Table of contents for #77 in HackSpace

Computers have cold, hard, silicon brains, while we’re squishy sacks of meat. In order for us to use these machines, we need a way of connecting our neurons with the computer’s transistors, and until we poke wires directly into our craniums, we need buttons, lasers, sliders, joysticks, and other sensors. Press a button to close a contact, twiddle a knob to change the resistance, gaze into the unblinking stare of an OLED. These are the boundaries between man and machine. If we want to get the most out of our symbiotic relationship with silicon, we have to optimise this boundary. This month, we’re looking at how we can build our own interfaces to bridge this divide and make our computers as responsive as possible to our thoughts. Let’s hack this…

hsmag.cc/HOMS You can buy a box of ten RP2040 microprocessors for £9. You just need a couple of minutes to visit the Pimoroni or The Pi Hut website and enter your credit card details. Depending on your location, it can take a day or two for the delivery to arrive. It’s easy. Too easy for Panos Papazoglou! He’s made a fully functional microprocessor out of discrete bits of hardware. The registers that would normally be etched at microscopic level into silicon are here replaced with Arduinos, with added displays so the user can see what’s going on at any given time in any part of the device. It’s brilliantly geeky, and a superb way of visualising what’s going on inside a processor for anyone who’s looked at a chip and…

Bybuilding your own custom controller, you can determine the aesthetic, layout, features, and exact specifications to suit your own preferences and requirements. And the build will often cost you less than a commercial equivalent – if there is even one available. We’ve rounded up some of the best DIY controller makes around, from mechanical keyboards and macro keypads to gamepads and mice. While just a small sample of what’s out there, this selection showcases the variety of designs created by makers, incorporating features such as solar power and keycaps with tiny screens in them. Naturally, you can modify any of these open-source projects to your own preference, or be inspired to come up with a new design. The beauty of creating custom controllers is that you can let your imagination…

Michael Omotosho is a design engineer. He’s currently working at Jaguar Land Rover, but he’s worn several hats in his career, working on projects to help elderly people retain their independence for longer, providing solar power to communities in Tanzania, and judging the V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge 2022–23. Like any good designer, when he sees a problem, he wants to fix it. That goes for invisible problems too, like air pollution. The statistics around air pollution are shocking. 44,000 deaths a year in the UK have air pollution as a contributing factor. Worldwide, that figure rises to seven million. Air pollution leads to children growing up with asthma, reduced brain development, and a whole host of other complaints. We need to make the invisible visible, and to do that,…

In earlier articles in this series, we established that we have a reasonable working RP2040 layout, so now it’s pretty trivial to create new RP2040 devices. In the last section we made an ‘Urumbu’-style motor driver board, and in this section we are going to create a simple USB game controller (Figure 1). It’s largely the same process we undertook for the Urumbu project, but simpler. We started by making a copy of our Urumbu project and cleaned out the files in the new project copy that we wouldn’t need. So, any particular files like the board edge geometry, the Gerbers, and CSV files can be deleted as we will replace them with ones generated for the new project. We also quickly deleted all the Urumbu parts we didn’t need…

Each month at HackSpace mag towers, we create a magazine. We source content, edit it, massage it into the right format, add images, and check through everything with a fine-toothed comb. Once this is all done, we send it to the printers to translate our digital files onto paper. It’s this final step that feels a little, well, underwhelming. You might imagine that sending a magazine to press involves hitting a big importantlooking button. At least, that’s what this writer thought when he first joined the world of publishing many years ago. However, reality is less impressive, and we actually just send a message to someone to say that we’re happy with it. When reality is underwhelming, we can choose to accept that, or we can choose to enliven it.…

3D printers are fantastic. Get a model, slice it, and out pops a perfect duplicate. However, are you sure it’s a perfect duplicate? It looks OK, but what if the dimensions matter? Is 1cm in your CAD software creating 1cm in the real world? Or is it really 0.9 cm? Sometimes it doesn’t matter, but sometimes it really does. What about supports? Depending on your models, you could be throwing away a large proportion of your filament, but do you really need to? Could you change some settings to mean you need to waste less? In this tutorial, we’re going to run through a few useful calibration tests to check your printer is performing at its best. It’s worth running some, or all, of these when you set up a…

