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Still Hacking Like Heck

makerkaren — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 19:11:48 GMT

Hey folks,

The Hack Like Heck contest is coming to a close. We have 17 wonderful final video entries. (Check them out here!) I hope you all have had a chance to view them. I know I enjoyed watching them all!

Those of you who have been with us since the beginning of the contest saw the Declarations of Intent and audition videos come in throughout March. We had a total of 35 makers declare their intent to participate. What we want to know is, what happened to the other 18 people who didn't quite get a video in for the final phase of the contest?

I'd like to ask those 18 individuals:

baldengineer, mrvolt, binaryben, samdiyfreeman, ajkatz83, monkeybearblue, tomruns12, fyaocn, sprybug,starfire, rocits, cfoote7, takieda, ironfoxgaming, benbasic, 94toyotapickup, ammsyed, zamek.

What motivated you to enter the Hack Like Heck contest?

Are you still interested in Hacking Like Heck?

Would you like to share why you weren't able to submit a final video?

element14 is still looking for Video Content Partners. We understand that life happens and don't want anyone to miss out because of that. You haven't missed your chance. If you're still interested in becoming an element14 Video Content Partner, please tell us about it in the comments below. Here's your chance to show us your stuff, your time to shine!

MilLs Dj Intends to Hack Like Heck

millsdj — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 01:52:07 GMT

www.youtube.com/watch

Here too! Hack Like Heck: MilLs Dj

Better Late then never ...I found out about this whole contest this morning.

It was hard to express everything in 60 seconds, but I covered a good summary of what I do (sorry for a such rapid speech, I'd replay and pause to see some of these photos)!

I'm Andrew Miller, 22 years old and I'm a Senior at Millersville University. I have a 2 Majors which are Applied Engineering & Technology Management with a focus in Robotics and Control Systems and Entertainment Technology.

(a mouth full amirite?)

A Brief history of my experience becoming a portablizer is me starting to build with Legos and make Domino tracks as early as age 5. It wasnt until I was 8 years old when i picked up my first soldering iron,

and burnt myself.

I quickly found a passion for taking everything that was electronic apart to see the guts and glory (butchering tons of remote controls basically).

I grew up playing Nintendo 64 and Original Gameboy/Color games with my older brother; also played the Genesis, but that was more his style.

It got to a point where I played too much and I became a basement dweller. My parents told me, "Stop playing so many video games!"... so I started building video games (Best loop hole ever).

Taking this route with electronics was very different from the knowledge my parents and siblings had. My brother played, but had no interest in building, my sister and mother were not into it much at all, and my Dad, being the very intelligent man that he is, barely knew how to turn TV with a Comcast box on. I helped with computers, electronics, and appliances around the house for them; and still do.

Highschool had no programs with building video games hardware wise, the closest thing was wood shop and Visual Basic. Everything that I learned was from experimenting and creating myself. Since it was a small school district, I found very little friends that could even understand a fraction of the creations I was constructing. I've taught myself the majority that I know with portablizing, modifications, and builds and it lead to where I am and what I'm doing today.

This is actually one of the first times I'm using a forum too. I only posted very little to Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and chipmusic.org (for chiptunes), and even now I don't post much. I mainly build for the absolute passion of doing so.

This contest interests me beyond belief and it saddens me I didn't find out about it sooner. I want to show that creativity and expressing passions is never the wrong thing to do, even when surroundings seem limited. I went from playing video games to building, hacking, coding, developing, and creating them. I even make music with them! I know everyone has ideas, but not everyone applies them to become real. That's the legacy I'm carrying on here at Millersville University and what I see should continue after Ben retires on his show. With my self taught abilities and double major, I intend to continue building past what is seen as "impossible" and show that if I can, we all can.

After everything, it's not about recognition or prizes. It's about the Thrill of the Build.

