Shows
Hackaday PodcastClocks, AI, and a New 3D Printer GuyHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams met up to cover the best of Hackaday this week, and they want you to listen in. There were a hodgepodge of hacks this week, ranging from home automation with RF, volumetric displays in glass, and some crazy clocks, too. Ever see a typewriter that uses an ink pen? Elliot and Al hadn't either. Want time on a supercomputer? It isn't free, but it is pretty cheap these days. Finally, the guys discussed how to focus on a project like Dan Maloney, who finally got a 3D printer, and talked...
2025-12-121h 02
Hackaday PodcastBreaking Kindles, Baby's First Synth, and Barcodes!This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over coffee to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. On What's That Sound, Kristina got sort of close, but of course failed spectacularly. Will you fare better and perhaps win a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt? Mayhap you will. After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with an interesting tack to take with a flat-Earther that involves two gyroscopes. And we take a look at the design requirements...
2025-11-2849 min
Hackaday PodcastDouble Component Abuse, a Tinkercad Twofer, and a Pair of RantsThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up across the universe to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. In Hackaday news, OMG Supercon is almost here! And we just revealed the badge! In other news, we've still got a contest running. Read all about the 2025 Component Abuse Challenge, sponsored by DigiKey, and check out the contest page for all the details. On What's That Sound, Kristina failed spectacularly. Will you fare better and perhaps win a Hackaday...
2025-10-2442 min
Hackaday PodcastSmoothing 3D Prints, Reading CNC Joints, and Detecting Spicy ShrimpThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over the tubes to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. In Hackaday news, we've got a new contest running! Read all about the 2025 Component Abuse Challenge, sponsored by DigiKey, and check out the contest page for all the details. In sad news, American Science & Surplus are shuttering online sales, leaving just the brick and mortar stores in Wisconsin and Illinois. On What's That Sound, it's a results show, which...
2025-09-1955 min
Hackaday PodcastNightmare Whiffletrees, 18650 Safety, and a Telephone TwoferThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over the tubes to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. In Hackaday news, get your Supercon 2025 tickets while they're hot! Also, the One Hertz Challenge ticks on, but time is running out. You have until Tuesday, August 19th to show us what you've got, so head over to Hackaday.IO and get started now. Finally, its the end of eternal September as AOL discontinues dial-up service after all these years. On What's...
2025-08-1548 min
Hackaday PodcastHover Turtles, Dull Designs, and K'nex ComputersWhat did you miss on Hackaday last week? Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Al Williams are ready to catch you up on this week's podcast. First, though, the guys go off on vibe coding and talk about a daring space repair around Jupiter. Then it is off to the hacks, including paste extruding egg shells, bespoke multimeters, and an 8-bit mechanical computer made from a construction toy set. For can't miss articles, you'll hear about boring industrial design in modern cell phones and a deep dive into how fresh fruit makes it to your table in...
2025-07-251h 00
Hackaday PodcastBenchies, Beanies, and Back to the FutureThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. In Hackaday news, the One Hertz Challenge ticks on. You have until Tuesday, August 19th to show us what you've got, so head over to Hackaday.IO and get started now! In other news, we've just wrapped the call for Supercon proposals, so you can probably expect to see tickets for sale fairly soon. On What's That Sound, Kristina actually got this one with some...
2025-07-1144 min
Hackaday PodcastA DIY Pockel Cell, Funny Materials to 3D Print With, and Pwning a Nissan LeafTime for another European flavoured Hackaday Podcast this week, as Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List, two writers sweltering in the humidity of a Central European summer. Both of our fans and air conditioners made enough noise to be picked up on the microphone when they were turned on, so we're suffering for your entertainment. The big Hackaday news stories of the week are twofold, firstly a cat-themed set of winners for the 2025 Pet Hacks contest, and then the announcement of a fresh competition: the 2025 Hackaday One Hertz Challenge. Get your once-a-second projects ready! ...
2025-06-2754 min
Hackaday PodcastThe Laugh Track Machine, DIY USB-C Power Cables, and Plastic PunchesThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Al Williams caught up after a week-long hiatus. There was a lot to talk about, including clocks, DIY USB cables, and more. In Hackaday news, the 2025 Pet Hacks Contest is a wrap. Winners will be announced soon, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, how'd you like a free ticket to attend Supercon? Well, free if you submit a talk and get accepted. November is right around the corner, so get those talks ready. Hackaday is a big fan of the NOAA Polar sats, and it looks like they are on their...
2025-06-2059 min
Hackaday PodcastRibbon Microphone From A Gumstick, Texture From a Virtual Log, and a Robot Arm From PVCThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. In Hackaday news, the 2025 Pet Hacks Contest rolls on, but only for a short time longer. You have until Tuesday, June 10th to show us what you've got, so head over to Hackaday.IO and get started now! In other news, check out what adaptive optics can do when it comes to capturing pictures of the Sun. In other, other news, there won't be a Podcast next...
2025-06-0742 min
Hackaday PodcastFake Hackaday Writers, New Retro Computers, and a Web RantWe're back in Europe for this week's Hackaday podcast, as Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List. In the news this week is the passing of Ed Smylie, the engineer who devised the famous improvised carbon dioxide filter that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts with duct tape. Closer to home is the announcement of the call for participation for this year's Hackaday Supercon; we know you will have some ideas and projects you'd like to share. Interesting hacks this week include a new Mac Plus motherboard and Doom (just) running on an Atari ST, while a...
2025-05-2355 min
Hackaday PodcastA Lot of Cool 3D Printing, DIY Penicillin, and an Optical TwoferThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up across the universe to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. In Hackaday news, the 2025 Pet Hacks Contest rolls on. You have until June 10th to show us what you've got, so head over to Hackaday.IO and get started today! On What's That Sound, Kristina actually got it this time, although she couldn't quite muster the correct name for it, however at Hackaday we'll be calling it the "glassophone" from now on...
2025-05-0942 min
Hackaday PodcastDIY Record Lathe, 360 Degree LIDAR, and 3D Printing Innovation Lives!This week Elliot Williams was joined by fellow Europe-based Hackaday staffer Jenny List, to record the Hackaday Podcast as the dusk settled on a damp spring evening. On the agenda first was robotic sport, as a set of bipedal robots competed in a Chinese half-marathon. Our new Robot overlords may have to wait a while before they are fast enough chase us meatbags away, but it demonstrated for us how such competitions can be used to advance the state of the art. The week's stand-out hacks included work on non-planar slicing to improve strength of 3...
2025-04-251h 02
Hackaday PodcastCapacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny EverythingWe're firmly in Europe this week on the Hackaday podcast, as Elliot Williams and Jenny List are freshly returned from Berlin and Hackaday Europe. A few days of mingling with the Hackaday community, going through mild panic over badges and SAOs, and enjoying the unique atmosphere of that city. After discussing the weekend's festivities we dive right into the hacks, touching on the coolest of thermal cameras, wildly inefficient but very entertaining wireless power transfer, and a restrospective on the capacitor plague from the early 2000s. Was it industrial espionage gone wrong, or something else? We also...
