Soldering is one of those things that fun and easy even though to the uninitiated it appears serious and tricky. The truth is, it’s cool and the foundation of so many maker project, so why not instill these skills in the next generation while they’re young? KITS for KIDS has several different beginner soldering kits, but the UFO Alien is perhaps my favorite.
The purpose of the kit is to teach soldering skills, but it also uses an astable multivibrator instead of self-flashing LEDs for a little tech history. The 1206 components are also easy to solder for beginners, along with the 3528 LEDs.
If you’re looking for other designs, be sure to check out the full selection of soldering kits to see all the different options.
The Hackaday Superconference is just around the corner! It’s the single greatest gathering of hardware hackers, builders, engineers, and enthusiasts this side of the solar system. The conference runs from November 2nd-4th, 2018 in beautiful Pasadena, California.
Let’s take a look at all the things in store for those who are attending. We still have a few tickets left as of this writing, but they do sell out every year, so grab yours before it’s too late. In the meantime, let’s see what’s in store!
Something For Every Engineer and Enthusiast
The Hackaday Superconference begins this year with workshops and badge hacking, along with a kick-off party at the Supplyframe headquarters on Friday, November 2nd in the evening.
Have a look at the full schedule, it’s packed with excellent talks, and a few events for you to mingle with your fellow Tindarians:
A pad printing demo, sponsored by Tindie with limited edition Kiss Tindie badges
A Tindie meetup & Bring-A-Hack on Saturday (November 3rd) during lunchtime. Come see some of Tindie’s products in person, check out projects from both the Tindie and Hackaday communities, and bring your own creations to show off as well!
Several talks and workshops from Tindarians
If that’s not enough to get you pumped, then check out this year’s conference badge! The video below takes us through its epic functionality.
Seriously, this badge would demolish a desktop computer from the 1980s. It features a 320 x 240 color display, a full qwerty keyboard, and huge potential for some amazing hacks. Keep in mind that these badges are included with the cost of admission. And by attending the Supercon you find out who wins this year’s Hackaday Prize live!
In addition to numberous talks about hardware creation, there are a ton of workshops this year. There’s only four left that haven’t already sold out, those run the gambit from making weird synthesizers, to supercooling electronics and cooking with liquid nitrogen. If you’re interested, grab a workshop ticket while you’re registering for your main ticket.
We may even have some discounted tickets for Tindarians who plan on attending. Let us know if you’ll make it to this year’s Hackaday Superconference by sending us an email: hello (at) Tindie (dot) com.
If you fancy yourself an artist, give the world of 3D drawing a try. Now, this term can have a lot of meanings, but in this instance we’re talking about drawing with materials to create physical objects. It’s like holding a 3D printer in your hand, but like a pencil and paper, what you create is a spur of the moment decision.
The 3Dsimo Mini 2 has a primary function as a filament extruder — it squeezes out molten plastic which quickly sets in the shape drawn by the artist. But the 3D pen also includes attachments with the ability to solder, burn, or cut as needed. It has automatic detection and configuration parameters when you switch between attachments, which makes it easy to use for all skill levels.
For the best experience, you’ll need to connect it to a smartphone via a Bluetooth module, which allows you to use the app. The also connects you with tutorials, templates, and even preset material profiles. Those without a smartphone can also utilize the included display to set basic material profiles.
Until a short while ago, I was under the impression that if you coated something entirely in resin, that it was essentially a paperweight. What if I told you someone managed to create an independent and completely wireless re-programmable device that’s entirely covered in crystal clear resin?
It’s true, this incredibly unique device includes Bluetooth Low-Energy and an OLED, all within an outer shell of resin. Programming is done through direct firmware uploading via BLE-enabled devices like an iPhone 5, iPad or something newer. Power is supplied by a Qi wireless power transfer — the same technique used for wireless charging cellphones.
The look of it is stunning, and so much better because of the interactivity you can achieve through custom code. Just write your programs using the Arduino IDE along with Redbear’s Nano 16kB implementation which is specifically for the Nordic nRF chip used in this project.
Make sure you a Qi wireless power charger, and a way to transfer the file using BLE (a computer or your phone).
There’s something undeniably satisfying about repurposing old hardware to make it new again. Why throw out that old Atari ST keyboard, when you can still use it with modern devices? Oh, that’s right, you can’t connect it to a current USB port. Now, that’s where the story would end for most people, but not for makers. We see a problem, and we craft the solution.
Say hello to the Atari ST USB keyboard kit. This controller board allows you to turn an Atari ST keyboard into something that will work with a modern desktop or a Raspberry Pi. Everything is fully mapped so it can work out of the box with sensible layouts to make it feel like a modern keyboard.
The two joystick ports on the back are also supported at USB game controllers. This is actually the second generation of the concept. The first was built using a generic board, but the one you see now is a custom PCB specifically for the Atari ST. One side takes the keyboard cable, while the other is a full-sized USB port to connect the USB cable included.
