Hacked Gadgets was sent a GPS Tracking Key Pro by Land Air Sea to review. There are many GPS device types available these days, this one acquires a GPS signal and records the time and location of the device to internal memory. Later the system is connected to a computer and the data is retrieved from the device. There are two ways to view the data in text form, or you can view the data on Google Earth. When viewing the data as text it shows things such as locations that the device was, driving time, stop time and distances traveled. When Google Earth is used you are presented a map with routes shown on the maps, there are tacks in the map that indicate where stops were made. Clicking on the tack shows when you arrived there and how long you were there for.

The tracking system is very small and light. There is two openings, one is protected by a rubber flap, this is where the USB cable is plugged. The other opening is where the two AA batteries are housed. The battery housing is sealed with a rubber gasket. While this device is not waterproof they have gone to considerable measures to keep the elements out.

There is a magnet on the unit that is there to facilitate affixing the unit to a vehicle. I don’t think I would trust the magnet to hold the device in place to the exterior of a vehicle though. While the magnet is quite strong a few well placed potholes would be sure to dislodge it from a wheel well of a vehicle. The other issue is the placement of the magnet, it is mounted to the battery compartment which is a removable part of the unit. I have never had the battery compartment open when it was being bumped around but I’m not sure what would happen with a few good jolts. I would hate to retrieve the unit and find only the battery lid left behind.

There are lots of other places that you can place the device though and not have to worry about the magnet holding though, I tried it in the glove box, my pocket, dash board, center console, in the wife’s purse (She put it in there) and it worked fine in all those locations.

The supplied software was simple to install and the manual indicated that Google Earth was also needed, both of these software packages were simple to install.

There are two small lights on the unit, one green LED indicated power and the other one flashes when the system is recieving a GPS signal. When in my basement it doesn’t get a signal but when it was upstairs on the kitchen table which is about 5 feet from a large window it got a signal and was flashing away.

There was only one time in the day of testing where the vehicle was driven out of a parking lot after about 1/2 hour of shopping and about 400 feet of driving was not recorded. Since the unit goes into a low power standby mode when it is at rest I can only assume that it took awhile to scync up to the satelites and that’s what caused the gap in data. Have a look at the image below to see what that gap looks like when viewed on Google Earth (Portage Ave. image).

Overall I was impressed at how small and robust the unit is. If you are looking for a method of tracking the movement of a vehicle this works well. I would just not recommend using the magnet to affix to the outside of a vehicle.

These devices are good for Fleet Management since if your employees know that you will have a GPS tracking where they drive your vehicle all day they are less likely to abuse their vehicle privileges.

The Cornell University ECE 5760 Advanced Microcontroller course is done! As usual there are lots of interesting creations that have full documentation for us to have a look at. There are 10 projects posted (2 of them still need the project details to be added). This time there is a great variety of projects, everything from realtime face tracking to this Velocity Sensitive Digital Piano by Chris McNally and Joe Kerekes. Be sure to have a look at the projects if you are looking for some inspiring ideas.

Thanks to Bruce Land for allowing these projects to be shared with all of us!

"Our project is a velocity sensitive hardware based piano. We simulated two strings per note using a Karplus Strong algorithm written in Verilog, and coupled it with a Casio electric piano keyboard fitted with custom switches to act as a user interface. On an Altera DE2 board we built a hardware Karplus-Strong synthesizer to simulate a piano key with two strings, along with a hardware timer. The timer was used to determine the key push’s velocity, which in turn affected the volume level of the synthesized sound. The keyboard fed into the DE2 using the board’s GPIO ports. "

rotating kitchen from Zeger Reyers on Vimeo.

You got to love art, this kitchen will be rotating for 3 months. I wonder how it will smell in the end? Looks like this art exhibit was built with the same criteria that I develop projects with, it needs to be fun an interesting but not necessarily serve a purpose. At first I though how boring is this, they have glued everything in place and just like when filming an upside down scene in the movies everything remains in place. Well I was wrong, it is fun to see everything crash about as it does a full rotation! Below is a time lapse of how they put it together.

installing the rotating kitchen from Zeger Reyers on Vimeo.

This is a good video of the roots of Makerbot. I have one of these on the wish list, I would love to be able to print 3D parts!

"The sign on the door reads MakerBot industries. Inside, boxes line the floors and there is a flurry of activity. A light humming sound fills the air. Machines buzz as they print physical objects that merely minutes before were 3D renderings on a computer screen."

 This is a project that I have been working on, it is just completed and ready to go! The video may be a bit dry since it is just going over the features and how to use the controller. If you want to see it interfaced to a rotary phone have a look at around 7:40 minutes into the video.

The Button Code is a system that allows a single button to act as a keypad. The user enters a 4 digit code into the system using button taps. The button can be placed where the public can access it since like a keypad there are many combinations to keep guessers from activation the system. When the correct code is entered a form-C relay is activated (Normally Open and Normally Closed relay contacts). When activated it can either activate for a programmed time or simply toggle the output whenever the correct code is entered.

This simple circuit allow for simple control of things such as:

• Garage Door Openers – Pulse the door open button for a second to operate.
• Lighting – Toggle to turn on, toggle to turn off.
• Door Access – Pulse the door lock for 3 or 4 seconds.
• Simple Security System – Toggle  alarm power on or off.

To purchase this controller please have a look at our online store.

You might remember the vintage looking 9 volt battery box. This Electromagnetic Field Detector is another old new device by Hacked Gadgets Forum member JingleJoe. Have a look at the forum thread for lots more pictures and some more videos. If you want to purchase it you are in luck, it was just posted on eBay!

"The wood started new, but I gave it my patented aging process and now you can see for yourself that it looks 100 years old! The meter is a genuinely old one, rewired to show the fields detected. The device runs on 9 volts of raw, untamed electricity from a battery compartment in the side, I built the inner circuitry from parts I scaveneged from old circuit boards, it works a charm! I made sure to use solid brass nails and brass screws in construction of the case. The main electromagnetic detector is made from a pan handle, it is connected to the main device by fabric-flex (made form a shoelace ) "

Have a look at this great video footage that is over at Curious Inventor. It was recorded at a SMT soldering class where a skillet was used to heat the board to flow the solder paste. It still fascinates me how well the parts magically align themselves! If you are looking for soldering skillet information, have a look at the article we did about the Adafruit skillet. Another popular method is reflowing with a toaster oven.