I grew up playing video games, and I plan to play them long into the future. Every gamer has, at some point, in their lives, dreamed of building their own console or programming their own games, but have you ever done it?
If you haven’t, now is the time to make that dream a reality. Duinodrive is a DIY retro game console that you build, play, and even program yourself. Tindie seller Pereira Electronics describes it as a “retro Atari.”
A quick look at the features shows that this kit isn’t messing around:
Composite video/audio out
Support for two controllers
FTDI programming header
16Mhz clock speed and 32KB of Flash
128×96 black & white resolution
NTSC and PAL compatible
Arduino compatible
The kit comes with all the parts you need to assemble the console, along with a USB FTDI programming cable, an RCA cable, and an ethernet cable to connect controllers. There are already some games available, but you can develop your own as well.
The console has a dedicated website with tutorials on how to build it, upload games, program them yourself, and download any Duinodrive games others have made. The entire console is also built around Arduino compatibility and developer environments.
A large range of Arduino sensors is also compatible out of the box. Take a look at the video below for a look at a game for the console called Starfield.
Firewalla is a device from the Tindie seller of the same name that gives you a smart internet security solution for your home network. The device is only about the size of a quarter, but it allows you to protect your network from cyber attacks, block ads, control internet usage, and even helps keep you safe when you’re on public Wifi.
Cybersecurity isn’t something we think about every day until something happens to us. Years ago, I was hacked. The event was both costly and eye-opening. We’re more vulnerable than we realize when we’re online. Even if you have the most secure passwords in the world, things like privacy are also an illusion when you’re browsing the web. Having a bit of help securing what goes on with your home network can deliver some peace of mind in this area.
Despite being so small, Firewalla packs an impressive amount of hardware into the device:
Quad-Core 1.0 ghz ARM CPU
100 Mbit Software Packet Processing
512 Megabyte DDR RAM
16GB MicroSD storage
A smartphone app gives you complete control over the network at any time. A built-in VPN server also gives you privacy when you’re outside your home. The device is easy to install as well. It only needs a power supply and a connection to your router via Ethernet.
Both the hardware and software is open-source and offers deep insight into all the traffic in your network, all the way down to the I.P addresses. The full kit comes with the device, cables, and a US power supply.
Recently released on Tindie, this Eurorack/Doepfer Power Distribution Board is the ideal solution to deliver power to your modular synth, if you’re handy with a soldering iron. The unit has 21 module power connectors and will fit easily in a 84HP unit as well as larger cases.
The board comes as a single PCB, and requires 21 shrouded sockets (8×2 IDC, 2.54mm pitch) and 8 spade connectors to complete the build (links are included on the project page). Once you’ve sourced the extra parts, this through hole PCB makes it easy to put it together and assemble. Shrouded connectors are used to ensure your equipment is protected from accidentally connecting power in reverse.
The board measures 16″ (403mm) × 1.3″ (3.3mm) × 1.6mm and will work in conventional Modular systems as well as the Doepfer originals. Each of the connections feature -12v, +12v, Ground, +5v, Gate and CV signals to connect to your gear, distributing power for more modular mayhem!
Whether you’re new to the modular world, or a seasoned veteran, you’ll always need power in order to make noise! The board is for sale by Jacob Barss-Bailey another one of our San Francisco based Tindie sellers.
Audio amplifiers are all around us. They are essential in the home, in portable form, and in the studio to raise up the volume of instruments, microphones, and speakers — retaining the original sound characteristics and keeping background noises to a minimum. Here at Tindie, we have an extensive range of unique amplifiers for various audio applications and we know the choice can be daunting, so let’s have a closer look at whats on offer, what they do, and what purpose they serve:
Preamps
A pre-amplifier is designed to raise the volume early in the signal chain, to make it loud enough to play back comfortably or record later on. You’ll find them in microphones and guitar pickups, to bring usually quiet real-world sounds into the studio as faithfully as possible! A good quality preamp will add volume, while minimising noise and distortion from the incoming sound; which are crucial in the early stages of amplification.
Tube Amplifiers
A tube (or valve) amplifier amplifies an incoming signal like any modern amplifier, but enriches it with a warm vintage character we associate with classic recordings from the 1960s and 70s. Made using vacuum tubes, these amplifiers were commonplace in guitar amps, stereos and radios from the 1930s onwards, but come the 1970s it was the end for the tubes in commercial amplifiers. The invention of silicone transistors displaced vacuum tubes to make equipment portable and low cost. A resurgence for that sound has been re-kindled in recent years, with many audiophiles seeking the rich, natural tone which tubes offer, not made possible with digital amplifiers. Aside from the sound, they also look great!
Headphone Amplifiers
You may have worked this out for yourself! This kind of amplifier is designed for use with headphones, to amplify the signal from a computer, portable music player or smartphone — especially useful as many modern devices have a low-level output. A headphone amplifier will enable you to listen at a higher volume, but will also provide you with a much more dynamic, full sounding output which is ideal for larger, high fidelity headphones.
