Posts with «hacking» label

Meet the Arduino Due, the 32-bit board that'll let your projects fly (really)

As much as we love the Arduino Uno, it's not the most powerful of hobbyist microcontrollers. Fortunately, the folks in Turin have just put the finishing touches on a 32-bit upgrade with buckets of potential. At the heart of the Arduino Due is an 84MHz Atmel CPU, based on ARM's Cortex M3 Architecture, which is capable of being the brains inside your own flying drone or homemade 3D printer. It should start trickling out onto shelves from today, setting you back $49, but hey, that's a small price to pay to automate your drinking adventures.

Continue reading Meet the Arduino Due, the 32-bit board that'll let your projects fly (really)

Filed under: Misc

Meet the Arduino Due, the 32-bit board that'll let your projects fly (really) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 22 Oct 15:22
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Pebble ties itself up in Twine: sounds so rustic, couldn't be any less (video)

Take an e-ink smartwatch that's got plenty of willing customers, throw in a WiFi-connected sensor box and well, imagine the possibilities. The founders behind Pebble and Twine hope you are, because they have announced that the pair will be connectable through the latter's web-based interface. This means you'll be able to setup text notifications to your wrist when your laundry's done, when someone's at your door and plenty more mundane real-world tasks. A brief video explains how it should all go down, but try not to get too excited -- pre-orders are sadly sold out.

Continue reading Pebble ties itself up in Twine: sounds so rustic, couldn't be any less (video)

Pebble ties itself up in Twine: sounds so rustic, couldn't be any less (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 May 2012 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 11 May 22:41
accelerometer  arduino  crowdsourcing  diy  hack  hacking  http  kickstarter  minipost  pebble  programming  sensor  smartwatch  supermechanical  thermometer  twine  twitter  video  wifi sensor  wifisensor  

Wise Clock 4 with remote "Alarm stop" button

The Ramos project brought the novel idea of a wireless alarm-stop button: instead of just reaching out to the press on the top of your nightstand alarm clock, you now have to actually get out of the bed and walk to a remote corner of your dwelling to click on a keypad. No chance you will return to sleep afterward :)

This remote alarm-stop feature for Wise Clock 4 can be implemented in several different ways, all of them using of the on-board XBee socket:
  • through a Bluetooth module;
  • through WiFi, using the Roving Networks WiFly module;
  • through XBee radios.
The cheapest and easiest would be the Bluetooth solution, providing that you already have a BT device (e.g. Android phone/tablet) to communicate with. In pseudo-code, it should look like this:

if (alarm is ON)
{
    while (Serial1.available())
    {
       read characters received;
       if (it is the expected string)
       {
            set alarm OFF;
        }
    }
}

The WiFi solution would require a second WiFi device (phone/tablet) to access a web site, or maybe they could talk directly (sockets), using their IP addresses.

The solution based on XBee relies on direct communication between two XBee radios. One would have to build the remote device, probably around an Arduino, with a keypad and an XBee.

Wise time with Arduino 19 Apr 23:55
bluetooth  hacking  serial communication  wise clock 4  

Wise Clock 4 with remote "Alarm stop" button

The Ramos project brought the novel idea of a wireless alarm-stop button: instead of just reaching out to the press on the top of your nightstand alarm clock, you now have to actually get out of the bed and walk to a remote corner of your dwelling to click on a keypad. No chance you will return to sleep afterward :)

This remote alarm-stop feature for Wise Clock 4 can be implemented in several different ways, all of them using of the on-board XBee socket:
  • through a Bluetooth module;
  • through WiFi, using the Roving Networks WiFly module;
  • through XBee radios.
The cheapest and easiest would be the Bluetooth solution, providing that you already have a BT device (e.g. Android phone/tablet) to communicate with. In pseudo-code, it should look like this:

if (alarm is ON)
{
    while (Serial1.available())
    {
       read characters received;
       if (it is the expected string)
       {
            set alarm OFF;
        }
    }
}

The WiFi solution would require a second WiFi device (phone/tablet) to access a web site, or maybe they could talk directly (sockets), using their IP addresses.

The solution based on XBee relies on direct communication between two XBee radios. One would have to build the remote device, probably around an Arduino, with a keypad and an XBee.


Wise time with Arduino 19 Apr 23:55
bluetooth  hacking  serial communication  wise clock 4  

Arduino hack turns Space Invaders alarm into Gmail Notifier (video)

Glaswegian engineer Grant Gibson spied a Space Invaders alarm clock being flogged off cheap ($5) and decided it deserved hacking. When activated, the battery-powered unit scuttled left to right, old-school style as it roused sleepy gamers but Mr. Gibson added a little Arduino magic to turn it into a moving Gmail notifier. Stripping out the battery compartment, he installed a USB-powered Arduino Nano, programmed to poll his email and activate the motion whenever he received a new message. The system is ripe for customization, it can be set up to alert when a front door bell is pushed or a notification received on Twitter -- which you'll be allowed to try as he's included all the details on his blog. The project (including the Nano and Alarm Clock) came to $20 and three hours of his time, which we're understandably impressed by. Head on past the break to see the thing in action and then fling yourself (highland-style) down to the source link to learn how to build your own.

