Hackaday Podcast · 8 Oct 2021 · 50m · Episode 139
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi discuss a range of hardware hacks, including Sail Drone's autonomous ocean-going vessels, an analog computer by Berlin-based Anabrid, and a Nernst lamp built with a ceramic potato peeler. They also cover the reverse-engineering of a cheap smartwatch for open-source firmware, the teardown of a defective USB power bank module, and the use of corrugated political signs as prototyping material. The episode concludes with an analysis of the retirement of the Atlas rocket family due to reliance on Russian engines and the development of the new Vulcan rocket.
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Hosts Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the recent Antares rocket explosion, the Hackaday Prize space trip controversy, and the passing of Tom Maglioli from Car Talk. They also cover U-beam's wireless charging technology, Dr. Greg Shaver's ultrasound chip startup, and DIY projects including a Tony Stark Halloween costume and reflow oven modifications.
Nathan Emerick, creator of the open-source project DeskThing, explains how he reverse-engineered Spotify's discontinued CarThing hardware to keep it functional after Spotify bricked the device. He details the technical journey from discovering the Amlogic chip and ADB access to building a web-based flashing tool and a desktop app that turns the CarThing into a versatile desktop controller. Emerick also discusses the challenges of dealing with Spotify's MFi Bluetooth restrictions, the sudden viral growth of the project, and his current struggles in the software engineering job market.
Alvaro Prieto, an embedded firmware engineer at Planet Labs, discusses his transition from Apple to a startup environment and his diverse hardware and software projects. He details his reverse engineering of the Syma Proto-X quadcopter radio protocol, his experience building autonomous laser-shooting robots for DEFCON, and his creation of 'Silta,' an open-source I2C/SPI bridge tool. Prieto also shares insights on company culture, the technical challenges of testing satellite manufacturing tools, and his personal projects like a Skype video message exporter.
Dave Jones of EEVblog and Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics discuss their upcoming in-person meeting in Australia and New Zealand, highlighting plans for maker meetups and tech tours. Jones details his firmware hack of the Keysight 1000X-Series oscilloscope to unlock higher bandwidth and sample rates, while also noting a footprint error in his Mixy Tube clock project. The conversation shifts to industry news, including the CIA's Vault 7 leaks, the use of silicon carbide electronics for Venus landers, and the security risks of IoT devices like the Cloud Pet teddy bear.
Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss a useless wrist-worn multimeter, the educational value of visual tools like Blender and quantum diamonds, and the pitfalls of camera review content. They detail Dave's struggles with a DI hybrid solar inverter's drifting internal clock and Chris's hack day project implementing a remote shell for Zephyr OS devices using Golioth. The conversation concludes with a comparison of Australian and US electrical systems and a lesson on hysteresis from a car's low-temperature warning.
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