~MilLs Dj

Required declaration of intent:

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Thank you

JoshtheModder intends to Hack Like Heck

94toyotapickup — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 01:53:01 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Good evening Element 14. My name is Josh Unger and I am very excited to be entering the Hack Like Heck Contest. Electronics have always been a very big part of my life spending countless hours working on an electronics project whether it was using an Arduino to make a led blink or just applying power to a dc motor. At a young age I started tearing toys apart my parent got me for Christmas, my birthday or any other special occasions. I remember my parents always yelling at me telling me they are not going to buy me another toy because I ripped that one apart. I was just so curious on how it operated. Little did they know that me tearing the toys apart would lead me to be building all kinds of interesting projects. I went to a local community college and got my associates degree in computer science and an electrical ac/dc certification. After a few years of college I bought my first soldering iron and started to learn how to solder. It was not easy and was very frustrating at times. After upgrading to a digital variable soldering iron, I found soldering to come easier. I experimented with leds, arduino boards, relay logic, and all sorts of other electronics. By doing this, I taught myself how to program micro controllers.

Over the past few years I got into designing portable gaming devices. I bought myself a 3D printer and been creating prototypes ever since. I created and designed a rigid portable pi with a 40000mah battery bank with a port to recharge over a usb port. The portable pi includes a raspberry pi with retropie installed, a large 7 inch hd screen, a small speaker with volume control, a battery indicator, and a power button. In my portable pi, I implemented a magnetic reed switch to allow the screen to turn off when the case is closed to conserve battery power. I also installed a shutdown button and a button to turn the whole unit off for travel. All of this is packed in a closeable and lockable case where you can store you 8bitdo controller or other small controller. All parts were designed in solidworks and 3d printed to fit all parts and pieces. I created a fun and enjoyable gaming system that I can look at and tell people “I made that”.

After showing friends and family my retropie, I began receiving requests to make them their own handheld retropie they can carry with them and play in the car with the buttons built into the gaming device. Having never designed a handheld retropie before, I started on paper and drew out the design for exactly as Ben Heck demonstrated in his videos. After designing on paper, I bought a raspberry pi, a small 4 inch screen, prototype boards, tact buttons, and a 3000mah battery with adafruit battery smart charger. I also used some small wire laying around my workshop to wire all the electronics together. I also used some speakers out of an old Nintendo ds. After designing the case on solidworks I printed it out on my Flashforge Creator Pro and then started to assemble. After assembly it powered right up. Everything works flawless and it looks amazing. All my friends are very impressed with the outcome.

Starting my next project is a one handed controller for my friend who lost his right arm a few years back. A friend that loves gaming will finally be able to play a game comfortably. I have to figure out what I am going to purchase and start with the design. I am excited to start this project.

Thank you again element 14

Chris intends to Hack Like Heck

ifish — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 06:40:58 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device

I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018

If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Feel free to drop by my YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjPW_yfzXDuSf9mgcGTPsaw

Thomas Robb intends to Hack Like Heck

tomruns12 — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 13:01:36 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device,
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

I'm an RF Engineer with a bachelors in Electronic Engineering & Technology, a Minor in Renewable energy and two Associates in Art and Industrial Technology. I have been making my own projects on my own YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/povadventure ever since I was still in school. I love electronics, programming, 3d printing and making my own unique devices and sharing them with the world.

www.youtube.com/watch

Madmorda Intends to Hack Like Heck

madmorda — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:15:57 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device

I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018

If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Davedarko intends to Hack Like Heck

davedarko — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 16:28:32 GMT

My name is Dave Ploeger, though I publish all my projects as Davedarko.

