Circuit stickers are a new medium for making electronics. These thin, lightweight, flexible and sticky circuit boards allow us to craft electronic interactivity onto new spaces and interfaces such as books, clothing, walls, and even our bodies.
Circuit stickers are created by adding z-axis tape, a conductive adhesive, to kapton-based flexible PCBs. Below are example circuits created using conductive paint, copper tape and conductive thread as connective traces.
No Starch Press and I have decided to release this free ebook version of Hacking the Xbox in honor of Aaron Swartz. As you read this book, I hope that you’ll be reminded of how important freedom is to the hacking community and that you’ll be inclined to support the causes that Aaron believed in.
I agreed to release this book for free in part because Aaron’s treatment by MIT is not unfamiliar to me. In this book, you will find the story of when I was an MIT graduate student, extracting security keys from the original Microsoft Xbox. You’ll also read about the crushing disappointment of receiving a letter from MIT legal repudiating any association with my work, effectively leaving me on my own to face Microsoft.
The difference was that the faculty of my lab, the AI laboratory, were outraged by this treatment. They openly defied MIT legal and vowed to publish my work as an official “AI Lab Memo,” thereby granting me greater negotiating leverage with Microsoft. Microsoft, mindful of the potential backlash from the court of public opinion over suing a legitimate academic researcher, came to a civil understanding with me over the issue.
IN STOCK! Kovan – Open source smart robotics controller. Kovan is another offering from Sutajio Ko-Usagi, the Open Source hardware company led by Andrew ‘bunnie’ Huang. Kovan is a smart robotics controller targeted at applications that require fully autonomous operation and high levels of integration. Kovan integrates onto a single PCB all the features you need to build a self-guided robot:
Actuator capability:
4x 1.2A H-bridge motor drivers
4x servo drivers
Sensing capability:
8x 10-bit analog inputs (5v/3.3v selectable range)
Linux core running on 800 MHz ARM w/128 MB DDR2 + microSD for firmware – FPGA co-processor enabling hard real-time control extensions & advanced image processing extensions
Battery:
Integrated 2-cell Li-Ion battery charger (C=1.5A) (note: battery or battery emulator required for proper operation)
The native development environment for Kovan is based upon OpenEmbedded, the same system used by the Beaglebone. Sutajio Ko-Usagi’s PCBA-only version of Kovan comes with C and Python support out of the box, so you can get started right away with development — no need to set up cross-compilers. For more information on the software environment, please visit Kosagi’s site.
The package offered in limited quantities at Adafruit for $249 is the Kovan main board and power supply for development use, configured as a battery emulator, intended for intermediate and advanced developers who can roll their own battery and casing solution.
We are building an open laptop, with some wacky features in it for hackers like me.
This is a lengthy project. Fortunately, ARM CPUs are getting fast enough, and Moore’s Law is slowing down, so that even if it took a year or so to complete, I won’t be left with a woefully useless design. Today’s state of the art ARM CPUs — quad-core with GHz+ performance levels — is good enough for most day-to-day code development, email checking, browsing etc.
We started the design in June, and last week I got my first prototype motherboards, hot off the SMT line. It’s booting linux, and I’m currently grinding through the validation of all the sub-components. I thought I’d share the design progress with my readers.
Of course, a feature of a build-it-yourself laptop is that all the design documentation is open, so others of sufficient skill and resources can also build it. The hardware and its sub-components are picked so as to make this the most practically open hardware laptop I could create using state of the art technology. You can download, without NDA, the datasheets for all the components, and key peripheral options are available so it’s possible to build a complete firmware from source with no opaque blobs.
The Dangerous Prototypes crew take us on a tour of Bunnie Huang’s workshop. Ian writes:
Andrew ‘Bunnie’ Huang is a noted open source hardware designer, XBOX hacker, and architect behind the Chumby. He welcomed us into his personal workshop while we were in Singapore for a tour and a few cold Tiger Beers.
