I think next time I go to the junk yard I will have to see how much an old air bag is worth. These things really pack a punch. If you watch the video from Daves Farm keep watching past the first air bag test, the second one is amazing.
Thanks Stagueve
Here's a video of Zedomax Alarm System II in Action:
Parts List:
1 RadioShack Motion-sensing Door Chime/Alarm $27
Other parts from Zedomax Alarm System Part I
Estimated Time to Assemble: 3 minutes
Estimated Time to Program: 10 minutes (or none if you use my source code)
The other day I was walking through RadioShack and found this neat little Motion-sensing Door Chime/Alarm.
Since I already had an alarm system, I decided I could simply add a motion-sensor to my existing alarm system.
Connections
1) First disassemble the motion-sensor like shown in above picture.
2) Now disconnect the speaker wires, we don't need the speaker on the motion sensor since we already have one on our alarm system.
3) Solder 2 wires to the speaker wires. Make sure to mark one of the wires as ground for later. I used a black tape to mark it.
4) When you measure the speaker outputs, you should get around 8V DC, we will need this information in order to not burn up our CB280 module.
5) You can take the wires outside of the casing through the battery connectors.
6) Assemble your motion-sensor now like shown above.
7) Now you have a motion sensor w/ 2 wires you can use to sense motion!
8) Connect the the Positive wire of the motion sensor to the middle of a 3804 TR.
Connect the GND of motion sensor to GND of the study board.
Now you can connect 5V of the study board to the right side of the 3904 TR and the P21 of the study board to the left side of the 3904 TR as shown in the above picture.
Connect a LED Output to P21 to check that motion sensor is working and the CUBLOC module will receive correct digital signals.
Now check that your motion sensor is working by turning the motion sensor to "Chime" and try flickering your hands in front of it.
The LED on the motion sensor and the study board should go off together in harmony.
Now simply unzip and download this program using CublocStudio:
You should get a nice Motion line added to your existing alarm system.
Try turning On your alarm system, the password is 1234.
Now make some movements on the motion sensor to set it off.
The alarm system will go off and the only way to turn it off is by entering your password again.
Press the CNCL button if you mess up your password.
Program Source...
(Bold for added code)
Const Device = CB280
#define MyPass 1234
Set Pad 0,1,10
Const Byte KEY_TABLE=(0,0,14,16,0,15,0,0,0,0,13,9,8,7,0,0,0,0,12,6,5,4,0,0,0,0,11,3,2,1)
'Key table if Keypad inserted backwards to the Keypad Controller
'Const Byte KEY_TABLE=(0,0,1,4,7,10,0,0,0,0,2,5,8,11,0,0,0,0,3,6,9,12,0,0,0,0,13,14,15,16)
Dim X As Byte
'Status of Alarm
Dim AlarmON As Byte
Dim AlarmStayON As Byte
'Status of Door
Dim Door As Byte
'Status of Motion Sensor
Dim Motion As Byte
Dim Password As Long
Door=0
Motion=0
Password=0
AlarmON=0
AlarmStayON=0
Input 0
Input 1
Input 2
Input 3
'Set port P5 to output
Output 5
'Set Magnetic Switch to input
Input 20
On INT0 Gosub GETINT
Set int0 2
Input 21
On INT1 Gosub GETINT_M
Set int1 2
On Pad Gosub PAD_RTN
Set Ladder Off
Set Display 2,0,0,128
Cls
Delay 100
Csroff
Locate 0,0
Print "Zedomax Alarm System"
'Add motion sensor LCD commands
Locate 0,1
Print "Motion: "
If In(21)=1 Then
Print "movement"
Else
Print "none"
End If
Locate 0,2
Print "Door is: "
If In(20)=1 Then
Print "open"
Else
Print "closed"
End If
If AlarmON=1 Then
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is ON"
Else
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is OFF"
End If
Do
If (AlarmON=1 And Door=1) Or (AlarmON=1 And Motion=1) Then
AlarmStayON=1
End If
If AlarmStayON=1 Then
Alarm
End If
Loop
GETINT:
Door=In(20)
Debug "Door: ",Dec Door,Cr
Alarm
If Door=0 Then
Locate 9,2
Print "closed "
Debug "door closed",Cr
Else
Locate 9,2
Print "open "
Debug "door open",Cr
End If
Delay 500
Return
GETINT_M:
Motion=In(21)
Debug "Motion: ",Dec Motion,Cr
'Add motion sensor LCD commands
If Motion=0 Then
Locate 8,1
Print "none "
Else
Locate 8,1
Print "movement "
End If
Delay 200
Return
PAD_RTN:
Peep
X=Getpad(1)
If X>29 Then Return
X=KEY_TABLE(X)
Debug "Key Pressed: ", Dec X,Cr
If X <>
Password=Password*10+X
If Password > 9999 Then Password=X
Debug "Password: ", Dec Password,Cr
If Password = MyPass Then
AlarmON=AlarmON Xor 1
If AlarmON=1 Then
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is ON "
Else
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is OFF"
AlarmStayON=0
End If
End If
'If ENTR pressed
Elseif X=11 Then
'If CNCL pressed
Elseif X=15 Then
Password=0
End If
Return
End
Sub Alarm()
Out 5,1
Delay 100
Out 5,0
Delay 100
End Sub
Sub Peep()
Out 5,1
Delay 5
Out 5,0
Delay 5
End Sub
Taking it Further...
Now you can take it further, maybe add a SMS messaging capabilities when the alarm goes off, or hack a wireless motion-sensor to do the same thing.
You can always build from scratch but sometimes I feel you can simply hack stuff from RadioShack and save yourself the trouble.
Parts List:
1 Magnetic Contact Switch
1 12VDC Piezzo Buzzer
1 2N3904 Transistor
Available at RadioShack
1 CB280 Start Kit
1 CLCD420-B
1 4x4 Keypad
1 Keypad Controller
Available at Comfile
Okay, today I was thinking that I needed an alarm system for my dog, so I decided to make a doggy door alarm system. Since my dog sleeps w/ me, I needed to make an alarm system for the night, to protect my apartment from other intruding dogs...
Anways, you might think I am crazy making an alarm system for furry people...
Before I made the actual system, I decided to do it with a study board that has a little breadboard.
You can get a 12VDC Piezzo Buzzer from your local Radio Shack for about 10 bucks and magnetic contact switches w/ screws for about 5 bucks.
These magnetic contact switches are neat, they are the same ones used for a lot of residential and commercial door sensors.
They are simply magnetic switches. If door is closed, the contact is open and if door is open, the contact is closed.
You can screw them into door and the wall using the holes on the switch ends.
Yes, if you got that and some CUBLOC or any type of microcontroller w/ i/o ports, you should be ready to go.
Here, we will use Comfile's CB280 embedded computer module and a 4x4 keypad and keypad controller, which will make things easier for us since we won't have to build from scratch.
(Close-up)
You will need to solder on your Keypad to the Keypad Controller first.
Then plug in black wire to GND, red wire to 5V, and rest of the pins to ports P0, P1, P2, and P3. (labeled 0, 1, 2, and 3 on the black IDC headers)
Once you are done connecting the Keypad Controller to your study board, connect the LCD to connector labeled, "CuNET".
Yes, now you have a keypad and an LCD.
Now connect the black wire of the piezo to GND and red wire to the left side of the 3904 transistor.
Connect 5V to the right side of the 3904 transistor.
Connect the middle pin of the transistor to P5 of the CUBLOC Study Board (labeled "5").
Now why are we using a transistor?
Because the piezo takes about 150mA and each I/O of CB280 CUBLOC module only can take so much (<50ma).>
So when the I/O port goes on, the transistor will simply connect power from 5V pin to the red wire of the piezo.
Okay, now we have 1 more item, yes, that's right, we can put the magnetic contact switch.
