🇸🇰 La notizia di oggi in questa parte d'Europa è il voto sulla mozione di sfiducia al governo slovacco che si terrà nelle prossime ore. Difficile che passi, ma è il sintomo che per Fico le cose non stanno andando proprio benissimo.

A portare al voto di oggi è stato il viaggio a Mosca prima di Natale, in cui il premier slovacco è andato a chiedere aiuto a Putin a fronte dell'imminente stop al transito del gas russo, deciso da Kyiv, attraverso il territorio ucraino.

La mossa di Fico non è piaciuta a Hlas, il partito del presidente Pellegrini, alleato di governo, che teme una deriva antieuropa e anti NATO. Le opposizioni hanno come si suol dire, fiutato il sangue, e annunciato la mozione di sfiducia.

Una decina di giorni fa una partecipata manifestazione, a Bratislava ma anche in altre città della Slovacchia, aveva manifestato aperto dissenso verso le politiche di Fico, più preoccupato ad accattivarsi il benvolere di Putin che a governare il Paese.

A cavalcare questo momento è Michal Šimečka, leader di Slovacchia Progressista, principale partito di opposizione, che secondo i sondaggi oggi sarebbe il primo partito con il 23,9% delle preferenze. (Smer il partito di Fico è al 18%).

Come detto, è difficile che la mozione di oggi passi. I deputati di Hlas non sembrano intenzionati ad appoggiarla, tuttavia le possibilità non stanno a zero.

Formalmente oggi la maggioranza è di un solo deputato (76 su 150), per quanto i tre ribelli ultranazionalisti continuino comunque a votare in linea col governo.

Insomma, nella piccola Slovacchia non ci si annoia mai.

There are a huge number of manufacturers building awesome radio-controlled cars these days. However, sometimes you just have to go your own way. That’s what [snamle] did with this awesome 3D-printed RC car—and the results are impressive.

This build didn’t just aim to build something that looked vaguely car-like and whizzed around on the ground. Instead, it was intended to give [snamle] the opporunity to explore the world of vehicle dynamics—learning about weight distribution, suspension geometry, and so many other factors—and how these all feed into the handling of a vehicle. The RC side of things is all pretty straightforward—transmitter, receiver, servos, motors, and a differential were all off-the-shelf. But the chassis design, the steering, and suspension are all bespoke—designed by [snamle] to create a car with good on-road handling and grip.

It’s a small scale testbed, to be sure. Regardless, there’s no better way to learn about how a vehicle works on a real, physical level—you can’t beat building one with your own two hands and figuring out how it works.

It’s true, we see a lot of 3D printed RC cars around these parts. Many are built with an eye to robotics experimentation or simply as a learning exercise. This one stands out for its focus on handling and performance, and of course that nicely-designed suspension system. Video after the break.

youtube.com/embed/yxx4tnBufh8?…

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/3d-pri…

For better or worse it seems to be human nature to compete with one another, as individuals or teams, rather than experience contentedness while moving to the woods and admiring nature Thoreau-style. On the plus side, competition often results in benefits for all of us, driving down costs for everything from agriculture to medical care to technology. Although perhaps a niche area of competition, the realm of “smallest USB device” seems to have a new champion: this PCB built by [Emma] that’s barely larger than the USB connector pads themselves.

With one side hosting the pads to make contact with a standard USB type-A connector, the other side’s real estate is taken up by a tiny STM32 microcontroller, four phototransistors that can arm or disarm the microcontroller, and a tiny voltage regulator that drops the 5V provided by the USB port to the 3.3V the STM32 needs to operate. This is an impressive amount of computing power for less than three millimeters of vertical space, and can operate as a HID device with a wide variety of possible use cases.

Perhaps the most obvious thing to do with a device like this would be to build a more stealthy version of this handy tool to manage micromanagers, but there are certainly other tasks that a tiny HID can be put to use towards. And, as far as the smallest USB device competition goes, we’d also note that USB-A is not the smallest connector available and, therefore, the competition still has some potential if someone can figure out how to do something similar with an even smaller USB connector.

Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip!

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/smalle…

Once upon a time, lathes were big heavy machines driven by massive AC motors, hewn out of cast iron and sheer will. Today, we have machine tools of all shapes and sizes, many of which are compact and tidy DIY creations. [Maxim Kachurovskiy]’s Modulathe fits the latter description nicely.

