When you take your first steps on the road to becoming a maker, one of the first skills you’ll need to master is soldering. It’s the backbone of just about every electronics project, but it’s not an easy skill to master. Don’t let the fear stop you, soldering opens up a lot of DIY projects for you.
With the I Can Solder Badge, you’ll not only learn the basics, but you’ll also have proof to show the world. This badge project is unique in that it also teaches you about circuits and includes a switch to save the battery power.
Included in the kit is a purple PCB manufactured in the USA by OSH Park, an RGB LED, a resistor, a switch, and a battery holder for the CR2032. Keep in mind that you’ll need to purchase the battery yourself as it cannot be mailed out with the kit due to USPS guidelines.
August is in full swing, meaning that Tindarians are cleaning out space on workbenches worldwide to make room for Halloween projects.* While some previously-valuable electronics will sadly end up in landfills, other electronic detritus may make it to the Tindie Flea Market. Let’s see what’s on tap this month:
*Is this true? I don’t know. Let’s be honest though, your bench could use a nice tidying up once in a while.
Linear Actuator/Stage
If you need to precisely position something for a CNC machine or other robotics application, this stage is described as “very rigid,” and is driven by a NEMA17 stepper motor. Looks like a great device for the right application.
5V Input ==> Lower Voltage Output
Yes, you might be able to run a component on 5V even though it says something different, but you really shouldn’t. This device, Texas Instruments part number PTH05050WAH, converts a 5 V input to an output between 0.8 V and 3.6 V at an efficiency up to 95%!
3D Printer Width Sensor Kit
If you’re worried about the variation in your 3D printing filament, this kit measures its diameter, allowing you to set up your printer to adjust accordingly. Note that the sensor itself is only included in some of the options.
Russian Vacuum Fluorescent Display
There is not a whole lot of info on these devices, with a product description that notes: “This was produced in USSR for use in some sort of electronic devices.” It displays 4 digits, as well as some Russian text, and could make a great prop for a retro-futuristic themed hack.
Tah: BLE Arduino-Compatible Dongle
Tah is a dongle that can plug into your computer or other system with a USB port to act as an HID. It’s Arduino-compatible, and since you can link it up with a smartphone, it opens up all kinds of control possibilities!
Strobe lights are used in everything from photography, to haunted houses, and in both cases, they have an amazing effect on our perception of time. Harold “Doc” Edgerton was an American electrical engineer who created high-speed photography techniques by developing and improving strobes to seemingly freeze objects in time and space.
His “Piddler” machine used a stroboscopic technique that made water droplets appear as if they were levitating or even flowing backward. This is the inspiration behind the Time Fountain from jolliFactory.
This Time Fountain DIY Kit gives you the basic building blocks you need to build a small and portable version of this concept. An Arduino Nano or compatible microcontroller is required, but not included in the kit.
A few add-ons are also offered, including the main panel fit, enclosure, and an Arduino Nano clone microcontroller pre-loaded with the JF Time Fountain program. Detailed instructions are also available on Instructables.
Prepare to be amazed as you watch this fountain in action below!
LoRa® technology is a major player in the Internet of Things (IoT) world. This long range, lower power wireless platform is ideal for building massive networks that span huge distances. The DRAGINO LoRaST IoT module is a small wireless transceiver module that allows you to deploy industrial level LoRA and IoT solutions.
The wireless aspect of this device is based on SX1276/SX1278, which allows the user to send data across massive distances at low data-rates. It can provide a long-range spread spectrum of communication with high interference protection and minimal power consumption.
A device like this could be used for things like irrigation systems, smartphone detection, distributed sensor networks, and plenty of other IoT and automation projects. Since this is an open-source product, users can program the IoT module via USART1, USART2, or STLINK. Stock firmware supports LoRaWAN 1.0.2, but the user can also use AT Command to interface with their project directly.
The flexibility of this device and the power of LoRa technology make this an excellent component for all of your IoT projects.
While I don’t have the best eyesight, I’ve met people who can see something move in the distance with insane levels of accuracy. Even if you’re someone with eagle eyes, an infrared sensor will always beat out human eyes for motion detection.
This Passive Infrared Motion Sensor utilizes a 3-pin PIR sensor to detect both people and animals from up to 20 feet away. You can configure the device for timing and enable or disable repeat signaling. It also features automatic induction, photosensitive control, and temperature compensation to achieve maximum performance in a variety of settings. By adjusting the distance and delay potentiometers clockwise or counter-clockwise, you can even customize the sensing distance and induction delay to suit your needs.
