Tindie

We’re surrounded by sound, from the traditional noises of cars, clocks and birdsong to modern cellphones, microwave ovens and laptops. We’re also surrounded by things which emit electronic movements on a level outside our range of hearing – untapped transmissions which remain beneath the surface of our consciousness. The Detektor opens up the doors of perception to this brave new world!

Detektor listens out for electromagnetic emissions from both man-made and natural sources and converts them into audible frequencies – with low and high frequency emissions outputted for recording and audio manipulation! Developed in collaboration with Shintaro Miyazaki, this device uncovers a new world of sound, never intended to be heard – and prime for foley experimental inspiration.

A coil provides the looking glass into these worlds and a built-in antenna brings access to high frequency movements. Walk around your house, workplace or city center to discover what’s happening around you – for a truly experimental, abstract and other worldy collection of chaos and calm.

The Detektor requires 3 AAA batteries to run and comes with headphone and signal outputs. See this page for further documentation, and check out some of the amazing audio examples below.

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There are certain games that will always hold a special place in the heart of gamers everywhere. Games like Zelda, Pokemon, Super Mario Land, Megaman, and many others. But what about running your own code on the classic hardware?

Luckily there’s a hardware solution that makes this possible. This re-programmable Game Boy Flash Cart allows you to load up your own ROM programs. When you need to flash it, you can do so with any cart programmer, such as GBxCart RW. If you look around you’ll find some really impressive custom games and apps out there for Game Boy.

The cartridge comes in a generic grey Game Boy cartridge. Assembly is done in-house and tested on a Game Boy Advance. The PCB finish is ENIG with gold fingers on the edge connector. A 45-degree bevel also ensures the highest lifespan for inserting and removing the cartridge.

The specs are as follows:

• ROM: 2MB Flash (AM29F016B)
• SRAM: 128KB Battery backed with a CR2025
• MBC: MBC5 (With some support for MBC1) emulated with an Atera CPLD

As a courtesy, the seller will also program the flash cart with a ROM that you provide via email. They will also test it for up to 30 seconds before shipping. If you prefer not to specify a ROM, it will come preloaded with the LSDJ Demo.

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When I say “linear actuators,” it probably doesn’t narrow things down very much. A lot of different products can fall into this category, but the basic concept remains the same. These devices convert energy to create motion in a straight line, as opposed to the circular motion of a traditional motor.

Actuators like these can similarly perform a lot of different motions as well. Clamping, injecting, lifting, pushing, or even pulling. If you are in need of an actuator for your next project, this Micro Pen Linear Actuator could be a perfect fit.

They combine both lightweight design and slim dimensions, along with aluminum housing and stainless steel inner tubing. The stroke lengths range from 20-100 mm. They are IPX6 Rated, both waterproof and dustproof for a large range of environments or applications.

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You’ve probably heard of Piezoelectric devices before, but they continue to blow my mind every time I hear about them. The basis of the concept involves using crystals like quartz to generate an electric potential when you apply mechanical stress to them. In essence, devices like this Piezoelectric Energy Harvester allow you to generate electricity by simply tapping them.

The energy you generate can be used immediately or stored for later. This mini kit is designed to teach people about this unique phenomenon, and offer the chance to experiment with it. For example, do different materials make a difference if you use them to tap the device?

An LED flashes to give you a concept of how intense your tapping is, but the device generates the most electricity when tapped gently on the outer edge of the disk. Three different types of capacitors come with the kit as well, which allow you to experiment with storage capacity and charge times.

This is a really fun way to experiment with Piezoelectricity, and it makes for a sweet science fair project if your kids need something to impress their fellow students.

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For retro-gaming, it’s hard to beat the versatility, size, and $10 price tag of the Raspberry Pi Zero W. However, playing games like Sonic and Mario Kart aren’t really the same without a nice directional pad, and if you’re just hooking the little Pi up to a monitor, its small size hasn’t really gained you anything.

As a shortcut on your quest for the ultimate Pi Zero gaming device, Ampersand has come up with the Game Boy Null. This kit provides the circuit board and most of the electronics that you’ll need to create your own portable gaming powerhouse, including a 2.8″ TFT screen that looks really excellent in the middle of its button layout.

