Editorial

Esta é a Newsletter Nº 238 que se apresenta com o mesmo formato que as anteriores. Se gostar da Newsletter partilhe-a!

Todas as Newsletters encontram-se indexadas no link.

Esta Newsletter tem os seguintes tópicos:

• Novidades da Semana
• Ciência e Tecnologia
• Documentação
• Projetos Maker

Faz hoje anos que nascia, em 1694, Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire. Este filosofo francês foi o autor que popularizou a obra de Isaac Newton na França, organizando uma tradução de Principia Mathematica à qual ele adicionou seu próprio comentário (1737). O trabalho da tradução foi feito pela marquesa de Châtelet, mas o comentário de Voltaire preencheu a lacuna entre os não-cientistas e as ideias de Newton numa época em que na França as visões pré-newtonianas de Descartes ainda eram predominantes. Embora filósofo, Voltaire defendia a análise racional.

Faz também anos hoje que nascia, em 1824, Hieronymous Theodor Richter. Este Mineralogista alemão em 1863 foi co-descobridor do elemento índio. Ele era assistente de Ferdinand Reich, que suspeitava que um novo elemento estivesse presente nas amostras de minério de zinco que ele processara quimicamente. Reich era cego em cores e entregou o trabalho de fazer uma análise espectroscópica a seu assistente. Quando Richter colocou parte da amostra num laço de arame de platina e a aqueceu na chama de um bico de Bunsen, ele observou uma linha brilhante de índigo característica disso como um novo elemento - chamado índio devido a cor dessa linha. Após a separação do óxido hidratado de índio, eles o reduziram para obter uma amostra do novo metal.

Nesta semana que passou o primeiro protótipo de nave espacial em tamanho real da SpaceX sofreu uma anomalia no teste de pressão. A Starship Mk1, de aço inoxidável, sofreu uma anomalia durante um teste de pressão criogénica na passada quarta-feira (20 de novembro) nas instalações da SpaceX, perto da vila de Boca Chica, no sul do Texas. De acordo com representantes da companhia "o objectivo do teste de hoje foi pressionar os sistemas ao máximo, pelo que o resultado não fosse completamente inesperado. Não houve feridos, nem é um sério revés".

Na Newsletter desta semana apresentamos diversos projetos de maker. É apresentado também o livro "Get Started With Arduino" e a revista Hackspace Magazine nº 25 de Dezembro.

João Alves ([email protected])

O conteúdo da Newsletter encontra-se sob a licença Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

SpaceX's 1st Full-Size Starship Prototype Suffers Anomaly in Pressure Test

"The stainless-steel Starship Mk1 experienced an anomaly during a cryogenic pressure test Wednesday (Nov. 20) at SpaceX's facilities near the South Texas village of Boca Chica. The Mk1's test campaign began just yesterday (Nov. 19), when the vehicle "breathed" during its first-ever pressure test. SpaceX will now focus on developing more advanced prototypes rather than repair and retest the Mk1, company founder and CEO Elon Musk suggested via Twitter this afternoon. "Absolutely, but to move to Mk3 design. This had some value as a manufacturing pathfinder, but flight design is quite different," Musk wrote. He was responding to a tweet by "Everyday Astronaut" Tim Dodd, who opined that SpaceX might end up transitioning to the Mk2 or Mk3, and then asked Musk directly if the company plans to "just move on to Mk3."" [...]

Mbed OS 5.14.2 released

"We are pleased to announce the Mbed OS 5.14.2 release is now available. This is the latest patch release based on the feature set that Arm Mbed OS 5.14 introduces. Summary In this release we have added the following targets: - CY8CKIT_064S2_4343W - DISCO_H747I (CM7 core) - DISCO_H747I_CM4 (CM4 core) - CYW9P62S1_43012EVB_01 As an exception to our normal patch release rules we have added a new API called get_ipv6_link_local_address in NetworkInterface class. This API returns IPv6 link local address. The QSPI interface permits the alt (aka mode) bits to be any multiple of the bus width. Previously the values in qspi_alt_size_t only supported multiples of bytes." [...]

Industry's First 4Mbit EEPROM Memory Chips from STMicroelectronics Let Small Devices Handle Bigger User Data

"Industry’s first 4Mbit EEPROM in small, low-cost, 8-pin package Data-storage boost brings more features and precision to smart devices ST is the world leader in serial EEPROM memories, widely used across a full range of applications Geneva / 21 Nov 2019 STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) , a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, has introduced a new generation of memory chips that combine unprecedented storage density with speed and reliability, enabling the devices we use every day to do more to enrich life and work. With 4Mbit capacity, ST’s new EEPROM memories let small devices capture and store more data through the serial SPI bus. This enables equipment such as smart meters to intensify data logging for managing grids more effectively and providing more user-friendly billing. Also, portable medical devices can log patients’ data more intensively to improve care quality, and consumer devices such as smart wearables can support more user features and greater precision. In these applications, the memory’s low power consumption helps extend battery runtime. A wide range of applications in industrial controls and communication infrastructure such as network switches can also benefit from these higher density memories." [...]

Intel Unveils New GPU Architecture with High-Performance Computing and AI Acceleration, and oneAPI Software Stack with Unified and Scalable Abstraction for Heterogeneous Architectures

"News Highlights: Intel launches oneAPI, a unified and scalable programming model to harness the power of diverse computing architectures in the era of HPC/AI convergence. Intel introduces a general-purpose GPU optimized for HPC/AI acceleration based on the Xe architecture, code-named “Ponte Vecchio.” Intel unveils additional architectural details of the Aurora Supercomputer, delivering convergence at exascale at Argonne National Laboratory. DENVER, Nov. 17, 2019 – At Supercomputing 2019, Intel unveiled its vision for extending its leadership in the convergence of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) with new additions to its data-centric silicon portfolio and an ambitious new software initiative that represents a paradigm shift from today’s single-architecture, single-vendor programming models. Addressing the increasing use of heterogeneous architectures in high-performance computing, Intel expanded on its existing technology portfolio to move, store and process data more effectively by announcing a new category of discrete general-purpose GPUs optimized for AI and HPC convergence. Intel also launched the oneAPI industry initiative to deliver a unified and simplified programming model for application development across heterogenous processing architectures, including CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs and other accelerators. The launch of oneAPI represents millions of Intel engineering hours in software development and marks a game-changing evolution from today’s limiting, proprietary programming approaches to an open standards-based model for cross-architecture developer engagement and innovation." [...]