Connect one end of the Contact switch to 5V pin and the other end to port P20, labeled "20" on the study board.
Now connect a wire from P20 to an LED on the study board.
This is to do a pull-down and we should be able to check the status of the contact switch using the LED.
All right, now you are done, you should have something like this:
Now download this source file diy100.zip and uncompress it.
You will find HomeAutomation001.cul and HomeAutomation001.cub.
Open HomeAutomation001.cul file in your CublocStudio.
Download the program to CB280 module.
When you move the bottom part of the magnetic contact switch, you should see the LCD displaying "open" and "close" while the piezo beeps.
Now enter "1234" as password on the keypad controller.
If you mess up, you can press "CNCL" button, which will clear the password.
You should see the Alarm Status on the LCD go ON.
Now when the door is open, you will hear the alarm go off.
Video of Alarm System in 3 minutes:
[Source Code]
Const Device = CB280
#define MyPass 1234
Set Pad 0,1,5
Const Byte KEY_TABLE=(0,0,14,16,0,15,0,0,0,0,13,9,8,7,0,0,0,0,12,6,5,4,0,0,0,0,11,3,2,1)
'Key table if Keypad inserted backwards to the Keypad Controller
'Const Byte KEY_TABLE=(0,0,1,4,7,10,0,0,0,0,2,5,8,11,0,0,0,0,3,6,9,12,0,0,0,0,13,14,15,16)
Dim X As Byte
'Status of Alarm
Dim AlarmON As Byte
'Status of Door
Dim Door As Byte
Dim Password As Long
Door=0
Password=0
AlarmON=0
'Set port P5 to output
Output 5
'Set Magnetic Switch to input
Input 20
On INT0 Gosub GETINT
Set int0 2
On Pad Gosub PAD_RTN
Set Ladder Off
Set Display 2,0,0,128
Cls
Delay 100
Csroff
Locate 0,0
Print "Zedomax Alarm System"
Locate 0,2
Print "Door is: "
If In(20)=1 Then
Print "open"
Else
Print "closed"
End If
If AlarmON=1 Then
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is ON"
Else
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is OFF"
End If
Do
If AlarmON=1 And Door=1 Then
Alarm
End If
Loop
GETINT:
Door=In(20)
Debug "Door: ",Dec Door,Cr
Alarm
If Door=0 Then
Locate 9,2
Print "closed "
Debug "door closed",Cr
Else
Locate 9,2
Print "open "
Debug "door open",Cr
End If
Delay 500
Return
PAD_RTN:
Peep
X=Getpad(1)
If X>29 Then Return
X=KEY_TABLE(X)
Debug "Key Pressed: ", Dec X,Cr
If X <>
Password=Password*10+X
If Password > 9999 Then Password=X
Debug "Password: ", Dec Password,Cr
If Password = MyPass Then
AlarmON=AlarmON Xor 1
If AlarmON=1 Then
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is ON "
Else
Locate 0,3
Print "Alarm Status is OFF"
End If
End If
'If ENTR pressed
Elseif X=11 Then
'If CNCL pressed
Elseif X=15 Then
Password=0
End If
Return
End
Sub Alarm()
Out 5,1
Delay 100
Out 5,0
Delay 100
End Sub
Sub Peep()
Out 5,1
Delay 5
Out 5,0
Delay 5
End Sub
Taking it Further...
You can modify the source code to change the alarm times, scheduling,
menus, etc...etc...
The CB280 module supports up to 49 I/Os, so you can add up to 49
door sensors or you can add temperature chip to monitor temperature
at the same time.
The CB220 and CB220 Proto Board can be substituted for cheaper
alternative.
The CLCD420B can be substituted for smaller LCD such as the CLCD216G
OR you can also add a graphic LCD, such as the GHLCD for expanding
your alarm system...
I will try to update w/ a touch screen alarm system for more high
tech alarm system in the future w/ CuTOUCH.
Up until now, items that are hard to inspect have been checked via manual collection methods (“swabbing”) which are far less accurate. CompactSafe is not intended to replace the standard chemical detectors currently used, but to add to their efficiency and accuracy. The system has already been field tested in Israel at the Ben Gurion Airport and at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
“TraceGuard is very proud to have completed the ISA certification process. The ISA is known to be one of the most demanding certifying agencies worldwide. We believe that CompactSafe offers a unique solution to improving explosives detection, one of the critical challenges in border crossing and in public events. This approval allows us to start sales of the CompactSafe system in Israel and other countries” said Avi Kostelitz, CEO of TraceGuard.
CompactSafe's inspection process is done by placing the item in the machine's inspection chamber. Then, using the proprietary automated trace extraction technology, CompactSafe causes the rapid release and extraction of particles from the item by sealing and manipulating air molecules. The trace material collected is then analyzed via a chemical analyzer which displays the results on its screen.
"This technology is capable of extracting microgram levels of explosives, traces smaller than fingerprints. CompactSafe is able to extract any type of explosive trace, in both solid and liquid form," further explains the company.
TFOT has recently covered RedXDefense's portable kit that could provide a quick and simple visual diagnostic for detecting plastic explosives favored by terrorists. The device, which was designed to be used by in security checkpoints and under harsh conditions, is currently undergoing field tests in Iraq. TFOT also covered variable speed bullets as well as a spray which enables “dusting” for explosives .
More information about CompactSafe can be found at TraceGuard's official website.
I remember my Meccano set that I played with when I was growing up. Lots of nuts, bolts and pieces of metal. This Spykee robot represents the new face of Meccano that I could only wish was available when I was a kid. I can just imagine the creative hacks that we will see in the near future! Thanks to Sven for the system overview.
"
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Thanks Robert.
The Message Pump project from Spikenzie Labs provides you with some surface mount soldering enjoyment and a resulting device that will allow you to display messages from your computer. Lots of computers don’t have a serial port these days so the USB connection is very handy. It is available in many forms including bare board or a kit with all the required parts.
"The Message Pump A.K.A. the USB to LCD Backpack is a device that allows you to connect a LCD display directly to your computer. It uses a PIC micro-controller, to drive the LCD and a FTDI USB to serial chip to connect to your computer. Most of the parts on the Message Pump are surface mount. If you are good or OK at soldering though hole parts then building the Message Pump will should be a problem. You may just have to change your technique a bit. Look around the web and you will find lots of tutorials on how to do surface mount (SMT) soldering. The most popular part used in this project is the FTDI USB chip. People are afraid of it because it has a small pin pitch (spacing). The version used here is the SSOP-28 package. Yes, this tight spacing does make it a bit more difficult to solder but if you have not tried, I think you’d be surprised, it’s not that hard."
Via: Make
You probably don’t need a Geiger Counter but wouldn’t it be fun to have one? This DIY Geiger Counter project will not only demonstrate how to build one, this circuit will also connect to a computer using USB to grab the data. Since this device used very high voltage the output to the USB is opto-isolated to protect the delicate low voltage computer circuitry.
"The Geiger-Muller tube is a simple device, it’s a tube filled with a gas with two electrodes. A high potential is applied betweens electrodes. When a ionizing particle arrived, it create a temporary conductive path between electrodes. The resulting current can be detected by an electronic amplifier. A Geiger counter is composed of a high voltage generator, a geiger tube, an amplifier and a monostable. The following schematic show clearly these 4 parts. In the second part of this article will show how to connect this counter to a USB microcontroler and a computer. "
Thanks Sylvain
Didn’t think a laser could retain this much power after traveling through many inches of water. But it looks like this 150mW laser somehow managed to do it. The target is flash paper, not regular paper which may have a bit to do with it but it is impressive regardless! Anyone think this is not real or staged somehow?