2025-03-2155 minHackaday PodcastCapacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny EverythingWe're firmly in Europe this week on the Hackaday podcast, as Elliot Williams and Jenny List are freshly returned from Berlin and Hackaday Europe. A few days of mingling with the Hackaday community, going through mild panic over badges and SAOs, and enjoying the unique atmosphere of that city. After discussing the weekend's festivities we dive right into the hacks, touching on the coolest of thermal cameras, wildly inefficient but very entertaining wireless power transfer, and a restrospective on the capacitor plague from the early 2000s. Was it industrial espionage gone wrong, or something else? We also...
2025-03-2155 minHackaday PodcastCapacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny EverythingWe're firmly in Europe this week on the Hackaday podcast, as Elliot Williams and Jenny List are freshly returned from Berlin and Hackaday Europe. A few days of mingling with the Hackaday community, going through mild panic over badges and SAOs, and enjoying the unique atmosphere of that city. After discussing the weekend's festivities we dive right into the hacks, touching on the coolest of thermal cameras, wildly inefficient but very entertaining wireless power transfer, and a restrospective on the capacitor plague from the early 2000s. Was it industrial espionage gone wrong, or something else? We also...
2025-03-2155 min
Hackaday PodcastCNC Tattoos, The Big Chill in Space, and PCB ThingsThe answer is: Elliot Williams, Al Williams, and a dozen or so great hacks. The question? What do you get this week on the Hackaday podcast? This week's hacks ran from smart ring hacking, to computerized tattoos. Keyboards, PCBs, and bicycles all make appearances, too. Be sure to try to guess the "What's that sound?" You could score a cool Hackaday Podcast T. For the can't miss this week, Hackaday talks about how to dispose of the body in outer space and when setting your ship's clock involved watching a ball drop.
2025-02-0748 min
Hackaday PodcastCaustic Clocks, Practice Bones, and Brick LayersThis week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces and Wonder-Twin rings to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. First up in the news: Big boo to Bambu Labs, who have tried to clarify their new authentication scheme and probably only dug themselves in deeper with their customers. On What's That Sound, Kristina didn't get close at all, but at least had a guess this time. Do know what it is? Let us know, and if you're right and your number co...
2025-01-2451 min
Hackaday PodcastThe Cheap Yellow Display, Self-Driving Under $1000, and Don't Remix that BenchyAs the holiday party season fades away into memory and we get into the swing of the new year, Elliot Williams is joined on the Hackaday Podcast by Jenny List for a roundup of what's cool in the world of Hackaday. In the news this week, who read the small print and noticed that Benchy has a non-commercial licence? As the takedown notices for Benchy derivatives fly around, we muse about the different interpretations of open source, and remind listeners to pay attention when they choose how to release their work. The week gave us enough hacks...
2025-01-1049 min
Hackaday PodcastScroll Wheels, Ball Screws, and a New Year for USB-CAfter a bit too much eggnog, Elliot Williams and Al Williams got together to see what Hackaday had been up to over the holiday. Turns out, quite a bit. There was a lot to cover, but the big surprise was the "What's that Sound" competition. Do you know who had the correct answer from the last show? No one! So they guys did the right thing and drew from all the entrants for a coveted Hackaday Podcast T-shirt. Back to the hacks, you'll hear about USB-C and the EU, what to do when the Kickstarter product you...
2025-01-031h 02
Hackaday PodcastHackaday Podcast Episode 300: The Dwingeloo 25 m Dish, a Dead-Tech Twofer, and Deconstructing PCBsThis week on the big 300th episode, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos teamed up to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. So basically, business as usual. First up in the news: it's time for the Hackaday Europe 2025 call for proposals! Do you have a tale of hardware, firmware, or software that must be shared with the Hackaday crowd? Then this is your chance to regale us with a 20- or 40-minute talk. You know we love to hear new voices, so be sure...
2024-12-1349 minHackaday PodcastHackaday Podcast Episode 300: The Dwingeloo 25 m Dish, a Dead-Tech Twofer, and Deconstructing PCBsThis week on the big 300th episode, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos teamed up to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. So basically, business as usual. First up in the news: it's time for the Hackaday Europe 2025 call for proposals! Do you have a tale of hardware, firmware, or software that must be shared with the Hackaday crowd? Then this is your chance to regale us with a 20- or 40-minute talk. You know we love to hear new voices, so be sure...
2024-12-1349 min
Hackaday PodcastSAO Badge Reveal, Precision on a Shoestring, and the Saga of RedboxWith the 2024 Hackaday Supercon looming large on the horizon, Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi start this episode off by talking about this year's badge and its focus on modular add-ons. From there they'll go over the results of a particularly challenging installment of What's that Sound?, discuss a promising DIY lathe that utilizes 3D printed parts filled with concrete, and ponder what the implosion of Redbox means for all of their disc-dispensing machines that are still out in the wild. You'll also hear about custom macropads, lifting SMD pins, and how one hacker is making music...
2024-10-251h 08
Hackaday PodcastThe Power of POKE, Folding Butterflies, and the CRT EffectThis week on the Podcast, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. First up in the news: we've extended the 2024 Supercon Add-On contest by a week! That's right, whether you were held up by Chinese fall holidays or not, here's your chance to get in on this action. We love to see the add-ons people make for the badge every year, so this time around we're really embracing the standard. The best SAOs will ge...
2024-10-1847 min
Hackaday PodcastWalking in Space, Lead in the Earth, and Atoms under the DIY MIcroscopeWhat have you missed on Hackaday this week? Elliot Williams and Al Williams compare notes on their favorites from the week, and you are invited. The guys may have said too much about the Supercon badge this year -- listen in for a few hints about what it will be about. For hacks, you'll hear about scanning tunneling microscopes, power management for small Linux systems, and lots of inertial measurement units. The guys talked about a few impossible hacks for consumer electronics, from hacking a laptop, to custom cell phones. Of course, there are plenty...
2024-10-041h 02
Hackaday PodcastiPhone's Electric Glue, Winamp's Source Code, and Sonya's Beautiful InstructionsThis week, Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi start things off by acknowledging an incredible milestone: 20 years of Hackaday! Well, probably. When a website gets to be this old, it's a little hard to nail down when exactly things kicked off, but it seems like September of 2004 is about right. They'll also go over the latest updates for the fast-approaching Hackaday Supercon, and announce the winner of another tough What's That Sound challenge. From there, the conversation makes its way from the fascinating electrically-activated adhesive holding the latest iPhone together to pulsed-power lasers and a high fl...
2024-09-271h 12
Hackaday PodcastTiny Games, Two Modern Modems, and the Next Big ThingThis week on the Podcast, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos joined forces to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week. First up in the news: we've announced the 2024 Tiny Games Contest winners! We asked you to show us your best tiny game, whether that means tiny hardware, tiny code, or a tiny BOM, and you did so in spades. Congratulations to all the winners and Honorable Mentions, and thanks to DigiKey, Supplyframe, and all who entered! We also announced the first round...