NTU Singapore and Dutch scientists show how perovskite solar cells can capture more electricity

"Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) in a collaboration with the University of Groningen (UG) in the Netherlands, have developed a method to analyse which pairs of materials in next-generation perovskite solar cells will harvest the most energy. In a paper published in Science Advances this week, physicists Professor Sum Tze Chien from NTU and Professor Maxim Pshenichnikov from UG used extremely fast lasers to observe how an energy barrier forms when perovskite is joined with a material that extracts the electrical charges to make a solar cell. Conventionally, a solar cell absorbs sunlight and converts it to electrical charge. During this process, the light particles have more energy than needed to generate the electrical charges in the solar cells. This excess energy gives rise to what are called “hot” charges, which lose their excess energy very fast as heat (within one picosecond), leaving only “cold” charges available for electrical power generation. This energy loss is why conventional solar cells have a theoretical limit of 33 per cent for power conversion efficiency." [...]

Storing energy in hydrogen 20 times more effective using platinum-nickel catalyst

"Catalysts accelerate chemical reactions, but the widely used metal platinum is scarce and expensive. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), together with Chinese, Singaporean and Japanese researchers, have now developed an alternative with a 20x higher activity: a catalyst with hollow nanocages of an alloy of nickel and platinum. TU/e researcher Emiel Hensen wants to use this new catalyst to develop a refrigerator-size electrolyzer of about 10 megawatts in the future. The results have been published in the journal Science. By 2050, the Dutch government aims to get almost all of the national energy requirements from sustainable sources, such as the sun or the wind. Because these energy sources are not available at all times, it is important to be able to store the generated energy." [...]

Graphene: The more you bend it, the softer it gets

"New research by engineers at the University of Illinois combines atomic-scale experimentation with computer modeling to determine how much energy it takes to bend multilayer graphene – a question that has eluded scientists since graphene was first isolated. The findings are reported in the journal Nature Materials. Graphene – a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a lattice – is the strongest material in the world and so thin that it is flexible, the researchers said. It is considered one of the key ingredients of future technologies. Most of the current research on graphene targets the development of nanoscale electronic devices. Yet, researchers say that many technologies – from stretchable electronics to tiny robots so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye – require an understanding of the mechanics of graphene, particularly how it flexes and bends, to unlock their potential." [...]

Bionic hand made in 10 hours thanks to WMG, University of Warwick

"- A 3D printed bionic hand can be made to measure thanks to engineers at WMG, University of Warwick and a collaboration of other companies. - The 3D printed hand incorporates muscle sensors to control an articulated thumb, enabling it to function similar to a human hand. - It can be made to measure in 10 hours in a choice of colours. A bionic hand can be made to measure in 10 hours and can grip using a moveable thumb. Designers and engineers from WMG, University of Warwick and UK industry, have been able to entirely 3D Print the device with embedded electrical circuitry to seamlessly connect sensors and actuators. The IMPACT project, led by Iterate Design and Innovation Ltd, in collaboration with WMG, University of Warwick, C Enterprise (UK) Ltd and Printed Electronics Ltd, was made possible thanks to a grant of nearly £900,000 from Innovate UK, with the aim of developing a 3D printing technology with the ability to print plastic products with integrated electrical circuitry, a capability which they have demonstrated in a bionic hand." [...]

Cryptography without secret keys

"Most security applications, for instance access to buildings or digital signatures, use cryptographic keys that must at all costs be kept secret. That also is the weak link: who will guarantee that the key doesn’t get stolen or hacked? Using a physical unclonable key (PUK) – which can be a stroke of white paint on a surface – and the quantum properties of light, researchers of the University of Twente and Eindhoven University of Technology present a new type of data security that does away with secret keys. They present their method in the journal Quantum Science & Technology. Information security, in online banking for example, often works with a combination of a public key and a private key. The public key is known to everyone, but for creating a digital signature, a private key is necessary." [...]

Lamborghini and MIT pave the way for the electric supercar of the future

"MIT-Italy helps build supercharged partnerships on campus and across the globe. “He was here to dream, and I said 'OK, let's dream together,'” recalls Professor Mircea Dincă of his first encounter with Automobili Lamborghini Head of Development Riccardo Parenti in February 2017. Two years later, the team is celebrating its first major collaborative victory by filing a joint patent. The new patented material was synthesized by Dincă’s lab in the Department of Chemistry, with the support of Automobili Lamborghini’s Concept Development Department, and will serve as the technological base for a new generation of supercapacitors. By increasing the surface area exposed to electric charge in relation to mass and volume, the patent promises to increase energy density by up to 100 percent when compared to existing technology. This is a big leap, even when compared to Lamborghini’s cutting-edge supercapacitors, and, more broadly, a game-changer in high-performance motor sport." [...]

