Hackaday Podcast · 25 Mar 2022 · 56m · Episode 161
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Dan Maloney review community hacks, including Zachary Tong’s DIY laser lithography machine for MEMS fabrication, David Lovett’s restoration of a Centurion minicomputer, and Sprite’s extreme hand-soldering of a tiny BGA microcontroller. They also discuss Dimitri Grinberg’s reverse engineering of Sony Memory Sticks and a submersible data logger optimized for coin cell life. The episode concludes with Dan Maloney’s personal story of hacking a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) notification system after a smartphone upgrade broke the official app.
makers and hobbyists
Other shows on the same ground, closest first.
Security researcher Mike Grover (MG) explains how he creates cable implants by milling tiny PCBs with an OXO mill to fit inside USB cables. He details the process of designing minimal HID attack circuits using ATtiny microcontrollers and the challenges of home-reflowing BGA components on ultra-thin FR-4 boards. Grover discusses the shift from wired to wireless implants and the importance of rapid iteration in hardware security research.
Alvaro interviews Graziano and Antonius from the OpenToAll CTF team, Philippe Teuwen (Dogox) from Quarkslab, and Team Pineapple about the Hardwear.io CTF. The contestants discuss specific challenges including micro-soldering BGA chips, RFID/NFC brute-forcing, 3D-printed lock picking, and passive Tempest-style attacks on HDMI cables. Philippe Teuwen explains how Quarkslab designs these hardware-oriented challenges to demonstrate their reverse engineering capabilities to clients.
Piotr Esden-Tempski of 1BitSquared discusses the company's role in manufacturing open-source hardware, specifically the Glasgow digital interface explorer, the iCEBreaker FPGA board, and the Black Magic Probe debugger. He explains the economic rationale for using an old Quad 4C pick-and-place machine for small-batch production and details how Glasgow uses an FPGA to dynamically generate hardware protocols via the nmigen HDL. The conversation also covers the geopolitical shift toward RISC-V in China, the challenges of debugging legacy industrial equipment, and the importance of documentation and community education in the open-source hardware ecosystem.
Mike Szczys, Editor-in-Chief of Hackaday, discusses his journey from orchestra musician to hardware creator, focusing on his DEF CON 26 badge, the 'coin-op badge,' which uses an ATmega48 and low-power design. He details the challenges of firmware optimization, PCB layout, and the learning curve of using a Neoden 4 pick-and-place machine with Chris Gammell. The conversation highlights the trend of low-cost components like the ESP32 driving innovation, the importance of open-source collaboration, and the value of maker communities like DEF CON and Hackaday Supercon in fostering hardware education and networking.
Dave Jones of EEVBlog and Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics record The Amp Hour's first in-person episode in Sydney, discussing the logistics of their upcoming hardware meetup and the challenges of building community. They analyze the shifting landscape of robotics and LiDAR, noting how costs are dropping to make autonomous systems more accessible, while also debating the practicality of long-term space missions and the need for technologies like chip printers. The conversation extends to the complexities of hardware development, contrasting software-style continuous integration with the physical realities of manufacturing, and highlighting the importance of maintaining engineering skills through practice and community engagement.
The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Hackaday Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.