NeTV plastic enclosure kit: This is the plastic enclosure for an NeTV PCB. This lovely little box is made of two injection molded halves, a soft rubber anti-slip bottom, and a small baggie of screws. Assembly is simple and only takes a few minutes. Attach the NeTV using the short screws to the bottom plate. Remove the paper backing from the antenna and stick to the underside of the top piece, then fit the large top over it and snap in place. Screw in the 4 longer screws from the bottom. Finish by applying the rubber mat piece to the bottom to hide the screws. You’re done!
NeTV is the first offering from the brand new Sutajio Ko-Usagi, the Open Source Hardware company led by “bunnie” Huang. bunnie is best known as the author of “Hacking the XBox” and was the lead hardware engineer of the chumby internet alarm clock. So, it is no surprise that his latest invention, conceived in chumby industries’ Singapore office and brought to you by Sutajio Ko-Usagi, is a fully open source HDTV peripheral which brings WiFi Internet
and Android mobile interfacing to any HDMI TV!
NeTV is available here in bare board form with an optional DIY plastics kit! This package does not have the enclosure fully assembled with the PCB, you will have to snap the NeTV into its case, a 5-10 minute task. This package contains the NeTV assembled and tested board, IR remote (to control the NeTV from your couch), a Micro-USB cable (to connect/power the NeTV), a 5V 1A USB power supply (to power the board), and an HDMI cable (to connect it to the HDTV)
NeTV enables overlaying your web content on existing HDMI video feeds, such as those from a BluRay player or cable box. Inside, it’s an Angstrom linux box running Webkit that features chroma-key video compositing. Out of the box, the reference firmware enables the overlay of Facebook and Twitter feeds, and SMSes from Android phones. The UI is written in Javascript/HTML, making it easy and fast to develop your custom application.
The system also features a convenient HTTP API which uses POST commands to issue events to the screen and control device behavior. This, combined with zeroconf discoverability via Bonjour, makes integrating NeTV with other networked devices (such as your smartphone or laptop) a snap.
FPGA geeks take note! NeTV does video compositing with an FPGA. The FPGA is managed using a convenient set of built-in command-line tools. You can modify the NeTV’s video processing capability using Xilinx’s free Webkit development environment. Or, you can repurpose the FPGA for entirely new functionality; the sky’s the limit!
Summary of development environment options for NeTV:
UI & application development in Javascript/HTML running on Webkit
Remote control using iOS/Android reference apps via HTTP API
Command line and kernel development via downloadable gcc environment, or via cloud-based “pre-built” Amazon EC2 environment.
Verilog/VHDL hardware development on FPGA via Xilinx Webpack tools
Solder-and-screws hardware development enabled via open source hardware stack
We wanted to do something special for the Kickstarter community, who helped us get Safecast moving in the first place, and thought that a limited edition version of the geiger counter we designed, at a discounted price, would be a cool way to do that.
So here you go: a Kickstarter exclusive Safecast geiger counter. Limited clear plastic casing (like these pics), numbered edition of however many people pre-order them here. The only way ever to get this clear version is from this Kickstarter campaign. Obviously, this edition is a real working geiger counter, 100% functionally identical to the forthcoming retail release version.
A while back I wrote an analysis of fake microSD cards. As a result of the post, I’ve received this question regularly via email:
“I’m trying to buy a thousand microSD cards for my embedded controller project. How do you qualify a microSD card?”
So, I thought it might be helpful to share my answer here.
There’s this awkward phase between the weekend project (where you buy your microSD card from Best Buy for $20 and have a no-questions return policy) and being Nokia (where you buy the same cards for $2 in quantities large enough to actually have leverage over vendors). When you source a few thousand cards at a time on the wholesale spot market, you’re basically on your own to control quality.
The general architecture of NeTV’s demonstration app system is illustrated above. Please keep in mind that the architecture was created to assist with displaying primarily textual information in a news-crawler fashion. If you have other ambitions for applications, it may be better to create your own infrastructure.
The core of the system is the HTTP event aggregator. It accepts events from both local and remote sources. Local sources would tend to be javascript applications executed and controlled by the browser program running on the NeTV. Remote sources can be any internet source; a smartphone, a laptop, a network-connected arduino — anything.