Multimaterial 3D printing manufactures complex objects, fast

"Multinozzle printer can switch between multiple inks up to 50 times per second 3D printers are revolutionizing manufacturing by allowing users to create any physical shape they can imagine on-demand. However, most commercial printers are only able to build objects from a single material at a time and inkjet printers that are capable of multimaterial printing are constrained by the physics of droplet formation. Extrusion-based 3D printing allows a broad palette of materials to be printed, but the process is extremely slow. For example, it would take roughly 10 days to build a 3D object roughly one liter in volume at the resolution of a human hair and print speed of 10 cm/s using a single-nozzle, single-material printhead. To build the same object in less than 1 day, one would need to implement a printhead with 16 nozzles printing simultaneously! Now, a new technique called multimaterial multinozzle 3D (MM3D) printing developed at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) uses high-speed pressure valves to achieve rapid, continuous, and seamless switching between up to eight different printing materials, enabling the creation of complex shapes in a fraction of the time currently required using printheads that range from a single nozzle to large multinozzle arrays." [...]

Iron-based solar cells on track to becoming more efficient

"An international study led from Lund University in Sweden shows that 30 per cent of the energy in a certain type of light-absorbing iron molecule disappears in a previously unknown manner. By closing this loophole, the researchers hope to contribute to the development of more efficient solar cells using this iron-based solar cell. The sun is an unlimited source of pure and renewable energy. However, manufacturing the components in today’s silicon-based solar cell solutions requires a lot of energy, and many new solar celluse rare or toxic elements. Researchers at Lund University have therefore started to develop alternative solar cell solutions based on iron. As a part of this research, an international research team recently carried out a free electron laser experiment at Stanford in the US to investigate how light-absorbing iron molecules transfer electrons into a state from which the energy can be extracted." [...]

Eliminating cracks in 3D-printed metal components

"Researchers at EPFL have developed a new laser 3D-printing technique to manufacture metal components with unprecedented resistance to high temperature, damage and corrosion. The method has applications in fields ranging from aerospace to power-generating turbines. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has revolutionized the way components are made, setting new standards in terms of production speed when geometric complexity is high. Manufacturers use a technique known as selective laser melting (SLM) to 3D-print metal components. With SLM, a powerful laser melts and fuses metallic powders together, gradually building a 3D component layer by layer. Any remaining powder is removed at the end of the process." [...]

Superconducting wind turbine chalks up first test success

"A superconducting rotor has been successfully tested on an active wind turbine for the first time. The EcoSwing consortium designed, developed, and manufactured a full-size superconducting generator for a 3.6 megawatt wind turbine, and field-tested it in Thyborøn, Denmark. They report their results in the IOP Publishing journal Superconductor Science and Technology. Corresponding author Anne Bergen, from the University of Twente, The Netherlands, said: "Wind turbine size has grown significantly over the last few decades. However, today's technology has trouble keeping up with the trend towards ever-increasing unit power levels. "Permanent-magnet (PM) based direct-drive (DD) generators offer a solution in state-of-the-art multi-megawatt generators, but the feasibility of 10+ megawatt PM-DD turbines requires significant weight reduction." [...]

New Spin Directions In Pyrite An Encouraging Sign For Future Spintronics

"first theoretical demonstration of both in-plane and out-of-plane spin highly energy- and direction- dependent behaviour discovered interplay between surface and bulk states plays a critical role in surface spin texture A Monash University study revealing new spin textures in pyrite could unlock these materials’ potential in future spintronics devices. The study of pyrite-type materials provides new insights and opportunities for selective spin control in topological spintronics devices. SEEKING NEW SPIN IN TOPOLOGICAL MATERIALS Topological materials have exciting potential for next-generation, ultra-low energy electronics, including thermoelectric and spintronic devices. However, a restriction on the use of such materials in spintronics has been that all topological materials studied thus far have spin states that lie parallel to the plane of the material, while many/most/all practical spintronic devices would require out-of-plane spin states. Generating and manipulating out-of-plane spins without applying an external electric or magnetic field has been a key challenge in spintronics. The new Monash Engineering study demonstrates for the first time that pyrite-type crystals can host unconventional energy- and direction-dependent spin textures on the surface, with both in-plane and out-of-plane spin components, in sharp contrast to spin textures in conventional topological materials." [...]

Bonn physicists create “super-photon”

"Completely new source of light for many applications Physicists from the University of Bonn have developed a completely new source of light, a so-called Bose-Einstein condensate consisting of photons. Until recently, expert had thought this impossible. This method may potentially be suitable for designing novel light sources resembling lasers that work in the x-ray range. Among other applications, they might allow building more powerful computer chips. The scientists are reporting on their discovery in the upcoming issue of the journal “Nature” (doi: 10.1038/nature09567). By cooling Rubidium atoms deeply and concentrating a sufficient number of them in a compact space, they suddenly become indistinguishable." [...]

Researchers watch quantum knots untie

"After first reporting the existence of quantum knots, Aalto University & Amherst College researchers now report how the knots behave A quantum gas can be tied into knots using magnetic fields. Our researchers were the first to produce these knots as part of a collaboration between Aalto University and Amherst College, USA, and they have now studied how the knots behave over time. The surprising result is that the knots untie themselves over a short period of time, before turning into a vortex. The research was mainly carried out by Tuomas Ollikainen, a PhD student at Aalto university who split his time between carrying out experimental work in Amherst in Massachusetts, and analyzing the data and developing his theories at Aalto. 'We hadn’t been able to study the dynamics of these sorts of three-dimensional structures experimentally before, so this is the first step to this direction.' says Ollikainen." [...]

The Wood Paradox

"It can be deformed as required and is three times stronger than natural wood: the wood material developed by Marion Frey, Tobias Keplinger and Ingo Burgert at Empa and ETH Zurich has the potential to become a high-tech material. In the process, the researchers remove precisely the part of the wood that gives it its stability in nature: lignin. Wood is one of the oldest materials in the world. Wood is light, has excellent mechanical properties, regrows – and binds CO2. Against the background of the current climate debate, the last two properties in particular raise the question of how wood can be used even more and better. Ingo Burgert's research group at Empa and ETH Zurich have been investigating this question for years." [...]