A group of scientists led by Alex Zettl, a Physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a nanoscale radio, with a key circuitry consisting of a single carbon nanotube. Today, any wireless device, from cell phones to environmental sensors, can benefit from the nanoradios. Smaller electronic components, such as tuners, could reduce power consumption and extend battery life. Nanoradios have potential applications in many fields, including medicine, where they could be incorporated into tiny devices that navigate the bloodstream to release drugs on command.The nano receiver translates the electromagnetic oscillations of the radio wave into the mechanical vibrations of a nanotube. The vibrations are then converted into a stream of electrical pulses that reproduce the original radio signal, and are anchored to a metal electrode that is wired to a battery. Just beyond the nanotube's free end is a second metal electrode. When a voltage is applied between the electrodes, electrons flow from the battery through the first electrode and the nanotube and then jump from the nanotube's tip across the tiny gap to the second electrode. The nanotube - now negatively charged - is able to "feel" the oscillations of a passing radio wave, which has both an electrical and a magnetic component.
The team’s next goal is to allow their nanoradios to transmit signals in addition to receiving them. Professor Zettl says that it will not be difficult to achieve this goal, since a transmitter is essentially a receiver running in reverse.
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TFOT recently covered BIOTEX - biosensors, which can be integrated into special fabrics. The sensors are capable of measuring sodium, chloride, and potassium in miniscule volumes of sweat samples on the skin. Another related device covered by TFOT is the NIKE+ sports band, which collects information during running, jumping, or any other athletic activity, and analyzes the data either in real-time or later, on the user's PC.
To read more about Zettl's nanotube radio, see the University of California, Berkeley website.
This DIY Hovercraft Project was done on a budget and the results are very good based on the amount of money that was put into it.
"The workings of a hovercraft are fairly straightforward: one high-power motor with an airplane propeller forces air down through the hole in the center, which pushes the bottom of the hovercraft off the ground. This greatly reduces friction, allowing the hovercraft to scoot around without much trouble. It also makes it much more difficult to control, however: when the hovercraft turns, it will keep traveling in a straight line unless more thrust is applied. Since we are used to controlling cars or boats, the newtonian behavior of a hovercraft is challenging indeed. The body of the hovercraft is made out of styrofoam, cut with a saw and sanded to smooth the edges. The skirt on the bottom is made out of pieces of a plastic GAP bag, attached with Scotch tape and hot glue. The radio control unit was scavenged from an old boat I had, along with the drive motor mounted on the wooden supports, while the lifting motor was from my physics teacher. The battery is 300 mAh 6V NiMH (or NiCd, I forget), and I have a pair of them. They were about $6-$10 each (again, forgot) and about $12 for the 2 1/2 hour charger. The servomotor for steering was from an old RC car I had"
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TFOT recently covered liquid crystals that battle cancer and other diseases, as well as SuperThread – the strongest carbon nanotube ever – which is100 times stronger than steel and carbon nanotubes used for chemical detection developed at Rice University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
More about the new antibacterial coatings can be found on the Auburn University's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering website.
Have a look at this Robot that is built on an iRobot platform. Have a look at the number of sensors, this thing has lots of computing power since is uses the Propeller microcontroller from Parallax.
"This is an iRobot Create fitted with a Robot Arm I pulled from an old Radio Controlled vehicle. It uses a Propeller Protoboard and motor controllers and accelerometers from Parallax to control the Arm and monitor it’s position using the two accelerometers mounted on the arm. The Create is controlled by another Propeller and uses a CMUCam1 for Color Tracking to track the object. A Sharp GPD120 IR ragne sensor is used at the Claw to determine when the object is close enough to grab. The robot is tracking the color, driving up to it until it senses the object within it’s grasp, stops, grabs the object, and raises it up. Simple example of great possibilities. And this isn’t even in ideal lighting."
Here is a list of 5 cool coil guns, either one would be fun to try out. Remember that coil guns can be dangerous, if you build one and shoot out your eye don’t say you weren’t warned.
| 5. The Mk II Coil RIfle
This is the second gun that Nicholas Howard has built. |
| 4. 18 Shot Repeat Coilgun
This one packs the punch of an automatic. Unfortunately the Timing is not optimal over into PP more spacer used light barriers, part would be far better with only one coil!!!! ” |
| 3. EM-15 coil gun
The EM-15 is a gun that the military could get lots of use from if it ever goes into production. |
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This Wifi Robot that Jonathan Bennett created is very well put together, best of all it was built on a budget. The five dollar base car that the hardware is mounted to is proof of that.
"A remote control car that can be driven over the internet or with a laptop wirelessly from up to 500m away. It has a live-feed network camera so that it can be driven without line of sight and a horn so that you can honk at people. Adding a network camera, router, heavier batteries, extra circuits, and a whole bunch of wires adds a lot of extra weight that the car wasn’t designed for. Because of all of the additions, you’ll need to find a pretty large RC car. Thrift stores often sell RC vehicles (without remotes!) for $3-5. I have bought a number of cars this way for taking apart. Vehicles in the 1:10 size ratio or bigger are appropriate; you probably don’t want to go any smaller. I bought this car for $5 at Value Village."
Via: Robot Maker
Don’t get me wrong, I love adding technology to things that don’t need it. I wouldn’t have made the LED fish lights otherwise :). But some of the commercial products that are coming out are making me roll my eyes. Here is my top 5 things that should not have been produced.
 | 5) Knife with a USB drive. When I am looking to buy a pocket knife I want to know how long the blade is, how easy the scissors are to use and if it comes with a bottle opener. NOT how many Megabytes of capacity it has, data transfer speed and if a USB cable is included!! |
 | 4) Digital Pens. What is up with the digital pen? When I want to write a note I don’t want to care about system requirements, charged batteries, recognition accuracy! Sorry I couldn’t leave you a note because my pen had trouble syncing with my XP computer. |
 | 3) Internet Ready Appliances. The internet fridges seem to be catching on. Ok this product has a cool factor and if I had money to burn I could see myself getting one. But thinking practically, I couldn’t justify purchasing one. If I want to surf the internet I will use a computer not the fridge. If I want to listen to music I will use the stereo, not the fridge. I can imagine the slew of new excuses now… Sorry we ran out of milk, the fridge inventory database got corrupted a few days ago. |
 | 2) Pet Gadgets. Do our pets need their own cell phones and digital cameras? I remember a time when checking if your pet had enough water was enough now their are pet bowls that will ensure the quality of the water is up to par! |
 | 1) Toothbrush. Ok this is one product that does not need a built in computer. A plastic stick with bristles stuck in one end is fine for me. Adding some water and some motorized movement is an improvement to the standard. But who is the marketing team that is thinking we want or need a computer in our tooth brush? I think we have gone too far when our toothbrush has multiple computer controlled settings and a downloadable user guide! What is next 24 hour tech support? |
The Acceleration Sensing Glove (virtual keyboard) was created by some students at the University of California, Berkeley. I can think of lots of other cool applications for this other than just typing. |
 This glove is so clean looking it reminds me of Michael Jackson |
This KeyGlove seems to be quite ea 10+ plastic zip ties ($1)” |
 The Thumbcode Glove was born in Stanford University. There is a full paper available on the site about the creation of the glove. |
 The Data Glove uses IR LEDs to read finger positions. There is a complete parts list and code to make your own on the site. |
 One extra glove for good measure… Dennis Crowley used flex sensors in his Keyboard Glove to get rid of his keyboard. He provides full source code and a parts list on his site. |
The Robocut is an interesting lawn cutting robot. It is great because you build it yourself and it’s powered by a Parallax Stamp Microcontroller. Just like iRobot did for the Roomba, RoboCut has the ability for the purchaser to play with the design and come up with their own idea for the system operation. Have a look at the circuit board below, there’s even a small amount of prototype area so that you can add your own components directly to the system. I think GPS would be a fun addition!
