While attempting to understand the mess of wires that is the Apollo-era space program Up-Data Link Confidence Test Set, Ken Shirriff decided to automate the manual probing process with an automatic connection tracing system that he calls the Beep-o-matic.

Ken Shirriff’s blog is a veritable smorgasbord of fascinating in-depth retrocomputing content, and he also documents his work extensively on Twitter. His reverse engineering of the Apollo Guidance Computer is a particularly fascinating project, and it is here that our humble Teensy 4.1 comes into play!

By combining three 16-bit PCA9555A GPIO chips with the appropriate connectors and a Teensy 4.1 over I2C, Ken can scan through all 47 pins in under a second, rather than laboriously listening for a multimeter beep while probing each manually.

A couple of Python scripts capture and process the output, and voila, you have … an extremely specific tool that is unlikely to be of use to anyone else on the planet? However! The same concept could certainly be applied to other reverse engineering problems, so take a look at the project details and code on GitHub, and let us know if you end up adapting the idea for other uses!

This device from AlexRH really caught our eye: the RH Electronics Nuclear Pioneer Multichannel Analyzer (MCA) Gamma Spectrometer. Based on the Teensy 3.5, the MCA can function as both a gamma ray spectrometer and a scintillation counter survey meter.

Gamma spectrometers work by detecting gamma energy from radioactive decay via a scintillation probe. The MCA can detect radioactive elements and automatically identify isotopes on a range of 32keV-3000keV.

With high-voltage regulated power module featuring an adjustable output of 600-1000V, the device can be connected to an external photomultiplier tube, plus has a 400V regulated power supply for an internal Geiger counter.

Read more about its capabilities on the RH Electronics web site, or check out the video below for a detailed demonstration.

Connecting to the Commodore 64 or 128 expansion port like a “normal” cartridge, TeensyROM from Sensorium adds ROM emulation, Internet, and even USB MIDI to some of the 1980’s most popular 8-bit machines.

We love seeing Teensy boards being used to give old hardware new superpowers, and the TeensyROM is a fantastic example of this!

TeensyROM emulates ROMs loaded from a USB thumb drive (via USB Host port), the Teensy’s mSD slot, or internal flash. USB Host is also used for MIDI in/out, allowing you to for example play the C64’s legendary SID chip with a MIDI keyboard using Cynthcart software.

An RJ-45 jack means you can connect to your favorite Telnet BBS via 38.4k modem emulation, as well as update system time using an Internet Time Server, like modern OSes. You can even load games via NFC tags, as shown in the video below! Source, schematics, and more can be found on the project’s GitHub repo.

We’ve seen Teensy boards in rockets, satellites, and more, but the first step of getting space-bound is developing a reliable engine.

Georgia Tech’s student-run Yellow Jacket Space Program enlisted three proud Teensy 3.6s in their mission to develop a liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine, the YJ-1S.

The first Teensy is used as a switchboard to control individual valves within the engine, as well as initiate engine startup and firing sequences. The engine controller uses another two Teensy boards to communicate with the switchboard and take control of the engine valves once initiated.

The results in the video below speak for themselves, and demonstrate the engine meeting its 790 pounds of force thrust target.

PJRC forum member pgi has created an impressive Teensy LC-based MIDI foot switch controller named BigFoot.

The elegant stacked-PCB system features eight assignable footswitches, bank selection, two expression pedal connectors with TRS/RTS switch, USB MIDI in/out, and MIDI DIN out.

Plan is to later build a full enclosure that will strengthen the structure.

Source code, schematics and BOM can be found on GitHub.

The Sketchy Maker wanted to do something big for Star Wars day, but with only two weeks to put it together, this was a rather tall order.

The idea of a giant LEGO Luke Skywalker with working lightsaber came to mind, and thankfully a Teensy 3.2 and Prop Shield was at hand, greatly facilitating the electronic aspects of the project.

The minifig itself is 3d-printed, with a servo to move the lightsaber-toting arm up and down. Ninety WS2812B LEDs light said saber, and a small speaker adds sound effects. The Sketchy Maker finished the project in time for its May the Fourth debut, and put it on display for the local community to enjoy.

Swedish sound designer Christian wanted to jam with other musicians using Ableton Live, but it wasn’t working. Instead of playing cooperatively, it seemed like everyone would end up in their own little bubbles, locked in a volume arms race that typically results in one big sonic mess.

The solution? Custom controllers to gather loops from everyone, all orchestrated by a Teensy 3.5.

The resulting setup gives each musician their own channels, with someone controlling the overall mix, as well as their own sync button, headphone monitoring, and ability to contribute clips on the fly. The controllers connect to the Teensy via ethernet, which in turn talks to the host computer via a Max patch over USB serial using Open Sound Control (OSC) to talk to Ableton.

Clips start playing as soon as they are recorded, and looping status is indicated by eight RGB LEDs (red when recording, green while playing). Like a DJ cuing up the next track, the central knob acts as a crossfader, allowing the performer to experiment using headphones while only the loop is heard by the audience. Find out more about this unique system on Hackaday, or see it in action in the video below.

When Jim Harvey aka WB8NBS finally got his hands on an 64×64 RGB LED matrix, the question quickly became what to do with it. Experimentation with libraries and examples eventually led to the notion of a digital clock, and ultimately to Jim’s Sand Clock or “Clock with Benefits.”

Based on a Teensy 3.6, this unique timepiece adds some interesting features to the traditional timekeeping appliance.

A SmartMatrix SmartLED Shield provides the glue between the Teensy and the panel, and Phil Burgess’ PixelDust library powers an hourglass mode, plus a fun bonus illustrated in the video below. Learn more on Jim’s blog, or grab the code from Dropbox.

Teensy forum member Jean-Marc, who you may recall from his Teensy 4.0 Atari 520ST Emulator, is back with some exciting updates on the project.

For starters, as fun as it is to output the display to a tiny 320×240 TFT screen, some tasks are more practical on a “real” monitor — which is now possible thanks to the addition of VGA output.

In addition to its groundbreaking GEM-based GUI, the ST excelled in audio, with Cubase and Logic Pro both originating on the platform. Two standard 5-pin DIN MIDI ports allowed the computer to talk to other instruments as well, and thanks to Teensy’s USB MIDI support, sequencers running in the emulator can also output to real MIDI devices (with the appropriate dongles).

Complete project details and updates can be found on GitHub. Note that a Teensy 4.1 with PSRAM added is required for full 640×400 display resolution.

 

 

 

Teensy boards power all manner of commercial products, being an ideal solution for high-speed data acquisition, and we were particularly excited by this system from Bolder Flight Systems.

BFS CEO Brian Taylor shared this Teensy 3.6-based unit, which was developed in conjunction with the International Test Pilots School (ITPS) to facilitate test pilot and flight test engineer training on fixed or rotary-wing aircraft.The system logs inertial navigation data, airspeed, altitude, temperature, and 12 additional analog channels at a rate of 200Hz, with GNSS satellite integration to aid the accuracy of inertial data. The analog channels can be used for measuring pilot stick force or control surface positions. The unit is USB-powered and easily installed, with a web-based interface for real-time data viewing and configuration. More information can be found on the BFS web site.