It does require a board, but it’s compatible with many of the boards in the BurgessWorld Custom Electronics store, or with most microcontrollers, including Arduino boards.
Logic probes are used to test the logical states of a digital circuit. LEDs are used to indicate things like a high or low logic state, which helps makers troubleshoot issues. This simple version of a programmable logic probe takes out any complicated switches or settings and boils the concept down to a useful and easy device.
Once power is supplied, the probe can display logic high with a green LED, logic low with a red LED, and Hi-Z with a yellow indicator. Separately, a white LED indicates an edge transition, and a combination of yellow and white LEDs show high-frequency signals.
The probe includes the bootloader that works through the probe tip and is built around Atmel ATtiny45. You can update the firmware with a USB to UART adapter, so there’s no need to disassemble it to perform updates. Python scripts for generating update files are included as well.
When you power it on, the probe displays white on both LEDs for two reasons: to self-test and verify that all LEDs are functioning, and to show the bootloader is listening for a commands.
You can power the probe from 3.3 V or a 5 V supply. Reverse voltage project is included as well.
DEF CON 26 is upon us! Official dates August 9th-12th in beautiful Las Vegas at Caesars Palace and The Flamingo Hotels but tonight marks the start. If you’re attending (why wouldn’t you be?), we have not one, but two fellow Tindarians hosting demos.
Take a look below for all the details on when, where, and what they’ll be showing.
Nick Sayer: Orthrus
Saturday 8/11/18 from 1000-1150 at Table Four
First up we’ve got Nick Sayer who is demoing Orthrus: a small appliance that allows you to create a cryptographically secured USB volume using two microSD cards. You can rest assured the data is safe, as the two cards are encrypted with AES-256 XEX mode.
The key material to derive the volume key is also spread across both cards for added security. No need to worry about passwords either. As long as you have both cards you have everything. If you’re stuck with one card, you’ll only have half the data and a key that cannot be reconstructed.
This setup provides a “two-man control” over your dataset. The device has no keys of its own, but a volume created or written for one Orthrus can be used with any other one or any device that implements the open specification. The appliance is open source hardware and firmware.
Nick Sayer himself is a software developer who has spent the last ten years honing his security and cryptography skills at his day job. Having been away from hardware for some time, he’s rekindled his love for the craft and has a nifty store on Tindie where he shares creations like Orthrus with the world.
Ashwin K Whitchurch: HealthyPi
Saturday 8/11/18 from 1400-1550 at Table Four
Next up we have Ashwin Whitchurch from ProtoCentral who is bringing the HealthyPi HAT for Raspberry Pi to demo at DEF CON 26. HealthyPi is made from medical-grade components similar to those found in vital sign monitors, but at a fraction of the normal cost for such a device. The hope is that devices such as this one will democratize medical hardware for new areas of research.
The main focus of the HealthyPi project was to create a vitals monitoring system that combined a simple, affordable, and most importantly, an open-source device that is easily accessible. The fact that it’s open-source means that users can “hack” patient data to get what they need without worrying about proprietary NDAs or patents getting in the way.
The HealthyPi demo will allow people to check out the device, get their vital sign monitored, and possibly hack it as well. Ashwin K Whitchurch, one of the creators, is the CEO of ProtoCentral (Circuitects Electronics Solutions Pvt Ltd) based out of Bangalore in India.
The company makes and sells open-source hardware products, while also supporting other products. The vast majority of these have healthcare and medical application. Ashwin has also published research papers, book chapters, and even reviews in well-known international journals.
Ashwin and ProtoCentral have been to many different hardware conferences like Maker Faire, the Hackaday Superconference, OSHWA Summit, and has given many talks on his other projects. You can check out one of Ashwin’s talks from the Hackaday Superconference below.
The excitement is building as we lead up to DEF CON 26 from August 9th-12th at the Caesars Palace and Flamingo Hotels in Las Vegas. For those who are living the Badgelife, there are plenty of things going on during the conference.
To keep up with all the fun, make sure you’re following #badgelife on Twitter. To help you plan out your journey during DEF CON 26, here are some of the events you should keep an eye out for:
1. Badgelife Contest
Badge makers are invited to show off their creations in DEF CON’s official Badge Life Contest. Badges from the prior year between DEF CON 2017/2018 will be accepted into the contest. You can find a full list of rules here, and I suggest you read them completely.