The concept behind the project was simple—this was to be a modular, digital lathe that was open-source and readily buildable on a DIY level, without sacrificing usability. To that end, Modulathe is kitted out to process metal, wooden, and plastic parts, so you can fabricate in whatever material is most appropriate for your needs.

It features a 125 mm chuck and an MT5 spindle, and relies on 15 mm linear rails, 12 mm ball screws, and NEMA23 stepper motors. Because its modular, much of the rest of the design is up to you. You can set it up with pretty much any practical bed length—just choose the right ball screw and rail to achieve it. It’s also set up to work however you like—you can manually operate it, or use it for CNC machining tasks instead.

If you want a small lathe that’s customizable and CNC-ready, this might be the project you’re looking for. We’ve featured some other similar projects in this space, too. Do your research, and explore! If you come up with new grand machine tools of your own design, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thanks to [mip] for the tip!

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/modula…

Una volta, internet era libero.

Era un tempo in cui il web rappresentava la frontiera illimitata del sapere e della comunicazione, un mondo senza confini geografici, dove ogni individuo, a prescindere dalla propria nazionalità, razza o religione, poteva sentirsi “cittadino del mondo“.

Tutte le risorse erano accessibili e i siti web di qualsiasi regione del globo si aprivano con un semplice clic. Era il sogno di Tim Berners Lee. Questo senso di libertà digitale ci univa, rendendoci partecipi di un’era in cui la connessione era sinonimo di progresso e di globalizzazione.

Quando in Italia si cominciò a utilizzare internet in modo massiccio, era l’epoca della caduta del muro di Berlino e della Perestrojka. Ci sentivamo più sicuri, lontani dalle ombre di guerre e divisioni. Sembrava che il mondo stesse abbandonando le barriere di cemento, i nazionalismi e l’intransigenza, aprendo la strada a un futuro di connessione e di libertà condivisa.

Era davvero bello!

Ma la storia ci insegna che nulla di prezioso rimane immutato nel tempo e l’essere umano si rivela capace di compromettere qualsiasi innovazione dirompente e democratizzante. Soprattutto quelle che portano uguaglianza e prosperità diffusa. Purtroppo la sete di potere prevale dietro ogni ideale di progresso condiviso e una nuova Cortina Di Ferro Digitale sta calando sul mondo.

Con l’evolversi dell’economia globale, internet è diventato una parte integrante dell’economia di numerose nazioni. La potenza economica degli Stati Uniti, per decenni il faro del web, ha iniziato a vacillare di fronte all’ascesa di nuove superpotenze tecnologiche. Tra queste, la Cina che si è distinta per la sua rapidissima espansione economica e digitale, imponendosi come leader in settori strategici.

E tutto cambiò…

Il Campo di Battaglia Cibernetico e La Cortina Di Ferro Digitale

Con l’emergere di nuove potenze, lo scontro tra stati si è trasferito dalla fredda terra sul terreno digitale. È nata la guerra cibernetica, una nuova forma di conflitto che non si combatte con le armi convenzionali, ma con il codice sfruttando le reti come campo di battaglia e flotte di esercito di hacker.

Si, gli Hacker di stato, che attaccano le infrastrutture critiche di altri stati, effettuano spionaggio per rubare proprietà intellettuale per migliorare le proprie tecnologie e quindi controspionaggio. La guerra cibernetica è diventata uno strumento geopolitica e di influenza. In risposta a questa realtà, le nazioni hanno iniziato a costruire barriere digitali per proteggere i propri interessi e a limitare l’influenza esterna.

Uno dei primi esempi di questa segregazione digitale è stato il progetto Runet della Russia, una rete internet sovrana progettata per operare indipendentemente dal web globale. L’idea alla base della Runet è quella di isolare il segmento russo da eventuali interferenze straniere, garantendo al Cremlino un controllo totale su ciò che i cittadini possono vedere e fare online.

Internet quindi iniziò ad essere diviso.

A seguito della guerra in Ucraina e delle tensioni geopolitiche, il fenomeno si è esteso ulteriormente. Sanzioni digitali, blocchi di piattaforme occidentali in Russia e la restrizione di TikTok negli Stati Uniti sono solo alcuni esempi di come internet sia diventato frammentato. Non si tratta più di un’unica rete globale, ma di tante reti nazionali che riflettono la politica, l’economia e le paure dei loro governi.