Liquid metals the secret ingredients to clean up environment

"Liquid metal catalysts show great promise for capturing carbon and cleaning up pollutants, requiring so little energy they can even be created in the kitchen. Forget the laboratory, substances that can solve environmental problems by capturing carbon dioxide, decontaminating water and cleaning up pollutants can be easily created in a kitchen, a UNSW Sydney study shows. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, UNSW chemical engineers shone a light on the mysterious world of liquid metals and their role as catalysts to speed up chemical processes using low amounts of energy. Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh of UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering says that “anyone with a shaker and a cooktop at home in their kitchen can make catalysts that can be used for CO2 conversion, cleaning water and other pollutants. “They can do this by using a combination of liquid metals like gallium, indium, bismuth and tin in alloys that can be melted under 300oC on a cooktop or in an oven.” Professor Kalantar-Zadeh and colleague Dr Jianbo Tang showed that by heating an alloy of bismuth and tin, the metal melted at a point much lower than if you were to heat each metal individually. Substances that behave like this are said to be eutectic." [...]

Go With the Flow: Scientists Design Better Batteries for a Renewable Energy Grid

"New blueprint for affordable, sustainable ‘flow batteries’ developed at Berkeley Lab could accelerate an electrical grid powered by the sun and wind How do you store renewable energy so it’s there when you need it, even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing? Giant batteries designed for the electrical grid – called flow batteries, which store electricity in tanks of liquid electrolyte – could be the answer, but so far utilities have yet to find a cost-effective battery that can reliably power thousands of homes throughout a lifecycle of 10 to 20 years. Now, a battery membrane technology developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) may point to a solution. As reported in the journal Joule, the researchers developed a versatile yet affordable battery membrane – from a class of polymers known as AquaPIMs. This class of polymers makes long-lasting and low-cost grid batteries possible based solely on readily available materials such as zinc, iron, and water. The team also developed a simple model showing how different battery membranes impact the lifetime of the battery, which is expected to accelerate early stage R&D for flow-battery technologies, particularly in the search for a suitable membrane for different battery chemistries." [...]

Flexible yet sturdy robot is designed to “grow” like a plant

"Its extendable appendage can meander through tight spaces and then lift heavy loads. In today’s factories and warehouses, it’s not uncommon to see robots whizzing about, shuttling items or tools from one station to another. For the most part, robots navigate pretty easily across open layouts. But they have a much harder time winding through narrow spaces to carry out tasks such as reaching for a product at the back of a cluttered shelf, or snaking around a car’s engine parts to unscrew an oil cap. Now MIT engineers have developed a robot designed to extend a chain-like appendage flexible enough to twist and turn in any necessary configuration, yet rigid enough to support heavy loads or apply torque to assemble parts in tight spaces. When the task is complete, the robot can retract the appendage and extend it again, at a different length and shape, to suit the next task." [...]

The Relightables

"Volumetric Performance Capture of Humans with Realistic Relighting We present "The Relightables", a volumetric capture system for photorealistic and high quality relightable full-body performance capture. While significant progress has been made on volumetric capture systems, focusing on 3D geometric reconstruction with high resolution textures, much less work has been done to recover photometric properties needed for relighting. Results from such systems lack high-frequency details and the subject's shading is prebaked into the texture. In contrast, a large body of work has addressed relightable acquisition for image-based approaches, which photograph the subject under a set of basis lighting conditions and recombine the images to show the subject as they would appear in a target lighting environment. However, to date, these approaches have not been adapted for use in the context of a high-resolution volumetric capture system. Our method combines this ability to realistically relight humans for arbitrary environments, with the benefits of free-viewpoint volumetric capture and new levels of geometric accuracy for dynamic performances." [...]

Get Started With Arduino

"We love Arduino here at HackSpace magazine. Both the boards and the IDE have made it easy for a generation of people to get started with physical computing, robotics, and generally playing about with programable electronics. We've been featuring great Arduino content since issue 1, and we've gathered up our favourite Arduino articles and compiled them together in this book. It includes our series on learning Arduino programming to get you started, a great range of projects to help you hone your skills, and our pick of the best projects from the makersphere to inspire you. " [...]

HackSpace magazine #25

"It’s Chriiiisstmaaaas! We’ve dug through mountains of maker gear to bring you our top picks for maker’s Christmas presents. Whether you’re looking to treat a loved one, or looking to fill up your own Christmas list, we’ve got the bits you need. - Create a smooth surface on your 3D prints - Discover the Bela platform for making musical instruments - Find out how Nixie tubes are made - Build an electric candle you light with a match" [...]

Mandelbrot and Julia Sets on ESP32

"You certainly know fractals, the most famous of which is the Mandelbrot set. Here is a program to play with on ESP32. I chose the ESP32 because I think it will do the calculations faster than a standard Arduino (higher clock frequency: 240 MHz): about a second to a second and a half for calculation and display. The code displays on a 480 x 320 TFT touch screen. It calculates Mandelbrot and Julia sets for several parameter values, and allows you to zoom in on areas of interest to see the fractal aspect (i.e. the presence of the same structures at each scale change)." [...]

Reuse Old Mobile Phone Batteries

"Reuse old mobile phone batteries. I have been using used phone batteries in a bunch of projects recently after discovering an awesome little module on eBay. The module comes with a Li-ion charger and also a voltage regulator, allowing you to increase the voltage of the Li-ion battery from the normal 3.7vs to up to 30Vs! The other great thing about using old mobile phone batteries is you can get them for free! There are plenty of places that have mobile phone recycling bins where you can score a few batteries, free of charge. I have one at my work, which I periodically raid for batteries." [...]

Arduino Automatic Watering System

"First of hopefully many DIY arduino projects. I will show you how to build an automatic watering system. It will water plants for you when you not there. Although project is based on Arduino Nano there is no problem to build it with Arduino UNO. " [...]

