ladyada
Joined 19 years ago
Karma
645
Submissions
81
Member since
Mar 22
Recent submissions
Comment · 5 months ago
hi everyone, its me 'ladyada. we're very much looking forward to telling our story, i have reached out to the founder of flux.ai (Matthias Wagner - Founder & CEO at Flux), in hopes we can resolve this together and set a good example for the community. looking forward to maybe seeing this resolved on a podcast together, or something
Comment · 10 years ago
You may be able to use one of these
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bud-industries/USB-...
it looks rather cute! see: https://blog.adafruit.com/2011/03/04/part-finder-friday-clea...
board respin required...either position the button so you squeeze the enclosure to press the button (it flexes a bit), or drill a small hole (use a jig to get the drill bit in the right location
enclosure co's will also customize/drill holes for you but its probably easier for you to just diy!
Comment · 11 years ago
http://imgur.com/a/Z1hyd has a few parts labeled
theres a main processor which is way overpowered (the big TQFP part) which is covered by a plug-in 2G GSM/GPRS modem. You can 'sniff' the modem control pins, its almost certainly the standard plain 'AT' command set used for these modems, at 9600 or 57600 baud, 3.3V logic
The plug in module looks a lot like a SIM300 or Spreadtrum 5100b. It probably had an IMEI sticker that was pulled off. Theres probably a dozen makers of nearly identical modems during that time period. This one looks fairly old since its a plug-in type. I'd guess the GSM module is at least 5 yrs old
On the other side is a standard 32-pin NAND flash, you could desolder and then use a NAND-reader kit (google etc) to suck the data off. its probably just the GPS coordinates stored between modem data uploads.
SIM holder, some crystals, power circuitry, and a (95% sure) uBlox GPS - the uBlox have that funny shape and pinout. uBlox have high sensitivity so a good choice! unclear which generation this us, they're up to Neo-8. You could decap it to find out.
probably the most fun could be had by first figuring out the RX/TX pins from the microcontroller to the GSM/GPRS module, then soldering thin wires to that and listening with a UART TTL cable. Put in a new SIM, wait a few seconds for the GSM module to get onto the cell network, then quickly faraday it up and see what website, IP address or phone number the micro is trying to connect to. ymmv tho, might just be a random drop point.
(theres a bunch of chips with no clear markings, could be motion/accel/gyro or other sensors - @ioerror if you post up the #s on each chip it'll be easier to tell! :)
edit: i thought about the huge coin cell battery backup. its a bit odd, quite large sized! if its well designed, the microcontroller will detect that the battery has been disconnected, and while on backup coin cell power quickly erase the NAND flash and microcontroller memory :(
Comment · 12 years ago
still finishing the final board layout (it's not out yet!)
https://plus.google.com/112526208786662512291/posts/2qmVHpkn...
:)
Comment · 13 years ago
eInk is very slow refresh, about a second...not fun for a laptop. Pixel Qi displays work better: have TFT-speed refresh with sun-light readability. Indoors its a color display. Outdoors you can turn off the backlight to conserve power.
If your computer/laptop has VGA/HDMI or composite out you can use our Pixel Qi+Controller kit http://www.adafruit.com/products/1303 for modern laptops with a 40 pin LVDS cable you can just do a swap out as long as the screen's the same dimensions.
Comment · 14 years ago
liked this? want more? you might want to also read my kinect reverse-engineering how-to article at http://learn.adafruit.com/hacking-the-kinect
Comment · 14 years ago
I assure you that just because two adapters look the same do not have any relation to the insides. (After all, counterfeit Apple adapters look the same as genuine ones, but you wouldn't think they are the same on the inside after reading this article.) The black plug casing is a common molding style used by many factories - but its the electronics inside that count :) The best way to know if they are identical is to look for the UL certificate number, those are unique to each design.
We have a photo of our label here http://www.adafruit.com/images/large/ID501label_LRG.jpg
Comment · 14 years ago
Hi Rhizome, adafruit does not distribute the specific USB charger we carry at Frys - sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them but it was certainly not the same one from the adafruit shop the parent poster was referring to!
Comment · 14 years ago
Good question! I test all the products in the adafruit shop for quality and functionality :)
I tried out half a dozen 5v/1a adapters and this one was the winner - best performance and a very good price for UL listed. The most important points: It has the 'iDevice' resistors and has very good voltage regulation - extremely clean, no big voltage spikes. When loaded down 1A it stays around 5.2V, I actually pulled 1.5A and it was still above 5V. I opened a few up to look at the construction and found it well designed with good soldering, strain relief etc. In the product description I explain why its a 5.25V not 5V adapter - its perfect for high-current devices like the Raspberry Pi and we have thousands of customers who have happily used it for the Pi.
Comment · 14 years ago
for what my word is worth, please let me put in a vote for LiFe - i know they're not as energy dense but you may not need as much armoring on the pack. you can say its good for 2ce as many charges and uses a safer battery - which can increase perceived value.
let the ultra-modders swap in LiCo's on their own - they'll do it anyways.
there's a techcrunch-story-future that i'd really like to see you avoid! :(
Comment · 14 years ago
Hi! Did you choose to go with LiFe or LiCo's?
Comment · 15 years ago
ah, you are conflating two things. the hacker scene is full of assholes, but they are not the batshit crazy people. so all the fucked up people you're thinking of? no, i'm saying there are other people, and they are /much much/ worse because they dont even have a 'scene' with basic social pressures and 'outing' them has no effect
Comment · 15 years ago
""I have friends who happen to be both notoriously successful
in the tech field and female. They are all extremely touchy
about this subject. They are touchy because crazy shit like
this happens to them all the time.""
This is very true. unbelievable crazy batshit stuff happens to me -all the time-. Like "Police report filed" crazy. Like "I no longer open up any letters or packages unless I am positive I know who sent it" crazy. Like "I have to make sure that wherever I live, there is a camera at the doorbell and multiple doors before they can get in" crazy.
Its not a majority of guys, and some even 'mean well' but you only need to have it happen to you once to decide that the stress of knowing something crappy will happen to you if you attend X event, is not worth the benefit of attending X.
Comment · 15 years ago
2) the open kinect libraries do not in any way modify the kinect hardware, firmware or otherwise. there is no 'jailbreaking' involved here. its a -usb driver-!
Comment · 15 years ago
good god, i wrote this nearly -five- years ago
please do not take it seriously at this point, its completely outdated
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