Le VPN: L’Ultima Frontiera della Libertà Digitale

Di fronte a queste restrizioni, le persone hanno trovato il modo di aggirare i muri digitali. Hanno imparato a utilizzare software come le VPN (Virtual Private Network), strumenti che, grazie all’anonimato, consentono di oltrepassare queste barriere e riconnettersi al mondo. Questi strumenti permettono di connettersi a server in altre nazioni, mascherando la propria posizione reale e consentendo l’accesso ai contenuti bloccati all’interno dei loro segmenti di rete.

In Russia, chi desidera accedere a YouTube, Facebook o altre piattaforme vietate si affida alle VPN. Negli Stati Uniti, per poter accedere a TikTok, si inizia a pensare alle VPN dopo la recente legislazione che ha bandito l’app cinese dal 19 gennaio. E non sono solo questi due paesi: le VPN sono diventate essenziali per milioni di utenti in tutto il mondo, rappresentando un’ancora di salvezza contro la censura.

Tecnologie come le VPN e il TOR Browser, un tempo utilizzate prevalentemente da attivisti, dissidenti e giornalisti in cerca di libertà, oggi si stanno diffondendo a macchia d’olio. Questa crescente adozione non è solo un fenomeno tecnologico, ma un chiaro indicatore di come la censura stia rapidamente dilagando su internet. I muri digitali, un tempo eccezioni, stanno diventando la norma, e tutto lascia presagire che nei prossimi anni internet non sarà più una rete unica e condivisa. Al contrario, rischia di frammentarsi sempre di più, assumendo una struttura partizionata che riflette la geografia politica mondiale.

Il TOR Browser, progettato per garantire una navigazione anonima, è sempre più popolare tra chi cerca di superare queste barriere. Tuttavia, il fatto stesso che strumenti di anonimato e bypass siano diventati necessari per riconquistare anche solo un frammento della libertà originaria di internet è il segnale di un allontanamento drammatico dall’ideale iniziale. Internet, nato come spazio senza confini, sta diventando sempre più un mosaico di reti isolate, plasmato da interessi politici, economici e strategici.

Il Sogno Infranto di Tim Berners-Lee

Quando Tim Berners-Lee concepì il World Wide Web, immaginava un mondo unito, dove la conoscenza e la comunicazione avrebbero abbattuto i confini fisici e culturali. Oggi, invece, internet è segregato, prigioniero di muri digitali costruiti sull’intransigenza, il nazionalismo e la paura.

Storicamente, i muri, siano essi di cemento o digitali, non hanno mai portato a soluzioni durature. Hanno diviso, alimentato l’odio e impedito la cooperazione necessaria per affrontare le sfide globali. La frammentazione del web sta riflettendo un mondo incapace di dialogare, di condividere risorse e di lavorare insieme per il bene comune.

La geopolitica delle VPN racconta una triste storia già conosciuta: quella di un’umanità che, incapace di trovare nuovi equilibri, preferisce costruire nuovi muri anziché superare gli ostacoli costruendo ponti. Ma questi muri, come tutti quelli eretti nel corso della storia, sono destinati a essere abbattuti, spesso al costo di sofferenza, paura e caos. Nell’immediato, costruirli è conveniente senza dubbio, una soluzione rapida per proteggere interessi e consolidare potere. Tuttavia, il peso delle conseguenze viene lasciato sulle spalle delle generazioni future, come se il domani e il futuro dei nostri figli fosse un problema da affrontare in un altro momento.

Finché esisteranno strumenti come le VPN e TOR, il sogno di un internet libero e globale non sarà completamente perduto. Tuttavia, la vera sfida rimane per i potenti del pianeta sempre la stessa: imparare a convivere in un mondo affollato ed interconnesso, superando le divisioni per costruire un futuro migliore e prospero per tutti. Nessuno escluso.

L'articolo Cortina di Ferro Digitale: Come Le Sanzioni e i Muri Digitali Stanno Spaccando Nuovamente il Mondo proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Civati-Druetti (Possibile): Soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza e sul Jobs Act.

“C’è soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza, dopo la verifica sull’ammissibilità del quesito”. Lo dichiarano Giuseppe Civati e Francesca Druetti, fondatore e segretaria di Possibile, partito promotore del quesito insieme a +Europa, Psi, Radicali, Rifondazione Comunista e le associazioni di italiane e italiani senza cittadinanza.

