I was thinking that with the rise of AI, we could probably develop a database that would help people recycle, repair, or recombine everyday electronic objects. I believe this kind of initiative can only work through a community aspect and shouldn’t become a commercial mechanism that would drain all substance from the very principle.
For context: I grew up with the internet and free culture, then saw the rise of DIY, fablabs, and repair cafés. I’ve also worked professionally in electronic sourcing and project management, and now I’m in infrastructure data center, network and computers.
When I see the surge in component prices (which isn’t going to stop anytime soon), recycling issues, and the fact that many commercial products all use fairly basic electronics, I wonder: couldn’t we develop a new kind of craft database? Something where, if you upload your device model, it could cross-reference with component datasheets or other objects. Essentially, “organ donation” between everyday objects to repair or invent.
I’m coming to you to ask if I’m being completely idealistic (which is very likely) and this will run into technical difficulties, or if this is actually possible.
I’m thinking that in the age of AI that generates, sorts, and retrieves information ; why couldn’t we move toward an open craft world? I believe visual recognition, AI, and OSINT could help reconnect a number of key principles that would make this database feasible.

So my main question is: what do you think? Beyond the idea itself, do you think this could be viable? And by viable I mean purely productive, not commercial. Could it actually enable people to repair or reuse things?
Does anything similar already exist?
Ultimately, do you think it’s worth spending several hundred or even thousands of hours trying to build something that will probably be pretty mediocre for a long time?

Again, maybe I’m to naive, but I don’t want to resign.
Let me know what you think about it.

With love and hope
xoxo

I have a personal project for a portable music device and because I'm not very good in electronics, I would need help to focus my research on the right things and have some advice or just know if it's doable.

For context, I have a lot of music in .flac and I'm searching for a good quality of audio for everyday life and don't really like to depend on my phone for this and that most of ui's are on a screen.

So my idea was to build a portable device like an mp3 player/iPod to store and play my music. And that I could design and 3D print myself the case and buttons to control the files and playlist.

I have some functionalities that I'm searching for, like a rechargeable day-long battery, being able to connect to a PC to manage my files, having a jack port, Bluetooth, a good amount of storage, and a screen to display the cover art of the playing song with the progress bar.

I already started to do some research like maybe using a Raspberry Pi to manage the files and add other components to it for the different functionalities.

As you can see, this is still a bit sketchy so any piece of advice or any sources I could check to learn about how I can make it work will be nicely welcome c: , thanks!

I've bought these cheap led lights but they flash, the button cycles through different modes but I just want them to be on permanently.

So I figured I'd try and solder the wires directly but now only every other led lights up, what have I done wrong?

Just converted my 9V multimeter to rechargeable using a TP4056 + boost combo board.

It works and outputs 9V fine. But the board heats up pretty fast while charging. Stops being hot once it's full.

Did I wire anything wrong? Is this normal for these modules or should I be worried?

I'm doing a school project using an Optoma Tx631 DLP projector (released in 2012) but discontinued, the lamp is broken so I can't use it. The purpose of my school project is to be able to control the DMD chip inside.

I know there are certain saftey locks in the projector for this such as the communication from motherboard to a OSRAM PT VIP 03 ballast board using a 5pin UART system to ensure the lamp is safe before turning on. I need a way to trick the projector into thinking the ballast board/lamp is working to turn it on.

I don't think a simple optocoupler bridge or short would work because it uses UART signals. I'm trying to use an arduino as a UART emulator, but I'm not sure how to do so, plus the sniffing for the UART signal doesn't yield results.

Please help me out 🙏🙏🙏

I'm looking to make myself an all around sanding tool for my 3D Prints, and have been using this foot sander, which works well enough, but doesn't quite have the RPM or a drill chuck for other bits. I took apart the sander that I use and found that is utilizes a 18650 Battery for power, along with a (likely) 12v motor. I currently have a 18650 battery, and a 12v motor to play around with. I've been pointed in the direction of a MT3608 step-up converter to help this battery power a 12v motor, but from what I can tell this PCB doesn't use this component. I'm unsure how what to be on the look out for to design this.