2024-09-2039 min
Hackaday PodcastMud Pulse Telemetry, 3D Printed Gears in Detail, and Display Hacking in our FutureJoin Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi for a review of the best stories to grace the front page of Hackaday this week. Things kick off with the news about Raspberry Pi going public, and what that might mean for everyone's favorite single-board computer. From there they'll cover the technology behind communicating through mud, DIY pressure vessels, pushing the 1983 TRS-80 Model 100 to its limits, and the reality of 3D printing how that the hype has subsided. You'll also hear about modifying Nissan's electric vehicles, bringing new life to one of the GameCube's oddest peripherals, and an unusually intelligent...
2024-06-141h 09
Hackaday PodcastCapstan Robots, Avionics of Uncertain Purpose, and What the Frack?What do capstans, direct conversion receivers, and fracking have in common? They were all topics Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams found fascinating this week. If you wonder what makes an electrical ground a ground, or what a theodolite is, you should check it out. Al struck on on the What's That Sound, but [Ferric Bueler] didn't so he scores a highly-coveted Hackaday Podcast T-Shirt. Want one? Tune in next week for your chance. This week, the hacks came fast and furious. Capstans, instead of gears, work well for 3D-printed mechanisms, a PI Pico...
2024-06-0751 min
Hackaday PodcastA Tube Snoot, Dynamic Button Blobs, and Tokamaks Aren't WhackThis week, it was Kristina's turn in the hot seat with Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams. First up in the news: Germany's solar expansion and a lot of wind have resulted in excess energy, which some people think is bad. In Hackaday news, the entries in the 2024 Business Card Challenge are really stacking up. Then it's on to What's That Sound, which Kristina provided this week and managed to stump Elliot. Can you get it? Can you figure it out? Can you guess what's making that sound? If you can, and your number comes up, you get a special...
2024-05-3142 min
Hackaday PodcastA Cluster of Microcontrollers, a rocket engine from scratch, and a look inside VoyagerJoin Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they get excited over the pocket-sized possibilities of the recently announced 2024 Business Card Challenge, and once again discuss their picks for the most interesting stories and hacks from the last week. There's cheap microcontrollers in highly parallel applications, a library that can easily unlock the world of Bluetooth input devices in your next project, some gorgeous custom flight simulator buttons that would class up any front panel, and an incredible behind the scenes look at how a New Space company designs a rocket engine from the ground up. ...
2024-05-101h 08
Hackaday PodcastWheelchair Hacking, Big Little Science at Home, Arya Talks PCBsJoin Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they go over their favorite hacks and stories from the past week. This episode starts off with an update on Hackaday Europe 2024, which is now less than a month away, and from there dives into wheelchairs with subscription plans, using classic woodworking techniques to improve your 3D printer's slicer, and a compendium of building systems. You'll hear about tools for finding patterns in hex dumps, a lusciously documented gadget for sniffing utility meters, a rare connector that works with both HDMI and DisplayPort, and a low-stress shortwave radio kit with a...
2024-03-151h 02
Hackaday PodcastTwin-T, Three D, and Driving to a THackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams sat down to compare notes on their favorite Hackaday posts of the week. You can listen in on this week's podcast. The guys talked about the latest Hackaday contest and plans for Hackaday Europe. Plus, there's a what's that sound to try. Your guess can't be worse than Al's, so take a shot. You could win a limited-edition T-shirt. In technical articles, Elliot spent the week reading about brushless motor design, twin-t oscillators, and a truly wondrous hack to reverse map a Nintendo Switch PCB. Al was more nostalgic, looking...
2024-02-2359 min
Hackaday PodcastAI, Hijack Guy, and Water Rockets FlyThis week Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams chew the fat about the Haier IOT problem, and all other top Hackaday stories of the week. Want to prove your prowess at C programming? Take a quiz! Or marvel at some hairy display reverse engineering or 3D-printed compressor screws. On the lighter side, there's an immense water rocket. After Al waxes nostalgic about the world of DOS Extenders and extended memory, the guys talk about detective work: First detecting AI-written material, and finally, a great detective story about using science to finally (maybe) crack the infamous DB...
2024-01-261h 04
Hackaday PodcastCircuit Bending, Resistor Filing, the Butterfly Keyboard, and the Badge RevealHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi meet up virtually to talk about the week's top stories and hacks, such as the fine art of resistor trimming and lessons learned from doing overseas injection molding. They'll go over circuit bending, self-driving cars, and a solar camera that started as a pandemic project and turned into an obsession. You'll also hear about Linux on the Arduino, classic ICs etched into slate, and an incredible restoration of one of the most interesting Thinkpads ever made. Stay tuned until the end to hear about a custom USB-C power supply and the long-awaited...
2023-10-201h 03
Hackaday PodcastIce, Snow, and Cooling Paint in JulyThis week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Al Williams shoot the breeze about all things Hackaday. We start off with some fond remembrances of Don Lancaster, a legendary hardware hacker who passed away last month. There's also news about the Hackaday Prize (the tool competition) and a rant about fast computers and slow software, a topic that drew many comments this week. In the What's That Sound event, Al proves he's more of a Star Trek fan than a videogamer. But there were plenty of correct answers, but only one winner: []. There's always next week, so keep playing!
2023-07-071h 02
Hackaday PodcastOpen Source AI, The Rescue of Salyut 7, The Homework MachineThis week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos have much in the way of Hackaday news -- the Op Amp Challenge is about halfway over, and there are roughly three weeks left in the Assistive Tech challenge of the 2023 Hackaday Prize. Show us what you've got on the analog front, and then see what you can do to help people with disabilities to live better lives! Kristina is still striking out on What's That Sound, which this week honestly sounded much more horrendous and mechanical than the thing it actually is. Then it's on to the hacks...
2023-05-1248 min
Hackaday PodcastHackaday Berlin, So Many Sundials, and Ovens Pinging GoogleEditor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi start this week's episode off with the announcement of Hackaday Berlin on March 25th. It's been quite some time since we've been on the other side of the pond, because we had to cancel 2020's Hackaday Belgrade due to COVID-19, so excitement is high for all three days of this "one-day" event. After a new What's that Sound, discussion moves on to an impressive collection of DIY sundials, the impact filament color has on the strength of 3D printed parts, the incredible retrocomputer replicas of Michael Gardi, and the...
2023-02-101h 00
Hackaday PodcastFlexing Hard PCBs, Dangers of White Filament, and the Jetsons' Kitchen ComputerThis week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi start the Hackaday Podcast by talking about another podcast that's talking about...Hackaday. Or more accurately, the recent Hackaday Supercon. After confirming the public's adoration, conversation moves on to designing flexible PCBs with code, adding a rotary dial to your mechanical keyboard, and a simulator that lets you visualize an extinction-level event. We'll wrap things up by playing the world's smallest violin for mildly inconvenienced closed source software developers, and wonder how the world might have been different if the lady of the house had learned to read binary...
