Hackaday Supercon 2023 is sort of upon us, and looking out over the roster of implausible talks will get us within the temper already. We hope that it has the identical impact on you too.
Supercon is the Final {Hardware} Convention and it’s worthwhile to be there! We’ll announce the remainder of the audio system, the workshops, and provide you with a peek on the badge over the subsequent couple weeks. Supercon will promote out so get your tickets now earlier than it’s too late. And keep tuned for the subsequent spherical of reveals on Tuesday!
Ben Combee
A Hacker’s Information to Audio/Video Codecs
If you wish to present a video clip or play audio in your venture, you’ve in all probability had to determine how you can take that media file and switch it into one thing that runs on a small system. This discuss with give an outline of the generally supported codecs, how effectively they work on typical maker {hardware}, and the sorts of issues you’re more likely to hit. I’ll be primarily speaking about working immediately in C/C++, but in addition about prototyping with CircuitPython.
Bob Hickman
The Bits and Bytes of Bringing Arcade Classics to Recreation Consoles
I’ll go into some element in regards to the challenges, commerce offs, and options encountered when porting some traditional Namco arcade video games reminiscent of Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Galaxian, Pole-Place to the house console market, particularly the Gameboy Advance.
Eric Andersson
A Makers Information To Designing Sheet Metallic Electroncis Enclosures
Sheet steel is the dominant fabrication technique for pc instances and electronics enclosures, but it surely’s seldom seen in DIY or open-source {hardware} tasks. This discuss is a crash course in sheet steel design for makers: The way it works, primary design ideas, and helpful tricks to get essentially the most out of this versatile, cost-effective manufacturing possibility.
Jesse T. Gonzalez
Circuit Boards that Breathe and Bend (A Information to Electro-Pneumatic Robotic Surfaces)
How do you construct a robotic, shape-changing floor? The brute-force method is to make use of dozens of tiny, particular person actuators — however the near-endless meeting course of limits the size of what you possibly can realistically obtain. As a substitute, stick the actuators contained in the circuit board itself! By hijacking the PCB layup course of, and integrating good supplies into this manufacturing pipeline, we are able to create arrays of compact electro-mechanical actuators with out the painful meeting steps.
Benedetta Lia Mandelli
Mushy actuator orthosis
The usage of gentle robots within the medical area continues to be in its early phases. On this venture, our goal is to show their potential by integrating them into an orthosis that makes use of a gentle actuator to help people in gripping objects successfully. This innovation holds the potential to considerably enhance the standard of life for people with tenodesis, granting them better independence in day by day actions.
Shawn Hymel
Tiny Reinforcement Studying in Robotics
Many of the main strides in reinforcement studying (RL) we see are in board video games (Chess, Go), video video games (Mario, Doom), and huge robotics (self-driving automobiles). I look at how RL works on microcontrollers by offering an illustration of a self-balancing inverted pendulum. Slightly than manually tune PID controllers, we merely let AI determine it out.
Alex Lynd
Wi-fi Hacking on a $5 Funds (with Microcontrollers)
As microcontrollers turn into cheaper & extra succesful, this makes them excellent for constructing disposable hacking payloads – and particularly for wi-fi reconnaissance!
On this discuss, Alex Lynd shares how he builds low-cost hacking instruments, wi-fi implants, and even a snail-mail payload that may phish your on-line credentials – all utilizing $5 microcontrollers! He additionally discusses how he makes use of low-cost {hardware} to decrease the barrier to entry for safety researchers & cybersecurity newcomers.
Jeroen Domburg
Constructing a Moveable Vectrex, the Proper Means
The Vectrex is an odd ’80s sport console. It integrates a vector CRT in its case, as displaying vectors with the required readability could be unattainable on a TV with the tech at the moment. The Vectrex bought decently effectively, however sadly, it was a sufferer of the 1983 online game crash. If that didn’t occur, maybe a transportable Vectrex, handheld and working on batteries, would have seen the sunshine of day? This can be a look into what may very well be, utilizing fashionable digital electronics to drive a CRT for that authentic vector crispness you simply can’t get on LCDs, mixed with a comparatively lengthy battery life.