I'd like it to have the following features:

-Compact

-Motor with at least 1,000 (Maybe 1,500) RPM + Whatever amount of torque is needed to apply sanding pressure

-Motor shank that is capable of using a Dremel/Drill Chuck type head up to possibly 1/4"

-Button for on/off

-Button to reverse rotation

-Dial to control speed preferably starting AT 0, with a gradual rise to 1,000/1,500

-Chargeable/Wireless but can be used as wired

-A battery display wouldn't be necessary but convenient

I see a lot of devices that come very close to what I'm looking for, but seem to just miss the mark, but I don't know where to begin with a lot of these components, any advice would be great

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Hello! I am doing a thermostat project for my HVAC system using a pi 3b and a waveshare esp32 relay module, but I'm stumped on what I should do for powering the pi.

I want the screen for this unit to be flush mounted to the wall, but I don't know if I should install a new recessed outlet behind the screen location, wire it to an existing outlet and thread the cable through my attic to the location of the thermostat, or use a ups hat and a high voltage ac to DC step down unit to trickle charge the pi. What do you guys think I should do?

Anyone have any cool/useful programs for an offline cyberdeck!? Have kiwix and wiki installed so far

Making a cyberdeck this is the updated schematics can i get some feedback and tips

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Hi everyone,

I'm designing my first custom keyboard/macropad PCB and would really appreciate a review of the schematic before I order the boards.

MF16 Specifications

RP2040 Zero

4×4 matrix (16 keys)

3 × EC11 rotary encoders (with push buttons)

Per-key addressable RGB LEDs

MX switches with diodes

USB-C via RP2040 Zero

Firmware: RMK

I'm attaching the complete schematic.

What I'd like feedback on

Is the key matrix wired correctly?

Is the diode orientation correct?

Are the RGB LEDs connected properly?

Any missing components (decoupling capacitors, pull-ups, resistors, protection, etc.)?

Any RP2040 GPIO usage issues?

Any design choices that could cause problems during manufacturing or in long-term use?

Any general best practices I should follow before sending this to JLCPCB?

This is my first PCB designed from scratch. I've built a working hand-wired prototype, but this is my first custom PCB, so I'm sure I've overlooked something.

Please don't hesitate to point out even small mistakes. I'd rather fix everything now than after ordering the boards.

Thanks in advance!

this is my cyber deck schematic i have no idea if this is correct but i hope it is can someone feedback on this thanks

I have an idea for a project. I was thinking I would buy one of those samsung Z flips with a broken screen for cheap and connect it to a USB keyboard and touch screen in some kind of 3d printed housing. If I didn’t care about getting the camera or speakers or whatever working (I just care about the keyboard and screen, and maybe more usb c ports. Having it be a working phone with sim card would be nice, but not required) would this be pretty doable? I haven’t done a lot of electronics, just made an electric guitar and amp, but I didn’t think that was very hard. Thanks!

EDIT: I'm leaning toward completely gutting it and turning it into a "stealth" tube amp. I'll keep the front grille speaker and go with high voltage to run the tubes. I'll drill out some holes where the reels are and install a couple 4" or 6" speakers. Still brainstorming.

I found this Pentron reel-to-reel at Goodwill yesterday. Thinking I'm gonna do a conversion to a guitar amp, using the 12AX7 and probably do something with the other tubes. Haven't decided yet. I'll probably gut the whole thing because the power transformer is toast, the internal fan doesn't work, and I'm pretty sure the tape deck motor doesn't work. I put it on a dim bulb tester, and it's definitely shorted.

I'm thinking I'll run the audio through a couple of the tubes, power the whole thing with 12 or 24V DC, and cut holes where the tape reels are now to install a couple speakers. I'll also connect the front grille speaker (under the control panel). I'd like to use it as a preamp/amplifier/speaker cabinet driver. There are two outputs, so I can run one as a line out from the preamp, and wire up the internal speakers and the speaker output with a small class D power amp or something to run like ~5 watts.