2022-12-0958 min
Hackaday Podcast3D Printing with Volcano Nuts, The Hackaday Bookshelf, and a PuzzlebotThis week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos convened in a secret location to say what we will about the choicest hacks of the past week. We kick things off by discussing the brand new Cyberdeck contest, which is the first of it's type, but certainly won't be the last. In other contest news, we recently announced the winners of the Hack it Back Challenge of the Hackaday Prize, which ran the gamut from bodysnatching builds to rad resto-mods and resto-recreations. Taking top honors in wow factor this week is [Stuff Made Here]'s jigsaw...
2022-08-1251 min
Hackaday PodcastThe Return of Supercon, Victory for Open Source, Exquisite Timepieces, and Documentation to Die ForHackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi start this week's podcast off with an announcement the community has been waiting years for: the return of the Hackaday Supercon! While there's still some logistical details to hammer out, we're all extremely excited to return to a live con and can't wait to share more as we get closer to November. Of course you can't have Supercon without the Hackaday Prize, which just so happens to be wrapping up its Hack it Back challenge this weekend. In other news, we'll talk about the developing situation regarding the...
2022-07-221h 11
Hackaday PodcastPoop Shooting Laser, Positron is a 3D Printer On Its Head, DIY Pulsar Capture, GPS's Achilles HeelJoin Hackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi for a recap of all the best tips, hacks, and stories of the past week. We start things off with an update on Hackaday's current slate of contests, followed by an exploration of the cutting edge in 3D printing and printables. Next up we'll look at two achievements in detection, as commercial off-the-shelf hardware is pushed into service by unusually dedicated hackers to identify both dog poop and deep space pulsars (but not at the same time). We'll also talk about fancy Samsung cables, homebrew soundcards, the...
2022-05-271h 14
Hackaday PodcastDeadly Art Projects, Robot Lock Pickers, LED Horticulture, and Good Samaritan RepairsJoin Hackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi for a review of all the tech that's fit to print. Things kick off with an update about the Hackaday Prize and a brief account of the 2022 Vintage Computer Festival East. Then we'll talk about an exceptionally dangerous art project that's been making the rounds on social media, a smart tea kettle that gave its life so that others can hack their device's firmware, some suspiciously effective plant grow lights, and the slippery slope of remote manufacturer kill switches. We'll wrap things up with some thought provoking discussion about...
2022-05-061h 06
Hackaday PodcastOld Printers, Dark Towers, 3DP Gaskets, and Wavy TracesJoin Hackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos as we gab about the most interesting hacks and stories of the previous week. This time, we start off by marveling over everything happening this weekend. Most urgently, it's your last chance to enter the 2022 Sci-Fi contest, which closes Monday, April 25th at 8:30 AM Pacific Time sharp. Already got your hat in the ring? If you're anywhere in the neighborhood of New Jersey, don't miss the VCF's Vintage Computer Festival East. Don't want to leave the house? Then check out all the talks that start approximately right now, assuming...
2022-04-2249 min
Hackaday PodcastHackaday Prize is On, Thermal Printers are So Hot These Days, Cloud Chambers are Super Cool, and Batteries Must be ReplaceableJoin Hackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi for your weekly review of the best projects, hacks, and bits of news that we can cram into 45 minutes or so. We'll look at the latest developments in DIY air-powered engines, discuss the whimsical combination of GitHub's API and a cheap thermal printer, and marvel at impressive pieces of homebrew biology equipment. We've also got an exceptionally polished folding cyberdeck, a bevy of high-tech cloud chambers, and some soda bottles that are more than meets the eye. Finally we'll go over the pros and cons of today's...
2022-04-011h 06
Hackaday PodcastEp 094: Fake Sun, Hacked Super Mario, Minimum Viable Smart Glasses, and 3D Printers Can't Do ThatHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys traverse the hackerscape looking for the best the internet had to offer last week. Nintendo has released the new Game & Watch handheld and it's already been hacked to run custom code. Heading into the darkness of winter, this artificial sun build is one not to miss... and a great way to reuse a junk satellite dish. We've found a pair of smartglasses that are just our level of dumb. And Tom Nardi cracks open some consumer electronics to find a familiar single-board computer doing "network security". https://hackaday.com/2020/11/20/hackaday-podcast…ers...
2020-11-2057 min
Hackaday PodcastOrbital Data by Mail, Human Flight on Styrofoam Wings, and Seven Shades of E-InkHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys catch the best hacks you may have missed. This week we look at the new Raspberry Pi 400, use computer vision to get ready for geeky Christmas, and decypher a negative-space calendar. We get an answer to the question of what happens if you scale up a styrofoam airplane to human-size. Facebook is locking down VR headset, will hackers break them free? And take an excellent stroll down memory lane to find out what it was like to be a space-obsessed ham at the dawn of personal computers. https://hackaday.com/2020/11/06/hackaday-podcast…-s...
2020-11-0651 min
Hackaday PodcastHackaday Podcast Ep 091: Louisville Exploder, Generating Japanese Joinery, Relay Retrocomputer Rally, and Chop the RobopupHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams dig through the greatest hacks that ought not be missed this week. There's a wild one that flexes engineering skills instead of muscles to beat the homerun distance record with an explosively charged bat. A more elegant use of those engineering chops is shown in a CNC software tool that produces intricate wood joinery without needing an overly fancy machine to fabricate it. If your flesh and blood pets aren't keeping up with your interests, there's a new robot dog on the scene that far outperforms its constituent parts which are 3D-printed...
2020-10-3057 min
Hackaday PodcastEp087: Sound-Shattering Gliders Pressing Dashcam Buttons, and Ratcheting Up TimeHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams dish up a hot slice of the week's hardware hacks. We feature a lot of clocks on Hackaday, but few can compare to the mechanical engineering elegance of the band-saw-blade-based ratcheting clock we swoon over on this week's show. We've found a superb use of a six-pin microcontroller, peek in on tire (or is that tyre) wear particles, and hear the sounds of 500 mph RC gliders. Turns out 3D printers are the primordial ooze for both pumping water and positioning cameras. This episode comes to a close by getting stressed out over concrete...
2020-10-0254 min
Hackaday PodcastEp083: Soooo Many Custom Peripherals, Leaving Bluetooth Footprints, and a Twirlybird on MarsHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams ogle the greatest hacks from the past 168 hours. Did you know that Mars Rover didn't get launched into space all alone? Nestled in it's underbelly is a two-prop helicopter that's a fascinating study in engineering for a different world. Fingerprinting audio files isn't a special trick reserved for Shazam, you can do it just as easily with an ESP32. A flaw in the way Bluetooth COVID tracing frameworks chirp out their anonymized hashes means they're not as perfectly anonymized as planned. And you're going to love these cool ways to misuse items from...
2020-09-0357 min
Hackaday PodcastEp082: DJ CNC, NFC Black Box, Sound of Keys, and Payin' for 3D PrintsHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys check in on the best hacks from the past week. All the buzz is the algorithm that can reverse engineer your house keys from the way they sound going into the lock. Cardboard construction goes extreme with an RC car build that's beyond wizard-level. Speaking of junk builds, there's a CNC mill tipped on its side grinding out results worlds better than you expect from salvaged CD-ROM drives. And a starburst character display is a clever combination of laser cutting and alternative using UV-cured resin as a diffuser. Show notes: https://hackaday.com...