"RoboCut, is a BASIC Stamp powered robot. Two 12Volt motors with gearbox gives the two large drivewheels good traction and the robot can manouver in very small areas. Powersource is a NiMh accu-pack at 12V, 4.1 Ah. One motor gives the cutterdisk a rpm at approx. 3500 rpm. A Basic STAMP 2 is the brain in the PCB mounted in the front of the Robocut. This PCB has the following features. -Two-chanel (right/left) Buried Wire Fence (BWF) detectors. -Two-chanel (right/left) active IR obstacle detection -Two chanel (right/left) drive motor control on/off, Forward/Rewerse -One chanel cutter-motor control on/off, MOS-FET 20 Amp -Charging/accuvoltage measuring with high resolution -Charger detection On/off -Optional temperature sensor to check accupack temp during charging. -prototype area -prepared for optional "self-charging" and navigating to the chargingstation via an IR_beacon."
The SpyFinder works on the principle of optical augmentation. It uses a ring of ultra-bright LEDs which are arranged around its viewing port, in order to locate a hidden camera via the light reflected back from those LEDs. When scanning a room with the SpyFinder, the light from the hidden camera will be reflected along the same path as the incident light, thus giving away the camera's position.
Using the SpyFinder is quite simple, as all that is needed is looking through the viewing port and activating the LEDs while scanning the desired area. Even a pinhole camera would be detected this way and appear as a very small bright spot. Of course, other objects might reflect back the light as well, so in order to make sure that a camera is indeed hidden in the suspected location, one has to slightly move the vantage point. If the reflection remains fixed to its position then that is a camera; otherwise it is not.
They SpyFinder can work continuously for over two hours and it is powered by two AAA batteries. This personal camera detector costs around $95.00.
On May 3rd, 2004, the SpyFinder was featured in the CBS show “CSI Miami,” where it was used to discover concealed pinhole cameras which were used to spy on acquaintances in an exclusive neighborhood.
TFOT recently covered a six-inch robotic spy plane, modeled after a bat. Its purpose is gathering data such as sights, sounds, and smells in urban combat zones and transmitting the information back to combatants in real time. TFOT also reported on the development of miniature spider-like robots, which will be capable of carrying out intelligence-gathering tasks in places that are too dangerous for soldiers to enter.
More information about the SpyFinder can be found at the SpyFinder website.
Developed between the years 2003-2005, the S-100 is the last in a series of unmanned choppers developed by Schiebel since the late 1990's. The S-100 is designed as a medium range (around 130km) light and maneuverable unmanned aerial vehicle. The S-100 is not the only VTOL UAV (see for example Honeywell's Miniature Air Vehicle and Boeing's Hummingbird), but controlling these vertical flying machines in mid air is a complex task that can be even more difficult than fixed wing drones. For that reason the designers of the S-100 equipped the vehicle with stabilized inertial navigation systems (INS), a global positioning system (GPS), and two modes of operation – one manual and one autonomous, which follows a preplanned route.
The S-100 is a versatile chopper capable of carrying a range of payloads including both day and night thermal comers (simultaneously), multi-spectral sensors, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a laser imaging radar (LIDAR) and a ground penetrating radar (GPR). All these payloads are supposed to enable the S-100 to perform a range of different missions including general surveillance, border patrol, fire control, target designation, damage assessment, mine detection (using GPR) and various marine roles. The S-100 can also perform civilian missions including search and rescue operations, aerial photography and even crowd control using tear gas.
The S-100 was already sold to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) army, which purchased 40 units and is already operating them in the Persian Gulf. Two other undisclosed costumers have also reportedly purchased several dozen S-100 at a cost of approximately $400,000 a piece.
In addition to Honeywell's Miniature Air Vehicle and Boeing's Hummingbird, TFOT has also covered several other UAV’s, including a concept for a UAV to UAV refueling and a canister launched UAV.
More information on the S-100, as well as video showing the S-100 in action (Quicktime) can be found on Schiebel's website.
The Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR), currently under development by Vecna, is capable of crossing bumpy ground thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer-controlled motors that help it to maintain its balance much like a Segway vehicle.
The BEAR is currently in proof-of-concept development stage. A prototype of the BEAR robot was built and outfitted with a powerful torso and arms, along with a dynamic balancing system on two wheels. The robot prototype has demonstrated picking up a fully-weighted human dummy, and carrying the dummy around in its arms while dynamically balanced in an upright position for over 50 minutes without break. The BEAR underwent several prototype versions - the 2006 model was able to lift weight in excess of 360 pounds (163kg), while the more recent version is capable of lifting 260 pounds (117kg) in one arm alone.
The BEAR joins a growing number of robotic projects currently under development for the U.S. army which are intended to assist troops in the battlefield in various missions including long range reconnaissance, carrying of heavy payloads and medical evacuation. TFOT recently covered the BigDog four legged robotic mule under development by Boston Dynamics, Carnegie Mellon University's 6.5-ton "Crusher" Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV) and the Giant Spider Bot concept developed by designer Marcos Nolan from the University of Washington.
According to DARPA’s plans, the Heliplane will be suitable for combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions, boasting a 400 mph cruise speed, a 1,000 lb payload, and a range of 1,000 miles (without refueling). DARPA intends on awarding a contract for the next phases to the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT), which was a subcontractor on Phase 1 of the Heliplane Program and who provided the latest contractor, Groen Brothers Aviation, with much of its “analytical horsepower”.
DARPA’s Heliplane Program has set itself the goals of designing, developing, and flight testing the aircraft. A gyrodyne has a rotor that is driven for take-off, hover, and landing, but auto-rotates in forward flight. In the Heliplane, the rotor is powered by tip-jets. Air is ducted from the engines, mixed with fuel, and burned at the tips of the rotor blades. The same engines provide thrust for forward flight, and, as it was with a previous model, the Rotodyne, tip-jet noise has proved a challenge.
Although Groen Brothers Aviation (GBA) was given a six-month extension to its Phase 1 contract to study alternative tip-jet designs, Georgia Tech played a key role in those Phase 1A studies. According to DARPA, under the current phase, 1B, GIT will be required to mature the design of the Heliplane, in order to ensure that it closes on a 400mph VTOL aircraft. The Georgia Tech team will work to meet all program objectives, including tip-jet noise requirements. The goal is to create a rotorcraft that can take-off and land vertically and cruise twice as fast as any conventional helicopter.
TFOT has covered Boeing’s new unmanned helicopter (developed for DARPA), which will be able to perform long-range high endurance surveillance and reconnaissance operations, and the Aeroscraft, which is a combination of an airship and an advanced aircraft, exceptionally designed to carry huge amounts of cargo. Other related TFOT stories include the WaterScout, an autonomous submarine deployable helicopter, and DARPA's Urban Challenge 2007.
More information on the Heliplane can be found on DARPA’s website
At the most recent Digital Life Show in New York City, I was accosted by a two-foot-tall toy robot who was barking out commands and strutting his stuff for me and the rest of the gathering crowd. I moved up close to where the brash robot confidently stood, and was introduced to the Robosapien V2, a humanoid robot put out by WowWee Toys that impressed me as being quite a feat of modern engineering.
So, I contacted physicist/roboticist Mark Tilden, the developer of this robot (and others) to find out what makes this bold bot tick:
How many and what types of sensors are being used in the Robo V2? We have CMOS XVGA color visual tracking and recognition, IR radar reflection, sharp audio detection and location microphones, as well as touch and tilt sensors throughou
t his body. All of it is custom built and
aligned, so he runs the field from simple to complex just so he can interact with his user intelligently.
How does the camera work? What is the vision system? Actually it’s an old vision technology used for about 2 billion years. It’s a biologically inspired radial-retina arrangement where centroids of colorful objects generate direction vectors toward the visual center.
