Humankind’s imagination has often been captured by the idea of being able to talk with animals. Being able to understand a cat when it’s meowing or a bird when it’s singing simply has a certain appeal for many people.
The Bat Listener takes this idea in an interesting direction. While it won’t make its users fluent in bat-speak, it does let them eavesdrop on the normally inaudible realm of bat echolocation.
The Bat Listener kit allows its user to hear the ultrasonic sounds of bats.
Echolocation — biological sonar — is one of the hallmarks of bats. As they navigate the night sky, bats make chirping sounds and listen for the echoes that tell them the location of edible insects and objects that should be avoided. We can’t hear any of this because the chirps are too high-pitched for human ears to register.
The Bat Listener takes those bat sounds and converts them into a lower frequency that humans can hear with ease. But it’s not limited to listening to just bats. According to the kit’s creator, it can be used to listen to many sounds normally too high-pitched to hear, from those emitted by compact fluorescent lights, gasses leaking from pipes or rats.
The Bat Listener is available in kit form, and comes with all the components needed for assembly, plus a laser-etched enclosure. Below is a build video for the kit. A demonstration of the Bat Listener translating ultrasonic sounds starts at 5:29.
If you’ve ever been to a Tindie meetup or attended the Hackaday Superconference, odds are you’ve met our Product Manager, Jasmine Brackett. Jasmine sat down with Andrew Gregory from HackSpace magazine to talk about what it means to be a Tindarian, and how this marketplace is changing the way we think about selling and scaling maker products.
The full interview is featured in the March 2019 print edition of the magazine, but you can download a digital copy here. The interview reveals some excellent products, and offers advice for makers on how they can utilize this marketplace to test and grow their ideas. Let’s dive in and check it out.
Getting to Know Tindie
Our fellow Tindarians know the power of this marketplace for makers. Jasmine explains in the interview: “It’s for people who know what they’ve got, know how much it cost them to make, and how much they’d like to get for it.”
Some sellers want others to enjoy the extra hardware they end up with when completing a project and sell the remainder as kits on Tindie. Others start small businesses that appeal to makers. One question that came up in the interview was how Tindie fits into Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns.
In some cases, people use their store to test the market before they commit to a crowdfunding campaign. In other cases, their store becomes a hub for the product they successfully funded on these other platforms.
Ultimately, the success of Tindie boils down to our incredible community across the marketplace and Hackaday.io. As Product Manager, Jasmine makes sure everything is running smoothly on a daily basis and that Tindie grows through outreach and marketing. She also assists with customer service as needed and addresses any issues as they arise.
Fellow Tindarians featured in Hackspace Magazine
Tindie products crop up in most editions of Hackspace Magazine. You can learn more about the creators in the ‘Meet the Maker’ interviews. Click the images below to read the articles.
Jason Hotchkiss (Sixty Four Pixels) synth and MIDI kit maker, and longtime Tindarian.
A massive thank you to both our community and our fellow Tindarians for making Tindie such an incredible place to buy and sell products directly from makers. Make sure you check out the March 2019 issue of HackSpace magazine to read the full Tindie interview and all the other exciting projects and tutorials!
We’ve seen plenty of Nixie tube clocks (which are awesome), but when was the last time you saw one on your wrist? The Moonwatcher Nixie Tube Watch is a unique design that combines vintage tech with modern design sensibilities.
The watch utilizes two tubes for hours and seconds, nestling them in a case which is 3D printed with ABS plastic. The band uses hook and loop fasteners to fit well on any wrist, while also making it easy to clean. The tubes themselves are also not your typical IN-16 nixies and are instead rare early batch tubes that feature cleaner readings.
The watch uses a Micro-USB rechargeable li-po battery with an indicator and the ability to wake up at the press of a button. The Moonwatcher is a handcrafted item, and only one is available on Tindie, so if you’re interested don’t let this one pass you by!
LFOs are used for multiple applications in music making, from creating subtle changes to pitch for vibrato-type sounds, altering the amplitude for the classic wah-wah guitar effect and for filter modulation, commonly used to create synth bass wobbles. But their function doesn’t end there, making the new Vari-FO a great addition to any modular rack!