2020-08-2857 min
Hackaday PodcastEp081: Mask-apult, Beef Tallow, Grinding Melted Plastic, and Stretching Flowing MetalHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Tom Nardi chew the beef tallow as they take a tour through some of the best and most interesting articles from the past week, from kicking off another round of the popular Circuit Sculpture contest to building artisan coffee makers. We'll look at the engineering behind the post-apocalyptic face mask launcher of our nightmares, and stand in awe at the intersection of orbiting spacecraft and lawn emojis. Several tiny remote controlled vehicles will be discussed, and we'll take an unexpected look at how extruding plastic and aluminum might not be so different after all. Make...
2020-08-2054 min
Hackaday PodcastEp080: Trucks On a Wire, Seeing Sounds, Flightless Drone, and TEA Laser StrikeHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys flip through the index of great hacks. This week we learn of a co-existence attack on WiFi and Bluetooth radios called Spectra. The craftsmanship in a pneumatic drone is so awesome we don't care that it doesn't fly. Building a powerful TEA laser is partly a lesson in capacitor design. And join us in geeking out at the prospect of big rigs getting their juice from miles of overhead wires. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=426831
2020-08-1452 min
Hackaday PodcastEp079: Wobble Sphere, Pixelflut, Skeeter Traps, and Tracing AppsHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams gaze upon the most eye-popping projects from the past week. Who would have known that springy doorstops could be so artistic? Speaking of, what happens if you give everyone on the network the chance to collectively paint using pixels? There as better way to catch a rat, and a dubious way to lure mosquitoes. We scratch our heads at sending code to the arctic, and Elliot takes a deep look at the contact tracing apps developed and in use throughout Europe. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=425629
2020-08-0755 min
Hackaday PodcastEp078: Happy B-Day MP3, Eavesdrop on a Mars Probe, Shadowcasting 7-Segments, & a Spicy Commodore 64Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys go down the rabbit hole of hacky hacks. A talented group of radio amateurs have been recording and decoding the messages from Tianwen-1, the Mars probe launched by the Chinese National Space Administration on July 23rd. We don't know exactly how magnets work, but know they do a great job of protecting your plasma cutter. You can't beat the retro-chic look of a Commodore 64's menu system, even if it's tasked with something mundane like running a meat smoker. And take a walk with us down MP3's memory lane. Show notes: https...
2020-07-3157 min
Hackaday PodcastEp077: Secret Life of SD Cards, Mining Minecraft's Secret Seed, BadPower is Bad, and a Sea of NeonHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams are deep in the hacks this week. What if making your own display matrix meant a microcontroller board for every pixel? That's the gist of this incredible neon display. There's a lot of dark art poured into the slivers of microSD cards and this week saw multiple hacks digging into the hidden test pads of these devices. You've heard of Folding@Home, but what about Minecraft@Home, the effort to find world seeds from screenshots. And when USB chargers have exposed and rewritable firmware, what could possibly go wrong? Show notes: https://hackaday...
2020-07-2353 min
Hackaday PodcastEp076: Grinding Compression Screws, Scratching PCBs, and Melting FoamHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys are enamored by this week's fabrication hacks. There's a PCB mill that isolates traces by scratching rather than cutting. You won't believe how awesome this angle-cutter jig is at creating tapered augers for injection molding/extruding plastic. And you may not need an interactive way to cut foam, but the art from the cut pieces is more than a mere shadow of excellence. Plus we gab about a clever rotary encoder circuit, which IDE is the least frustrating, and the go-to tools for hard drive recovery. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=422534
2020-07-1755 min
Hackaday PodcastEp075: 3D Printing Japanese Joinery, Android PHONK, One-Armed Time Bandit, and Whistling BridgesHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams scoop up a basket of great hacks from the past week. Be amazed by the use of traditional Japanese joinery in a 3D-printed design -- you're going to want to print one of these Shoji lamps. We behold the beautiful sound of a noise generator, and the freaky sound from the Golden Gate. There's a hack for Android app development using Javascript on an IDE hosted from the phone as a webpage on your LAN. And you'll like the KiCAD trick that makes enclosure design for existing boards a lot easier. Show notes...
2020-07-1046 min
Hackaday PodcastEp074: Stuttering Swashplate, Bending Mirrors, Chasing Curves, and Farewell to SegwayHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys recap a week of hacks. A telescope mirror that can change shape, and a helicopter without a swashplate lead the charge for fascinating engineering. These are closely followed by a vibratory wind generator that has no blades to spin. The Open Source Hardware Association announced a new spec this week to remove "Master" and "Slave" terminology from SPI pin names. The Segway is no more. And a bit of bravery and rock solid soldering skills can resurrect that Macbook that has one dead GPU. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=420628
2020-07-0351 min
Hackaday PodcastEp073: Betrayal By Clipboard, Scratching 4K, Flaming Solder Joints, and Electric PaperHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams review a great week in the hacking world. There's an incredible 4k projector build that started from a broken cellphone, a hand-cranked player (MIDI) piano, and a woeful story of clipboard vulnerabilities found in numerous browsers and browser-based apps. Plus you'll love the field-ready solder splice that works like a strike-on box match (reminiscent of using thermite to weld railroad rail) and we spend some time marveling at the problem of finding power cuts on massive grid systems. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=419165
2020-06-2649 min
Hackaday PodcastEp071: Measuring Micrometers, the Goldilocks Fit, Little Linear Motors, and 8-bit Games on ESP32Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams fan through a fantastic week of hacking. Most laser cutters try to go bigger, but there's a minuscule one that shows off a raft of exotic components you'll want in your bag of tricks. Speaking of tricks, this CNC scroll saw has kinematics the likes of which we've never seen before -- worth a look just for the dance of polar v. Cartesian elements. We've been abusing printf() for decades, but it's possible to run arbitrary operations just by calling this turing-complete function. We wrap the week up with odes to low-cost laptops...
