SweepLED hardware prototype and operation, image via KAIST
Cameras are getting smaller and we are all getting more paranoid, so you may want to do this one thing before checking into your short term rental. Using a phone and some inexpensive parts, researchers at KAIST [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology] have developed a system for finding hidden cameras. Dubbed SweepLED, the hidden camera detector relies on the unique reflection from a camera lens. So far, the researchers report a 94% accuracy.
SweepLED works by keeping the smartphone camera fixed while changing only the direction of the LED illumination, then analyzing the patterns of reflected light that appear on object surfaces. Reflections from ordinary glossy objects tend to move or disappear depending on the direction of the light. In contrast, camera lenses show distinctive deformation patterns in their reflections due to their internal lens, aperture, and sensor structures.
My son has been huge into LEGO for a couple of years now. The builds decorate the shelves all over the house to the point where they’ve become permanent fixtures. My son and I were talking the other day about some decoration ideas for the upcoming Halloween season and how we could incorporate his LEGO builds. We talked about featuring the builds that were more on the spooky side (Hagrid’s Hut, Knockturn Alley, Malfoy Mansion, The Burrow). He asked, but how do we make them more special than usual? Then I remembered – John Park has the answer for that!
In John Park’s LEGO Set Lighting learn guide, he shows you how to illuminate your bricks with tiny LEDs
Light up your LEGO buildings, spacecraft, vehicles, and more with super-tiny LEDs. Sets such as the Winter Village and Star Wars lines are just begging to have lights added. You can add lights exactly where you want using pre-wired SMD LEDs. Then, you can animate them to blink, dim, and flicker exactly as you like using CircuitPython.
Or, you can keep it very simple using an on/off coin cell battery holder breakout!
The Abuelas Project, led by Latinos in Heritage Conservation, is the people’s archive. Our goal is to protect, amplify and center Latinx stories and history. We use online mapping as a tool
where people can share their own memories, places, and experiences, helping build a people’s record of Latinx heritage.
Light up your makeup mirror! This easy project guides you through adding warm white LED sequins to a makeup compact, powered by an Adafruit lipoly battery charger and click on/off switch. Follow the complete tutorial on the Adafruit Learning System.
from Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! https://ift.tt/0wf7mo6
via IFTTT
We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.
Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! Running mid-month from September 15 through October 15th this is a time to share stories, learn about history and celebrate America’s diversity.
The new Turbo in CircuitPython helps when the board spends time calculating: making NeoPixel effects, drawing fractals, processing audio, filtering sensor readings, or preparing lots of pixels. Those projects can get smoother animation, quicker responses, or room to do more things at once.
With Turbo, it’s easier, better, and now even faster to make LED light up costumes that also reacts to sound at the same time, a sensor dashboard with animated graphics, or a tiny game doing physics while drawing the screen. turbo speeds up the busy Python parts. It won’t make a slow sensor or display connection faster, and the rest stays familiar Python
We got tired of using crummy USB hubs. Do they have individual port control? Maybe…maybe not! Do they have voltage and current monitoring? Never! What about XH or USB A for fixed connections that don’t flop out? I2C control or EEPROM for configuration? Proper protected input ports with 5V overcurrent/overvoltage protection? ESD and overcurrent protection on each port? YES YES YES, it’s time for PORT AUTHORITY, the stackable USB hub we always wanted! Starring the USB2514 hub, TPS259470A eFuse, and TPS2117 power mux to select between USB self- or external power.
The artist duo exonemo are presenting Terminal at the New York art space NowHere. A series of techno sculptures where the only way to survive is to fail. The computers are constantly trying to crack a code that would lead to their immediate physical demise from swinging hatchet or falling boulder.
In The Terminal, a computer, a rock hovering over its delicate form, engages in a brute-force algorithmic attack using random numbers as blunt objects. To fail at cracking the code means survival; to succeed means… crunch. There is only an ironic, pyrrhic victory possible here. Does our machine friend even want to win? This tableau perversely evokes surprisingly empathetic feelings. In an era that finds much of humankind becoming increasingly suspicious of machines, a sad, solitary piece of hardware working in murkiness against its own existence still moves us.