Such an arrangement reduces data down to one byte per object, simplifying the work for our overclocked toygrade processors. The eye does all the processing in real time.
How is signal processing being accomplished? For the vision system, we have a custom DSP running a series of standard vision algorithms. It also handles the camera module. The actual decision processing happens in his slow mainbrain though.
What kinds of motors are involved? We build our own custom motors and gearboxes, pushing the concept of “toygrade” to the limits while still keeping costs low. In the RS2 we use 12 standard M130 motors for all actions, with a single M21 motor for the eye action. This type of modularity keeps costs low while encouraging high reliability. It’s always amazing how consistent a component gets when you order 27 million of them.
How many engineers worked on this? What was the engineering effort like? The first prototype was designed and built myself from parts of the original Robosapien. I use adaptive analog Nervous Nets to find the natural resonances for walking and action, then set these patterns in digital silicon for reliability.
Once it’s working fast and efficient, we add the playspec from a variety of sources: (”You know what it should do?” is always the first thing I hear.) Then it goes to the designers who have to make it look great.
There’s then a team of about seven that spends 6 months melding the function and the aesthetic before it is presented to the world buyers. If they like it then the prototype moves on to “tool” where factories will set up assembly lines.
In the RS2’s case, these were up to 3,000 girls long to handle and test all 1,500 parts, not including all the managers, injectors, painters, packagers, quality control, etc. So in the end RS2 involved at least 10,000 people from two huge factories. As for the engineering effort involved, it was sweat, coffee, and a lot of late-night chinese food.
How much memory? Can you store content/data in the robot? The two custom processors used in the RS2 feature a whopping 128 bytes of RAM each. Through hierarchical memory indexing though, you can link together his six programming modes to generate modular programs up to 4000 steps long - one of his more interesting play secrets.
As for multimedia type content storage though, that’s been left to our next-generation LINUX-based humanoid robot, the RSmedia.
How does he talk? The RS2 processors are modified toy-sound-modules, so they come standard with a large masked-ROM array and DAC amplifier to render high quality speech and music. It’s the default mode for these chips before we turned them into stand-alone RISC microcontollers.
The original IEEE 802.11 standards were fashioned with single access points (APs), but that is not the case in offices, where multiple APs are required. In this new standard, devices are designed to jump from one AP to another very swiftly compared to the earlier standard. 802.11r minimizes handoff delays linked with 802.1X authentication by reducing the time taken to re-establish connectivity after a client moves between 802.11 APs while roaming.
The 802.11r have included typical QoS mechanisms, such as packet prioritization and call admission control (CAC), to enhance the operation of real-time voice applications. Using three MAC-layer enhancements, the standard was able to lower the handoff time, but at the same time maintains high levels of security.
The first of the three enhancements was the elimination of the 802.1X key exchange because it was not required during handoffs between APs within the same “mobility domain.” A mobility domain is a set of APs built to execute fast transitions between them.
The second improvement was the addition of a four-way handshake. This was essential for session key establishment and was also integrated in the previously active 802.11 authentication/association messages. This reduced the delay after re-association pending the completion of the security negotiation and allowed data transmissions to resume faster. The final enhancement packages all call resource requests into new authentication messages exchanged before the re-association.
Until recently, vendors have implemented lower security alternatives such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption on their Wi-Fi VoIP networks. They have also placed VoIP traffic on different Virtual LANs (VLANs) to keep the rest of the network protected. Vendors such as Meru and Extricom have built networks with no roaming, as all their APs are placed on the same channel.
The Wi-Fi Alliance released a new VoIP brand known as Wi-Fi Certified Voice-Personal in June but has had limited success. The Alliance is looking forward to coming up with a new Voice-Enterprise brand, which will include the 802.11r standard, in 2009. “[Voice-Personal certification] is for low range stuff and SME equipment,” said Alistair Mutch, who is the development director for Wi-Fi switch vendor, Trapeze. “We have not submitted to the low end one as we felt it was really not worth it.”. IEEE 802.11r could open up a bottle-neck in enterprise Wi-Fi VoIP installations and should allow VoIP certification to move ahead.
TFOT has previously written about the Wi-Fi detector shirt that can help you detect the all-important hotspots while you walk along the street. You can also check out our article about Wi-Fisharing technology developed where a single wireless network is split into two completely separated ones, like a personal hotspot and AutonetCar WIFI where Autonet Mobile, a California based company, claims to be the first company that will allow a 24/7 broadband internet connection in your car.
Additional information on IEEE 802.11r standard can be obtained on the IEEE website.
Ground collision avoidance systems are not new. Many existing fighters and bombers include one sort or another of these systems. The main drawback of existing systems is that they only warn the pilot that a collision is about to occur if preventative measures will not be used. The Auto-GCAS is a completely new concept taking the control from the pilot in critical moments and transferring it to the computer.
Initially, many pilots were extremely skeptic regarding a fully automatic system taking control over their craft at a crucial moment. However, after more than two decades of development and 2,500 automated recoveries against a background of flat terrain and complex topographies, the Auto-GCAS was finally declared ready for operational deployment with more than 98% effectiveness (no info was given regarding the remaining 2%).
In order to avoid a collision, the Auto-GCAS evaluates a variety of factors including the aircraft's weight, performance, navigation positional information, Global Positioning System (GPS data) and digital terrain elevation data. The system uses this information to constantly calculate the aircraft’s 3-D position relative to the ground, the amount of time available before impact, and the maneuver required to prevent a collision with the ground.
The researchers used a modified block 25 F-16D to perform flight tests of the Auto-GCAS system.
Whenever the Auto-GCAS system determines that a collision is imminent, meaning that the plane is within 1.5 seconds of the "point of no return" and no action has been taken yet by the pilot, the system will take control and perform an automatic rescue maneuver. The Auto-GCAS is the result of long-term collaboration between the US Air Force, Lockheed Martin, NASA and the Swedish Air Force Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI). From analyzing previous incidents, the research team realized that because situations such as pilot spatial disorientation, loss of situation awareness (or even loss of consciousness) and G-induced blackouts, can render a pilot unable to process warning signals and perform the necessary maneuvers to prevent a collision with the ground, an automatic system is required.
Now it remains to be seen when the new system will enter service, how pilots will react to it and most importantly how successful it will be in reducing the number of ground collisions (an average of 4-5 accidents taking place every year for the past 20 years or so).
More information on the Auto-GCAS program can be found at the U.S. Department of Defense website.
Image: F-22 in the air (Credit: Lockheed Martin).
The historical flight of the HyCAUSE (Hypersonic Collaborative Australia/United States Experiment) Australian scramjet-engined rocket took place at the Woomera Test Facility in South Australia under the HyCAUSE project. The vehicle reached speeds of Mach 10 or ten times the speed of sound – the fastest speed a craft of this sort has ever reached.
The supersonic combustion ramjet (or scramjet) is a variant of the ramjet engine. Despite the extensive research conducted in this area in the last several decades, it has not yet reached operational stage. All ramjet engines are supersonic, but scramjet operates at hypersonic speeds, from approximately Mach 5 up to Mach 10-12 (NASA'S X-30 National Aerospace Plane, or NASP, was designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 25 in order to reach orbit, but the program was terminated in 1993 and the concept was never tested). Previously, the fastest scramjet ever tested was NASA's X-43A, which reached Mach 9.6 in a test flight on November 16th, 2004.
A scramjet generally operates in a very similar way to a conventional ramjet, with the exception that the flow of air in the combustion of the fuel-air mixture through the engine happens at supersonic speeds, allowing the scramjet to achieve ultra-high speeds. A scramjet engine - just like a ramjet - cannot start operating until it attains a sufficiently high initial speed and so the Australian test included a conventional rocket engine booster for attaining the necessary height before the scramjet engine could kick in.