Trust me, you don’t want to be on Cthulhu’s bad side.
2. Badge Makers Community Area
Mingle with other badge makers in this dedicated area of the Hardware Hacking Village. There will be demos, talks and workshops from TwinkleTwinkie, DCG858/619, MaraJade, B1un7 and others. Check out the full BMCA schedule at dchhv.org/schedule.
3. Tindie Blinky Badges
Visit the Soldering Skills Village to learn or brush up on your technique. You can pick up a Tindie Blinky Badge while supplies last!
You’ll need to do some through-hole and (simple) surface mount soldering, but when you’re finished you’ll have a Tindie head lapel pin with iconic sparkling eyes.
4. Tamper Evident Village
Think you can fool everyone with a forgery of a human DEF CON badge? Check out this contest if you think you can make a fake that passes inspection. Other target badges are also available if you’re looking to have some fun with counterfeits.
The tamper village is also holding a Tamper-evident King of the Hill Contest and an electronic tamper challenge complete with traps, alarms, and a timer ticking down that the call “The Box.” Check out all the details here.
5. Chris Gammell at DEF CON 26
Chris Gammell is a good friend of Tindie and host of The Amp Hour. You can find him at the Hardware Hacking Village doing a #badgelife demo and workshop called Getting to Blinky: #badgelife begins with a single blink.
This in-person version of the “Getting to Blinky” online course series is an amazing opportunity to learn some valuable skills surrounding blinking circuits and adding customizable artwork to your PCBs. All the details, including what you need to bring, can be found here.
DEF CON 26 Badges and Add-Ons
Tindarians are known for their epic badges and SAOs, and this year is no different. Here are some of our favorites:
Corgi Butt SAO Badgelife Addon – All hail the glorious Corgi! This SAO features a fluffy pup and a single LED tail that cycles through red, green, blue, purple, white, and yellow.
Skeletor Badge – You can never have too many LEDs, which is why this badge features, not ten, but twenty of them! This badge will be on sale during DEF CON 26, and it even includes a last-minute lanyard.
#Badgelife Trash Panda – It’s usually advisable to let raccoons do their own thing, and this badge with glowing red eyes reinforces that advice. This standalone coin-cell operated badge is stylish and simple!
TwinkleTwinkie’s Badgelife SAO Add-on #2 – This DEF CON 26 add-on features a classic character with glowing red cheeks. It comes fully assembled and ready to go. You can even test it out with a 3.3v breadboard before you get your SAO compatible badge.
There’s no shortage of badgelife shenanigans happening at DEF CON 26. Whether you’re a fellow Tindarian, or a maker looking to test your badge making skills, there’s something here for everyone. If you want to show your badges to the Tindie team let us know where you’ll be via @tindie Twitter #dctindie.
DEF CON 26 is fast approaching, with plenty of things to get excited about! The conference runs from August 9-12th at Caesars Palace and the Flamingo Hotels in Las Vegas. To support the Hardware Hacking Village, both Tindie and Hackaday are providing SMD Challenge kits.
Interested in putting your soldering skills to the test? At the end of the challenge, you get to keep the PCB, along with the bragging rights if you won. Prizes will also be awarded for the top 6 contenders. The board used for the contest is the MakersBox SMD Challenge PCB which has been a smash hit on Tindie!
The challenge is first-come, first served. Run by the hardworking members of the Hardware Hacking Village there will be four rounds on both Friday and Saturday, starting at 11:00 AM, with a new round every hour. There are only six spots per round, so make sure you get to the Soldering Skills Village area early so you can participate or watch the competitors in action!
Check out the official rules page for more info. This is your chance to put your soldering skills to the test and prove once and for all that you can conquer any PCB, so don’t let it pass you by!
Every maker has to start with the basics. Things like current, voltage and Ohm’s Law are the foundations of any great knowledge base. The Electronic Learning Lab is a small computer named FR.E.D (short for a FRiendly Educational Device) which guides beginners through a curriculum surrounding basic electronics.
This innovative product includes the entire curriculum in PDF format, the computer, a breadboard, power supply, hookup wire, and components. What makes this such a unique approach is its combination of theoretical exercises and real-world applications.
Once you’ve analyzed the circuit, the device will walk you through how to create that circuit and measure the values you calculated in your exercise. It’s a wonderful way to go hands-on with concepts that every maker should know.
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