Posted May 14th 2008 12:03AM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: laptops hacks, misc hacks, daily
[ladyada]
ran across this excellent hack by [phillip]. Apparently there's a clock, data, 5v and ground connection available in most modern video connections. (He even notes HDMI cable pins) He wrote some drivers and can now control i2c hardware directly from the
PC Mac. [Ladyada] notes that most laptops use an i2c bus for extra sensors as well. For now,
the code only works on Mac OS X.
Posted May 13th 2008 10:00AM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: handhelds hacks, daily
[PKM] decided to
breathe new life into a Psion 5mx handheld. He slapped linux on it, added a wikipedia dump to a CD card, and voila: pocket wikipedia. It's the closest thing to an actual hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy I've ever seen. So long and thanks for all the fish!
Posted May 12th 2008 10:27AM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: home entertainment hacks, home hacks, daily
In order to tell his home automation system that he's home, [Jim]
mounted a RF transmitter in each of his cars. When the car is on, the transmitter is powered up. The house picks up the transmitter signal when the car arrives or departs. With that information, he was able to set up some stateful rules that can be activated when people arrive or depart. Some people prefer to use
APRS and read vehicle location from the transmitted GPS coordinates, but this is a bit cheaper and doesn't transmit your position to the entire world all the time. The useful range is about 100 feet, so this can work even if you have to park in the street.
Posted May 11th 2008 10:32PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: misc hacks, daily
[Jared] sent in
this optical tachometer by [Mike Freeman]. The write-up and code requires a free registration, but if you've got a use for it, it's probably worth the hassle. The zip archive includes a nice writeup in PDF format, and the code needed for the pic controller. The tach was built specifically for model helicopters. The user looks through the viewfinder and adjusts the pot on the side until the spinning helicopter blade visually stops turning.
Posted May 8th 2008 8:53PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: misc hacks
Been looking for some extra range for your R/C projects? [Tron]'s
managed to control his planes from 9.8Km using this kit at 868Mhz. I don't know if I'd have the patience to fly the plane for that long, but this beats the pants off of just about everyone else home R/C gear.
Posted May 7th 2008 10:16PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: transportation hacks
Adding extra battery capacity to hybrids is becoming pretty common, but
this one is better than the average lead acid trunk fest. The pack was built from three prius NiMH packs picked up from salvage yards. These batteries can't simply be bolted together, but with some research and effort you can save some nickel from the junk yards and cut your fuel bill.
Posted May 6th 2008 11:12PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: robots hacks
The
nitty gritty details are a little bit hidden, but [Sylvain]'s work is awesome enough that I just don't care. He's been doing research on robot learning with some
tasty results. After all, who doesn't want a robot to make breakfast for em? He's taken the time to publish some
source code, so robot made breakfast isn't that far out of reach. mmmm.
Posted May 4th 2008 10:42PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: home entertainment hacks
A while back, [Phil]
got ticked off and started working on linux support for the Logitech Harmony remotes for quite a while. Having owned one of these sweet remotes, I can honestly say that yes, they rock, and yes, the driver software can be pretty freakin' annoying. If you've got a Harmony remote and would like an alternative to the usual fare, check out
[Phil]'s project.
Posted May 3rd 2008 10:57PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: misc hacks
[sudija] wrote up a nice
instructable on adding bluetooth audio output to a tomtom gps unit. It's not too technically advanced, but you'll have to add an audio jack if your gps lacks one. This looks like a great way to turn a cheaper unit into something suitable for a motorcycle rig.
Posted May 3rd 2008 2:16PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: HackIt
I got a chance to see the new Ironman movie last night, and it's exactly the kind of film that kick-starts my brain into considering new projects. I'm opening up today's hackit in a few directions:
1) Get any project ideas from Ironman?
2) Got any projects that were inspired by movie/tv/comic tech?
3) What's your favorite source of inspiration?
Posted May 2nd 2008 7:35PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: misc hacks
[Ned] sent in his
USB temperature sensor. This little guy has a PIC controller, FTDI usb serial interface and a dallas temperature sensor. He managed to keep the cost very low - including the PCB.
Posted May 1st 2008 11:26PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: misc hacks
Despite the resemblance to an alien robot that might rebuild your house from scratch,
this is actually the first mod for a solar yard lamp that I've seen. By adding a brighter LED, a couple of tubes, a laser printed transparency and a lens, you end with with a relatively inexpensive image projector that can project custom graphics from odd locations. [
via]
Next Page >
hack a day serves up a fresh hack each day, every day from around the web and a special how-to hack each week.
send us your hacks
have a hack you'd like to see here? tell us about it
Most Commented On (60 days)
Recent Comments