In 2006 TFOT covered the test launch of another experimental air-breathing platform called Ramtech, which was built and tested by students from the Technion in Haifa, Israel. The Ramtech used two stage rocket-ramjet technology developed by the students and reached a speed of Mach 2 and an altitude of 30,000 feet before plummeting to the Mediterranean Sea.
Image: TALOS rocket carrying the HyCAUSE scramjet experimental payload lifts off the launch pad at Woomera (Credit: Australias Defence Science and Technology Organisation).
These are probably some of the most expensive clocks around. 
I would love to have a Robot Arm Clock in my living room though.
“The robot arm is probably the most mathematically complex robot you could ever build. As such, this tutorial cant tell you everything you need to know. Instead, I will take shortcuts and just talk about the bear minimum you need to know to build an effective robot arm. Please bear with the math . . . enjoy!
To get you started, here is a video of a robot arm assignment I had when I took Robotic Manipulation back in college. My group programmed it to type the current time into the keyboard . . . (lesson learned, dont crash robot arms into your keyboard at full speed while testing) ”
If you are looking to build your first robot, this Altoids Robot would make for an excellent choice.
“This tutorial will show you how to make a very simple robot that will avoid obstacles on the ground. It uses no microcontrollers, no servos, and there is no need to program. The simple design make its an ideal project for those wanting to tryout robotics and also makes a great weekend project. After building one you can probably make a second one in less than 10 minutes.”
MURATA BOY is a self balancing robot that is packed with electronics to allow it to have extraordinary balancing capabilities. The specs are impressive especially considering the small size of the unit however watch the videos, they are something else!
Videos and more pictures after the jump.
“The little guy does not fall down, even when he comes to a complete stop. And, it’s not training wheels keeping him up, but a gyro sensor located underneath his seat that detects tiny movements to calculate the slanting angle of the body. Once the angle is figured out, a large rotating disc in the robot’s chest generates force to correct the slant.”
Via: EEbeat
This is an neat little solar robot that would be cheap and easy to build.
“Make your own solar powered robot at home using things you probably already have. Transistors, resistor, capacitor, solar battery and flashing LED are available at any electronic store, if you don’t already have them. Solar cells out of calculators work as well, you might want to use more than one since they are really small. If you do, connect the positive wire from each solar battery together. A small motor should be used like the ones in walkmans. Solder everything together and watch it come alive. Put it under a light and let it charge, it should take couple seconds for each burst of energy. Works best in sunlight. There are two solar panels connected in parallel providing more power, and there are two 2200uF capacitors connected in parallel giving 4400uF.”
The fallowing robots are powered only by light, which means no batteries are required.
Make your own solar powered robot at home using things you probably already have. Transistors, resistor, capacitor, solar battery and flashing LED are available at any electronic store, if you don't already have them. Solar cells out of calculators work as well, you might want to use more than one since they are really small. If you do, connect the positive wire from each solar battery together. A small motor should be used like the ones in walkmans. Solder everything together and watch it come alive. Put it under a light and let it charge, it should take couple seconds for each burst of energy. Works best in sunlight.
Things you will need:
| 2N3904 Transistor | Motor |
| 2N3906 Transistor | 2.2V Flashing Green LED |
| 4700 uF Capacitor | Solar Cell |
| 2.2 kilo-ohm resistor |
How to make it:
Get your self familiar with the diagram below and with the components showed on it.
Do you live in a rough neighborhood? Instead of getting a dog for you backyard have a look at this Paintball Sentry Gun. When you go out for the day just turn it on and you will be totally protected. When you return you will probably have to escort a few kids out from behind your tree where they took cover but that is a small price to pay for piece of mind. There isn’t much detail on the operation but it seems like a camera looks for movement and fires at it. I am amazed at how fast it can move and how accurate it fires!
This Gun Robot project can monitor the entrance to your fortress and ward away any enemy attacks! The servo action seems nice and smooth, next step would be to make it IP based so that you could have the unit at work and control it from home.
"The bot is totally controlled by an external joysitck or joypad. The app uses DirectX DirectInput to get the data from a connected jystick. This data normally goes from -1000 to 0 to 1000, so some code was writted to re-map this to 1 to 127 to 200 (the servos range of travel). The joystics trigger button was re-mapped to some code that tells the trigger servo to goto X wait 10ms then go back to center."
Eliot Phillips of Hackaday writes: “RC helicopters have become so cheap that they’re now a really attractive robotics platform. This guide gives a jumping off point for starting your own project. It covers how to integrate a Gumstix embedded linux system into the helicopter. Code is provided so that you can hook up a usb controller to your laptop and control the helicopter over Bluetooth. All you need to do after that is build some cool controls, hook up a speaker and start streaming Ride of the Valkyries.” | |
 Pascal Brisset has detailed instructions including parts lists, software and hardware setup. Here is what Pascal says about his helicopter: “RC model helicopter prices have reached a point where all sorts of challenging (i.e. crash-prone) robotics projects become affordable. This document explains how to build a 300 g, 3D-capable helicopter with embedded Linux and Bluetooth datalink for less than 500 EUR. As a proof of concept, we provide software which allows the helicopter to be remotely controlled over Bluetooth with a PC joystick. Future work will focus on the integration of sensors (IMU, altitude, magnetic compas, GPS, camera) and flight control software (either third-party or dedicated).” | |
Have a look at this cool looking monitor interface, no mouse needed just a finger!
"Elliptic Labs is paving the way for use of computers and screens without touching, simply with the finger or hand in the air. Manipulate images, play computer games, control robotics or use touch screens without touching or without holding a hardware control unit."
Via: TechEBlog
This Vex Robot has been equipped with an airsoft gun for self defense. Click here to read more about Vex.
RC and airsoft is a good combination, have a look at this cool rolling gun platform.
“RC toys are always fun, especially when you can add weapons…
I was given this RC car for christmas, and it came with a switch on the remote for lights you could turn on. I tore off the body and clipped the wires to the lights. It turns out they put out a nice 10v signal. I quickly grabbed my tiny breadboard and using its adhesive, glued it to the RC car ( there was a perfect plateau to fit it on). Then I headed to dunhams and bought the cheapest electric airsoft gun (25$) and attacked it with my dremel… With a 6v DC relay I put it all together and oila, a sweet RC car with a fully automatic weapons turret! ”
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Have a look at this arisoft robot. I wouldn’t want to find myself on the wrong side of this one if I was wearing white.
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This servo controlled airsoft gun by Inventgeek is version 2 of a cool concept.
“So version 2.0 is done. We really focused on creating as diverse as a platform as possible. One side effect is that it seems a little diluted. So I recommend you go with either USB or RC and not both. Either way after doing some testing and tuning we were able to get our gun up to about 1500 rounds per minute. Or about 25 rounds a second using these cheap guns. I was let informed by a fan that there are electric airsoft guns that will shoot up to 1100 round a minute by their self’s. Imagine 4 of those running at the same time!”
Via: Engadget
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Roomba hacks are fun but a hack to make it a watch dog and shoot your guests in the feet is the best!
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All you need is a laser pointer to make this airsoft creation come alive.
“I’m currently using the 8 servo serial controller, and s666n High Torque servo motor, both of which are made by Pololu Robotics. I highly recommend using their servo controller over the Mini-SSC variety, because of the added resolution. Pololu’s servo controllers work with Mini-SSC protocol as well, however I saw quite an increase in precision when I switched over to Pololu protocol.”
Via: Hackaday
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Floor Cleaning Robot / DVD Projection System
We have all seen strange combination products in the past but I would have never thought I would ever see a robot that will clean your floor then play your favorite DVD movie. If you have $85,000 dollars to spare this robot could be yours.