FLIPPER DEVICES INC. $49 (not including Flipper Zero) hsmag.cc/flippervgm The recently released Video Game Module sits on top of the Flipper Zero; so, before we can look at what the former does, we need to understand the latter. At a basic level, it’s a microcontroller with a range of short-range wireless connectivity strapped on. That includes sub-GHz radio (which can read and send at the popular 866 and 433MHz frequencies), RFID, NFC, infrared, and iButton (which is a sort of circular electronic key). You can use this to read, understand, replay, or transmit data. Much attention has been paid to the Flipper Zero’s use as a device for attacking hardware, and you’ll see videos online of it being used to bypass security, particularly on cars. There are, undoubtedly, some older models…

hsmag.cc/CatTV My old pet dog (RIP Henry) used to love nature programs; he’d show a special interest in anything featuring lions. He’d raise his head, stretch a little, and imagine himself out there on the savannah with them. Apparently, some people prefer cats to dogs, and if you’re one of them, you might want to give your furry housemate something to watch. YouTube is reassuringly full of pet-oriented content, and Becky Stern has crafted a delightfully simple device to stream reassuring scenes of birds and squirrels to pique her cats’ interest. She’s kept it simple: it uses a 5-inch capacitive touch LCD screen, a Raspberry Pi, a USB speaker, mouse and keyboard, and a 3D-printed enclosure. Even this was one feature too many – the cats kept pawing at the…

hsmag.cc/MovingPixelClock “Clock projects are cool. LED projects are cool, too. And if it moves, all the better. So why not build a moving pixel LED mechatronics clock?” With this thought began Erich Styger’s 18-month development of the Moving Pixel Clock. More accurately, the project began when Erich spotted a bunch of tiny stepper motors for sale online. They came with no instructions, no datasheet, and no information at all other than the name – ‘Mini stepper motor @5V’. They have a travel of around 10mm, which takes around two seconds, and Erich thought it would be a good idea to use them to add some interest to a digital clock display. The final build comprises five stacked PCBs housing the stepper motors and stepper motor drivers; each PCB has 16…

W e’vetalked a few times in this magazine about how 3D scans of biological models contain a level of detail and interest that is rarely found in designed models. We’ve been testing out the Prusa XL recently, and decided to put the large print volume to the test with this Triceratops skull. We then created a mount for it (by using the original 3D model as a negative volume in PrusaSlicer, and so creating something that it mounted on perfectly). We finally completed the build by wrapping a string of LEDs behind the skull so it could be backlit. Apparently, some people find backlit skulls creepy, but we find them fascinating. The skull’s available for download at hsmag.cc/triceratops, and you can scale it to any print volume.…

In this article, we are going to discover how we can create and manipulate solid objects in computer code. We’re going to start with a look at stereolithography (STL) files and discover how these describe objects for a 3D printer to print. Then, we are going to move on to making interesting and colourful designs from mathematical functions and, finally, use a Kinect camera to create our own version of the best scene from the best Star Wars movie – the bit where Han Solo is encased in a block of carbonite so that only the top part of his body (including his scary screaming face) is visible sticking out of the block. (Spoiler alert: Don’t worry – he is freed in the next film). Figure 1, above, shows the…

This tutorial will provide guidance on how to design your own circuit using KiCad. It will show how you can design a circuit that can be used with Raspberry Pi Pico. This will include choosing suitable components and designing a schematic diagram. This will then lead to creating your own custom printed circuit board (PCB) in the next tutorial. This circuit is to control three sets of lights using buttons on the PCB or through a web interface. The design can be used for 5V or 12 V lights, making it suitable for either home automation or model railway lighting. 01 Design idea All projects start with an idea. When creating a breadboard circuit, you have an opportunity to experiment and change the design as required. Creating a custom PCB involves…

Welcome to 2024! Things certainly have changed since I started my electronics journey so many years ago. I still remember programming a POV from Adafruit via a serial port, and the amazing feeling of accomplishment that followed, as I waved it in the air the first time, and I could read the word ‘HELLO’. Since those early days of learning to read schematics, breadboard, solder, and correctly identify components, I have played around with electronics both as a hobby and as a profession. And one of my favourite things is still to get that feeling of amazement as new products are launched, and learning about what they can do. My journey started out with the BASIC Stamp, then Arduino, followed by Raspberry Pi. It’s amazing how much has changed, and…

TINY TAPEOUT → $150 tinytapeout.com About 18 months ago, this reviewer took a class in Bristol Hackspace. There, Matt Venn took a group of novices through the very basics of chip design. Microchips have been, perhaps, the defining innovation of the past 100 years. They are what enable the modern world to exist. But what are they? If you peel back the black plastic coating, what would you find inside? Here at HackSpace magazine, we’re very keen on learning by making. If you want to know how something works, building it is an excellent place to start. However, historically this has been very difficult if not impossible to do with microchips. The costs involved put it out of reach for most mere mortals. Costs have come down in recent years,…

hsmag.cc/DAST In the northern hemisphere, spring is on its way. The days are getting longer, and warmth bathes the land. It’s the perfect time to dabble in solar power! Tim Ritson, like everybody in New Zealand, is exactly six months ahead of us, and he’s already had the chance to develop this dualaxis solar tracker, which rotates and pivots a solar panel to maximise the amount of light it collects during the day. Tim used extruded aluminium for the frame of the tracker, as it’s soft enough to cut and drill (slightly too soft, as steel bolts will strip aluminium threads very easily if you’re not careful) while offering you plenty of strength without too much weight. Tim used parts from his local hardware shop, electronics store, and AliExpress. The…

