Collaborate Disseminate
The era of mainframe computers and directly programming machines with switches is long past, but plenty of us look back on that era with a certain nostalgia. Getting that close …read more Continue reading A Mainframe Computer for the Modern Age
In days of yore when solar panels weren’t dirt cheap, many people (and even large energy companies) used solar trackers to ensure their panels were always physically pointed at the …read more Continue reading Tracking Maximum Power Point for Solar Efficiency
We’re accustomed to seeing giant LED-powered screens in sports venues and outdoor displays. What would it take to bring this same technology into your living room? Very, very tiny LEDs. …read more Continue reading MicroLEDs: Lighting The Way To A Solid OLED Competitor
Having found success in different areas, it’s a pleasure to hear from Erika Earl, Paul Beech, and Spencer Owen during a panel discussion at the 2019 Hackaday Superconference. Led by Tindie’s Jasmine Brackett, the panel covers some of the background needed to develop a product and get it into the …read more
Continue reading Three Tales of Making It in Electronics Design and Manufacturing
L0rdix is a multipurpose remote access tool (RAT) that was first discovered being sold on underground criminal forums in November 2018. Shortly after its discovery, Ben Hunter of enSilo analysed the RAT’s functionality. Although L0rdix’s author s… Continue reading An Analysis of L0rdix RAT, Panel and Builder
Public policy honchos for the tech giants discussed what they would like to see in sweeping GDPR-like federal data privacy legislation. Continue reading RSA Conference 2019: Microsoft, Google, Twitter on Federal Privacy Regs
More and more electric bikes have been rolling out into the streets lately as people realize how inexpensive and easy they are to ride and use when compared to cars. They can also be pedaled like a normal bike, so it’s still possible to get some exercise with them too. Most have a range somewhere around 10-30 miles depending on battery size, weight, and aerodynamics, but with a few upgrades such as solar panels it’s possible to go much, much further on a charge.
[The Rambling Shepherd] had a tricycle (in the US, generally still considered a bicycle from a …read more
Building your own weather station is a fun project in itself, but building it to be self-sufficient and off-grid adds another set of challenges to the mix. You’ll need a battery and a solar panel to power the station, which means adding at least a regulator and charge controller to your build. If the panel and battery are small, you’ll also need to make some power-saving tweaks to the code as well. (Google Translate from Italian) The tricks that [Danilo Larizza] uses in his build are useful for more than just weather stations though, they’ll be perfect for anyone trying …read more
Continue reading Weather Station Is A Tutorial in Low Power Design
If you’re a fan of endurance racing motor vehicles, there’s one that puts the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Dakar Rally, and the Baja 1000 to shame, and the race doesn’t even involve cars. Indeed, the vehicles used for this massive trek from France to China are electric bicycles, powered only by solar panels. This is the epic Sun Trip endurance race, and one of its competitors built a unique tandem bike that is powered both by pedaling, rowing, and the solar panels.
The tandem bike is interesting on its own since the atypical design uses a back-to-back layout …read more
Ever on the lookout for creative applications for tech, [Andres Leon] built a solar powered battery system to keep his Christmas lights shining. It worked, but — pushing for innovation — it is now capable of so much more.
The shorthand of this system is two, 100 amp-hour, deep-cycle AGM batteries charged by four, 100 W solar panels mounted on an adjustable angle wood frame. Once back at the drawing board, however, [Leon] wanted to be able track real-time statistics of power collected, stored and discharged, and the ability to control it remotely. So, he introduced a Raspberry Pi running …read more