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

You can find me and my projects here:

https://youtube.com/davedarko

https://twitter.com/davedarko

https://hackaday.io/davedarko

https://instagram.com/davedarkocom

https://www.thingiverse.com/davedarko/about

https://github.com/davedarko/

www.youtube.com/watch

Willing to Participate Benheck Contest

ammsyed — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 06:07:05 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working hand held, portable gaming device
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline, 2-April-2018
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Syed

Josh Gavin intends to Hack like Heck

joshuafrancis03 — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 12:21:46 GMT

Hi. I had intended to enter this competition since the day the video was released. I have been watching Ben Heck for years with some of my favourite projects being his portable Xbox and Raspberry Pi. I have made many electronic marvels in the past and because I earn money from fixing consoles on a regular basis, this project seems perfect for me. I have intentions of making other portables too like a PS2p console. One of my previous creations is an arcade controller that I made two years ago. Because of my school I have access to a 3D printer, a laser cutter and even a vacuum former.

In this project, the main thing I want to change with the vanilla design of a Pi Portable is that I want it to be customizable. My idea is that you can laser cut acrylic into a basic shape that slots into the front of the console. You could easily create indentations and other shapes on the face plate. One other thing that is important to me is controls. Whichever controller I choose to use with this project will almost certainly be cut up for franken casing. (Hopefully) This will ensure that the console has a great feel. Because I am at school currently I have lots of time (up to 6 hours per day) I wouldn't struggle at finishing it before the deadline.

I am planning on uploading my updates on a Hackaday.io site here: https://hackaday.io/project/58865-hack-like-heck-raspberry-pi-portable-by-josh-g

Thanks to Ben Heck and the team for hosting this as it will hopefully give my the opportunity to show myself and the project I plan on making. Also thanks Ben for hosting the show all these years and for making innovative and cool projects that really inspired me.

Essential information:

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project.
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Wesley Gardner intends to Hack Like Heck

gam3t3ch — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 08:07:28 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Its all about the sloths!

ShockSlayer intends to Hack Like Heck

shockslayer — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 10:51:04 GMT

www.youtube.com/watch

Here's my audition; the video is just a little over a minute long, but that's just for the rest of my subscribers who won't be up to date with what's going on. I've also uploaded a shortened version here, if the first video is a problem.

This is the first time I've posted here on e14, so here's my introduction:

I'm ShockSlayer. It's the username I've kept ever since I first signed up on the BenHeck Forums back in 2006, and that's how most people know me. I got into the related engineering because of the early N64 portables, one of the notable ones being Ben Heck's first foray into modding the console. I was entranced by what I'd seen, and shortly after I joined the community there, I started building one myself. Ever since then, I've been building and developing a variety of skills, and have been a part of many different communities as a result. This has led me all over the world to different meetups, conferences, and conventions, all of which have been a huge part of developing my current mindset.

Naturally, as I've learned things, I've also taken the time to teach others what I've learned. This has included a variety of tutorial videos, guides, and other resources that I've helped develop for the portablizing community. Unfortunately, over the years they've become scattered across a variety of different media, but I'd like to think that I've made a positive impact on at least a few people. My approach to explanation has always been from the perspective of an average Joe; I firmly believe that there's nothing I've accomplished that someone else can't learn to do themselves through either my example, or direct teaching.

I'm interested this contest, because it's offering something that I've been looking for: a medium to teach, a theater for entertainment, and a legacy to continue. I'm confident in my abilities to build the unit, and the prizes are cool, but what I'm looking for here is the opportunity to do something important with the abilities I've developed simply out of love for the hobby that got me into this.

Required declaration of intent:

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Thanks.

A.J. intends to Hack Like Heck

ajkatz83 — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 04:29:19 GMT

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project.
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Hello all of the element14 Community, my name is A.J. and I have been around electronics for a very long time. My background basically started with the older computer variety of 386s and working on them to find the vintage parts at the time to make them work again. I was always in the computer repair field for some time and had and had a big fleet of these old systems including my old IBM PS/2 model 70 let alone my dad's old Commodore SX-64 which I had decked out with 300bps modem and working GEOS OS which I was very proud of and though was pretty amazing. Most of the experience that I have has really come from my dad, he's been running an RF radio communications shop for now closer to 50 years and we are still engineering lots of Kenwood NXDN repeater systems and now even trying with DMR (Digital Mobile Radio). It was likely only a matter of time before the electronics bug was going to rub off on me seeing that the computer repair field was rather saturated and not much was coming from it.