hsmag.cc/TypeWriter Reddit user CertifiedWerewolf (aka Ryan) wanted a distraction-free, light, portable typewriter – something very like the Freewrite Traveler, in fact, but without the £483 price tag. So, he put together a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, a Waveshare 4.2-inch e-paper display, a PiSugar 3 battery and a custom-made 3D-printed case, and a keyboard he already had, and made his own for a princely $90. We love how simple this build is: the clean lines, the minimalist design, and the ethos of doing one thing and one thing well. The fact that it’s homemade, and Ryan has shared the code for it on GitHub, makes it even better.…

Quadrupedal robots are quite peculiar. While most robots perform tasks that humans and animals can’t quite accomplish, quadrupeds mimic natural movements, which is harder to do. This very challenge is what has inspired me to build several of my own robot dogs over the years. So, what exactly goes into building a robot dog? Just how close can you come to replicating an actual dog? And how cheaply can this be done? Setting out to answer these questions led me to build my latest quadruped named TOPS (Traverser of Planar Surfaces). TOPS is an open-source twelve degrees of freedom (DOF) quadrupedal robot that can walk, trot, and dance. Other than the motors, bearings, and screws, TOPS is fully 3D-printed. The name TOPS also spells SPOT backward: SPOT being the famous…

ONE-HANDED The solder sustainer looks great, but tell us honestly – is it any good? It looks more like a film prop from a dystopian cyberpunk epic than a maker tool, but I’m no good at soldering, and I’ll take any help I can get. Harry Luton Ben says: I have no idea; I’ve never tried it. However, the version we featured is already outdated. Take a look at the Solder Sustainer v2 here: hsmag.cc/sustainerv2. EXTRA LARGE; EXTRA SPECIAL After reading your review of the Prusa XL, it feels like it could become an era-defining 3D printer in the same way that the Ender 3 did when it brought reliable(ish) 3D printers to a whole new group of makers. Mark Coventry Ben says: We’re super-excited about the possibilities of the…

Raspberry Pi and other small computers typically run the Linux operating system. This is a hugely powerful system, but can seem a little like a hodge-podge of different parts sticky-taped together because, in many ways, it is a hodge-podge of different parts stickytaped together. The system, which is broadly based on UNIX, harks back to the 1960s. It wasn’t so much designed as added to, as different people needed different features. Some of these additions have proved so popular, they have become a standard part of the system. Others fell by the wayside or were replaced. In this article, we’re going to look at one such add-on, cron. The name 'cron' comes from the Greek word ‘chronus’, meaning time, and it’s used to run tasks at a specific time. There…

Getting into robot development has never been easier or cheaper. You can pick up a robot kit for not much more than the price of a video game. If you spend a little more money, you can get one with a robot arm on top, like the one shown in Figure 1 above. Many of the robots use mecanum wheels, which allow the robot to move in any direction. Figure 2 shows what is controlling the robot. A Raspberry Pi sits underneath a ‘HAT’ which manages the power supply (two 18650 lithium batteries) and the signals to control the motors and the robot arm. The robot runs a set of Python programs which control the hardware and allow it to perform preprogrammed tasks. Figure 3 shows the remote-control application you…

XTOOL From → £249 hsmag.cc/screen_printer When you think of printing, you probably think of hitting a button, then waiting while a perfect replica of the thing you have on screen pops out of a machine. That’s how it works with paper printers, and these days it’s pretty common for 3D printers as well. Our experiences with screen printing, however, have been a bit different. It’s a more creative process that gives you plenty of scope for producing interesting, or terrible, results. Screen printing has been around for a long time. The basic idea is that you have a fine mesh of fabric. You cover most of this mesh with some sort of impermeable barrier, but the bit where you want ink (or paint) to get through, you leave uncovered. You…

BLSTRsander Sand-blasting set free From → $299 hsmag.cc/bebore Delivery: Jul 2024 This claims to be a new sort of power tool, which is stretching the truth a little. It’s a sand-blaster, and we’ve had those for years. However, it does work in a slightly unusual way – instead of compressed air firing the sand, it uses spinning discs. Does this matter? The Kickstarter doesn’t really tell us. It’s slightly more portable, but a connected air hose isn’t really the biggest impediment to movement. Yes, you do need to be connected to a compressor, but unless you’re working out of the back of a van, that’s usually not a problem. Given that the BLSTRsander is corded, the difference between being tethered by a power cable and an air hose doesn’t seem…