“Floor-cleaning DVD player
Yoichi Takamoto, president of Japanese robot manufacturer Tmsuk, unveils a new guide and floor-cleaning robot, the RIDC-01, at a press preview in Tokyo yesterday. The robot can recognize human voices and is also equipped with a projector on its head, on which it can display DVD movies or information. It is 1.3m tall and weighs 100kg, and carries a ?10 million (US$85,000) price tag. ”
Via: Japundit
Robot Guard / Fire Fighter
This multi talented robot will roam around keeping the peace, if it sees a fire it can also put it out. By the looks of it when it has done its work for the day you could surf the net using the huge LCD panel that is built into its chest.
Human Rescue Robot
When you are stuck in a burning building, this robot may soon be coming in to get you.
“This bright green robot that you see is not a threat to the human race despite how you might perceive its actions at first glance. No, it ain’t swallowing up a human whole, but it actually uses those arms to identify and pick up any humans who might have passed out in the midst of suffocating fumes during a fire. This is pretty neat, since firefighters no longer need to risk their lives running into thick, black smoke. Hopefully no injury will occur by this toss-happy robot to an already unconscious victim. I suppose you can also use this robot to extract the injured in a battlefield.”
Via: Gadgets.cz, Uberreview and Ubergizmo
Robo-Sommelier
Does this wine robot mean the end to high paid sommeliers?
“The so-called robot-sommelier, or “wine-bot”, can “taste” and identify types of wine, and also has the ability to discern and analyse foods. The 2ft-tall (0.6m) robot, developed by NEC System Technologies and Mie University, uses infrared light to identify different tastes. The Associated Press says the robot could become personalised to recommend wines to suit its owner’s palate. The green and white robot was initially developed to taste and identify foods, analysing the different kinds and quantities of ingredients within them. But now its tasting technology has moved into the world of wine, and the robot is capable of distinguishing several different types or blends of grapes.”
Wearable Robot Suit Complete With Side Mounted Gun
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Take charge with this walking robot, make sure you are sitting down when you read the price though.
“The Land Walker was made by Masaaki Nagumo, measures 11 feet tall, weighs one ton, and sprays bullets from air guns mounted outside the cockpit. Unfortunately they’re only sponge bullets, but I bet it’ll still hurt like a bitch when you spray your friends with them. We can imagine the doofuses on the show Entourage buying four and riding these around their huge mansion.”
Via: Gizmodo, TechEBlog and BornRich
Bonus Second Robot Suit
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How would you like to have 10 times your strength? Well with this new robot suit you now can.
“It depends on his original power, because this robot suit is controlled by the assist ratio,” says Yoshiyuki Sankai of Tsukuba University. “Usually we set it at 50% or 60% or 70%. If he is a very weak person we set the assist ratio at 90%, so at that time you say 10 times.”
Via: TechEBlog
At first I thought this system may have used a camera that watched the movement of an object and sent mouse like coordinates based on the movement. Turns out that after having a look at the patent the NaviSense system uses ultrasonic technology to track your finger. It looks very impressive but I would have to use it to be convinced.
"The iPoint™ is a small motion sensing mouse device which mounts to the keyboard or computer. Alternatively, the device can be integrated within laptops or notebooks. A user typing at the keyboard raises a solitary finger thereby gaining control of the cursor on the display. The cursor moves in accordance with the movement of the user’s finger. A first finger movement acquires navigation control of the cursor, and a second finger movement activates single and double click behavior. An ultrasonic sensor device for short-range detection, comprising: a pulse shaper for producing an ultrasonic chirp signal with an amplitude modulated region and a frequency modulated region; at least one transmit sensor operatively coupled to the pulse shaper for transmitting the ultrasonic chirp signal, the ultrasonic chirp signal intended for reflecting off a finger to produce a reflected chirp signal; at least one receive sensor for receiving the reflected chirp signal; a phase detector for identifying a relative phase of the reflected chirp signal from the frequency modulated region with respect to a frequency modulated region of a previously received reflected signal, and a processor coupled to the phase detector and the receive sensor for identifying a location of the finger from an arrival time of the amplitude modulated region of the reflected chirp signal and a movement of the finger from the relative phase of the frequency modulated region, and providing control to a user interface control in accordance with the location and the movement of the finger."
While the fish's armor structure has already been studied by biologists, the scientists at MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies were the first to map out the exact nature of its layers, revealing a structure in which the layers complement one another in a way that effectively protects the soft tissues inside the fish body. One big advantage of such layering is its strong resistance to a penetrating biting attack. By applying various nanotechnological methods to study the material properties of the “armor,” the scientists concentrated on exploring a single fish scale, revealing four different layer materials. Each material differs from the others in its internal structure and geometry, while the sequence of layers is efficiently joined to protect the fish from any external bites or blows.
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| BAE Systems has signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory regarding the joint development of miniature robots for military use. The robots will be developed by a multi-disciplined alliance of scientists and researchers from the army and the academia. The scientists of the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance will be working on the development of miniature spider-like robots, which will be capable of carrying out intelligence-gathering tasks in places that are too dangerous for soldiers to enter. |
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| The four principal members of the alliance are BAE Systems, which will lead the microsystems integration, the University of Michigan, which will lead the microelectronics research, the University of Maryland, leading the microsystem mechanics, and the University of Pennsylvania, which will lead processing for autonomous operation research. Five additional members are the University of California at Berkeley, the California Institute of Technology & Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of New Mexico, and the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. MAST aims to advance research and technology that will not only benefit the current project, but will also lead to future applications in fields such as small-scale aeromechanics and ambulation, propulsion, sensing, processing, and communications. To begin with, the project will run for five years, and may possibly be extended for five more. The autonomous, multifunctional miniature robots that will be developed in the framework of the project are intended for use in urban environments and complex terrains. “Robotic platforms extend the warfighter's senses and reach, providing operational capabilities that would otherwise be costly, impossible, or deadly to achieve,” said Dr. Joseph Mait, MAST Cooperative Agreement Manager for the Army Research Laboratory. “The MAST alliance is a highly collaborative effort, with each partner from government, academia, and industry playing a significant role.” An animation video depicting the future robots in action can be found here. TFOT recently covered a six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat. The bat-robot’s purpose is gathering visual and auditory information, as well as smells, in urban combat zones and transmitting the data to combatants in real time. TFOT also reported on ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer), a robotic vehicle which was developed by a team of companies and academic institutions led by JPL Robotics. Other robots recently covered by TFOT are the rat-bot, which is designed to aid in rescuing missions, and the Lemur, a robot developed by NASA in order to assist in future space missions. |
The Wii sensor bar is nothing more than a few IR LEDs, this mod lets you convert an ordinary TV Remote Control into a Wii Sensor Bar. Simply open the old remote and drill a few holes for the IR LEDs. If the remote comes with two LEDs you are in luck, if not you may have to buy a few new IR LEDs. Disconnect the existing battery connection to the remote control circuit and connect it to the mounted LEDs. You should select a current limiting resistor that will prevent the LEDs from being over driven and having a short life. To select the resistor value use an online LED resistor calculator. Now that you have a unique sensor bar invite over some friends and have them wonder where your sensor bar is.
Building your own RC helicopter sounds like a daunting task but thanks to people like Ben Hui it can be as simple as following one step at a time.
"Flying RC helicopter is really very exhilarating. Their versatility gives a RC pilot a complete access to the three-dimensional space in such a way that no other machines can! I have played RC helicopter for more than one year but still find that I have just learnt a few tricks that it can perform. There are generally two micro-helicopters ( indoor ) in the RC market. I have already planned to buy one of them as they can fly inside the living room and even take off on ours hand. Unlike those operated by gas, these electric helicopters are very clean and give out no terrible noise at all. In one nightfall, I visited a web site, which is about how to make a hand made RC helicopter. I was totally impressed and started designing my own helicopter. Here is my helicopter:"
Looking for a personal submarine? Have a look at the Triton 1000. Honestly what drew me to it wasn’t the actual sub but rather the design, I think this would make a great scaled down model.