I wanted to learn electronics back in 2008, though I had the practical experience with my dad for some time now, and I formally tried with DeVry, but unfortunately that fell through. By 2011 I had settled on the Cleveland Institute of Electronics with their Bachelors of Electronics Engineering Technology program and slowly making progress to achieving that in a formal sense. Outside of that, most oft the projects I have made are inspired by things I have liked or just find plain interesting to do. Many were based on Adafruit, which was the first hobbyist site I came across and was able to make and replicate some of their projects, if not putting my own spin to them. Still the best one on my own that I am working on on and off definitely is my UAV Tricopter which I am thankful had worked and left the ground. More shaking down is needed, but I am glad I just got that far.

With work for my dad full time, I am also part of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, and sometimes do carry out support missions for the station where I am currently. So far that does entail being a communications watchstander, which is basically alerting the crew to emergencies on the lake to answering phones and piping messages in a basic sense. I have been with them for nine years going on ten in September of this year, but the good thing is that I will never be rotated out and likely be the history of that station.

So with that small introduction there, what project could I likely make? Well I do have the parts for one so far and it would be complex.

I had bought a resin fiberglass shell and the aluminum back-plane for an original Ghostbusters proton pack.

This has been in my closet for quite some time, however, I have the 3D printed parts I have made plus the working MP3 sound triggering boards to the LEDs and associated sound effects to play when triggered

I don't know how original or if this is something to be allowed, I just know it's laying here on my floor as we speak and I feel would be and excellent project to do, document and film seeing most videos show-off such a project but do show how to make one if one were to do this for a cosplay event or some sci-fi con. I believe I could do this within the two weeks mentioned. It should be a fun build between the 3D printing, wiring and soldering of electronics and let alone some of the programming for the sound effects to all interconnect to make a working proton pack.

Nobble intends to Hack Like Heck (And DOES!)

nobble — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 21:51:39 GMT

VOTE FOR ME BY CLICKING HERE AND LIKING THE PAGE!

Hello Element 14 and TBHS! My name is Elliot, aka Nobble,

I am very excited to announce that I am entering the Hack Like Heck Contest! I am an electronics wiz at the age of 24 that knows how to do some crazy projects! With my drive to create, build, destroy, fix, and modify electronics and handheld devices, I feel confident enough to handle a project like a Raspberry Pi Portable (again!).

In my early years as a modder, I watched Ben and other portablizer enthusiasts online make these amazing handhelds with TV consoles and batteries. The soft, malleable fat-mass inside my head instantly was on fire! I had to do this TOO!!! So I decided to build a Portable SNES. Worked great, except for I had an external battery pack...welp. The second try was a N64p, that worked better! I ended up making 2 of those and moved on to a X360 laptop. I have a knack for "Frankencasing" my projects together and love a challenge!

Currently I am working on building and documenting a 2-in-1 Wii / Pi Zero W portable console for my YouTube Channel. I dubbed it the Wiikipad Switch because I am building it out of the Gamevice Wikipad Controller (DON'T SUE Mii..). You can check out my work log HERE. Also, I am planning on making a Gameboy Pi soon!

I also made a Hackaday Project Page dedicated to this contest where I will post all my project updates!

Here is the required information for my entry:

I intend to make a video that shows me creating a working project
I will post the video on the element14 Community by the submission deadline
If my video is one of the top 10 finalists I will receive $500 for my video

Here is the less than 60 seconds entry video I submitted.

www.youtube.com/watch

And here is my extended version that shows more of my projects!

www.youtube.com/watch

BIG THANKS TO BEN HECK AND THE TEAM! You are all a huge inspiration to me and my work, especially early on.

I hope you like my video entries and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with!

Follow me for more future builds!

-nobble