Rain activated light show in an umbrella
In a decision we completely agree with, these industrious young women decided that playing in the rain would only be more fun if it included an interactive light show. They wanted the rain itself to cause LEDs in their umbrella to light up. To achieve this, they put piezo sensors on each of the 8 [...]
Hack a Day | Posted at:
Sunday May, 20 2012 03:01 PM UTC Picaxe 08M tone signal generator
VK4ADC is an Australian amateur radio operator whose on-air activities include weak signal/microwave work. As such, he needed a reliable tone generator to modulate his transmitted RF carrier to permit receiving stations to peak their station’s antenna for maximum signal. So he decided to design his own multi-function tone generator around the Picaxe 08-M.
Accustomed to microwave circuit design which requires miniature dimensions, his project was built on a 35mm by 35mm board. The circuit consists of a standard 8-pin DIL PICAXE (an 08M), a 5-volt SMD regulator, an SMD-style LM386 audio...
DeLorean hovercraft
[Matthew Riese] got frustrated waiting for the future to arrive so he could have his flying car. He decided to take things into his own hands and construct the closest thing he could. This turned out to be a hovercraft. Not only that, but he thought that the most fitting shape for this thing would [...]
Hack a Day | Posted at:
Sunday May, 20 2012 01:01 PM UTC App note: ATtiny40 Qtouch reference design
Here is a reference design from Atmel designed to demonstrate the Qtouch capabilities of the ATtiny40 microcontroller. Only one pin, and a PCB pad is needed to make a capacitive touch button.
The reference design is to demonstrate the capabilities of the Atmel ATtiny40, which supports QTouch, the latest capacitive touch technology. The technology requires only a single I/O pin per touch channel. The reference design supports two analog output channels using PWM, buzzer, and LEDs indicating touch, and TWI or SPI communication interfaces. It also allows complete configurability, and supports off-board...
App note: Collection of Jim Williams’ app notes
In June 2011 the electronics world lost a great man, Jim Williams. He was a analog circuit guru, and a scientist at Linear Technology. Here is a collection of some of the app notes he wrote.
Via the Amp hour.
Maker Faire Bay Area: Setup
Here are some pics we took while setting up at the Bay Area Maker Faire. If you are visiting, be sure to say hi at our booth (#2).
For live updates from the Maker Fair check out our Twitter feed.
More photos below the fold.
Making real-life portals with a Kinect
[radicade] wanted to know what real life portals would look like; not something out of a game, but actual blue and orange portals on his living room wall. Short of building a portal gun, the only option available to [radicade] was simulating a pair of portals with a Kinect and a projector. One of the [...]
Hack a Day | Posted at:
Saturday May, 19 2012 07:01 PM UTC App Note: Mixed signal circuit board layout considerations
Hli located an interesting app note from Cypress called “Mixed Signal Circuit Board Layout Considerations”. “It discusses how to layout a board to have good analog performance, even if you have digital stuff on the same board. Some parts are specific for the Cypress PSoCs, but much of the advice is applicable generally.
The PSoCs are interesting here because they mix a CPU (up to Cortex-M3) together with CPLD capabilities together with programmable / reconfigurable analog components (DAC, up-to 20bits ADC, OpAmps, filters any many more) on a single chip.”
The 10-page PDF...
DIY spring and plate reverb
If you’re running your own recording studio, you’re going to need a lot of gear that seems excessively esoteric to the non-musically inclined. A rack full of synth gear looks just like any other cabinet of technology you would find in a server room. Electronic music is, for the most part, very utilitarian looking, but [...]
Hack a Day | Posted at:
Saturday May, 19 2012 05:01 PM UTC Geeks living off the grid are hard on batteries
Many of you will remember [Mikey Sklar] from the multitude of times he’s been on hackaday. What you may not have noticed is that he is an ubergeek, living off the grid. He has Solar PV battery bank, three electric vehicles, a shipping container loaded with battery powered tools and a small army of iRobot [...]
Hack a Day | Posted at:
Saturday May, 19 2012 03:01 PM UTC