“Con il parere positivo della Corte — continuano Civati e Druetti — la parola ora torna a cittadine e cittadini, che già durante la campagna di raccolta firme hanno partecipato con entusiasmo, speranza, rabbia. Adesso inizia un percorso, intenso e affascinante, di partecipazione democratica su un tema che ci sta molto a cuore, senza dimenticare i referendum sul lavoro, che abbiamo attivamente sostenuto e che vanno nella direzione di quelli che avevamo promosso nel 2015, la prima mobilitazione del nostro partito quando è stato fondato.”

C’è una grande opportunità davanti a noi per migliorare il Paese su questioni fondamentali per la vita delle persone, su cui sono stati registrati passi indietro negli ultimi anni o un dibattito stantio che ha lasciato invariata una situazione che ha lasciato milioni di persone senza un diritto basilare. Lavoreremo con la nostra comunità perché il nostro Paese la colga fino in fondo.”

“Rimane la questione dell’autonomia differenziata, una legge sbagliata a cui ci opponiamo in ogni sua forma, e sulla cui abrogazione la cittadinanza non sarà chiamata a esprimersi. Continueremo a contrastare le norme che minacciano l’unità del paese e aumentano le diseguaglianze territoriali e tra le persone, come abbiamo sempre fatto”.

L'articolo Civati-Druetti: Soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza e sul Jobs Act proviene da Possibile.

You know (or maybe you didn’t), I get super excited when y’all use the links at the bottom of this round-up we call Keebin’ to communicate with your old pal Kristina about your various labors of love. So just remember that.

Case in point: I was typing up this very issue when I heard from [Jay Crutti] and [Marcel Erz]. Both are out there making replacement keyboards for TRS-80s — [Jay] for Models 3 and 4, and [Marcel] for the Model 1. Oooh, I said to myself. This is going at the top.

A TRS-80 Model 4. Image by [Jay Crutti] via JayCrutti.comRelevant tangent time: I remember in the 90s having a pile of computers in my parents’ basement of various vintages, a TRS-80 Model 2 among them. (Did I ever tell you about the time I got pulled over for speeding with a bunch of different computers in the backseat? I was like no, officer, first of all, those are old machines that no one would really want, and I swear I didn’t steal them.)

I think the TRS-80 is probably the one I miss the most. If I still had it, you can bet I would be using [Jay] and [Marcel]’s work to build my own replacement keyboard, which the 40-year-old machine would likely need at this point if the Model 4 is any indication with its failing keyboard contacts.

To create the replacements, [Jay] used Keyboard Layout Editor (KLE), Plate & Case Builder, and EasyEDA. Using the schematic from the maintenance manual, he matched the row/column wiring of the original matrix with Cherry MX footprints. Be sure to check out [Jay]’s site for a link to the project files, or to purchase parts or an assembled keyboard. On the hunt for TRS-80 parts in general? Look no further than [Marcel]’s site.

Keyboards On the Molekula Level

While some focus aesthetically on keyboards, or on comfort, [zzeneg] is simultaneously rocking both and coming up with new keyboard frameworks. Take the open-source Molekula for example.

Image by [zzeneg] via reddit[zzeneg] really digs modular keyboards and especially the VIK standard for interfacing data between PCBs, which calls for an FPC 12-pin, 0.5 mm pitch connector.

The big idea with molekula and future keyboards is to have dumb sides and a smart central module that does the braining and the hosting. Additionally, [zzeneg]’s plan is to keep the central PCBs’ footprint under 100 mm² in order to make it more affordable for experimentation. You can see this in the third photo of the gallery.

There are a couple of cool things going on in addition to the modularity — the switch footprints cover pretty much anything you’d want to use, and [zzeneg] left the hot swap sockets exposed around back. This thing is just cool through and through.

Via reddit

The Centerfold: Alice, 1989 Style

Image by [Brooklick] via redditI wouldn’t mind being chained to [Brooklick]’s desk for a while. Would you? What I can tell you is that this is an Alice keyboard, and that those are 1989 keycaps and switches. Don’t get too excited unless you also have an Alice; according to [Brooklick], the Space bars are crap, although they do look good.

Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!