What’s not included is a battery, the Pi Zero W, and micro SD card, as well as the beautiful acrylic case seen above. You’ll need to get that cut yourself with the included design files, which would allow for personalization as you see fit. Once everything is assembled and installed, grab your ROMs and commence retro-gaming wherever you like!

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More than ever electronic musicians are looking for ways to make their sound different and interesting – going beyond the usual limitations of hardware and software to create something new. It’s no secret that Aphex Twin has used microtonal scales to bring depth and unique melodies to his tracks, so up steps Sonoclast with the Plastic Pitch Plus to do exactly that!

This MIDI machine is a unique object built using the Teensy LC which gives immediate and independent control of all pitches within a scale. Microtonal changes allow a rich and varied sound set, with smaller distances between note frequencies than the conventional semitones we would normally use. It implements this using Pitch Bend in combination with MIDI note data – achieved in two different modes to deliver minute tonal changes.

The accompanying video shows how to set up the PPP, using the local off setting on the synthesizer – setting the number of notes per octave, with support for the new MIDI standard. It’s time to put your melodies under the microtonal microscope!

The box features MIDI in, MIDI Out and is powered by a micro-USB port – and the manual is available to  view before you buy.

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DEF CON 26 has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t embrace #badgelife and take home a badge from the event! To help combat the secondary market for badges on eBay, Benchoff is selling extra MrRobotBadges that were originally distributed at the event.

The badge includes an ESP-8266-12E microcontroller and an IS31FL2741 LED driver blinking an array composed of 18×18 red LEDs. While this is the first product in the world to use this LED driver, buyers also receive the code for animations and bitmaps.

The badge also supports the SAO standard introduced at DEF CON 26. Each and every order includes the MrRobotBadge, batteries, a lanyard, and a randomly selected add-on. You can check out this badge and several others in the BadgeLife documentary below.

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Creators on the PC such as illustrators, artists, and designers, are always on the lookout for intuitive devices that streamline their work. The old mouse and keyboard can only get you so far when you’re trying to chase a creative vision.

The Rev-O-Mate is a new device made by a professional illustrator who found traditional devices to be lacking when they were working on books and games. With the help of almost 1000 Backers on Kickstarter, this no-click unlimited dial with 10 programmable buttons came to life.

The simple plug-and-play design allows you to connect the Rev-O-Mate to any PC without the need for drivers. Any of your keystrokes, mouse clicks, or multimedia functions can be assigned to the 10 buttons surrounding the base of the device.

Things like scaling, rotation, and brush size are all within this dial’s repertoire. The RGB-LEDs in the base also indicate which profile is currently active, allowing you to program it for use with multiple programs like Photoshop and CLIP STUDIO.

The included software offers simple configuration editing capabilities, all of which are stored on the device’s internal memory. No matter where you go or which PC/Mac you’re using, all of your settings go with you.

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Programming languages come in several different varieties, which allows you to develop using the tools you’re familiar with, or the ones you prefer. The problem is that many development boards are “Arduino compatible,” which essentially means that they only work within the Arduino ecosystem.

Flipper is an embedded development platform that breaks down those barriers to entry. It can be controlled with a variety of different languages and has the support of a growing open-source community behind its back.

With Flipper, you can control devices in the real world using applications written in any programming language, using any platform, with a lot fewer obstacles than you’re probably used to. Developers can drag and drop the software library into their applications and then it’s off to the races.

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If you’ve been paying attention to developments in wireless technology, you’ve certainly heard about LoRa or LoRaWAN. This protocol allows for low-bandwidth data transmission over relatively long distances (think kilometers/miles, not meters/feet). As exciting as this tech is, you may be wondering how to take advantage of it.

If that sounds like you, then be sure to check out this pair of Private Texting LoRa Transceivers. These devices connect to your phone via an ESP8266 module over WiFi, and you simply log on to a locally-generated website on your browser. From here, you can text the other transceiver, which relays your message to a smartphone connected on that end.

The obvious use for this is when you need to communicate in an area with no cellular signals, perhaps when camping in a remote area. Importantly, when a text is received you get confirmation back, so you don’t have to worry if your counterpart is out of range.

Of course, this is by no means the only LoRa product listed on Tindie. If you’d like to integrate LoRa into your own project, you might check out the LoRaST module or this waterproof LoRa sensor node, both from DRAGINO TECH. On the other hand, if you do want to use the cellular network, this tiny GSM module/display can help you add that capability to your project.

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