2020-06-1152 min
Hackaday PodcastEp070: Memory Bump, Strontium Rain, Sentient Solder Smoke, and Botting BrowsersHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys bubble sort a sample set of amazing hacks from the past week. Who has every used the smart chip from an old credit card in as a functional component in their own circuit? This guy. There's something scientifically devious about the way solder smoke heat-seeks to your nostrils. There's more than one way to strip 16-bit audio down to five. And those nuclear tests from the 40s, 50s, and 60s? Those are still affecting how science takes measurements of all sorts of things in the world. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=415952
2020-06-0556 min
Hackaday PodcastEp069: Calculator Controversy, Socketing SOIC, Metal on the Moon, and Basking in Bench ToolsHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams march to the beat of the hardware hacking drum as they recount the greatest hacks to hit the 'net this week. First up: Casio stepped in it with a spurious DMCA takedown notice. There's a finite matrix of resistors that form a glorious clock now on display at CERN. Will a patio paver solve your 3D printer noise problems? And if you ever build with copper clad, you can't miss this speedrun of priceless prototyping protips. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=415029
2020-05-2953 min
Hackaday PodcastEp068: Picky Feeders, Slaggy Tables, Wheelie Droids, and Janky BatteriesHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys ride the rails of hackerdom, exploring the sweetest hacks of the past week. There's a dead simple component feeder for a pick and place (or any bench that hand-stuffs SMD), batteries for any accomplished mixologist, and a droid build that's every bit as cool as its Star Wars origins. Plus we gab about obsolescence in the auto industry, fawn over a frugal microcontroller, and ogle some old iron. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=413924
2020-05-2258 min
Hackaday PodcastEp067: Winking Out of IoT, Seas of LEDs, Stuffing PCBs, and Vectrex is AwesomeHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams explore the coolest hacks of the past 168 hours. The big news this week: will Wink customers pony up $5 a month to turn their lights on and off? There's a new open source design for a pick and place machine. You may not have a Vectrex gaming console, but there's a scratch-built board that can turn you oscilloscope into one. And you just can't miss this LED sign technology that programs every pixel using projection mapping. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=412985
2020-05-151h 00
Hackaday PodcastEp066: The Audio Overdub Episode; Tape Loop Scratcher, Typewriter Simulator, and Relay AdderHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys stomp through a forest full of highly evolved hardware hacks. This week seems particularly plump with audio-related projects, like the thwack-tackular soldenoid typewriter simulator. But it's the tape-loop scratcher that steals our hearts; an instrument that's kind of two-turntables-and-a-microphone meets melloman. We hear the clicks of 10-bit numbers falling into place in a delightful adder, and follow it up with the beeps and sweeps of a smartphone-based metal detector. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=411904
2020-05-0851 min
Hackaday PodcastEp064: The COBOL Cabal, the Demoscene Bytes, and the BTLE CureHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys pan for gold in a week packed with technological treasure. The big news is Apple/Google are working on contact tracing using BTLE. From adoption, to privacy, to efficacy, there's a lot to unpack here and many of the details have yet to take shape. Of course the episode also overflows with great hacks like broken-inductor bike chain sensors, parabolic basketball backboards, bizarre hose clamp tools, iron-on eTextile trials, and hot AM radio towers. We finish up discussing the greatest typing device that wasn't, and the coming and going of the COBOL crisis...
2020-04-241h 04
Hackaday PodcastEp063: Magnetic Gears, AI Green Screen, Plasma <3 Sharpie, and a Rubbery DrivetrainHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams sift for hacking gold from the past week. In this episode, we remember John Horton Conway's Game of Life and its effect on novice programmers. We geek out adding screens to your car with an OBD-II hack, automating a Sharpie clicker as part of a plasma cutter, and 3D printing an incredible RC car that drives every wheel from a single motor. Plus we look at machine-learning for custom backgrounds in your video chats (Linux makes it easy!), take a gander at the coming generation of ePaper displays, and we get cultured about...
2020-04-1755 min
Hackaday PodcastEp062: Tripping Batteries, Ventilator Design, Stinky Prints, and Simon Says ServosHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys check out the week's awesome hacks. From the mundane of RC controlled TP to a deep dive into JTAG for Hackers, there's something for everyone. We discuss a great guide on the smelly business of resin printing, and look at the misuse of lithium battery protection circuits. There's a trainable servo, star-tracking space probes, and a deep dive into why bootstrapped ventilator designs are hard Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=407547
2020-04-1054 min
Hackaday PodcastEp061: Runaway Soldering Irons, Open Source Ventilators, 3D Printed Solder Stencils, & Radar MotionHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams sort through the hardware hacking gems of the week. There was a kerfuffle about whether a ventilator data dump from Medtronics was open source or not, and cool hacks from machine-learning soldering iron controllers to 3D-printing your own solder paste stencils. A motion light teardown shows it's not being done with passive-infrared, we ask what's the deal with Tim Berners-Lee's decentralized internet, and we geek out about keyboards that aren't QWERTY. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=406399
2020-04-0354 min
Hackaday PodcastEp060: Counting Bees, DogBox Transmissions, and the Lowdown on Vents, BiPAP, and PCRHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys recount the past week in hardware hacking. There's a new king of supercomputing and it's everyone! Have you ever tried to count bees? Precision is just a cleverly threaded bolt away. And we dig into some of the technical details of the coronavirus response with a close look at PCR testing for the virus, and why ventilators are so difficult to build. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=405212
2020-03-271h 06
Hackaday PodcastEp059: Hydraulic Rockets & Presses, Machine Vision Bounces & Stares, Smart Speakers Listen to YouHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams undertake a journey through the week of fantastic hacks. Add a new level of complexity to model rockets by launching them from a silo via pneumatic ram before the combustibles even get involved. The eyes of that sculpture are actually following you -- and with laser focus! The Game Boy is a pillar of pop culture for a reason, there's a superb talk that outlines all of the interesting choices that made the electronics so special. We round out the show with a rousing discussion of a space tow truck and a scholarly...
2020-03-191h 04
Hackaday PodcastEp058: Motorheads, 3D Prints that Bend Metal, and Homebuilt Onewheel Death MachinesHackaday editor Elliot Williams and contributor Jonathan Bennett discuss the past week of Hackaday. Freeman Dyson, who wanted to send us to space on the back of nuclear explosions, passed away. Only slightly less dangerous, we looked at self-balancing vehicles, 3D printed press brakes, and making rubies in the home lab. All the usual suspects make cameo appearances: robots, FPGAs, and open-source software. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=402113
2020-03-1351 min
Hackaday PodcastEp057: Dismantled LCD Panels, Unexpected Dynamometer, a Flappy POV, and Dastardly EncryptionHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams are onto an LCD and motors kick this week. Two different LCD screen teardowns caught our eye as one lets you stare into the void while using your iMac and the other tries to convince us to be not afraid of de-laminating the LCD stackup. On the motors front, it's all about using magnets and coils in slightly different ways; there's a bike generator that uses a planar alternator design, a dynamometer for testing motor power that itself is built from a motor, and a flex-PCB persistence of vision display that's a motor...
2020-03-0658 min
Hackaday PodcastEp056: Cat of 9 Heads, Robot Squats, PhD in ESP32, and Did You Hear About Sonos?Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys gab on great hacks of the past week. Did you hear that there's a new rev of the Pi 4 out there? We just heard... but apparently it's release into the wild was months ago. Fans of the ESP8266 are going to love this tool that flashes and configures the board, especially for Sonoff devices. Bitluni's Supercon talk was published this week and it's a great roadmap of all the things you should try to do with an ESP32. Plus we take on the Sonos IoT speaker debacle and the wacky suspension system James...