Historical Clackers: the Chicago No. 3

At first glance, the Chicago No. 3 looks a bit like a car that’s missing a bumper. But then you look again and see it sitting on round feet firmly planted behind the frame-less keyboard and think, it might be kind of nice to type on this one. And without that extra iron, it’s probably pretty light and portable, too.
Image via The Antikey Chop
Given all of that, the No. 3 does have an interesting WERTY layout, with the ‘Q’ appearing on the bottom row. So did the model that sold concurrently, the No. 1 (which did have a frame around the keyboard). The base of the No. 3 was slotted, which made it even lighter to carry around.

Additionally, the two models had different ribbon mechanisms. The No. 3 used a 3/8″ ribbon that fed through those vertically-oriented spools, which is something I haven’t seen before. The No. 3 had two additional keys — a Backspace and a Margin Release. Whereas the No. 1 cost $35, the No. 3 went for $50 in early 1900s money (about $1,600 today).

Functionally speaking, the two were quite similar. In addition to both having a WERTY keyboard, they each used a typesleeve — a cylindrical component that can be swapped out, much like the IBM Selectric’s golf ball type element — and a hammer to print. Interestingly enough, in order to use either model, the typist had to turn the safety off by pulling a “hammer extension arm” on the left side before typing. Hopefully, nothing terrible happened if you forgot to do this.

And What Do We Think of Hardware Layers?

Madden was here. Image via AutoKeybo
Wow. This might actually be a good use of image recognition; I am undecided. It certainly looks cool at first blush, anyway. And I hope it makes a little zhoop! sound in the process of working.

Okay, so, imagine you’re sitting there at your split keyboard and need to mouse or enter some digits real fast. With this number, all you have to do is stretch out your fingers for a second and whoosh — the QWERTY retracts, and in its place comes a 10-key on the left and a mouse on the right.

That’s the power of AutoKeybo. Here, watch the demo video. It’s only nine seconds long.

youtube.com/embed/GXim-IJ4EXc?…

So, let’s start with the obvious. This is supposed to be an ergonomic keyboard, given that you don’t have to move your hand over to mouse. But you do have to rest your arms on a big plastic box that’s two keyboards tall, and that probably isn’t good for you. But it is split, and the sides are angled toward one another, so there’s that.

The cool part is that the trays move independently, so you just stretch out whichever hand is hiding what you need to use real quick. It would be nice to access the mouse without losing the left half of the keyboard. Don’t ask me why, it just would. Just so you wouldn’t have to move both hands.

Okay, so how does it work already? Basically, there’s a built-in camera that detects the splaying of your fingers to trigger the switch. It has a Raspberry Pi 5 doing all of the crunching, which of course you could use as a standalone computer. Here’s a report from someone else who tried it out at CES.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly.

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/keebin…

[Maurycyz] points out right up front: several of the reagents used are very corrosive and can produce toxic gasses. We weren’t sure if they were trying to dissuade us not to replicate it or encourage us to do so. The project in question is making strontium aluminate which, by the way, glows in the dark.

The material grows strongly for hours and, despite the dangers of making it, it doesn’t require anything very exotic. As [Maurycyz] points out, oxygen and aluminum are everywhere. Strontium sounds uncommon, but apparently, it is used in ceramics.

For the chemists among us, there’s an explanation of how to make it by decomposing soluble nitrate salts. For the rest of us, the steps are to make aluminum hydroxide using potassium alum, a food preservative, and sodium hydroxide. Then, it is mixed with nitric acid, strontium carbonate, europium, and dysprosium. Those last elements determine the color of the glow.

A drying step removes the acid, followed by dissolving with urea and water. The heat of the reaction wasn’t enough to form the final product, but it took time with an oxy-propane torch to form blobs of strontium aluminate. The product may not have been pure, because it didn’t glow for hours like commercial preparations. But it did manage to glow for a few minutes after light exposure.

We try to limit our chemistry to less toxic substances, although ferric chloride can make a mess. You could probably track down the impurities with a gas chromatograph. What we really want is a glow-in-the-dark car antenna.

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/diy-st…

With the right conditions, this tiny sensor can measure 12 meters
If you need to measure a distance, it is tempting to reach for the ubiquitous ultrasonic module like an HC-SR04. These work well, and they are reasonably easy to use. However, they aren’t without their problems. So maybe try an IR time of flight sensor. These also work well, are reasonably easy to use, and have a different set of problems. I recently had a project where I needed such a sensor, and I picked up a TF-MiniS, which is a popular IR distance sensor. They aren’t very expensive, and they work serial or I2C. So how did it do?

