Author Archives: Fernando Gomes

Live Stream to YouTube by Pointing a Box and Pressing a Button

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

YouTube has the ability to do live streaming, but [Tinkernut] felt that the process could be much more straightforward. From this desire to streamline was born the Raspberry Pi based YouTube live streaming camera. It consists of a Raspberry Pi with some supporting hardware and it has one job: to make live streaming as simple as pointing a box and pressing a button. The hardware is mostly off-the-shelf, and once all the configuration is done the unit provides a simple touchscreen based interface to preview, broadcast live, and shut down. The only thing missing is a 3D printed enclosure, which …read more

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Posted in camera, digital cameras hacks, diy, how-to, Raspberry Pi, software, streaming, touchscreen, youtube | Leave a comment

Catch the Eclipse with a Wearable Pinhole Camera

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

You say you didn’t have enough warning to order eclipse glasses, and now they’re too expensive to buy? Or maybe you did order some but they ended up being those retina-combusting knock-offs, and now you’ve got nothing to protect you during the partial phase of Monday’s eclipse? Don’t dump a ton of money on unobtainium glasses — just stick your head in a cardboard box.

You may end up looking like a Box Troll with the aptly named [audreyobscura]’s box on your head, but it really is a safe and effective way of watching the eclipse, or for gazing at …read more

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Posted in camera obscura, Eclipse 2017, eclipse glasses, eye safety, misc hacks, pinhole camera, wearable hacks | Leave a comment

Power Planer Brought Back To Life

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

Having the right tool for the right job is not always possible, but it’s an ideal that’s nice to try to live up to. The problem is that a lot of the time, the right tool is often very expensive. We have found lots of ways around this, though, from building our own CNC machines to finding new ways to electroplate metal. Sometimes, though, the right tool for the job doesn’t have to be improvised or built from scratch, it just falls in your lap.

Admittedly, [Sam]’s power planer didn’t literally fall into his lap, but he did pull this …read more

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Posted in dumpster diving, planer, power, repair diving, tool, tool hacks | Leave a comment

New Method for Measuring Lots of Resistors Using Very Few Wires

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

[Daqq] is back at it again with the linear algebra, and he’s now come up with a method for determining the resistance of lots of resistors using little of wires and loads of math.

Like any reasonable person, [daqq] decided it would be fun to “solve one of those nasty [electrical engineering] puzzles/exercises where you start out with a horrible mess of wires and resistors and you are supposed to calculate the resistance between two nodes.” You know, just an average Saturday night. At the time, he was also fascinated by Charlieplexing – an awesome technique that either allows one …read more

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Posted in charlieplexing, conductometric sensors, hardware, linear algebra, math, multiplexing, resistors, systems of equations | Leave a comment

Crowdsourcing The Study Of An Eclipse’s Effect On Radio Propagation

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

If you are an American, you’ll probably now find yourself in one of three camps. People who are going to see the upcoming solar eclipse that will traverse your continent, people who aren’t going to see the eclipse, and people who wish everyone would just stop going on incessantly about the damn eclipse.

Whichever of those groups you are in though, there is an interesting project that you can be a part of, an effort from the University of Massachusetts Boston to crowdsource scientific observation of the effect a solar eclipse will have on the upper atmosphere, and in particular …read more

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Posted in atmosphere, Eclipse 2017, news, radio, radio hacks, radio propagation, wwvb | Leave a comment

Wearable Superconductors

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

What do you do with a discarded bit of superconducting wire? If you’re [Patrick Adair], you turn it into a ring.

Superconducting wire has been around for decades now. Typically it is a thick wire made up of strands of titanium and niobium encased in copper. Used sections of this wire show up on the open market from time to time. [Patrick] got ahold of some, and with his buddies at the waterjet channel, they cut it into slices. It was then over to the lathe to shape the ring.

Once the basic shape was created, [Patrick] placed the ring …read more

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Posted in jewelry, lathe, niobium, ring, superconducting wire, superconductor, titanium, wearable, wearable hacks | Leave a comment

Krave Antweight Robot Gets Eaten And Stays Alive

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

The battle’s are done and the results are in — [AltaPowderDog]’s, aka [Carter Hurd],  cardboard and foam armor, lightweight Krave robot beat its metal cousins in 2016 and fared well in 2017. How did a cardboard Krave cereal box and foam board robot do that you ask? The cardboard and foam outer structure was sliced, smashed and generally eaten while the delicate electronics, motors and wheels remained buried safely inside.

We covered the making of his 2016 version but didn’t follow-up with how it fared in that year’s Illinois Bot Brawl competition. As you can see in the exciting first …read more

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Posted in battlebot, battlebots, radio control, robot, robots hacks | Leave a comment

Wield The Power of Molten Metal

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

[TheBackyardScientist] at it again with another super villain-esque demonstration of gadgetry: a liquid metal squirt gun.

The squirt gun has a compressed air tank like most others — more on that later — but to fire its primary ammunition, a nozzle that connects directly to an air compressor is needed. Again, like most guns of this nature, air is forced into the gun’s reservoir, displacing the pewter and expelling it out the gun’s barrel. Yes, pewter.

Working around the heat tolerances of thread seal tape, pewter has a low enough melting point that an airtight system is preserved — plus …read more

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Posted in compressed air, gun, liquid, metal, misc hacks, molten, pewter, Squirtgun, weapons hacks | Leave a comment

A Great Way to Make Quick and Easy Knobs

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

Here’s a great way to quickly and easily make attractive and functional knobs with no tools required. All you need is some casting resin (epoxy would do in a pinch), a silicone mold intended for candy, and some socket head bolts. With the right preparation and a bit of careful placement and attention, smooth and functional knob ends are only minutes away. Embedded below is a short video demonstrating the process.

These may not replace purpose-made knobs for final products, but for prototypes or to use around the shop on jigs, clamps, or furniture they certainly fit the bill. With …read more

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Posted in bolt, casting, diy, epoxy, how-to, knobs, mold, resin, silicone, socket head bolt, threaded knob, tool hacks, tool-free | Leave a comment

Bringing A 50 Watt Laser Cutter to Life

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Fernando Gomes

This is the future and we live in a world of 3D printers and laser cutters. Have you ever pondered the question of getting yourself a laser cutter? Well [Erich Styger] just landed a 50 Watt Laser Cutter from AliExpress and has written up a detailed guide to his experience.

[Erich] had been wrestling with the idea of buying one for himself for some time but was put off by the difficulty in their operation. This changed when [Scorch] published the K40 Whisperer control software which allows for better control over these machines. With the hopes of an interesting weekend …read more

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Posted in 4040, 4040 Laser Cutter, calibrate, chinese laser cutter, K40 Whisperer, laser hacks, tool hacks, unboxing | Leave a comment