The Vari-FO has four independently-controlled Low Frequency Oscillators, each with adjustable ranges – allowing you to choose from high frequency audio rates to super slow oscillations, depending on what you need, by changing the capacitors on the front panel. Each LFO has CV input to control rate externally, for example, when you’d like to sync to a tempo clock.
It comes with Triangle and Square wave shapes, meaning you’ll get a smooth up/down ramp, or hard edged changes commonplace in chiptunes and controlling sync rates. Each LFO has its own gate and trigger output for sending data to control other parameters and modules – as well as being capable of patching to itself for some prime sonic experiments!
It has a reverse current protection and weighs-in at 12HP wide and 20mm deep. Check out the VoicAs store for more modular units, and see the video below for some wide ranging uses of LFOs – featuring our very own Vari-FO!
When you check out the latest tech news, it’s not hard to come across stories of hacked websites and breaches of passwords. Website administrators constantly encourage users to use complex passwords, but who has the capacity to remember them? Password managers are one solution, but even they have their vulnerabilities.
This is where the AnyKey comes into play. This USB devices acts as an HID keyboard for automatically entering your password. You only need to remember a short word or pin, and the device will do the rest.
Since hackers often use remote dictionary or brute force hacks, this device assigns a randomized password to your account, making it much harder to crack. Since it’s a USB-based device, it’s also not vulnerable to remote hacks like a phone.
The AnyKey comes with a native OS X, Windows, and Linux application which allows you to change the stored password. Once you’ve saved your password, you can use it on any PC without any extra software.
Programmable RGB and RGBW LEDs, such as the very popular WS2812 strip format, have revolutionized the amount of bright light and number of colors that can be easily added to maker projects. Hundreds, even thousands, of these tiny light units can be controlled with a single data line.
As amazing as this is, if you need even more lighting power, the Serial to 8 Channel WS2812 Driver from ElectroMage presents an interesting option. One of these devices can control 180 RGB or 240 RGBW pixels on each of its 8 channels, giving it the ability to control up to 1920 RGB pixels per board. Up to 8 boards can be controlled by one serial connection, giving such a system the ability to control an astounding 15360 pixels from a single serial port.
Perhaps less impressive on the surface, but still important for a well-running system, the device takes care of all WS2812 timing requirements, freeing up your main CPU and interrupts for other tasks. It also features CRC error checking, and shifts 3.3V inputs to 5V for reliable LED performance.
On a related note, if you’d like inspiration for your next massive LED project, why not check out this post about hacked Christmas lighting? It’s never too early to begin preparing for the 2019 holiday season!
The beauty of Badgelife is the sheer variety in both functionality and design when you look at a collection of badges. Some are incredibly complex, while others thrive on their simplicity.
This unbearably cute Alpaca badge falls into the latter category, and it does so with both poise and grace. The only electronic element of the badge is the RGB LED on the tail, but it makes for a perfect addition to any collection.
There are two sewing hooks on the back, along with a safety pin for attaching it to your clothes or bag. Every purchase comes with the pin and a fully assembled PCB. The only thing you’ll need is a CR2032 3V battery to power it.
Among all the badges I’ve seen, an Alpaca is certainly something new, proving that there’s still plenty of life left in the ongoing Badgelife saga.
Blinking lights are a welcome addition to any project, but they also provide a convenient way to track RC cars or drones. One Tindarian decided to create a 1:10 scale police light for this exact purpose.
The lights come with a 3D printed ABS enclosure, which works well outdoors. This type of enclosure also won’t bend or warp when exposed to the elements. You can customize the lights to your liking and glue everything together with acetone when you’re done to make it waterproof.
It may be made of wire and lights, but this tulip blooms like a real flower and glows with life.
Last month, Jiří Praus made a big splash on the freeform-circuitry scene with his Arduinoflake — a snowflake ornament he built from LEDs, brass wire, and an Arduino Nano. Now he’s back with another stunner. This time it’s a freeform circuit tulip sculpture for his wife. Its construction borrows many of the techniques and materials he used in the Arduinoflake, but it’s clear he’s upped his game since then.