Magnetic Levitation

"Let there be light! In this tutorial we'll build a basic magnetic levitator. This guide will go over some of the theory, how to use a magnetic field sensor, and how to use one to build a basic levitation circuit. Finally, we'll go a bit further and build a wireless power floating light. Theory Basics When it comes to magnetic levitation, there are two kinds of levitation: attractive and repulsive. In this guide, we're going to use an attractive levitation circuit as it's a lot easier to get working." [...]

Arduino L298 Motor Shield

"This is my version of a cheap and diy arduino motor shield. It is very simple and rugged. Credit goes to Ascas for the design. Specs: Voltage = 5 - 50 V Current = 2 - 3 A Maximum two motors Speed and direction control for both Arduino compatible" [...]

DIY Compact 3D Printed Animatronic Eye Mechanism

"My previous instructable was an attempt to make an eye mechanism that was as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, but in this project I wanted to design something that was more of a middle-ground between accessibility and quality. This design features some more speciality parts such as servo ball-links and pushrods but it's still quite easy to build. It uses a mechanism design which is commonly used in professional eye mechanisms, but it circumvents any machining by using parts that are designed for 3D printing. Compared to my previous design, it is much more compact, robust, and a little lighter. Another feature of this design is that it's designed to use snap-in eyes which can be replaced, and used with other 3d printed components to cast a highly realistic dome over the painted eye. This process is quite involved so I have another instructable on how to make the eyes, but if you'd prefer to use simple 3d printed eyes you can do that too." [...]

The Beginners Guide to Display Text, Image & Animation on OLED Display by Arduino

"In this article, we’ll talk about OLED displays story and their differences, how to run them by simple controllers and display text and images on them. At the end of this article, you will be able to: - Explain OLED display theory - Run OLED displays by Arduino - Display all type of text or images - Display simple animations" [...]

Solenoid Door Lock Contol RFID

"Solenoid Door Lock Contol RFID | Security Access Arduino. Solenoid Door Lock Contol RFID | Security Access Arduino. In this tutorial we will learn how to use the RFID RC522. So we can use an RFID system and an Arduino to open electric door lock. For example, only the person with the right information on his card is allowed to enter. " [...]

NRF24L01: Getting started, Arduino guide

"NRF24L01+, a popular 2.4GHz RF wireless Transceiver Module among Arduino Users. Regarded highly for its cost to performance ratio, it features specs that’s one of the best in its league. This blog aims to explain what it’s capable of, alongside an NRF24L01 Arduino Guide. " [...]

DIY Internet of Things Fire Alarm

"I purchased a battery operated smoke/fire alarm few days ago and it showed up today. It runs on 9V and will make a loud sound if smoke is detected. My intention was to hook it up with my home automation system so that I would receive alert if it would go off including SMS, pushbullet notification to my phone, email etc. The Funky v1 is ideal for the purpose because it is really flat/tiny and would fit inside the alarm. It will tap into the piezo siren and sleep until the siren is activated. Upon activation, it will make a wireless transmission to my home automation system (Raspberry Pi running Node-Red) for further processing and alerting me on my phone." [...]

RC Mini Car

"This blog entry doesn't have anything to do with optimization, but due to the interest shown for my Twitter posts about it, I'll make an exception. The M5Stack company has been prolific in creating modules and fun accessories around the ESP32 processor. Something that recently caught my eye is their Beetle-C mini car. It mates with their M5Stick-C mini computer to make a tiny "smart" remote controlled car. Their concept for the car is to control it over WiFi with an app running on an Android phone. I had a different plan." [...]

How to Use EMG Muscle Sensor

"How to use MyoWare EMG Muscle Sensor to control servo motor. In this project we will learn how to use MyoWare EMG Muscle Sensor to control servo motor. So with this sensor you can control a robotic hand, or you can use your muscles to control anything. Using our muscles to control things is the way that most of us are accustomed to doing it. We push buttons, pull levers, move joysticks... but what if we could take the buttons, levers and joysticks out of the equation? This is the MyoWare Muscle Sensor, an Arduino-powered, all-in-one electromyography (EMG) sensor The MyoWare board acts by measuring the filtered and rectified electrical activity of a muscle; outputting 0-Vs Volts depending the amount of activity in the selected muscle, where Vs signifies the voltage of the power source." [...]

How to control Neopixel strip with WiFi

"We make a NeoPixel light installations using Fishino and NodeMCU, controlled via Wi-Fi from PC or Raspberry Pi through a Python library. A few years ago, the American Adafruit Industries revolutionized the LED market by introducing its NeoPixels, whose main feature is to integrate, in a single package, an RGB LED and its controller. Adafruit’s goal was to meet the Arduino world by simplifying the LEDs management, integrating both the controller and the RGB LEDs in the same package. Since then, NeoPixels have spread widely among the public, mainly because, in addition to integrating the controller, they can be cascaded and addressed individually, controlling the color and brightness one by one. Inside each NeoPixel LED there is an RGB SMD LED (usually a 5050 and an integrated WS2811 or WS2812, that acts as a driver. A microcontroller (e.g., Arduino) sends an array of bytes with a precise timing through all the LEDs connected in series and makes it possible to create colorful and bright animations." [...]

MÄDBOX – A Multiplayer Electronic Board Game Table

"A multiplayer electronic board game table allowing up to 4 players. It features a low-res pixel display and a rotating die. The idea We wanted to build something that combines the fun of classic board games with the possibilities of electronic video games. We have therefore combined a low resolution pixel display, a rotating die and 4 two-button remotes, all wrapped up in a portable box of around 50x50cm. The maincircuit Inside the box the main component is a Teensy 3.5 microcontroller which gives enough CPU speed and RAM for complex graphics animations and handling of the stepper motor which rotates the hexagonal die. A 12V 8A power supply gives enough power for both stepper motor, and LED display." [...]