Thea Flowers
The Absurd Concept of Rendering KiCAD Initiatives on the Net
What wouldn’t it take to indicate KiCAD recordsdata proper there in your browser as a substitute of getting to obtain and look at them in your pc? “That’s absurd!” you may shout, and you’d be proper! Absurdity is one thing I specialise in so I took on the duty of constructing an open supply, browser primarily based KiCAD viewer – KiCanvas.
I’ll present you the fantastic hacks, the attractive optimizations, and the horrifying edge instances concerned with dissecting and replicating KiCAD’s rendering on the net. I’ll share how interactive net know-how can amplify open {hardware}.
David Prutchi
Receiving Microwave Alerts from Deep-House Probes – Newbie DSN and the Final DX
Newbie reception of deep area probes is an interesting and difficult area that blends components of microwave RF, area communications, area exploration, and radioastronomy.
Whereas information from area probes is often acquired and processed by area companies utilizing very massive antennas and complicated gear, it’s potential for hobbyists to home-brew modest techniques able to receiving alerts from deep-space probes. That is presently one of many solely methods wherein non-public residents can immediately expertise planetary exploration.
James Lewis
Constructing the Apple II pc that Apple meant however by no means did
This discuss spans a four-year venture initially meant to be a fast and simple “simply wire this chip up” thought. (Sound acquainted?) James got down to construct a transportable Apple IIe primarily based on the Apple “Mega-II” chip from the late Nineteen Eighties. One thing that not even Apple ever did! To make it occur, he needed to reverse engineer the (largely) undocumented ASIC and be taught extra in regards to the Apple II {hardware} structure than a single individual ought to.
The result’s the primary Apple IIe-compatible pc constructed counting on the Mega-II — not even the IIGS can declare this!
Kumar Abhishek
Going Into Deep (Logic) Waters with the Raspberry Pi Pico’s PIO and the Pi’s SMI
The Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040 MCU) has a reasonably attention-grabbing inner bus structure – which incorporates striping of the interior RAM into banks, and a crossbar bus which permits each its cores, DMA and peripherals to concurrently work and orchestrate information transfers so long as no person tramples on one another’s ft (so to talk). I’ll discuss my journey making a logic analyser that makes use of SMI and the challenges I confronted, how briskly can I push the boundaries of velocity and obtain the complete potential that the Pico/Pi combo has to supply.
Joshua Vasquez
Programming Your Human {Hardware} Compilers, or the Highway to Writing Nice Step-by-Step Directions
If software program will get a compiler, then what stands in for mechanical {hardware}? Typically, the reply is a set of hand instruments–and also you! You, the human, should compile the mechanical design that exists in a pc mannequin right into a working, shifting venture. Because the venture designer, we’ve got an opportunity to actually program the behaviors of meeting into step-by-step directions, guiding the human on a path to victory.
Whereas many individuals may name documenting tasks a chore, I’ll showcase my methods for saving time, and show how the method may be fulfilling and, I daresay: enjoyable.
Angela Sheehan
Cuddly Companion Bots: A Whimsical Journey
Impressed by fellow botmakers Alex Glow and Jorvon Moss at Supercon 2019, I made a decision to embark on a journey to construct my very own cuddly companion named Nova. Within the strategy of crafting a companion bot that felt inventive and alive, I used to be in a position to develop my ability set and create some whimsical options that evoke emotional reactions from individuals who work together together with her.
After bringing her to Supercon 2022, I then determined to share my strategy of artful robots with others by way of a summer season camp for tweens at a public library. I’ll showcase some ideas for artists and designers dipping their toes into the companion bot world for the primary time and methods you possibly can create compelling bots with easy supplies.
[If you read this far, you probably want tickets. Just sayin’.]