The unit itself is tiny and has good specifications. You can fit the 42 x 15 x 16 mm module anywhere. It only weighs about five grams — as the manufacturer points out, less than two ping-pong balls. It needs 5 V but communicates using 3.3 V, so integration isn’t much of a problem.

At first glance, the range is impressive. You can read things as close as 10 cm and as far away as 12 m. I found this was a bit optimistic, though. Although the product sometimes gets the name of LiDAR, it doesn’t use a laser. It just uses an IR LED and some fancy optics.

How it Works

The simple explanation for how these sensors work is that they bounce light off a target and measure how long it takes to see the reflection. This is oversimplified, but one thing to keep in mind is that light is fast. To measure a millimeter, you need to measure a difference of less than 7 picoseconds. Light travels 1 mm in 3.3 picoseconds, and then the return flight doubles that.
How time of flight works (from the TFmini-S Product Guide)
Because of practical considerations, there are typically a few specialized techniques used. A pulsed sensor turns the illumination on and off and samples pixels to determine the ratio of the overlap in the outbound beam and the reflected light.

It is also possible to sample four measurements on each cycle (that is, four measurements 90 degrees apart) and compute the distance with some fancy trigonometry. TI has a paper that goes into some detail. Or, if you prefer video, they have a video on the topic, too, which you can see below.

youtube.com/embed/TpjnooXhOmY?…

Practical Concerns

Of course, you can’t measure infinitesimally small times, so the sensors are typically blind when you get too close. This sensor claims to be able to read as little as 10 cm. However, if you read closely, you’ll see that if the total distance is under 6 meters, the sensor is only accurate to within plus or minus 6 cm. So at 10 cm, you might read 4 cm to 16 cm, which is a pretty big difference.

Ambient light can affect measurements, too. One thing you might not think about is that it also matters how reflective the target item is. All of these things can reduce the 12-meter range.
You really want a flat target (image from the TFmini-S product manual)
You also have to think about the field of view. The further away something is, the larger it needs to be. At 12 meters, for example, the target has to be at least 42 cm on a side to present a big enough target. At 1 meter, a 3.5 cm side will suffice.

The target must also be fairly flat in the field of view. If the sensor sees a partial reflection at one distance and more reflection at a further distance, you’ll get an inaccurate reading. None of these things are insurmountable, of course.

Connecting isn’t hard. You use the red/black wires for 5 V power. A 3.3 V serial port is on the white and green wires: white is the line the unit receives data on. We’ve read that if you hook these up backwards or overvolt them, they’ll die. We didn’t test that.

Code

It is pretty easy to write some MicroPython code to get some readings. You can download the code to try it out. The heart of it is very simple:
while True:
total_distance = 0
valid_samples = 0
for _ in range(NUM_SAMPLES):
distance, strength, _ = get_lidar_data()
if distance >= 0 and strength >= 100: # throw out "weak" values or errors
total_distance += distance
valid_samples += 1 # only count good values
if valid_samples > 0:
print(total_distance / valid_samples)

By default, the device sends data out frequently. If you want to change things, you can and you can even save your setup so that it will continue to operate to your last settings.

The output is two 0x59 bytes followed by the distance (two bytes), the strength (two bytes, LSB), a device temperature (two bytes), and a checksum. All the two-byte values are least-significant byte first.

Commands all start with 0x5A and the length of the packet. Then there’s a command code, any data the command needs, and a checksum. Many of the commands are fixed, so the checksum is already computed in the documentation for you.

Speaking of documentation, if you want to write your own code, you don’t really need the datasheet. You do want the “Product Manual” from the Benewake website. The commands are all in that document. You can switch to a readout in millimeters or centimeters. You can set how often the system sends data. You can also put it in a polling mode. The slowest you can get data is once per second.

In Use

A simple but effective test setup.
So how did it work? Some informal testing on the bench wasn’t too bad. The error at near distances was within range but pretty bad at about 3 cm. However, it looked relatively constant, so you can account for it in your code. We don’t know if different materials or different sensors would require different offsets, but we’d guess they do.

There was some very small noise in the sensor output, but, honestly, not much. There were no wild results to filter out. Averaging didn’t buy much because the output was pretty stable already.

Conclusion

Like most things, this is a good solution if you need it, but there are other options, and you have to weigh the pros and cons of each method. Of course, you can build your own, which might help you optimize. Sometimes, the ultrasonic sensors are just fine.

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/time-o…