Just Another Garage Door Opener

"Use of a Particle Argon to open/close a garage door with a Particle Xenon used as a mesh limit switch & smartphone control via Blynk app. Story Well this is my first Project on Hackster. I have been playing with Particle Photons for a few years now, but everything has always been typically bench top tinkering. So this one I have finished and deployed so I thought I would share it with the community. There is already plenty of other Garage Door Openers listed on Hackster already, so this is my version. Goals: I set out to build a Garage Door Controller that could be operated from a smartphone." [...]

555 Timer and LED Repair for Inflatable Display

"My wife bought this inflatable lawn decoration last year, but unfortunately last year's severe winter was too much for it. The snowmen worked all Christmas season but when it was time to put the decorations away, we had snowstorm after snowstorm and I couldn't get to the deflated decoration to put it away. When the snow finally thawed, I plugged it in to make sure it still worked, and it inflated as I expected. I folded up the display and put it away for the year. When I unpacked the snowmen this year, one of the lights would not light up. I broke out my multimeter and tested the leads going to the PC board, and it was receiving 12v so something was wrong with the circuit." [...]

Hold the drop

"Hold-the-drop project shows the robustness and reliability of the connection between modules of Hexabitz. " [...]

Formula LED

"Race through your office at the speed of light! A project inspired by the OpenLEDRace project by @gbarbarov, made at Xing in Barcelona. This project was made during Hackweek 12 at XING Barcelona as an adaptation of this. It's basically the LED version of popular racing games like Scalextric with acceleration, friction and players going off track when they are too fast. Rules - There are two players: red and blue - The race begins with a random countdown - Keep pressing the button on the controller to accelerate - When a player goes too fast it changes color to green or yellow - Keep going too fast to be "thrown off the track". When this happens the player's speed is reset to 0 and the player blinks until it accelerates back to speed 1 - There are 4 laps in a race - The first player to cross the line at the end of the 4th lap wins - Press the reset button to start again" [...]

DIY Analog Resource Monitor for your PC

"In the video above, you can see first a power up sequence where all four dials go from zero to 100% and back to zero after which they start showing real time CPU, Memory, Network and GPU usage. After that we run a internet speed test to show how the real-time information is displayed on the dials. Intro; Why it took so long to write about this As I mentioned, I’ve been playing around with this idea for a while and by looking at some of my notes, the idea of having a physical resource monitor for my PC dates years and years back (see images at the end for some early on prototypes that I was able to dig up). Since I unfortunately can’t publicly write about the awesome projects I get hired to work on, I try to write about projects that I do in my own spare time and present them to my readers as DIY projects/guides. I take these very seriously and out of the respect to my readers who patiently wait for my next project post, thank you all for that very much, I try to keep the projects posts very detailed and provide every piece of information or files that you might need to build one yourself. Because of that I’ve been pondering for weeks(!)" [...]

Retro Computing with Arduino Mega and a Z80 processor

"Brought to the marked in 1976, Zilog's Z80 was the most widespread processor in the '80s until the 2000s. Let's bring it to life again! Story One day when I tidied up my cellar, I found a Z80 chip from an old computer. In the '80s and '90s, this processor was very popular, and I dare to say the most popular processor ever. So I got the idea to breathe new life into it. The Z80 has a tinker-friendly 40-pin DIP housing, but unlike modern tinker-friendly Processors like the ATmegas, there is no built-in RAM, program flash or any peripherals." [...]

DIY Analog Dialer to USB Keyboard

"I made this project just for fun, but this thing work as an normal keyboard with everything. Have fun! Supplies: - Analog dialer - Geekcreit® Pro Micro 5V 16M Mini Leonardo Microcontroller" [...]

Creating Artemis

"Learn how we created our own SMD module using PCB tips and tricks for blind and buried vias. For years SparkFun was wary of getting a product fully FCC certified. The process always seemed unknown and prohibitively expensive. We've written about the FCC requirements for products and hobby projects the past, but with the development of the SparkFun Edge and the creation of Artemis it was clear that it was time to venture into uncharted territory. We hope you can learn a little something from us. This will be a three-part series covering the creation of the Artemis SMD module, getting an RF shield made (twice), and going through the FCC certification process." [...]

Harmonic Analyzer : Mechanical Lasercut Signal Plotter

"Hello everyone ! I'm a lasercut fan since three years for now, and always been a bit curious about mechanical computers. Those mechanism This instructables will help you to make your own signal synthetizer designed to be cut in wood. You can download all the files on its Thingiverse page. This machine composes mechanically a Fourier series, which is a sum of (theorically) infinite sine waves, but here, we are going to sum up 5 sines. This Instructables is separated in 3 parts : I. Fourier analysis principle / History II." [...]

Multi-Touch Kit

"A Do-It-Yourself Technique for Capacitive Multi-Touch Sensing Using a Commodity Microcontroller Mutual capacitance-based multi-touch sensing is now a ubiquitous and high-fidelity input technology. However, due to the complexity of electrical and signal processing requirements, it remains very challenging to create interface prototypes with custom-designed multi-touch input surfaces. In this paper, we introduce the Multi-Touch Kit, a technique enabling electronics novices to rapidly prototype customized capacitive multi-touch sensors. In contrast to existing techniques, it works with a commodity microcontroller and open-source software and does not require any specialized hardware. Evaluation results show that our approach enables multi-touch sensors that have a high spatial and temporal resolution, and can accurately detect multiple simultaneous touches. A set of application examples demonstrate the versatile uses of our approach for sensors of different scales, curvature, and materials." [...]

Reuse an Old Phone and Old Speakers As a STEREO

"Turn a pair of old speakers and an old smartphone into a stereo installation with radio, mp3 playback podcasts and internet radio, using a few common components that cost less than 5 euros in total! So we have this collection of 5-10 year old smartphones that are partially functional but impractical: the memory is too small, the Android version is too old and typically the battery capacity is down to a tenth of its original. They are great for music playback though! Many have a built-in FM radio, a built-in mp3 player and if it connects to the home WiFi, it can also play internet radio, podcasts or Spotify. The built-in speaker is tiny, but it can be amplified. If you have a stereo with an input jack or that connects with bluetooth, plugging it in is all it takes." [...]