You can mount the board near one of the existing cutouts or elsewhere if you want to fit another device inside, like a Raspberry Pi. The kit includes the board, 4 self-adhesive mounting pillars, and a USB cable. You’ll need to bring the Atari ST keyboard to get the party started.
Some people look at a board, and all they see is a mess of components and sensors, but makers see the world in a different light. Where others may see electronic chaos, we see possibilities.
Take the Environment-101 multisensor board, for example. This Arduino-Uno board is built around a plug & play concept that can be quickly integrated into your environmental monitoring projects.
The design puts aside complicated things like wiring, breadboards, voltage levels, and pull up resistors. Instead, it favors a very simple and effective approach: stack the board on top of an Arduino Uno and start to measure a wide variety of variables from a single board.
Things like temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, UV-index, ambient light, and even infrared intensity are all possible to measure with the suite of sensors included on this board.
The open-source libraries currently available for the DIY community allow you to select drivers that correspond to the sensors on the Environment-101, so you can quickly get started on developing your applications. You can find an excellent resource for locating drivers here.
Combining this board with an Arduino Uno and a portable battery supply allows you to create standalone measurement and display unit for a variety of indoor and outdoor uses. The possibilities are substantial, but some examples include greenhouse monitoring, air quality measurement, weather forecasting, and UV alerts.
If it involves the environment, it’s very likely that the Environment-101 board can measure and monitor it for you.
Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operators are the most fun you can have making pocket music on the move! They sound great, are easy to use, and can be linked together for multiple playback possibilities. But each one has to be connected in series, which means even with multiple units connected you only get one mixed audio out. The mighty Sync Splitter is here to resolve this, and give you individual outputs for each of your devices!
The Sync Splitter allows you to plug each Pocket Operator output directly into a mixer for a cleaner sound and more flexibility with its signal. It’s available in versions with 5 Outputs, 7 Outputs and 9 Outputs, depending on the size of your collection! The Sync signal is set from one (master) Pocket Operator, which is sent to the outputs below – which means each Pocket Operator gets its own Sync signal, and can be sent to an external mixer.
This unit is a super-simple, yet highly effective device – allowing for more controllable sounds and in turn a more well produced result. Find out more from the full setup guide in the extensive documentation on his site.
The Sync Splitter ships from the US and is made by p0k3t0 – check out their shop for more goodies!
Remember the Clapper? The power outlet adapter you could turn on and off with a clap of your hands felt incredibly futuristic when release in the 1980s. Of course now you can do so much more with a few words. There’s something so satisfying about turning on products with your voice — it makes us feel powerful, but more than that, it’s really convenient. Would you rather fumble around for a switch, or just hit the lights with a single phrase?
Personally, I’d take the latter any day, especially after tripping over things and stubbing my toe in the dark more times than I’d like to admit. This is where the Vocca comes in. This voice-activated bulb adapter quickly turns any one of your light sockets into a bulb of the future.
The device comes fully assembled and lets you screw in any regular bulb before placing it back into the socket with the adapter. Once you’re all set up, you can turn your lights on from up to 15 feet away by simply saying “Go Vocca Light” out loud at a normal volume.
If you still want to use your switches, that’s fine too. Another nice feature of the adapter is the fact that all the processing is completed on the device, so you don’t need to worry about your voice clips being stored in the cloud or anywhere for that matter.
The Snowy Owl is the rebel of owls. They live in the north near arctic regions of the world, and unlike other owls, they are active during the day instead of the night. Owls in general are pretty great, which is why this Snowy Owl version of the Surface Mount Device 0201 soldering challenge kit caught my eye.
For this challenge, the resistors on the back of the owl have been changed to a 0201 packages for an additional level of difficulty. These are cellphone-level miniaturization so it will be a challenge. A dual inverter NL27WZ04 is used to implement the ring oscillator, which drives the blinking LEDs.
I’m a big fan of Nixie Tube displays, whether they be clocks, score keepers, or anything else you need a display for, it’s a really creative way to repurpose old tech. LIXIE, on the other hand, is a fresh and modern way to achieve the same effect using edge-lit acrylic displays.
It preserves the iconic typography of a Nixie tube, so you still get those bold and colorful displays that make these projects so visually engaging. The LIXIE display works by shining light through the edge of a clear acrylic. Once the light hits an edge or engraving, it scatters and reaches your eyes.
It keeps the flat surfaces of the acrylic clear, and only the edges light up. If you put several pieces in a stack, you can display multiple numbers. The device is based on WS2812B LEDs, or “Neopixels” as Adafruit entitles them.
The display can show the date, the time, temperature, website views, or any number in an Arduino project with ease. Working with the LIXIE is pretty simple compared to Nixie tubes, completely avoiding the high voltage necessary for vintage parts. Just connect the 5V & GND pins to your Arduino, then connect the DIN (Digital INput) pin to any of your digital pins.
Once that’s done, you just need to include the LIXIE library and some functions to get started. Since the LIXIE is designed on a WS2812B strip, you can chain together as many as your power supply will allow.
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The look of it is stunning, and so much better because of the interactivity you can achieve through custom code. Just write your programs using the Arduino IDE along with 
