In Dune, the Fremen people of Arrakis practice an odd future hybrid religion called “zensunni.” This adds an extra layer of meaning to the title of [Mark Rehorst]’s Arrakis 3.0 sand table, given that the inspiration for the robotic sand table seems to be Zen gardens from Japan. The dunes on the tabletop version of Arrakis […]
The major objects in our solar system orbit along the plane of the ecliptic, plus or minus few degrees, and it turns out most exoplanet systems are the same — pretty flat, with maybe one highly-inclined outlier. But at [The 5439 Workshop], they don’t care about these details: [5439] has come up with a mechanism […]
Over on YouTube, [Ben Eater] pursues that classic 8-bit sound. In this video, [Ben] integrates the MOS Technology 6581 Sound Interface Device (SID) with his homegrown 6502. The 6581 SID was famously used in the Commodore line of computers, perhaps most notably in the Commodore 64. The 6581 SID supports three independent voices, each consisting […]
There are few things that can keep a certain kind of mechanically-inclined mind entranced as well as a marble run, and few structures that look as interestingly organic as procedurally-generated designs – combine the two and you get [Will Morrison]’s Marble Fountain. [Will]’s first approach to generating a marble run was to have a script […]
Pinball machines have something for everyone. They’re engaging, fast-paced games available in a variety of sizes and difficulties, and legend has it that they can be played even while deaf and blind. Wizardry aside, pinball machines have a lot to offer those of us around here as well, as they’re a complex mix of analog […]
There are still a few days before the doors open on this year’s Hackaday Supercon in Pasadena, but for the most dedicated attendees, the badge hacking has already begun…even if they don’t have a badge yet. By referencing the design files we’ve published for this year’s Communicator badge, [Thomas Flummer] was able to produce this […]
They say that, sometimes, less is more. That would certainly apply to photomicrography, where you want to take pictures of tiny things. Nikon agrees, and they sponsor the Small World contest every year. The 2025 winners are a big — or not so big, maybe — deal. This photomicrography competition dates back to 1975, so […]
Finely powdered aluminium can make almost anything more pyrotechnically interesting, from fireworks to machine shop cleanups – even ceramics, as [Degree of Freedom] discovered. He was experimenting with mixing aluminium powder with various other substances to see whether they could make a thermite-like combination, and found that he could shape a paste of aluminium powder […]
Typeface (such as Times New Roman) refers to the design that gives a set of letters, numbers, and symbols their signature “look”. Font, on the other hand, is a specific implementation of a typeface, for example, Times New Roman Italic 12 pt. ‘Q’ is a counterpoint to the idea that typography is just one fussy […]
The Etch A Sketch was never supposed to meet a Raspberry Pi, a camera, or a mathematical algorithm, but here we are. [Tekavou]’s Teka-Cam and TekaSketch are a two-part hack that transforms real photos into quite stunning, line-drawn Etch A Sketch art. Where turning the knobs only results in wobbly doodles, this machine plots out […]