2020-02-2857 min
Hackaday PodcastEp055: Most Cyberpunk Synthesizer, Data in Your Cells, Bubbly in Your Printer, & Dystopian PeepshowHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the many great hacks of the past week. Just in case you missed the fact that we're living in the cyberpunk future, you can now pop off your prosthetic hand and jack directly into a synthesizer. The robot headed for Mars has a flying drone in its belly. Now they're putting foaming agent in filament to make it light and flexible. And did you ever wonder why those pinouts were so jumbled? Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=400085
2020-02-2149 min
Hackaday PodcastEp054: Xenomorph Cookies, 101 Uses for Hot Glue, Rolling Robots, and a Clippy ComputerHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys reflect on great hacks of the past few days. Strain relief is something every electronics geek encounters and there's a spiffy way to make your hot-glue look like a factory connector. There's something in the air and it seems to be recreating early computers. Did you know astronauts are baking cookies they're forbidden to eat? And did you hear about the 3D printer that's being fed oil from the deep fryer? Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=399039
2020-02-1457 min
Hackaday PodcastEp053: 1-Bit Computer a Family Affair, Display is Actually Fabulous, and Hoverboard is a Drill PressHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams navigate the crowded streets of the hackersphere for the most interesting hardware projects seen in the past week. Forget flip-dot displays, you need to build yourself a sequin display that uses a robot finger and sequin-covered fabric to send a message. You can do a lot (and learn a lot) with a 1-bit computer called the WDR-1. It's never been easier to turn a USB port into an embedded systems dev kit by using these FTDI and Bluepill tricks. And there's a Soyuz hardware teardown you don't want to miss. Show notes: https...
2020-02-0755 min
Hackaday PodcastEp052: Shorting Components, Printing Typewriter Balls, Taking Time Lapse, and Makerspace Movie PropHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys recap a great week in hardware hacking. There's perfection in the air as clever 3D-printing turns a button and LED matrix into an aesthetically awesome home automation display. Take a crash course in RF modulation types to use on your next project. Did you know the DB-9 connector is actually a DE-9? Building your own underwater ROV tether isn't as simple as it sounds. And Elliot found a treasure trove of zero-ohm jumpers in chip packages -- what the heck are these things for? Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=397112
2020-01-3153 min
Hackaday PodcastEp051: Pointing With Your Tongue, C64 Touchpad, USB Killcord, and Audacity Does EverythingHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams sort through the hacks you might have missed over the past seven days. In FPGA hacking news, there's a ton of work being done on a newly discovered FPGA dev board. Kristina has a new column on input devices, kicking it off with tongue-actuated controllers. We wax philosophical about what data you need to backup and what you should let go. Plus Audacity is helping tune up CNC machines, copper tape is the prototyper's friend, and fans of Open should take note of this laptop project. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=395991
2020-01-2458 min
Hackaday PodcastEp050: Counterfeit Chips, Servo Kalimba, Resistor Colors, Pi Emulation, and SED Maze SolverHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys work their way through a dizzying maze of great hacks this week, bringing you along for the ride. We take a look at simplifying home automation with Node-RED and marvel at the misuse of the SED -- Linux's stream editor for filtering and transforming text -- to find your way through a maze. Have the hippest portable; grab your really old Apple laptop and stuff a not-so-old Apple desktop inside. We bring it on home with our love (or hate?) for the resistor color code. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=394913
2020-01-171h 00
Hackaday PodcastEp049: Tiny Machine Learning, Basement Battery Bonanza, and Does This Uranium Feel Hot?Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams sort through all of the hacks to find the most interesting hardware projects you may have missed this week. Did you know you can use machine learning without a neural network? Here's a project that does that on an ATtiny85. We also wrap our minds around a 3D-printed press brake, look at power-saving features of the ESP32 that make it better on a battery, and discuss the IoT coffee maker hack that's so good it could be a stock feature. Plus we dive into naturally occurring nuclear reactors and admire the common, yet...
2020-01-1055 min
Hackaday PodcastEp048: Truly Trustworthy Hardware, Glowing Uranium Marbles, Bitstreaming the USB, Chaos of CongressHackaday editors Elliot WIlliams and Mike Szczys kick off the first podcast of the new year. Elliot just got home from Chaos Communications Congress (36c3) with a ton of great stories, and he showed off his electric cargo carrier build while he was there. We recount some of the most interesting hacks of the past few weeks, like 3D-printed molds for making your own paper-pulp objects, a rudimentary digital camera sensor built by hand, a tattoo-removal laser turned welder, and desktop-artillery that's delivered in greeting-card format. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=392955
2020-01-011h 08
Hackaday PodcastEp047: Prusa Controversy, Bottle Organ Breakdown, PCBs Bending Backwards, and Listen to Your LEDHackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot get to gether for the 47th and final Hackaday Podcast of 2019. We dive into the removable appendix on Prusa's new "Buddy" control board, get excited over the world's largest grid-backup battery, and commiserate about the folly of designing enclosures as an afterthought. There's some great research into which threaded-inserts perform best for 3D-printed parts, how LEDs everywhere should be broadcasting data, and an acoustic organ that's one-ups the traditional jug band. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=390751
2019-12-201h 00
Hackaday PodcastEp046: Bring Us Your Nonsense, Hack NES Clones, Grasping FPGAs, Music Hacks, & Fish Tank of RandomHackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys highlight the most delightful hacks of the past week. Need a random-number showpiece for your office? Look no further than that fish tank. Maybe the showpiece you actually need is to complete your band's stage act? You want one of Tristan Shone's many industrial-chic audio controllers or maybe just a hacked turntable sitting between your guitar and amp. Plus citizen science is alive and well in the astronomy realm, and piezo elements are just never going to charge your electric vehicle. Show notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=389910
2019-12-131h 01
Hackaday PodcastEp045: Raspberry Pi Bug, Rapidly Aging Vodka, Raining on the Cloud, & This Wasn't a Supercon EpisodeHackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams talk over the last three weeks full of hacks. Our first "back to normal" podcast after Supercon turns out to still have a lot of Supercon references in it. We discuss Raspberry Pi 4's HDMI interfering with its WiFi, learn the differences between CoreXY/Delta/Cartesian printers, sip on Whiskey aged in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, and set up cloud printing that's already scheduled for the chopping block. Along the way, you'll hear hints of what happened at Supercon, from the definitive guide to designing LEDs for iron-clad performance to the projects people...
2019-12-051h 08
Hackaday PodcastEp043: Ploopy, Castlevania Cube-Scroller, Projection Map Your Face, and Smoosh Those 3D PrintsBefore you even ask, it's an open source trackball and you're gonna like it. Hackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams get down to brass tacks on this week's hacks. From laying down fatter 3D printer extrusion and tricking your stick welder, to recursive Nintendos and cubic Castlevania, this week's episode is packed with hacks you ought not miss. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=385216
2019-11-0853 min
Hackaday PodcastEp042: Capacitive Earthquakes, GRBL on ESP32, Solenoid Engines, and the TI-99 Space ProgramHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys talk turkey on the latest hacks. Random numbers, art, and electronic geekery combine into an entropic masterpiece. We saw Bart Dring bring new life to a cool little multi-pen plotter from the Atari age. Researchers at UCSD built a very very very slow soft robot, and a broken retrocomptuer got a good dose of the space age. A 555 is sensing earthquakes, there's an electric motor that wants to drop into any vehicle, and did you know someone used to have to read the current time into the telephone ad nauseam? Show Notes: hackaday...