NeTV Starter Pack! Get your NeTV on with this full pack that includes everything you need to start!
This complete kit contains:
NeTV PCB board and IR remote
NeTV plastic enclosure kit: This is the plastic enclosure for an NeTV PCB. This lovely little box is made of two injection molded halves, a soft rubber anti-slip bottom, and a small baggie of screws. Assembly is simple and only takes a few minutes. Attach the NeTV using the short screws to the bottom plate. Remove the paper backing from the antenna and stick to the underside of the top piece, then fit the large top over it and snap in place. Screw in the 4 longer screws from the bottom. Finish by applying the rubber mat piece to the bottom to hide the screws. You’re done!
NeTV is the first offering from the brand new Sutajio Ko-Usagi, the Open Source Hardware company led by “bunnie” Huang. bunnie is best known as the author of “Hacking the XBox” and was the lead hardware engineer of the chumby internet alarm clock. So, it is no surprise that his latest invention, conceived in chumby industries’ Singapore office and brought to you by Sutajio Ko-Usagi, is a fully open source HDTV peripheral which brings WiFi Internet
and Android mobile interfacing to any HDMI TV!
NeTV is available here in bare board form with an optional DIY plastics kit! This package does not have the enclosure fully assembled with the PCB, you will have to snap the NeTV into its case, a 5-10 minute task. This package contains the NeTV assembled and tested board, IR remote (to control the NeTV from your couch), a Micro-USB cable (to connect/power the NeTV), a 5V 1A USB power supply (to power the board), and an HDMI cable (to connect it to the HDTV)
NeTV enables overlaying your web content on existing HDMI video feeds, such as those from a BluRay player or cable box. Inside, it’s an Angstrom linux box running Webkit that features chroma-key video compositing. Out of the box, the reference firmware enables the overlay of Facebook and Twitter feeds, and SMSes from Android phones. The UI is written in Javascript/HTML, making it easy and fast to develop your custom application.
The system also features a convenient HTTP API which uses POST commands to issue events to the screen and control device behavior. This, combined with zeroconf discoverability via Bonjour, makes integrating NeTV with other networked devices (such as your smartphone or laptop) a snap.
FPGA geeks take note! NeTV does video compositing with an FPGA. The FPGA is managed using a convenient set of built-in command-line tools. You can modify the NeTV’s video processing capability using Xilinx’s free Webkit development environment. Or, you can repurpose the FPGA for entirely new functionality; the sky’s the limit!
Summary of development environment options for NeTV:
UI & application development in Javascript/HTML running on Webkit
Remote control using iOS/Android reference apps via HTTP API
Command line and kernel development via downloadable gcc environment, or via cloud-based “pre-built” Amazon EC2 environment.
Verilog/VHDL hardware development on FPGA via Xilinx Webpack tools
Solder-and-screws hardware development enabled via open source hardware stack
On February 10th, I’m sending a letter to the Library of Congress in support of granting exemptions to the DMCA for jailbreaking your own devices. If you believe that you should be able to run whatever programs you want on your own hardware, please sign my letter to show support; anyone from anywhere in the world can sign. You can also submit your own letter to the Library of Congress, if you feel so inclined or disagree with my opinions.
In 2002, I intercepted a key on the original Xbox that allowed me to encrypt and run my own software on the device. Even though that Xbox had a Pentium processor on the inside — the same CPU found in my desktop PC — without that key, I could only run the limited selection of software provided to me by Microsoft.
When I was informed about the DMCA, which became law in 1998, it was a bucket of cold water thrown at my face; I felt deeply disenfranchised. You see, I was a graduate student at MIT at the time, and up until that point the freedom to create, explore, and overcome barriers was encouraged, even celebrated. It was bewildering that running linux on this PC with the green X is illegal, yet running linux on this architecturally identical beige box next to it was legal. A chill descended upon the situation; MIT sent letters to me officially repudiating involvement in my activities, fearing the worst. Fortunately, brave souls at the MIT AI lab stood up for me in defiance of the campus counsel, and provided me with resources and the connections to the EFF to negotiate with Microsoft and see a positive ending to the whole situation.
