Alright so soldering is pretty straightforward for through-hole components, but then there are times when you need to go tiny *insert ant-man reference here*, and the skills you learnt for TH soldering just dont apply anymore.Welcome to the world of Surface Mount Device (SMD) soldering, where components are placed on tiny pads, and solder on […]
A Complete Beginner’s Guide to SMD Soldering Continue Reading
There have been plenty of Z80 computer builds here on Hackaday, but what sets them apart is what you do with them. [Andrew] writes in with his Z80 single-board computer made from scratch, using the Arduino standard headers for its I/O. In turn, since he needed an easy way to program the flash memory which
Z80 COMPUTER IS BOTH ARDUINO AND SHIELD Continue Reading
For this first edition of the hardware teardown, we’re dissecting technology and lifestyle brand Withings’ cheapest activity and sleep tracker: the Withings GO.  Since they launched their first connected weighing scale back in 2010 (the WiFi Body Scale), I’ve been a big fan of Withings. They make beautiful products that integrate seamlessly with their online
Withings GO activity tracker teardown Continue Reading
I’d like to share my latest project, a scanning laser microscope with you. Some words concerning the principle: The pinciple is quite simple. The laser beam is focused on the object and the reflective light is being measured with a photodiode (in my case a BPW34). To focus right the current through the focusing coil
Scanning Laser Microscope With Arduino Continue Reading
HOUSTON – (July 12, 2017) – Rice University engineers are building a flat microscope, called FlatScope TM, and developing software that can decode and trigger neurons on the surface of the brain. Their goal as part of a new government initiative is to provide an alternate path for sight and sound to be delivered directly
Flat microscope for the brain could help restore lost eyesight Continue Reading
Smartphone microscope as the name implies is basically a microscope which is compatible with a user’s smartphone. They mostly made up of a soft pliable lens and uses the smartphone’s camera. Smartphone microscopes have been in existence before, they are based on the use of external LEDs and usually get powered from an external source, these attachments
3D Printed Clip-On Turns Any Smartphone To A Household Microscope. Continue Reading
Remember the old video game Space Invaders? Some of its sound effects were provided by a chip called the 76477 Complex Sound Generation chip. While the sound effects1 produced by this 1978 chip seem primitive today, it was used in many video games, pinball games. But what’s inside this chip and how does it work
Reverse engineering the 76477 sound effect chip Continue Reading
At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, Hackaday exists because people are out there building and documenting open source gadgets. If the person who built a particular gizmo is willing to show the world how they did it, consider us interested. Since you’re reading this, we’ll assume you are as well.
OPEN SOURCE BIOLOGICAL GEAR FOR THE MASSES Continue Reading
Despite how good microscope you have, stand is still very important part of final assembly. And while there are many commercial ones made of cast iron, they might cost more than a microscope head itself. I decided to make stand from wildly available material laying around – it’s MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). Advantages – stable
DIY PCB inspection microscope Continue Reading
With surface-mount technology pushing the size of components ever smaller, even the most eagle-eyed among us needs some kind of optical assistance to do PCB work. Lots of microscopes have digital cameras too, which can be a big help – unless the camera fights you. Faced with a camera whose idea of autofocus targets on
ARDUINO PROVIDES HANDS-FREE FOCUS FOR DIGITAL INSPECTION SCOPE Continue Reading
