The popular platform If This Then That (IFTTT) allows you to automate all kinds of things by setting up recipes for how you want the process to play out. There’s even a maker channel called Webhooks to integrate the platform into your DIY projects.
The AButton is a WiFi enabled push button that supports the IFTTT platform, giving you the chance to hack it and add all kinds of functionality. It’s actually a spin-off of a smart button project from Noel Portugal.
You can use the ESP8266 Flasher for programming the APixel board stashed inside the button, giving you everything you need to make this button do your bidding.
It seems like just yesterday that I was standing in the audience at the 2018 Hackaday Superconference. The Los Angeles College of Music was packed, it was standing room only. Mike Szczys, Hackaday’s Editor-in-Chief, stood on the stage and opened the final envelope. The grand prize went to Dexter, an open-source robotic arm. The team won $50,000 to continue their journey.
If you’ve never been to the Hackaday Supercon, you should absolutely attend this year’s event. Similarly, if you’ve never entered your project into The Hackaday Prize, now is the time. The 2019 iteration of this annual event is officially underway!
The Hackaday Prize 2019: Build Great Products
The theme this year is taking your product across the finish line. We want to help the winners go from concepts and ideas, to working prototypes and manufacturing designs. The team that builds the Best Product will take home the grand prize of $125,000.
The winner of each of five sub-categories will also take home $10,000. While the winning announcements are still a ways off, $10,000 in seed funding will be awarded early on. This means that the top 20 entries with the most likes before June 1st will receive up to $500 in seed money each.
As if that’s not enough we are also setting aside $3,000 for each category as a prize for an honorable mention. These are the topics you should focus on as you develop your projects:
Concept: be creative and original
Design: work with the user in mind
Production: ensure it can be manufactured
Benchmark: develop a viable idea that will have an impact
Communication: clearly tell the story of your product
Altogether, we’re looking at $200,000 in prize money this year. All it takes is one great idea to change the world. We want to see your ideas, so head on over to the 2019 Hackaday Prize website to submit your project!
LoRaWAN wireless technology is incredibly useful if you’re looking to connect devices across large distances and still obtain low power consumption. Those looking to create their own Node should look no further than this Arduino Pro Mini LoRaWAN kit.
The kit is easy to assemble and program using the Arduino IDE. For the settings, choose Arduino Pro Mini for the board and the processor as 3.3 V at 8 Mhz. You can also connect to the TTN (The Things Network) via ABP or OTAA authentication.
The Tindie page for this kit also includes information on generating source code and links to various LMIC libraries for Arduino or the ATmega MCU Platform. If you haven’t tried your hand at LoRaWAN, this is a great opportunity to check it out.
The original Piezoelectric micro air Blower had a good run on Tindie, but now microwavemont is back with version 2.0. The new version has a built-in LDO for more stability in the supply voltage variation.
Since this Piezoelectric Micro Air Blower V2.0 doesn’t have a motor or fan, it instead uses an ultrasonic 26kHz signal and acts as a tiny air pump. Some use cases include water aeration, kinetic actuation, making small items hover, or even using it as a notification for the hearing-impaired (by using air flow).
The lightweight design and small form factor makes it easy to implement into your projects. There’s also no need for a high voltage source or an oscillator circuit. You only need to provide a 3.4V-5V power supply.
We at Tindie love a bit of retro-tech, and what better way to enjoy the sounds of the late 80s and early 90s than listening to your favorite Chiptunes? The Simple Chiptune Player puts the power of sonic nostalgia in your pocket, with a simple programmable signal generator to load full tracks and sound effects to play back and enjoy.
The player uses Yamaha’s Programmable Signal Generator (PSG) chip, the YMZ294, to generate the sweet bleeps and bloops. An ATmega328 handles the playback and can be programmed over USB using the Arduino IDE.
There’s a built in speaker for standalone playback, as well as a 3.5mm headphone output. Here’s a nice overview of the layout and workings of the player:
The Simple Chiptune Player is sold by microwavemont, coming from Japan and usually ships from there within one day. A selection of example sketches to get you started are available on GitHub.
Check out this video on it, and head over to the product page for more information.