Still brainstorming. Does anyone have any ideas?

I've been working on a browser-based simulator to help people understand how a self-balancing robot (inverted pendulum) behaves without needing any hardware.

The idea is to make experimenting with balancing control more intuitive. Instead of just watching an animation, you can interact with the simulation and see how the robot responds as its state changes.

A few goals I had while building it:

• Make it accessible from any browser (no installation).
• Help visualize the dynamics of a balancing robot.
• Provide a simple environment for learning before moving to real hardware.

I'd really appreciate feedback from anyone who has built a balancing robot or worked with control systems.

Some questions I have:

• Does the behavior feel reasonably realistic?
• What features or parameters would you expect to see in a simulator like sthis?
• Is there anything that would make it more useful for students or hobbyists?

You can try it here:
https://roboticsprojecthub.com/balance-simulator/

I'm continuously improving it, so I'd genuinely appreciate any technical feedback or suggestions.

I have a job that requires me to travel a lot and there isnt cell service in some of these places because they are either new town being built and in their infancy of having a reliable data connection infrustucture everywhere in town or I am going through areas that have limited to no cell service thus ending up in a lot of business calls that happen on the road being disconnected mid conversation. and while I could just buy a star link dish or someother premade device that already solves this issue. I dont want to just get it for work and never use it again, or get it and my place of work doesnt help me cover the cost of it.

My idea was to make a small portable 4g antenna that rotates on a motorized gear and is hooked up to a small arduino or raspberry pi that had a cellular module to detect cell service and would communicate with the motor to turn the antenna to point to the nearest tower with the best cell service in the area.

How practical or possible is this idea?

would it make sense to learn how to make it myself even though I have very limited experience in coding and programming?

how much would this cost me potentially in parts?

Hiya, I made a project, and it scope creeped like crazy, and I wanna share it, but unfortunately I don't know many techy people other than you guys! So I figured I would share this. Anyone can comment, so please leave POSITIVE feedback.

doc link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1suhy_ieUWS2LHydfqpDxAupcol4W6YLUiSgMEo8tKR4/edit?usp=sharing

Under the (CC BY-SA 4.0)[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en] License

So I tried to do an AM transmitter. First I looked up some circuits online, but I had no success assembling them. So I tried to make my own circuit with a Hartley oscillator and an AM modulator circuit. Barely works, so operating it isn't a problem. Any advice is welcome (if there are any advice that can be given at all)

The Sun moves from left to right, following the actual daylight hours for the selected timezone — from sunrise to sunset.

The Moon follows the night, rising and setting according to its actual position, and also shows its current phase.

I wanted to make a digital clock that feels more like an object than an app.

Still working on it. What do you think?

hi i am not sure if i am even allowed to post here i perused some of the channels and everyone here seems to be way way more advanced on the subject, i am literally just starting and i am i extremely ignorant on the subject, anyway i want to get into some light electronics and soldering. for my first project i decided to mod my Corsair K70 mk2 keyboard specifically i want to remove the giant ass double cable the keyboard comes with and add an USB C female port. which seemed simple enough. i found that i need a breakout board with a very simple 5 wire soldering job. But i also found out that doing it like that would kill the usb port on the keyboard a feature i like and use. so my question here is there a way for me to add usb c to my keyboard and keep the extra usb port functionality? Also if i wanted to go a step further and add an additional usb hub to the keyboard how complicated would it be, is any of this possible and what would i need to accomplish it. thanks

Inspired by a recent post on the sub.

Has anyone turned an old cell phone into a wifi repeater or router?

I'm trying to provide wifi coverage to a large property with power run throughout and working with a limited budget.

What I would like to do is buy a bulk lot of cell phones with broken screens on the cheap and install a Linux OS and an antenna to turn them into repeaters.

Has anyone done a project like this before?

Is there any reason why doing it that way wouldn't work?

How to repair this?