2019-11-0154 min
Hackaday PodcastEp041: The "How Not To" Episode of Rebreathers, Chain Sprockets, Hovercraft, and Data LoggingHackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams shed some light on a true week of hacks. It seems like all kinds of projects are doing this the "wrong" way this week and its delightful to see what they learn along the way. Hovercrafts can work using the coanda effect which uses the blowers on the outside. You can dump your Linux logs to soldered-on eMMC memory, and chain sprockets can be cut from construction brackets. If you really want to build your own rebreather you can. All of these hacks work, and seeing how to do something differently is an ins...
2019-10-2450 min
Hackaday PodcastEp040: 3D Printed Everything, Strength v Toughness, Blades of Fiber, and What Can't Coffee Do?Hackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams opine on the coolest hacks we saw this week. This episode is heavy with 3D printing as Prusa released a new, smaller printer, printed gearboxes continue to impress us with their power and design, hoverboards are turned into tanks, and researchers suggest you pour used coffee grounds into your prints. Don't throw out those "toy" computers, they may be hiding vintage processors. And we have a pair of fantastic articles that cover the rise and fall of forest fire watchtowers, and raise the question of where all those wind turbine blades will go...
2019-10-1855 min
Hackaday PodcastEp039: Elliot <3 Lightning Detector, Ikea Dark Mode, Smartest Watch, Solar Sailing, VAWT ControversyHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys recap a week full of hacks from the solar sailing RC plane that has zero power storage to geeking out about lightning detectors and hacking Ikea LED controllers to unlock real dimming to building backyard wind turbines. We look up an IoT egg tray with appreciation not for the concept but certainly for the engineering, and scratch our heads on why one-hacker-smartwatch-to-rule-them-all seems like something that should happen but so far has only been a fleeting concept. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=380750
2019-10-101h 02
Hackaday PodcastEp038: Cyberdecks, Resin 3D-Printing vs FDM, Silicone Injection Molding, the Pickle Fork FiascoHackaday Editors Tom Nardi and Mike Szczys comb through their favorite hacks from the past week. We loved Donald Papp's article on considerations before making the leap from FDM 3D Printers to a resin-based process, and we solidify our thoughts on curing cement in low-gravity. Tom's working on a Cyberdeck build, and he also found an ancient episode of an earlier and much different version of the Hackaday podcast. We're impressed with a mostly 3D-printed useless machine, a thermal-insert press that's also 3D-printed, and the Raspberry-Pi based Sidekick clone that popped up this week. A DIY wire-bending robot is an...
2019-10-0452 min
Hackaday PodcastEp037: 2 Flavors of Robot Dog, Fitness Tracker Hacks, Clocks Wind Themselves, Helicopter ChainsawsHackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams take a look at the latest hacks from the past week. We keep seeing awesome stuff and find ourselves wanting to buy cheap welders, thermal camera sensors, and CNC parts. There was a meeting of the dog-shaped robots at ICRA and at least one of them has super-fluid movements. We dish on 3D printed meat, locking up the smartphones, asynchronous C routines, and synchronized clocks. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=378386
2019-09-2756 min
Hackaday PodcastEp036: Camera Rig Makes CNC Jealous, Become Your Own Time Transmitter, Pi HiFi 80s Vibe, DJ XiaomiHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys work their way through a fantastic week of hacks. From a rideable tank tread to spoofing radio time servers and from tune-playing vacuum cleaners to an epic camera motion control system, there's a lot to get caught up on. Plus, Elliot describes frequency counting while Mike's head spins, and we geek out on satellite optics, transistor-based Pong, and Jonathan Bennett's weekly security articles. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=377268
2019-09-2047 min
Hackaday PodcastEp035: LED Cubes Taking Over, Ada Vanquishes C Bugs, Rad Monitoring is Hot, 3D Printing Goes Full 3DHackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams get caught up on the most interesting hacks of the past week. On this episode we take a deep dive into radiation monitoring projects, both Geiger tube and scintillator based, as well as LED cube projects. In the 3D printing world we want non-planar printing to be the next big thing. Padauk microcontrollers are small, cheap, and do things in really interesting ways if you don't mind embracing the ecosystem. And what's the best way to read a water meter with a microcontroller? Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=376058
2019-09-1258 min
Hackaday PodcastEp034: 15 Years of Hackaday, ESP Hacked, Hydrogen Sipping Cars, Giant Drawbot, Really Remote RC CarsElliot Williams and Mike Szczys wish Hackaday a happy fifteenth birthday! We also jump into a few vulns found (and fixed... ish) in the WiFi stack of ESP32/ESP8266 chips, try to get to the bottom of improved search for 3D printable CAD models, and drool over some really cool RC cars that add realism to head-to-head online racing. We look at the machining masterpiece that is a really huge SCARA arm drawbot, ask why Hydrogen cars haven't been seeing the kind of sunlight that fully electric vehicles do, and give a big nod of approval to a guide on...
2019-09-0650 min
Hackaday PodcastEp027: Confusingly USB-C, Glowey Displays, Logically VGA, Hackers that Changed GamingHackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys dive into the most interesting hacks of the week. Confused by USB-C? So are we, and so is the Raspberry Pi 4. Learning VGA is a lot easier when abstract concepts are unpacked onto a huge breadboard using logic chips and an EEPROM. Adding vision to a prosthetic hand makes a lot of sense when you start to dig into possibilities of this Hackaday Prize entry. And Elliot gets nostalgic about Counter-Strike, the game that is a hack of Half-Life, grew to eclipse a lot of other shooters, and is now 20 years old. Show...
2019-07-1948 min
Hackaday PodcastEp023: Everything Breaks... Raspberry Pi, ADS-B, Hackaday Website, and Automotive AirbagsMike Szczys and Elliot Williams talk news and great hacks from the past seven days. Sad word this week as Maker Media, the company behind Make Magazine and Maker Faire, have closed their doors. There seems to be a lot of news about broken hardware to discuss with ADS-B problems grounding hundreds of flights in the US, Hackaday itself had a site outage, Raspberry Pi 3 B+ can be bricked with a really easy mistake, and Lewin wrote a great overview of the Takata airbag debacle. Don't worry there are still plenty of hacks as we look at old computers that...
2019-06-1455 min
Hackaday PodcastEp004: Taking the Blue Pill, Abusing Resistors, and Searching for DronesCatch up on your Hackaday with this week's podcast. Mike and Elliot riff on the "blue pill" (ST32F103 boards), blackest of black paints, hand-crafted sorting machines, a 3D printer bed leveling system that abuses some 2512 resistors, how cyborgs are going mainstream, and the need for more evidence around airport drone sightings. Show notes: http://hackaday.com/2019/02/01/hackaday-podcast-ep004-taking-the-blue-pill-abusing-resistors-and-not-finding-drones/
2019-02-0139 min
Hackaday PodcastHackaday 2018 Year in ReviewHackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss trends seen in 2018, and try to narrow down their favorite hacks and favorite articles from the year. See the show notes for this episode: https://hackaday.com/2018/12/18/hackaday-podcast-2018-year-in-review/
2018-12-181h 06