Tiny Tindie Amplification
The winner of Tindie’s smallest amplifier has to be the eeZeeAmp, which is about the size of some pocket change, but still features everything you’d expect to control. A close second goes to Tymkrs Amplify Me, and the Amplify Me Clean both barely bigger than a 9V battery but capable of big things, as seen here:
Experimental Amplifiers
The beauty of DIY electronics is out-of-the-box ideas which can lead to experiments beyond the familiar. A good example of this is the Experimenter’s audio amplifier kit which comes with an amplifier complete with audio inputs, speaker and built in breadboard to test out your projects. How about a hearing amplifier for people who are hard of hearing? The one designed by Heilingch was made for his father who suffered with hearing difficulties. Some include high-tech features, for example the CleanAmp 2 which eliminates the thump sound created when most amplifiers are powered on as well as delivering efficient sound replication, avoiding inaudible frequencies.
To Kit or Not to Kit?
Many of the amplifiers featured here come as DIY kits to solder yourself – doing so will bring you a greater understanding of the electronics and more than a smidgen of pride as you admire and show off your supremely loud music to friends, family.. and neighbors1! If you’re a guitar player – try the Guitar Mini Amplifier Kit from Nightfire electronics for example. If soldering isn’t for you, you’ll find a slick selection of pre-made devices to suit your needs — check each product page for details.
Avoid the Loudness War!
Look after your hearing and you’ll enjoy a lifetime of music, conversation and birdsong, so enjoy amplified sounds within reason! Give your ears a break from loud sounds, don’t crank the volume needlessly and protect the hearing of younger people whose hearing may still be developing. Stay enjoying music together forever!
There we have it, amplifiers for all applications — big, small, home or studio. Head over to Tindie’s amplifiers section to browse the full range.
Tindie seller and maker Timo Lausen wanted to create a unique gift for their grandmother, and they wanted it to be something that is unique to their skills as a maker. It also had to be something she would want to display because she enjoys it, and not just because her grandson gave it to her.
This led to the creation of the PCB Christmas Arche kit, which was inspired by the “Schwibbogen,” which is a decorative candle holder from Germany. The kit comes in separate pieces, so you’ll need to solder everything yourself but you may consider that part of the gift. The microcontroller trad drives the LEDs comes preprogrammed.
In addition to the kit, you will need your own USB-B cable and power adapter (like a phone charger). Once it’s all put together, the LEDs are controlled by two pseudo-random number generators that increase and decrease the brightness at random, thus imitating candlelight.
While Christmas Arches are normally made of wood and use candles, this unique twist on the concept with a PCB and LEDs gives makers the opportunity to give a gift that represents their craft.
Tindie always has something interesting up for sale, but perhaps you’d like to dive even deeper. If so, then there’s the Tindie Flea Market, where we see unusual and interesting items pop up. It’s certainly worth a browse! Here’s a few items on display this month:
Pixy Object Tracking Camera + Pan/Tilt Kit
Pixy is a smart vision sensor for use in robotics and other electronics projects. While the Pixy2 recently made its debut, if you’d like to get your hands on one of the originals along with the pan/tilt kit, here’s one available on the Flea Market. The unit in question was purchased on Kickstarter, and is now reportedly taking up too much space!
Rooster Booster: 5V from “Anything”
Microcontrollers, CV modules and the like seem to get all the “glory” hardware-wise, but if you can’t power them correctly, they’re pretty useless. This little “Rooster Booster” board takes input from .8 to 6.0V and turn it into 5V, perfect to “wake up” your next Arduino project!
Bluetooth and Relays for Your Arduino
If you’re building a home automation system, you’ll likely need a way to communicate with it and relays to control large(ish) amounts of power. This Arduino shield provides both via a Bluetooth module and four relays!
MT0V034 Monochromatic Image Sensor
If you’d like to construct your own digital camera or CV system from components, you’ll likely want to use a CMOS digital image sensor. One such sensor is available here in mono VGA for $20, or twice that for the color 1.2 MP version.
Don’t stop now, there’s always something interesting to be found in the Tindie Flea Market.
The 2018 Hackaday Prize Robotics Module Challenge has come to a close, and the winners have been decided. There were some truly incredible projects on display and plenty of Tindie sellers who offered their own designs!
You can find a full list of the finalists here. Join us as we take a look at the Tindarians who are among the winners, and a few of the incredible projects that were part of this year’s robotics challenge.
Tindie Seller Robotics Module Challenge Winners
This year had not one, but two Tindarians win the round! They are joined by eighteen other winners who all had amazing contributions to the world of robotics.
PCB Stepper Motor
Our first winner and Tindie seller is bobricius with the PCB Stepper Motor, a project inspired by a separate Hackaday project, showing how the community is able to build upon the work of others to reach even greater heights.