"The Triton 1000 is U.S. Submarines’ latest design and represents an advanced, light weight minimum volume 2-person configuration engineered specifically for deployment from megayachts. With an overall height of 1.8 meters and an overall length of only 3.0 meters the Triton will fit on many mid-level boat decks, and at 3.3 tons it can often be launched with the existing davit systems. The first Triton 1000 was delivered to the 164′ yacht Mine Games in December of 2007."
Via: Born Rich
We have seen lots of automated sentry guns over the past year but this Autonomous Paintball Sentry Gun by Zero Op is the first I have seen for sale. For about $3000 you could buy the system and have enough left over to buy some paintballs. If you need to guard a large open area this may be just the ticket.
"Inspired by countless movies and video games, we decided to put our engineering skills to the test, and attempt build the most advanced and consumer friendly sentry gun. After 10 months of hardcore soldering, programming, machining, and painful testing, we’re ready to release ‘The Mercenary’, the worlds first commercially available autonomous paintball sentry gun. It’ll track and automatically fire upon targets entirely on its own- by help of a camera and an onboard computer. There are a few features that put ours a head above the rest- A highly durable platform will withstand paintballs fired at over 300 feet per second, even direct hits to the camera. It can be powered by a wall socket, or a battery, and needs no external computer, or programming knowledge to run. Best of all- it runs linux."
Wichit Sirichote has built a solar recorder that stores data to a compact flash memory card, there are full details including code and schematics available so that you can make your own. Even if you don’t need a solar recorder you can see how to store data to compact flash from a PIC microcontroller.
"The EMF from pyranometer is 14uV/Wm-2. For 1000W/m-2, the output EMF will be .0014V. The PIC ADC is +5VFS, thus the gain of the DC amplifier is adjusted to 357. The noninverting DC amplifier is built with TI TLV2451. It was used to amplify an EMF signal from pyranometer to approx. +5V for 1000W/m-2. RD5 and RD6 are two bits PORTD. It used for software generated I2C bus. The RTC chip, DS1307 is connected to the I2C bus with SDA and SCLK signals. The coin Lithium battery powers the RTC chip when main power is turned off. Time setting is done by shorting the ADC channel 1 (thermistor) when power up the board."
Are you a WOW fan and want to get more immersed into the game? Stop running around using a joystick hop on a RunCraft and Race Across Azeroth!
"We bought extremely cheap manual treadmills off of Amazon and decided to sense their speed with a mouse rather than trying to hook into the treadmill’s output with some sort of analog interface. I wrote a quick script in GlovePIE to calculate the maximum speed my mouse could track. It’s a nice MX Revolution, but I could only get it to track a little over 4mph. If we were going to run at 12mph on the treadmill, a mouse wouldn’t be able to keep up. We decided to use a bicycle tire pushed against the treadmill to reduce the speed the mouse would have to track. Eli used a 26" tire and tried to get the sensor about 1.8 inches from the axle so we could make sure to get the full range of speeds. I wrote another script in GlovePIE to convert the mouse speed to "w" pulses. So the faster we ran on the treadmill, the faster and longer the "w" would be pressed."
Thanks Aaron.
Futz’s Microcontrollers & Robotics has a few balancing robots featured, the second version was built on the non functioning first attempt. It is still a work in progress but the build log is good and it will be interesting to see the progress of this project all the way to completion. Still seems that accelerometers are quite pricey, has anyone found a good deal on these anywhere? See a video of the work in progress after the jump.
"Woohoo! I now have an Analog Devices ADXRS150 gyro on a Sparkfun breakout board (left). That, in combination with my Dimension Engineering DE-ACCM3D accelerometer, should get this thing balancing once I get the software squared away. After playing with it for a while I moved the gyro down to the centerline of the axles where I believe I’ll get the best response from it (right). The gyro is ultra sensitive and really "locks" the tilt attitude of the robot. You can feel it trying to keep the robot’s tilt right where it is. But it drifts, as all gyros do and pretty soon the bot is leaning way over."
A clever way to use a bicycle computer as a poor-man’s tachometer. While I’m not sure about installing it in my car, I’m sure it’ll come in handy down the road for another project.
"Sometimes you just have to know how fast a wheel or shaft or motor is turning. The measuring device for rotational speed is a tachometer. But they are expensive and not easy to find. Its cheap and easy to make one using a bicycle speedometer (cyclocomputer). In fact, the only thing you need is a functional cyclocomputer that reads speed in miles per hour. You won’t damage it, so you can even ‘borrow’ one from your bike, or add it to your bike once your done!"
You can have some dangerous fun with some pipe supplies from your local home store. This Steel Shotgun Pneumatic Cannon is a good example of that. For more items like this have a look here.
"The Steel Pneumatic shotgun is a very simple metal spud cannon, so see how to make it in this video. It is specially designed for C-cell batteries, but will work with any projectile (granted it makes a good seal in the barrel). It is also very easy to construct and disassemble considering it is put together completely by treaded fittings."
Via: Wonder How To
Winter seems to be just around the corner. This Pedal Powered Snowplow seems to be a good idea, say goodbye to the sore lower back and have fun driving the plow through the fresh powder. Only problem I can think of is the plow seems to be quite bug and may not handle anything deep.
"One day while watching the show “Monster Garage” he was inspired. He immediately turned off the TV and started sketching some ideas for the snowplow. Within four months of working after hours and week-ends Blake had a functional machine. After some cutting, welding and bolting Blake had a frame with wheels that he could sit on. Even better, it worked! The joke in the Blake household was Blake calling his wife to make sure she didn’t shovel the driveway before he got home so he could plow it with his invention. "
Via: Bicycle Design
This contest will run for one week (Aug 30 - Sept 4, 2008) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it. Please do not give the answer in the comments.
Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with "Name the Thing Contest" as the subject, and the message body consisting of:
The winner will be chosen at random from all of the correct entries.
Below is a picture of the prize.
If you need a display for your next project you could probably use one from a defective Apple iPod however after looking at the iPod LCD Hack details I think purchasing a display that has a simple interface may be the ticket in this case.
"Looking for a small, cheap LCD for a possibly large-scale project, I decided that the 2.5" QVGA TFT in the Ipod Video may be worth a look, as cheap clones of it are available from Hong Kong via Ebay.. Not finding any info on this unit on the net, I decided to investigate myself, & bought a faulty ipod on Ebay to dissect. The hard disk was dead, but I could get it into service test mode, which was all I needed to fiddle with the display to see how it was driven. This display should be drivable from most microcontrollers ( *I’ve not yet verfied that it can do 3.3v I/O. If not, you’ll need alot of resistors, or a level shifter), however the 16 bit data bus will need rather alot of I/O pins. If you’re running from something like a NXP LPC2xxx ARM processor, this may not be a big deal, and you may want the speed of the 16 bit bus."
Adam and Jamie from Mythbusters built a huge paintball gun that can shoot 1100 paintballs in an blink of an eye. When the balls crash on the canvas you can see a picture of the Mona Lisa. This was an attraction at an Nvidia event, I wonder how much the unit cost! I guess when you have a huge budget your mind can do wild.
Via: Hack a Day
You may remember the Function Generator that Nuxie built last year. A new version has been created and is now available as a $40 kit. All you need to do is solder in the components and add a power supply.
"This kit includes everything needed to build a function generator capable of producing sine, triangle and square waves from 25Hz to over 250kHz."
If you have big hands this Giant SNES Controller may be just what you need. At its heart it is a standard SNES controller, the housing has been custom built from wood and looks fantastic. If you didn’t have anything to see the scale I am sure it would look just like the standard controller.
Via: Make