Continue reading Arduino hack turns Space Invaders alarm into Gmail Notifier (video)

Arduino hack turns Space Invaders alarm into Gmail Notifier (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 06 Feb 22:04
arduino  arduino hack  arduino nano  arduinohack  arduinonano  grant gibson  grantgibson  hack  hacker  hacking  mod  modding  video  

Hacker builds allegedly pointless data network out of Lego train set

How can we appreciate bullet-quick SSDs and fiber networks without pausing -- at the year's end -- to appreciate where it all came from? We should think back to before the birth of modern computing, even before the telegraph, to a time when bits of data were forced to travel everywhere by train. A hacker named Maximilien has now recreated that locomotive golden era using Lego, Arduino and Linux, and what his system lacks in bandwidth it more than makes up for in historical relevance. A USB flash key is borne by miniature railway carriage from station to station, stopping at each one to unload or pickup information and thus creating its own barebones networking protocol. Click the source link to appreciate the full museum piece.

Hacker builds allegedly pointless data network out of Lego train set originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 27 Dec 14:19
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Arduino hack lights up the tree with every email, spammers get in spirit

The holidays are all about eggnog, ugly sweaters and disconnecting from the internet just long enough to reassure the family you still care. For those of us with web separation anxiety, the folks at MAKE have hooked us up with an easy way to stay hip to incoming emails -- by connecting the holiday fir to the Internets. It works as such: using an Arduino and PHP script, the tree will check for incoming emails and light up if the number has increased. The set-up can be tweaked based on your most valued type of alert like YouTube comments, texts or changes in the weather. To the family, it will look like unparalleled holiday cheer rather than your cue to ditch the sing-a-long and get back to Gmail. Check out the video after the break.


[Thanks, Matt]

Continue reading Arduino hack lights up the tree with every email, spammers get in spirit

Arduino hack lights up the tree with every email, spammers get in spirit originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 19 Dec 06:09
arduino  christmas  hack  hacking  holiday  internet  make  php  script  scripting  video  

Step aside Arduino, TinkerForge is the new sheriff in mod-town (video)

Does Arduino coding bring you out in a cold sweat? Perhaps what you need is the new open-source gear from TinkerForge. The modular system is designed for even novice users to whip up fully functioning robots in a matter of minutes hours. You start with a 4 x 4cm Brick, which you program over USB, but it won't do anything until you add accessories in the form of Bricklets: switches, joysticks, motors, accelerometers and LCDs. You can stack up to eight Bricks to expand the potential of your projects, including a step-down transformer and a (forthcoming) WiFi unit. If the rules-based programming software is too easy for you, the hardcore can bust out their mad C, C++, C#, Java and Python skills. The first models are available today, Bricks cost between €30 ($40) - €50 ($70) and Bricklets cost €3 ($4) - €20 ($25). Head on past the break to catch the press release and a video of some of the brilliant ways you can use this technology, including an infra-red theremin, self-positioning telescope and robots -- so many robots.

Continue reading Step aside Arduino, TinkerForge is the new sheriff in mod-town (video)

Step aside Arduino, TinkerForge is the new sheriff in mod-town (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 10 Dec 00:35
arduino  bricklets  bricks  diy  hack  hackers  hacking  kit  make  mod  modding  mods  tinkerforge  video  

Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Wouldn't it be great if your laundry emailed you when it had finished? You got a tweet every time the room got too cold, or your basement sent you a text if it began to flood? "Easy," says the Arduino expert in the peanut gallery, but what about those with neither the time nor inclination to solder and program it from scratch? Fortunately, the gentlemen who founded Supermechanical feel our pain and have just the tonic for our maladies -- head on past the break to find out more.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet

Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 24 Nov 17:18
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Arduino geek develops Cold War Angst, starts spying on satellites (video)

Start with some Arduino and Gameduino hardware, add a splash of PLAN-13 satellite tracking software from 1983, and finish with a healthy dose of libertarianism. The result? A neat little hack called Angst, designed and built by Mark VandeWettering (aka Brainwagon). It can store details of up to 750 satellites on 128KB of EEPROM memory and display their predicted orbits in all the glory of SVGA. Don't get lazy though -- the most reliable way to track those pesky snoops in the sky is still to don your anorak, step outdoors and snoop right back.

Continue reading Arduino geek develops Cold War Angst, starts spying on satellites (video)

Arduino geek develops Cold War Angst, starts spying on satellites (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget 23 Nov 02:21
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