Like the project that inspired it, Bobricius created a motor that has the stator coils etched into the base PCB, but this new project has eight stator coils and offers a larger motor. The 3D-printed motor of the original has also been switched out for a rotor made of stacked PCBs with cutouts for 5-mm neodymium magnets.
This is the second entry bobricius has made in The Hackaday 2018 Prize. His previous project was the not-a-Nixie-tube display.
Bobricius is rather prolific on Tindie with not just one, but two stores. PeMi Technology opened in 2013 and is where you can find a variety of compact and useful products that cover everything from charging lithium batteries to USB supercapacitor LED earrings. Last year, Kits for Kids launched with a range of learn-to-solder kits featuring rockets, fire engines and more.
HEXABITZ – Modular Electronics for REAL
Our second Tindie seller and one of the twenty winners in the Robotics Module Challenge is HEXABITZ. This is a project and product on Tindie that we’ve previously covered on our blog. Hexabitz is a project composed of six-sided modules that can be soldered together into assemblies that allow for complex 3D assemblies.
The modular design offers a huge amount of scalability with 30+ modules in a single assembly with inter-module functionality and a built-in Command Line Interface (CLI) that removes the need to write code before starting your project.
Several alpha modules are already for sale on the Hexabitz store on Tindie. This unique way of prototyping electronics removes much of the issues and efforts associated with spinning your own boards during the prototyping process.
Check out Hackaday.io for a deeper look into this project that stands among the winners of this year’s Robotics Module Challenge.
Honorable Mentions
While these projects from the Tindie community didn’t make it into the list of winners, their ideas are inspiring nonetheless! Here are some of our favorite projects that were entered into the Robotics Module Challenge:
The Power Harvesting Challenge is already underway. If you haven’t entered, what are you waiting for? Enter your best ideas into the challenge for a chance to be one of the winners in our next roundup!
You’re certainly with how the Raspberry Pi is a great board that can do much of the work of an actual computer without the bulk or expense. What about the other end of the spectrum — how does the Pi perform as a hardware controller? As with any microcontroller solution, if you want your Raspberry Pi to control more than very low current levels you need extra hardware. The Samur Raspberry Pi Expansion MainBoard takes on this challenge, greatly extending the abilities of the Pi’s expansion header.
It features 15 relays rated for 250VAC and 10A or the same 10A current flow at 30VDC. The obvious application would be turning on and off appliances or lighting in a home automation setting, and with a Raspberry Pi (not included) powering it, your control options are virtually unlimited.
If that doesn’t present enough control options, the board also features 8 digital inputs for AC power (currently listed at only 250VAC, however a 120VAC option will be added) along with 6 inputs for 12 VDC. It also has accommodation for I2C, 1Wire, and an NRF24L01+ module for wireless communication.
While what’s shown here is quite capable, if you just need relays for your Pi to handle more power, you might also check out the Mega-IO Raspberry Pi Expansion Card featured earlier this year.
STEM education covers four specific disciplines in one curriculum: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In our modern age, these skills are in high demand, and makers everywhere are trying to pass this valuable knowledge on to the next generation.
The original model, known as the ARM-1 from 1Durian.Tech set out to empower educators with a functional robotic arm that could teach the basics of C++ programming and how to use a microcontroller.
With the success of the initial model, they have since released the ARM-2, which is an upgraded version of the robotic arm. This newer version includes everything the original had, along with some crisp new features.
The goal is to teach students basic programming skills through tutorials on how to utilize the microcontroller. There are five included lessons surrounding the coding that include digital control, pulse width modulation, and serial communication, among others.
The robotic arm helps students learn basic knowledge of the servo motors the complexities of single and multiple servos control. There is also a tutorial on teaching and playback mode, an up-and-coming technology used in the robotics industry to save time and increase efficiency.
The enhanced version of the arm adds WiFi control and programming options. There is also analog feedback from the servo motor, XYZ-Axis control, and additional learning modules for educators. The kit comes with the ARM-2 fully assembled, along with a power supply, USB Micro-B, and a PS2 controller for manipulating the arm.
Vacuum Fluorescent Displays (VFDs) aren’t something you work with every day. They are often found in car radios and emit a green or blue light with high levels of contrast. Given these characteristics, it’s not a stretch to think they would make a great display for a clock.
The folks at Akafugu Corporation are selling a kit for this concept in the form of the VFD Modular Clock version IV-6. VFDs, which are similar to vacuum tubes, each contain a single digit so this modular kit includes six IV-6 tubes. You can also opt for an option without the tubes if you have them already. The baseboard is powered by an ATMega32U4 microcontroller with a high-voltage VFD driver that lights up the display shield above the board.
The kit comes pre-programmed with the Arduino Leonardo bootloader and firmware. If you would like, it can be reprogrammed from the Arduino IDE open-source firmware. The finished clock is powered by a 5V USB mini-b connector that works with a computer.
You can also utilize Four Letter Word functionality. It comes with the word association database EEPROM if you would rather display words instead of numbers. Finally, an acrylic enclosure is available separately for those who would like to opt for it.
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