

Hackaday Podcast
Hackaday
Hackaday Editors take a look at all of the interesting uses of technology that pop up on the internet each week. Topics cover a wide range like bending consumer electronics to your will, designing circuit boards, building robots, writing software, 3D printing interesting objects, and using machine tools. Get your fix of geeky goodness from new episodes every Friday morning.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 17, 2019 • 41min
Ep019: Extreme Clock Accuracy, Mobius Gears and Planetary Stunts, Jamming All Fobs, Pi in Your Wii
Join Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams as they riff on the coolest hacks from the past week. Clocks and 3D printing seem to keep coming up this week as we look at using an FPGA plus GPS receiver for better accuracy than we're used to, and we haggle over what to call the robot arms that nudge the hands on a shelf-clock. There's a wicked 3D-printed planetary gear design, and brackets that turn flat cardboard into boxes (more useful than you might think). We close out with great reads on the Supermicro fallout of the last 7 months, and a pretty big oops moment as a hacker knocks out keyfobs for an entire neighborhood. Show Notes: https://hackaday.com/?p=358729

May 10, 2019 • 53min
Ep018: Faxploitation! Ikea RFID Hacking, Space Ads, Hydrogen Dones, And Blinkies
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys gather round the microphone to spin tales from a week of hacks. All the rage are fax-machine-based malware, a hydrogen fuel cell drone, and bringing color to the monochrome world of the original Super Mario Land. There are at least three really cool LED hacks this week, plus Tom's been exploring space advertising, Maya's debunking solder myths, and Elliot goes ga-ga for a deep Ikea electronics hack. Closing out the show is an interview with Bart Dring about his exquisitely-engineered string art robot. Show Notes: hackaday.com/?p=358043

May 3, 2019 • 55min
Ep017: Are Cheap Microcontrollers Worth It? Android on Your Bike. Plus Food Printers and Coffee Bots
Join editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams as they recount a week of fascinating hacks. We take a good look at the PMS150C, a microcontroller that literally costs pennies but can only be flashed once. SNES emulators have a new trick up their sleeves to make low-def a lot less low, and you retro enthusiasts will either hate or love the NES zapper chandelier. Elliot's enamored by a bike computer running Android core, and both Mike and Elliot delve into the food hacking scene, be it meat, chocolate, coffee, or of course frosting!

Apr 26, 2019 • 54min
Ep016: 3D Printing with Steel, Molding with Expanded Foam, QUIP-Package Parts, and Aged Solder
This episode looks at microfluidics using Shrinky Dinks, expanding foam to build airplane wings, the insidious effect of time on component solder points, and Airsoft BBs used in 3D printing. Finishing out the episode we have an interview with two brothers who started up a successful business in the Shenzhen electronics markets.

Apr 19, 2019 • 57min
EP015: Going Low Frequency, Robotic Machines, Disk Usage For Budgets, And Cellphones Versus Weather
Hackaday Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the highlights of the great hacks from the past week. On this episode we discuss wireless charging from scratch, Etch-A-Sketch selfies, the robot arm you really should build yourself, bicycle tires and steel nuts for anti-slip footwear, and bending the piezo-electric effect to act as a VLF antenna. Plus we delve into articles you can't miss about 5G and robot firefighting. https://hackaday.com/?p=355057

Apr 12, 2019 • 56min
EP014: Keeping Raspberry's SD Card Alive, We Love MRRF, and How Hot Are Flip Chips?
Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys take a look at advances in photogrammetry (building 3D models out of many photographs from a regular camera), a delay pedal that's both aesthetically and aurally pleasing, and the power of AI to identify garden slugs. Mike interviews Scotty Allen while walking the streets and stores of the Shenzhen Electronics markets. We delve into SD card problems with Raspberry Pi, putting industrial controls on your desk, building a Geiger counter for WiFi, and the sad truth about metal 3D printing.Take a look at the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments! https://wp.me/paBn4l-1u53

Apr 5, 2019 • 47min
Ep013: Naked Components, Shocking Power Supplies, Eye-Popping Clock, And The Hackaday Prize
Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams geek out about all things hackerdom. Did you catch all of our April Fools nods this week? Get the inside scoop on those, and also the inside scoop on parts that have been cut in half for our viewing pleasure. And don't miss Mike's interview with a chip broker in the Shenzhen Electronics markets.

Mar 29, 2019 • 46min
Ep012: Nearly Perpetual Motion, Mars Rover Carries Kid, and Doc Brown's Cat Feeder
Editors Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys catch up on the past week in hackerdom. It seems as if we're in a golden age of machine building as an incredible rocker-bogie rover is built to transport a child and mechanical simplicity automates the wet cat food dispensing process. We marvel at the ability to use G-code to decorate eggs (them being curvy in more than one direction and all). The we contemplate the ability to build and start a motor which will continue to run long after your own life ends. And perhaps it's time to add more layers to your PCB design playbook. Show notes: http://hackaday.com/?p=351780

Mar 22, 2019 • 1h 8min
Ep011: Weird Keyboards, Salvaging LCD Screens, and Mike Interviews Ivan of Espressif in Shanghai
With our intrepid Editor in Chief Mike Szczys off being kind of a big deal in China, Managing Editor Elliot Williams is joined by Staff Writer Tom Nardi to talk about all the hacks that were fit to print over the past week. Join us as we talk about the wide world of custom mechanical keyboards, reviving a woefully antiquated display technology, building your own RC transmitter out of stuff you have laying around the lab, and the unexpected parallels between Pepto Bismol and rocket fuel. Show notes at hackaday.com/?p=349631

Mar 15, 2019 • 53min
Ep010: XKCD Graphs, Turing Complete Meta Computers, False Finger Printing 3D Printers, and Jargon
Elliot Williams and Mike Szczys walk through the past week in hackerdom. There's a new jargon quiz! Do you know what astrictive robotic prehension means? We look at the $50 Ham series, omni-wheeled pen plotting robots, a spectrum of LED hacks, LEGO CNC for chocolate rework, and grinding lenses with a CNC mill. In the "can't miss" category are fingerprinting 3D Printers, and how NASA designs far beyond the stated life of an engineering project. Show notes at hackaday.com/?p=349624