[David Bloomfield] wanted to make some tweaks to an embedded system, but didn’t quite have the requisite skills. He decided to see if vibe coding could help. [David]’s goal was simple. To take the VESC Telemetry Display created by [Lukas Janky] and add some tweaks of his own. He wanted to add more colors to […]
A hefty portable power bank is a handy thing to DIY, but one needs to get their hands on a number of matching lithium-ion cells to make it happen. [Chris Doel] points out an easy solution: salvage them from disposable vapes and build a solid 35-cell power bank. Single use devices? Not on his watch! […]
It is easier than ever to produce projects with nice enclosures thanks to 3D printing and laser cutting. However, for a polished look, you also need a labeled front panel. We’ve looked at several methods for doing that in the past, but we enjoyed [Accidental Science’s] video showing his method for making laminated panels. His […]
[Sean Boyce] has been busy building board games. Specifically, an electronic strategy boardgame that is miraculously also compatible with Settlers of Catan. [Sean’s] game is called Calculus. It’s about mining asteroids and bartering. You’re playing as a corporation attempting to mine the asteroid against up to three others doing the same. Do a good job […]
If you build electronics, you will eventually need a coil. If you spend any time winding one, you are almost guaranteed to think about building a coil winder. Maybe that’s why so many people do. [Jtacha] did a take on the project, and we were impressed — it looks great. The device has a keypad […]
The self-propelled zip fastener uses a worm gear to propel itself along the teeth. (Credit: YKK) At first glance the very idea of a zipper that unzips and zips up by itself seems somewhat ridiculous. After all, these contraptions are mostly used on pieces of clothing and gear where handling a zipper isn’t really sped […]
While most hams and hackers have at least heard of Heathkit, most people don’t know the strange origin story of the legendary company. [Ham Radio Gizmos] takes us all through the story. In case you don’t remember, Heathkit produced everything from shortwave radios to color TVs to test equipment and even computers. But, for the […]
Sometimes you need random numbers — and properly random ones, at that. [Sean Boyce] whipped up a rig that serves up just that, tasty random bytes delivered fresh over MQTT. [Sean] tells us he’s been “designing various quantum TRNGs for nearly 15 years as part of an elaborate practical joke” without further explanation. We won’t […]
It was probably Montesquieu who coined the proto-hacker motto “the best is the mortal enemy of the good”. He was talking about compromises in drafting national constitutions for nascent democracies, of course, but I’ll admit that I do hear his voice when I’m in get-it-done mode and start cutting corners on a project. A working […]
In the 90s, a video game craze took over the youth of the world — but unlike today’s games that rely on powerful PCs or consoles, these were simple, standalone devices with monochrome screens, each home to a digital pet. Often clipped to a keychain, they could travel everywhere with their owner, which was ideal […]