Ep 220: Transparent Ice, Fake Aliens, and Bendy Breadboards

Hackaday Podcast · 26 May 2023 · 48m · Episode 220

What this episode covers

Hosts Elliot Williams and Al Williams discuss a variety of hardware hacks, including a flexible breadboard created by MIT researchers using 3D-printed chain mail, and Damien Dolata’s hoverboard that uses eddy currents for levitation. They also cover 'Silly Whiz,' an educational tool for understanding IC fabrication, and the 'ESP Clicker,' a low-cost device for integrating dumb switches into Home Assistant. The episode concludes with discussions on transparent ice making, core memory, and vacuum tubes.

Mentioned

Companies
Hackaday, SETI, MIT, RadioShack, Integrated Thermionic, Apple, Google
Products
Hendo, Silly Whiz, Switchbot, Raspberry Pi Pico, Core 64, Tile, Airtag
Chips
ESP8266, RP2040
Also
ExoMars, GitHub, Damien Dolata, The Hacksmith, Tony Hawk, Skywater PDK, Home Assistant, ESP Home, Verilog, Andy Geppert, Nick Poole, Deutsche Vella Planet A, Jenny, Indeterminate Design, Jaw J, Maya Posch, Lou and Days, Green Jupiter

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Electromaker Show · 35m

    Mystery Raspberry Pi hardware, beautiful ESP32 ZX Spectrum, Stretchy PCBs and MUCH more!

    The host discusses stretchable PCB research from Yale's Faboratory and Charles Lohr's PolyLMN project, which use liquid metal pastes to create circuits that stretch up to 4x their size. He covers the potential Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard computer, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W featuring the new RP2350 chip and in-house RM2 Wi-Fi module, and the M5Stack Cardputer ESP32 devkit. The episode also highlights the ESP32 Rainbow ZX Spectrum on Crowd Supply, solderless PCB prototyping with Opulo's Lumen PNP, and the ethical resolution of Jeff Geerling's voice cloning incident by Elecrow.

  • The Electromaker Show · 40m

    Amazing Jumperless Breadboard, ESP32 Screens, Zimablade Servers and RISCV EVERYTHING

    The host discusses Jumperless, a software-defined breadboard by Kevin Santo Capuccio (Archetois) that uses analog crosspoint switches and an RP2040 to eliminate physical jumpers, featuring a browser-based Wokwi bridge. He highlights Scott W. Harden’s project enabling audio playback on an Arduino Uno R3 using only its 32KB flash, and Volos Projects’ ESP32 Nano handheld console using a GC9A01 circular display. The episode also covers the ZimaBlade server pre-launch from IceWhale, which supports DDR3/DDR4 RAM and GPU attachment for local AI, and Sipeed’s new RISC-V devices including the LycheePi 4A cluster, tablet, and console.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 09m

    532: It's Still Real Fire

    Kevin Santo Cappuccio, founder of Architeuthis Flux, discusses Jumperless, an open-source breadboard that replaces physical jumper wires with software-controlled analog crossbar switches and 445 RGB LEDs. He explains the device's architecture, including the Raspberry Pi Pico running MicroPython, the high-frequency performance of the switches, and the upcoming modular Barnacle Board. The conversation covers use cases in audio synthesis, education for dyslexic learners, and the challenges of manufacturing a luxury hardware product as a solo founder.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 08m

    100: Unintentional Radiator

    Hosts Amelia Cook and Christopher White reunite with guests Star Simpson and Jen Costillo to reflect on the evolution of the hardware hobbyist landscape over the two years since their first appearance. Star Simpson, who works at Orion, discusses her wearable device project and her open-source FPGA toolchain initiative called Balboa, while also recounting the challenges of crowdfunding the Octopart reference card. The group analyzes the shifting attitudes toward privacy and security in the Internet of Things, the rise of accessible prototyping tools like 3D printing and Crowd Supply, and the changing ecosystem of development boards including the Odroid and Arduino.

  • The Electromaker Show · 32m

    Arduino Plug and Make Giveaway, Hacking Walmart LED panels, Flexible Arduinos and more!

    Host Ian Buckley covers the Arduino Plug and Make Kit giveaway, highlighting its solderless daisy-chainable 'modulinos' and compatibility with the 5V-tolerant Arduino Uno R4. He details Turf PTAX's hack of a Walmart LED panel using an ESP32 C3 Xiao to replace dubious proprietary hardware, and 314 reactor's 'Checkout Challenge' game on an Adafruit PyBadge. The episode also features news on the Seeed Studio Xiao RA4M1, a flexible PCB Arduino clone by Edison Science Corner, and an update on the RP2350's HSTX peripheral from Adafruit's Scott.

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.