Pi Wars 2019 is just around the corner! To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, this year’s competition is space exploration-themed. For the uninitiated, Pi Wars is an international, challenge-based robotics competition. Teams are tasked with building Raspberry Pi-controlled robots and competing in non-destructive challenges to earn points.
The Pi Wars obstacle course in 2018
The contest spans over a single weekend and supports up to 76 teams from all over the world. This year marks the fifth iteration of Pi Wars, which takes place March 30th and 31st in Cambridge, UK. Schools and kids clubs will compete on Saturday, while beginners, intermediates, and advanced teams compete on Sunday. If you’re interested in spectating, tickets are still available. You can also follow along on Twitter by tracking the hashtag #PiWars.
Pi Noon, 2018
Tindie & Pi Wars 2019
We are proud to be sponsoring Pi Wars this year by offering a gift card and Tindie Blinky Badge Kit to the 120+ members of the participating teams. While we can’t be there in person this year, last year we had a blast participating in the marketplace and meeting such an inspiring and dedicated community.
Pi Wars Challenge Hall, 2018
One of the prior year’s winners is a fellow Tindarian. Brian Corteil, who sells the Coretec Tiny 4WD on Tindie, also penned a comprehensive list of tips for Roboteers that offers some excellent strategies for building your own capable robot.
Robot based on the Coretec Tiny 4WD chassis
Special thanks to Michael Horne, Tim Richardson, and all of the amazing volunteers and sponsors that make this unique competition possible. And of course, we wish all of the 2019’s teams the best of luck!
My dad is not quite the gamer that I am, but one thing we’ve always had in common is a mutual love for flight simulators. These hyper-realistic experiences are even better when you have equipment like a joystick or throttle that adds to the immersion.
Another popular role is to handle radio communications from the air traffic control tower. That’s where the Flight Simulation Radio kit comes in. This kit is compatible with X-Plane using ArdsimX, but it’s also usable with Microsoft FSX and Prepar3D (with limited support).
The kit comes complete with everything you need, but some basic soldering skills are required. You can even daisy-chain kits together to form a full radio stack. The radio is programmable for Nav, Comm, Transponder, ADF, Groundspeed, or any other output from the simulator.
Having seen some of the incredible wearable fashion out there, I’m convinced that the intersection of tech and fashion is the future. Not only are clothes like this unique and interesting, but in many cases they’re also incredibly functional.
While we wait for wearable fashion to catch on, options like these Halopixels offer the chance to spice up your wardrobe with a little programmable pizazz. With 12 RGB addressable LEDs and a small form factor, this device works well as an earring, ring, pendant, necklace, or anything else your imagination comes up with.
It’s about the size of a coin, with a fully charged 3.6V 2032 coin battery delivering 3 hours of continuous battery life. By using your own BLE microcontroller, you can program the LEDs and customize both the color and blinking pattern.
There’s no denying the aesthetic quality of an aquarium. There’s a reason why you see them in lounges, offices, and the like. That being said, they can be a lot of work to keep your aquatic friends happy and healthy.
Thanks to the DOMOVOY, you won’t need to worry about keeping them fed. This automatic fish feeder allows you to set specific times for dispensing food. A proprietary algorithm also prevent jams in the feeder. You can even control it remotely via a smartphone or integrate it into a larger smart home system.
It supports dry, finely granulated, or flake fish food. With a 3D-printed case and a convenient display, this is one solution that’s easy to implement and takes another task off of your daily list.
For a beginner, the world of electronics, hardware, and circuits is a daunting prospect. Finding out where to begin with it all is a monumental task, but it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to makers all over Tindie, beginners have more resources now than they ever have in the past to dive into this vast and rich world.
The Edu-Kit 01 is an introduction to electronics and circuits that allows you to carry out ten different experiments. At the time of this writing, the instructions are only in Italian, but I’m sure there’s a linguist out there who will help translate them into other languages.
For those who read Italian, the instructions provide all of the steps needed to create the electronic circuits in each experiment. The kit includes a prototyping board, electronic components, and cables that you can use without the need for complex assembly.
The experiments include things like turning on an LED, learning about Ohm’s law, creating sounds with a buzzer, light sensors, and plenty more. The components in this kit are perfect for beginners to work on their own experiments as well!
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The Simple Chiptune Player is sold by 
