlling the speed of a brushless DC cooling fan is discussed. Examples of discrete and IC fan-speed controllers are shown. The article presents 12V, 24V, and 48V designs, as well as isolated versions. Tachometer feedback for speed control is discussed.
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 or touch detection can establish a BodyCom system connection.
In this 26 page Microchip app note, Cristian Pop explains the details behind this fascinating emerging technology, which uses Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) on frequencies between 60 kHz and 30 MHz employing the user’s body as the medium for data transmissions. Full schematics are provided in the Appendices.
Reference is made to a “BodyCom Evaluation Board”, however we could find no such product on the Microchip site. Possibly they are referring to the mTouch Evaluation Kit.
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
By contrast, typical write cycle specs for conventional MCUs such as those manufactured by Atmel (Atmega168/328) and Microchip (PIC 16F84A) are 10,000.
Cheap surface mount prototyping stickers
Protoflex makes a bunch of stickers with surface mount part footprints. The sticker goes on a protoboard, and then a surface mount part is soldered to the sticker. It’s a cool system, but very pricy. We covered them previously.
Kelvin found a cheaper alternative:
I have previously mentioned about protoflex. Unfortunately, it was too expensive. Recently, I came across a similar solution from Sunhayato. Price is much more reasonable. It doesn’t come with adhesive like protoflex, but double-sided tape isn’t that expensive :)
Via the contact form.
App note: Tactile feedback with piezoelectric shakers
An introduction to piezoelectric-based actuation:
Implementing tactile (haptic) feedback in consumer-electronic devices enhances the user’s experience. It provides a sense of touch in a user-interface design and is the newest major interface on smartphones and other portable consumer-electronic devices. Several haptic technologies are available now, including but not limited to vibration motor actuation, piezoelectric actuation, and electro-active polymer actuation. This article explains the basics of piezoelectric-based actuation and how it offers a fast response time, thin profile, and low power, all of which are important in handheld applications.
Thanks rsdio!
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 function in ways not originally intended. We only hope the mainstream media was listening… Just hope they aren’t confused by the “vs.” in the title, as true hardware hackers are makers and vice versa.
We note with appreciation the references to Seeed and DP at 3:50-4:04!
Via Adafruit.
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 present a threat or an enhancement to the government’s ability to conduct surveillance. One example, though not surprising to us:
Tunnels within a network increase the complexity of lawful intercept (LI) solutions. Challenges imposed by tunneling may include difficulty in identifying the traffic of a particular user (e.g., deep packet inspection may be needed), accessing the content of a tunnel at its end-points, and the use of encryption within tunnels.
On page 83, they even mention the Ubertooth One open source Bluetooth monitoring tool! (If you’re so motivated, check out the redactions throughout this doc and try to guess what remains so secret.)
This FBI doc was published in March, 2011, and recently released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Federation of American Scientists. It provides an interesting roundup of current and emerging technologies while reminding us that every technological advancement can be a two-edged sword in regard to privacy.
Via Wired.