Tracealyzer for FreeRTOS on Xilinx Zynq

"A guide on how to debug your Embedded FreeRTOS applications running on an Avnet MiniZed board in an operating system aware way. Introduction When writing embedded software applications on top of an operating system it is often difficult to detect certain timing issues or explain some weird behavior. What is exactly going wrong? Another thing is when studying embedded operating systems it is useful to have a visual presentation of the running behavior of your system. Learning about task priorities, scheduler settings, queue management,... I have found Percepio Tracealyzer a perfect tool for this kind of things." [...]

Arduino Space Rocks Game

"Whether they are played on a computer, on a phone, on a game console, or on a standalone box, a lot of video games include an element of obstacle avoidance. Sure, there may be points awarded for collecting tokens or finding your way through a maze, but rest assured that there is probably something in the game whose sole purpose is to prevent you from doing that. The first video game was Pong, but after that the most popular games were things like Asteroids or Pac-Man. A more recent variation would be the simple but addictive game of Flappy Birds. Recently I saw that someone had made a simple two-level version of Flappy Bird that was played on a common 1602 LCD. I thought that would be something the grandkids might like so I decided to do my own variation from scratch." [...]

Child Assistant

"A robot for children which helps to play and reduce addiction of smartphone. Introduction The Problem: Children are becoming more addicted to smartphones day by day and usually watch cartoons, youtube, and play games. In Bangladesh, kids spend over three to four hours a day on screens. A study found that screen time impacts the physical structure of children’s brains, as well as their emotional development and mental health. Unless we get control of the screens which now absorb so much of our kids’ time, it will indirectly destroy our future generation. The Solution: Robot always attracts a child." [...]

Arduino Wattmeter - Voltage, Current and Power Consumption

"A device can be utilized to measure the power consumed. This circuit can also act as a Voltmeter and Ammeter to measure voltage and current. Hardware Components: - Arduino Uno - LCD 16 X 2 - LM 358 Op-Amp - 7805 Volage regulator - Potentiometer 10k ohm - 0.1 F - Resistor 10k ohm - Resistor, 20 kohm - Resistor 2.21k ohm - Resistor, 0.22 ohm - Test load - Connecting wires Software Components: - Arduino IDE" [...]

Indoor Aeroponic Garden Automation with ESP32 + Backend

"My first maker project that ended up "growing more" than I first anticipated. Complete with hardware details, MCU, backend and frontend code Introduction This guide has ended up to be a bit more verbose, also including details from the journey that took me to this point rather than being a brief set of instructions to follow. The reason for this is that during this journey I've encountered many choices and I believe that providing a bit more detail here and there might help anyone who is - like me - starting out as a maker, an indoor gardener or a programmer. Every piece of knowledge that I used in this project was self-taught and picked up from materials freely available on the internet. I hope this might encourage you to learn, experiment, make life better for you and your communities and to have a lot of fun on the way. I surely do :) The garden It all started about 2 years ago with receiving a small basket of basil and parsley as a housewarming gift and I quickly got hooked on the idea of cooking with fresh herbs even in the middle of winter." [...]

Make an Infinity Mirror Clock

"In a previous project I built an infinity mirror, where my ultimate goal for it was to make it into a clock. (Make a Colorful Infinity Mirror) I didn't pursue that after building it because, although it did look cool, there were a few things with the design that I didn't like. For this project I have gone through a redesign and connected it to an Arduino, making a clock. Some of the photos that I included have info that's not listed in the step, so check out all of the photos for all of the info for each step. Also, while building this project, there were a few times that my camera either didn't take the photos, or some of the photos got lost. " [...]

Digital Still Image Camera Using the ESP32-CAM Board

"When the reset button is pressed, the board will take an image, store it to the microSD card and it will then go back to deep sleep. In this post, we will learn how to build a digital still image camera using the ESP32-CAM board. When the reset button is pressed, the board will take an image, store it to the microSD card and it will then go back to deep sleep. We use the EEPROM to store and obtain the image number. " [...]

Servo Tester

"This Instructables show how to make a simple servo tester. Servo is a motor gear box that you can control the arm turning angle by a duty signal. Most common servo can control the arm angle from 0 - 180 degree. Servo is a very common component to build robot. However, not all servo behavior the same, especially the cheap one. Even you buy it in bulk, the turning angle is variant and very easy to get defect." [...]

Teensy 4 Large Music Synth

"Place several screws into their respective locations to build a song, then simply let the large wheel turn to trigger some notes! Story Music Boxes Music boxes have been around since their invention in the mid-nineteenth century. They work by having a series of differently tuned teeth that emit a sound at a specific frequency when struck by a nub on a rotating cylinder. Older, traditional music boxes are operated with a hand crank to turn the cylinder, and they are also very limited in the sounds they can play, as the comb’s frequencies cannot be dynamically updated. Features This music box differs in a major way compared to a traditional one. Although it still utilizes a spinning cylinder with little pegs, there isn’t a comb with tuned teeth." [...]

OtterPill

"STM32F072 devboard featuring USB 2.0 full-speed, DFU Bootloader, USB-PD Phy, Arduino nano alike pinout and size. HW v1.1 is finished and tested, v1.2 will be finished and tested soon. New features/changelog: BOM cost reduction by ~40%, PCB can be fully populated by JLCSMT, more efficient buck converter (PCB gets less warm at 20V), GND-hook for probing, Reset-Pin will be exposed as pad, power pads for 20V/5A More documentation and firmware examples will be aviable soon (including pinout diagram). " [...]

