For most developers “distributed version control” probably means git. But by itself git doesn’t work very well with binary files such as images, zip files and the like because git doesn’t know how to make sense of the structure of an arbitrary blobs of bytes. So when trying to figure out how to track changes in design files created by most EDA tools git doesn’t get the nod and designers can be trapped in SVN hell. It turns out though KiCAD’s design files may not have obvious extensions like .txt, they are fundamentally text files (you might know that if you’ve ever tried to work around some of KiCAD’s limitations). And with a few tweaks from [jean-noël]’s guideyou’ll be diffing and merging your .pro’s and .sch’s with aplomb.
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#BringAHack New York with BeagleBoard.org before Maker Faire
This Friday evening before Maker Faire New York:
#BringAHack New York with BeagleBoard.org before Maker Faire
Portland Mini Maker Faire this weekend (Sept 15th-16th)
This weekend, September 15th – 16th, is Portland Mini Maker Faire at OMSI!
Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. From engineers to artists to scientists to crafters, Maker Faire is a venue for these “makers” to show hobbies, experiments, projects.
When: Saturday & Sunday, September 15 & 16, 2018, 9:30am-5:30pm
Where: OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave, Portland, OR
Tickets: $16/adult (14-62); $10/youth (3-13); $10/senior (63+) OMSI members receive 50% off. (discount applied at checkout)
For Saturday tickets click here.
For Sunday tickets click here.
Pocket Pi project by Facelesstech
From the Facelesstech blog:

So if you have been following my blog lately you may have noticed me rambling on about trying to get a Xbox 360 chat pad and an ps3 keypad working with a raspberry pi to make a portable terminal. I have finally finished my quest so join me below to see how I did it

Hardware
- Raspberry pi zero w
- 3.5″ waveshare clone
- Rii Mini 518 Bluetooth keyboard
- Bluetooth dongle
- Power bank board
- 2600mAh lipo battery
- DIY USB hub
- DIY interface PCB for screen
- Acrylic
- Various stand-offs
Raspberry pi zero w a 3.5″ screen a power bank board and a bluetooth keyboard is that makes up this pocket terminal.
Automagic Tool makes KiCAD Schematic Symbols from PDFs
Last time we talked about a KiCAD tool it was to describe a way to make the zen-like task of manual assembly more convenient. But what about that most onerous of EE CAD tasks, part creation? Home makers probably don’t have access to expensive part library subscriptions or teams of people to create parts for them …
via Automagic Tool makes KiCAD Schematic Symbols from PDFs — Hackaday
Open Source Turtle Robot (OSTR)
From Maker’s Box on Tindie, a 3D printed drawing robot you can build, program, and modify:
NoodleCon Badge
From All the Badges of DEF CON 26 (vol 4) on Hackaday:
NoodleCon Badge
Hackaday Alum Sarah Petkus has been on a long quest to build an awesome robot with a lot of personality lovingly known as Noodle (check out her Hackaday Supercon talk on the adorable quadruped). For DC26 she decided to throw a con inside the con for Noodle and this is the badge.
Anyone following Sarah’s work knows that her art is on point and here is a great example. Look at the solder mask on front and rear and you’ll notice the lettering is mirrored. This gives it the appearance that this is a design you can see through the board. The bold use of patches of silk screen and gold-plated copper deliver her aesthetic boldly and make you just want to stare at the design. There is a little squiggle through the C on the front that is a superb touch! Driven by an ATmega328 and a CR2032, there are 10 LEDs on the back that flash for a backlight effect.
All the Badges of DEF CON 26 (vol 4)
From a cockroach filled with LEDs, to an impressively dense 576 RGB LED display, and even a hunk of carpet, our final installment of the unofficial hardware badges at DEF CON 26 are beyond impressive. I tried to see every badge and speak to every badge maker this year. So far we’ve covered a ton…
Interactive KiCAD BOMs Make Hand Assembly a Breeze
We’ve all been there; you finally get the last DigiKey box and now your desk is covered in parts to stuff into a shiny new PCB you’ve been working on. First stop? Passive town, population endless waves of 1uF capacitors. The first one goes in the upper left, then a little below that, then… once…
via Interactive KiCAD BOMs Make Hand Assembly a Breeze — Hackaday
Superconference Submission Deadline Extended
Who among us doesn’t procrastinate from time to time? We can’t count the number of times that we’ve taken advantage of the Post Office staying open until midnight on April 15th. And when the 15th falls on a weekend? Two glorious additional days to put off the inevitable!
If you’ve been sitting on submitting your talk or workshop proposal to the 2018 Hackaday Superconference, we’ve got the next best thing for you: we’re extending the deadline until 5 pm PDT on September 10th.
The Hackaday Superconference is a singularity of hardware hackers: more of the best people in the same space at the same time than anywhere else. And that means that your ideas and experiences will be shared with the people most likely to appreciate them. From heroic hacks to creative robotics or untold hardware histories, if there’s a crowd who’ll appreciate how a serial console saved your bacon, it’s this one.
And if you give a talk or workshop, you get in free. But it’s more than that — there’s a different experience of a convention, even a tight-knit and friendly one like Hackaday’s Supercon, when you’re on the other side of the curtain. Come join us! We’d love to hear what you’ve got to say. And now you’ve got a little more time to tell us.
(If you want to get in the old-fashioned way, tickets are still available, but they won’t be once we announce the slate of speakers. You’ve been warned.)