While the Arduinoflake was basically flat (as snowflakes are), the tulip comes to vibrant life in three dimensions. The stem stretches upward from a simple wooden base, and a single leaf curls gracefully off to one side, but further up the stem is where the real magic happens. Each of the flower’s six petals is attached to the stem through a tiny hinge constructed from brass tubing and wire. The petals are also each connected to a pushrod running down the center of the stem. A hobby servo hidden in the base provides the motive force for opening and closing the petals.
The brain of this flower is again an Arduino Nano, and its capacitive-touch-sensing abilities allow the flower’s owner to send it blooming with a soft caress. Once awoken from its slumber, the petals gently open, and the flower’s RGB LEDs put on a moody light show.
Praus has said he’s not sure if he’ll be making tulips available for purchase, whipping one of these up for your special someone in time for Valentine’s Day would be a stretch to finish, but the design is gorgeous enough that it would make a wonderful gift any time of the year. He’s said he’ll be releasing documentation on the project, so be sure to follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in making your own.
If you’re not quite that handy with bending wire, but you like his aesthetic, stop by his Tindie store, where you can pick up an Arduinoflake, now in PCB form.
Southern California is not known for its harsh winters. In fact, it’s probably safe to head out in flip flops and a hoodie on any given day all winter long. With that assumption in mind, that’s exactly what I was wearing when I headed south to Orange County for my very first Sparklecon. The weather would soon show my folly, but it wouldn’t dampen the fun awaiting me.
If you’re not familiar with Sparklecon, it’s an annual gathering of hackers, artists, tech aficionados, and everyone in between, for a weekend of talks, demonstrations, workshops, games, and socializing. It’s organized by 23b Shop, a makerspace in Fullerton, and its neighbors, the National Upcycled Computing Collective (NUCC), and the Plasmatorium. With doors wide open at all three shops, musicians and deejays performing, and tents, couches, and a fire pit occupying the road between them, Sparklecon felt like the best nerding-out block-party I’ve ever been to.
Day One: Rain, Wind, and Fire
We don’t get much rain here in Southern California, but the week leading up to Sparklecon was decidedly wet. The weekend, and Sparklecon itself, were no exception.
It didn’t take long for attendees to re-dub the event “Sprinklecon.” Nonetheless, many of the outdoor activities, like car hacking with Will Caruana, went full steam ahead.
Saturday also included tips on how to get unruly 3D printers to behave, a discussion on different ways to publish research, and a workshop on social engineering from an information security perspective.
Meanwhile, an open table that the NUCC folks had named Kevin spontaneously emerged as a hub of hardware hacking. Roger Cheng brought out his KISS Tindie band and supplies for others who wanted to try their hand at freeform wire sculpture. Beau Ambur busied himself building a pair of synth kits he brought back from Germany. And Jaren Havell tinkered on a tiny Tesla coil kit he had picked up after arriving in town.
By the time the evening rolled around, the worst of the rain had passed, and the outdoor party came to life. A game of hammer Jenga was as much fun for the players as it was for the spectators.
For those who were brave enough to climb out of bed in the early morning cold, Day 2 kicked off with breakfast at the Mexican joint down the block. After a relatively late night of partying to finish of day 1, I was not enough of an early riser to get there by 7:45. But I did arrive in time for a fireside chat with Barb on how she’s managed to be one of the most amazingly productive makers around. Her ongoing project, the Dodecahedrum, was a hit with the audience.
The hardware hackers from the day before (myself included) reunited at the table they had claimed inside NUCC. This time, I was prepared, and brought my own stuff to hack on. Jaren took a quick interest in my CRT projects, and it wasn’t long until we had The Matrix running on my little green screen.
Sparklecon was an absolute blast. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet a diverse set of people with an even more diverse set of interests and skills, and it was flat-out fun from beginning to end. I didn’t make it out to last year’s event and now I know I wish I had . Rest assured I’ll be there for Sparklecon next year, rain or shine.
For other perspectives on the weekend, be sure to check out the recap video by Barb:
You can also get a deeper look from Roger Cheng’s blog posts for day one and day two of this excellent conference.
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