Make an amazing $6 digital radio with an old ESP8266 and a VS1053 decoder

"As always, before I begin my description, I'd like to give credit to the original creators of this project. It's called Ka-Radio and there's an instructable here, Hackaday here, and GitHub here. The Instructable/Hackaday try their best to explain how to make the radio, but I suspect they're written by engineers who aren't too comfortable in English. Details are very sparse - especially when it comes to flashing the ESP. It's a great project though, and all credit goes to those who created it. Many of the posts on Ka-Radio's Facebook page are in Russian - often by people who have already made the device and want to show off the fancy case they've constructed." [...]

Felted DIP Socket

"When using microcontroller for embroidery circuit projects, sometimes you do not want to directly solder them on the embroidery as you need to take it out to change the program on it. For this, sockets are convenient, but it is also bulky on the fabric. I used 5mm felt, that is as thick as the DIP socket to embed the socket inside and extend the socket connection to conductive thread for embroidery. It is still a bit thick, but better than having bare socket on embroidered fabric surface. these sockets does not hold the IC well and sometimes IC falls as you use the fabric as garment… I will need to fasten the IC by embroidering over it after the final program is on it. Cut the felt, make a hole in the middle as big as the IC socket." [...]

Raspberry PI Scanner V2

"Second version of 3D Scanner build. A REVOLUTION-ary new 3D Scanner and 360° product photography. It started as a hobby project and evolved into a full fledged product over the past 3 years. " [...]

Smart Mirror Using BeagleBone Black

"Using a BeagleBone Black, you can create a custom smart mirror to keep you up to date and on track in the mornings when getting ready. Story This project consists of a reflective pane of acrylic with a monitor behind it, creating a mirror that can display useful widgets like the date, the weather, and a daily fortune, among other things. It is a sleek device useful for quickly gathering daily information while, for instance, getting dressed or brushing teeth. Building the Mirror Enclosure Once all supplies are purchased, we can start to determine dimensions and design of the frame itself. For our project, we used a mirror that was 1ft by 2ft in size, while this is not very large, we felt like it was a good start. The frame itself actually measures 18.5" by 30.5" on the outermost dimensions." [...]

A Very Compact Alarm with Card Reader and Real-Time Clock

"This is an alarm for your house that rings when a movement is detected, like when the door is open or when a body walks in front of it. Story This is my first project released on Hackster and every suggestion is accepted. Well, I've made this alarm just for fun and I hope you will like it! How does the alarm work? In order to see from the image to start the alarm, you must put the correct magnetic card on the RC522 Card Reader. If the card is indeed correct, the alarm will turn on automatically (green LED: on; red LED: off), but if the card isn't correct, nothing is happening (green LED: off; red LED: on)." [...]

PCB Business Card

"I had a very simple business card for years, but I was just plain tired of it. It was too bland and looked like all of the other business cards that I had amassed over the years. I was catching up on the Amp Hour podcast and in one of the episodes Dave Jones mentioned something that really caught my attention: bring your projects to social events. I thought about it for a bit but could not think of any good way of bringing large, partially completed projects or populated boards to an event without looking like the ultimate king-of-the-nerds. Of course, I mulled about the idea some more and thought: would it even fit in my pocket? What dimensions make it too big for a pocket?" [...]

RGB Tree

"A neat Tree like decoration based on the RGB LEDs. I would like to introduce you to a project I developed a few years ago. Since many years I have been amazed by the devices like led cubes or propeller clock, especially a 3D one these are really cool. I designed and constructed a few of them however I never have been really satisfied with the project outcomes. So, after many attempts, I decided something, which can just look neat and nice. And that was the main reason for RGB-Tree creation." [...]

Triple CNC Machine - UPGRADE Version

"We will try to make a simple Triple CNC machine with you and so different others... Hi Makers, After a few weeks' break, we are back with a new project. In this video, we will try to make a simple cnc machine with you. “ A SIMPLE HOMEMADE TRIPLE CNC MACHINE “. Yes you heard right. We have done this before :) You can check in this link : https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/TheTNR/triple-cnc-machine-802a60 But this time we have improved our machine. We upgraded." [...]

Battery Capacity Tester Using Arduino - Lithium-NiMH-NiCd

"Features: Identify a fake Lithium-Ion/Lithium-Polymer/NiCd/NiMH battery Adjustable constant current load (can also be modified by the user) Capable of measuring the capacity of almost any kind of battery (below 5V) Easy to solder, build, and use, even for beginners (all components are Dip) An LCD user interface Specifications: Board Supply: 7V to 9V(Max) Battery Input: 0-5V(max) – no reverse polarity Constant Current Load: 37mA to 540mA(max) – 16 Steps – can be modified by the user The true measurement of a battery’s capacity is essential for many scenarios. A capacity measurement device can solve the problem of spotting fake batteries as well. Nowadays fake Lithium and NiMH batteries are everywhere which don’t handle their advertised capacities. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between a real and a fake battery. This problem exists in the spare batteries market, such as cell phone batteries. Furthermore, in many scenarios, it is essential to determine the capacity of a second-hand battery (for instance a laptop battery)." [...]

Getting Started with the M5StickV AI + IOT Camera

"The M5Stick-V is an AIOT (AI + IOT) camera with machine vision capabilities. The M5StickV is a tiny AI + IOT camera almost the size in diameter of 2 coins, the price is around $27.00 which for some could seem expensive for such a tiny camera but it does pack some decent specs. The camera is powered by incredibly powerful machine learning AI chip Kendryte K210, an edge computing system-on-chip with dual-core 64bit RISC-V CPU and state-of-art neural network processor, which makes it perfect and ready-to-use for: Face recognition/detection Object detection/classification Obtaining size and coordinates of the target in real time Obtaining a type of detected target in real time Shape recognition Game simulator The M5StickV comes in a nice package containing the M5StickV itself and USB-A to USB-C cable. " [...]