Hackaday Podcast · 19 May 2023 · 58m · Episode 219
Hosts Elliot Williams and Dan Maloney review a week of hardware hacks, including NASA's laser communications system for the Artemis 2 mission and the ESA's percussive maintenance of the JUICE probe. They discuss commercial products like the Heatbit Bitcoin mining space heater and DIY projects such as a portable vacuum tube ham radio and a laser projector built from hard drive components. The episode also covers medical technology involving microbubbles and ultrasound to breach the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery.
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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.
Oleg Kutkov, a reverse engineer from Kyiv, details his work reverse engineering SpaceX Starlink terminals and satellites, explaining how he bypassed security to access the underlying Linux kernel and custom 'SpaceX Launcher' software. He discusses the technical challenges of using a HackRF supercluster to monitor Starlink beacons, specifically citing phase noise issues, and describes his Allsky Camera project which was repurposed for medical research. Kutkov also covers his Tesla LTE modem replacement and the use of tools like Saleae logic analyzers and IDA Pro in his hardware hacking process.
Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss research from Columbia University led by Professor Ken Shepard and Chen Xi on injecting a grain-of-salt-sized microchip powered by ultrasound for medical monitoring. They then cover an international effort involving MIT, UC Berkeley, and TSMC to develop 2D transistors using bismuth contacts to overcome Moore's Law bottlenecks. Finally, they highlight NASA intern Evanna Gizzi's RAISR project, which uses machine learning and classical AI to autonomously diagnose spacecraft failures.
EE Times editor-in-chief Brian Santo speaks with veteran aerospace editor George Leopold about two major upcoming space launches: the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the James Webb Space Telescope. Leopold explains that LCRD aims to establish high-bandwidth laser communications from geosynchronous orbit to ground stations in California and Hawaii, addressing the spectrum congestion caused by satellite constellations like SpaceX's Starlink. The conversation also covers the dangers of space debris following a Russian anti-satellite test, which forced International Space Station crew members into emergency vehicles, and the high-risk deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, which faces multiple points of failure in its complex unfolding sequence.
Alex Haro, co-founder and CEO of Hubble, explains how his company has built a global tracking network using standard Bluetooth chips communicating directly with low-Earth orbit satellites. Haro details the technical innovation of using digital beamforming and custom waveforms to receive weak 2.4 GHz signals from space, allowing devices to function without GPS or cellular modems. The episode covers Hubble's hybrid terrestrial-satellite architecture, which leverages existing gateways and smartphone apps to provide enterprise-grade, real-time asset tracking and sensor data globally.
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