Hackaday Podcast · 28 Nov 2025 · 49m · Episode 347
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos review a week of hardware hacks, including Bertrand Selva's use of BMI160 MEMS gyroscopes to measure Earth's rotation and Alistair's Arduino-based 'Baby's First Synth' for a three-year-old. They also discuss Usagi Electric's teardown of a vintage helium-neon barcode scanner, Projects in Motion's retrofit of physical heated seat controls in a RAM 1500 using an ESP32, and SN Carter's assistive radio built with a TEA5767 module. The episode concludes with Tom Nardi's guide to hacking old Kindles and a discussion on Chinese regulations regarding retractable car door handles.
makers and hobbyists
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Jen and Alvaro discuss reverse engineering projects, including Alvaro's modification of a split keyboard using an Alcor Micro controller and Jen's analysis of the Hello Barbie IoT toy. They detail the use of tools like the TL866A programmer, Bus Pirate, and binvis.io to extract and analyze firmware from Marvel ARM modules. The conversation also covers advanced RE techniques, such as using synchrotrons for chip imaging and resources like challenges.re for learning.
Micah Scott (scanlime) discusses her career in hardware reverse engineering, detailing her work at Sifteo on resource-constrained graphics engines and her recent 'Winchbot' project for her cat Tuco. She explains the mechanical design of the winch system and the complex process of reverse engineering a FeiyuTech gimbal's encrypted firmware using Sigrok and community assistance. Scott also reflects on her past projects like CoasterMelt and her preference for tools like IPython for interactive debugging.
Hosts Elecia White and Christopher White discuss listener emails covering Bluetooth 4.2 security, the definition of masked ROM, and the use of the volatile keyword in C. They review Elecia's work on precision mice feeders and bike lights, and detail their disassembly of BB-8 robots for competitive analysis of their BLE and inertial sensors. The episode concludes with commentary on Amazon's work culture and drone regulations.
Hosts Christopher and Elecia White discuss their recent experiences judging the Hackaday Prize, highlighting finalists like the Ramen Spectrometer and Chip Whisperer, and review the rapid success of Darma Kickstarter campaign. They also cover the logistics challenges faced by Light Up and the upcoming Peep camera project, while critiquing the technical accuracy of the TV show Scorpion versus the novel The Martian.
Scott Miller, founder of Argent Data Systems, discusses his transition from building ham radio kits to creating the Hyperion Hoop, a smart hula hoop featuring WS2812B LEDs, ColdFire V1 and HCS08 processors, and a Bosch BMX055 motion sensor. He explains the engineering challenges of sensor fusion, persistence of vision, and integrating DMX512 stage lighting control, while noting the shift from a technical, male-dominated ham radio customer base to a passionate, younger, female-skewed performance community. Miller details the product's mass storage interface for Photoshop pattern editing, the decision to use Bluetooth via Microchip RN41/42 modules, and the operational scaling from garage prototypes to managing 80-hour work weeks during peak demand.
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