I’m lucky. Not everyone has the encouragement, wisdom and strength of a team of MIT faculty and EFF counsel behind them. Without further exemptions to the DMCA enabling jailbreaking, freedom to innovate and tinker withers. Since then, many lawsuits have been filed under the DMCA, creating a tone of fear. Research projects are abandoned, business plans are scrapped; and the stalwart operators left with the will to research jailbreaks work in shadow, a constant fear of lawsuit haunting them for the mere practice of attempting to load their own software onto hardware that they legally own. Entrepreneurs and innovators should not be so burdened, especially at a time when we need their valuable contributions to bootstrap new businesses.
I believe if you buy hardware, you should own it; and ownership means nothing less of full rights to do with it as you wish. If you believe in this too, please sign my letter to the Library of Congress in support of extended exemptions to the DMCA, enabling jailbreaks for more platforms.
NeTV Starter Pack! Get your NeTV on with this full pack that includes everything you need to start!
This complete kit contains:
NeTV PCB board and IR remote
NeTV plastic enclosure kit: This is the plastic enclosure for an NeTV PCB. This lovely little box is made of two injection molded halves, a soft rubber anti-slip bottom, and a small baggie of screws. Assembly is simple and only takes a few minutes. Attach the NeTV using the short screws to the bottom plate. Remove the paper backing from the antenna and stick to the underside of the top piece, then fit the large top over it and snap in place. Screw in the 4 longer screws from the bottom. Finish by applying the rubber mat piece to the bottom to hide the screws. You’re done!
NeTV is the first offering from the brand new Sutajio Ko-Usagi, the Open Source Hardware company led by “bunnie” Huang. bunnie is best known as the author of “Hacking the XBox” and was the lead hardware engineer of the chumby internet alarm clock. So, it is no surprise that his latest invention, conceived in chumby industries’ Singapore office and brought to you by Sutajio Ko-Usagi, is a fully open source HDTV peripheral which brings WiFi Internet
and Android mobile interfacing to any HDMI TV!
NeTV is available here in bare board form with an optional DIY plastics kit! This package does not have the enclosure fully assembled with the PCB, you will have to snap the NeTV into its case, a 5-10 minute task. This package contains the NeTV assembled and tested board, IR remote (to control the NeTV from your couch), a Micro-USB cable (to connect/power the NeTV), a 5V 1A USB power supply (to power the board), and an HDMI cable (to connect it to the HDTV)
NeTV enables overlaying your web content on existing HDMI video feeds, such as those from a BluRay player or cable box. Inside, it’s an Angstrom linux box running Webkit that features chroma-key video compositing. Out of the box, the reference firmware enables the overlay of Facebook and Twitter feeds, and SMSes from Android phones. The UI is written in Javascript/HTML, making it easy and fast to develop your custom application.
The system also features a convenient HTTP API which uses POST commands to issue events to the screen and control device behavior. This, combined with zeroconf discoverability via Bonjour, makes integrating NeTV with other networked devices (such as your smartphone or laptop) a snap.
FPGA geeks take note! NeTV does video compositing with an FPGA. The FPGA is managed using a convenient set of built-in command-line tools. You can modify the NeTV’s video processing capability using Xilinx’s free Webkit development environment. Or, you can repurpose the FPGA for entirely new functionality; the sky’s the limit!
Summary of development environment options for NeTV:
UI & application development in Javascript/HTML running on Webkit
Remote control using iOS/Android reference apps via HTTP API
Command line and kernel development via downloadable gcc environment, or via cloud-based “pre-built” Amazon EC2 environment.
Verilog/VHDL hardware development on FPGA via Xilinx Webpack tools
Solder-and-screws hardware development enabled via open source hardware stack
I’ve created a wordpress site dedicated to NeTV documentation. You can view documentation and ask questions in forums at this site. I’ll also feature NeTV posts on this blog from time to time. There is also a wiki for those who want to contribute new information to the project.
Printable catalog (PDF)
FEED
