Felix is the perfect example of becoming more comfortable in front of the camera over time. So happy he's more involved in the front end of the show now.
You don't want to make a geocache too easy to find, or someone who doesn't know what's going on might find it and (unfortunately) trash it. Speaking from experience, here. I do have one cache still active that I've hidden. It's been in place for over 11 years now, and people are still finding and logging it.
Brian Smith Aye. I'm not a pro geocacher, and I'm even less qualified at electronics- but the one change I would advise is putting it in a green/dark container.
Hi Ben I have been Geocaching since May 2001. I am a charter member. It is a great activity and fun to do when camping. I have found caches in Nova Scotia (did look for one in the Ukraine but ran out of time) farthest east and Hawaii farthest west. Never had an electronic one.
Benedikt Müssig This is going to get muggled in days. It should be as small as possible and disguised as a rock... I've put relatively expensive caches out; it's always a gamble. If they put it at the lab, chained down?
Jason Patterson Well, if they chain it down, it can still get stolen by someone who really really wants it, but normal people wouldn't take it with them. Another method would be having a cable attached to something and when the cable is cut, it starts some sort of GPS logger that is potted down in the case and reports its location via SMS.
This was a great video, the production and scripting was better than usual (which is pretty good to start with). It was more succinct, and well very well organized, giving the illusion that you were working on the project in a live environment. Good work.
muh1h1 In the old intro it was fine as it was up for a much shorter time. It would be better if he made a new version just had a logo on a white background zoom in slowly or something.
muh1h1 *raises hand* Yep, me too. It really, really shouldn't lag, this is youtube not a video game - It has to have been pre-rendered. I don't understand why they would render it at such a low framerate.
love this one. I picked an arduino last year and found you on RUclips soon after. my motivation is to create an electronic geocache. this video is extremely helpful for the power concerns alone. I want to do a multi where stage 1 is a miniat and a tiny LCD to display coordinate for next stage. power triggered by magnetic switch. would love to see more like this.thank you!
I have only loose understanding of what you do on this show, but it's so damn entertaining to watch. Really wish I would have studied electrical engineering more as a kid.
I would have loved to see this one becoming some small "production run". Like for a client who ordered several of these, cleaning up the designs, ordering boards and making about 5 of them just to show what producing electronics looks like. Would have been really cool
One thing I'd add to it would be a solar charging circuit. I know you didn't want to drill into the case, but, that would greatly extend the life of the geocache.
Ive watched so many of these videos and am always entertained. Love the Felix workbench shot. One request for something that is pretty silly but, for me, really distracts from the videos.. please have Ben clear his throat. some scenes he's clear, others times it sounds like he's gargling ice cream.
You could add a solar panel on to the lid and have a drip-charger charge the battery it would run for years then. Except ofcourse in those Midwest winters that have snow cover the panel for soooo many months ;)
Seen provisions for a electronic latch in the design , but wasn't shown in the final reveal , was there a hidden compartment in the box that opened up to reveal a log book to sign as well ?
That was a very good chromakey at the beginning of the show. Usually YT are not very experienced with proper keying. Only the green spill could be supressed a bit better but hey
Honestly, I could see the ATTiny power controller being useful for making smarter power controllers for Single Board Computers like the Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black.
7:33 What's with that thing Ben used to rub his head with in the Slot loading NES when he was really frusterated with it? And also: with silicon thingies that use lots of power use less voltage than low power thingies. ATmega/tiny: 5V. BeagleBone Black: 3.3V. Intel Xeon E5-2699 v3: around 1V
Pretty cool...could be a fun way to prove who found it 1st...as long as some creep does not break or steal. Those cases are expensive, my little one was like 70 bucks.
I thought they were going to put the buttons on the outside and the code was going to actuate an unlocking mechanism/solenoid so the lid would open. I didn't see that later. Did I misunderstand the purpose of the motor being activated with the initial test?
I know it was more or less the point of the build, but wouldn't it have been easier to simply put in an "ON" switch? That way, the system wouldn't take any power at all, instead of being in sleep mode? P.s.: It would be cool to be able to browse pictures of previous discoverers on the device!
What does this entire project cost? I've used Ammo Boxes as Geocaches before, and usually someone takes it or removes it. Hate to spend a lot of money on a project like this only to have it broke or stolen.
perhaps add contact information, laser etched into the black plastic, a QR code that triggers the email app on your phone, to send a message in case of the battery pack being dead. or if something else is wrong. adding (with spray paint) a geocaching logo to the top lid might be a good idea. This would or could turn out costly, the ability of the cash to "phone home" if somebody used the cash using 3G/4G cell or if possible access via an open WiFi spot nearby. perhaps leaving instructions for the finder to setup a wifi spot on their phone the cash could automagicaly connect to so it could send it's data instead of having to go to the cash to fetch the data. another thought is, why not make the strapping strips go from one side to the other to hold the keyboard instead of "lips"..that way the keyboard can't be pressing into the case.. just to make it a bit more misuse proof
If you were planning on a battery life of 1 month then I think this episode should have been put off for a month to accuratly test it, and also so that you could have posted the pictures and messages of people who found it at the end of the episode.
No, in fact reducing the voltage will actually generate some heat and make it less efficient. However, if you plug 7 volts into a 5v device, there is a very high chance it will break.
I understand this is part of a bigger picture thing but... What would have been wrong with instead of the 2nd board with the ATtiny, just have the BBB directly on the battery with a switch that closes the circuit when you open the lid. If you have some other kind of sensor (when it rains, or at a certain time of day, or when there's noise or something...) that needs to turn the BBB on, then ok, I get it, but for this particular use case, it seems WAY overengineered.
should have put a way bigger battery in there, like a 8S2P NiMH Cell, that way you would be able to put a much bigger screen in without the tipping over problem...
muh1h1 agreed. I probably would have also gone for NiMH for this. no need for small/light batteries here. a possible concern with NiMH at least is that cells are more prone to self-discharge than LiON, which could imply being careful with the choice of cell types (otherwise the batteries will go dead after sitting a few months, so low-self-discharge batteries would be needed). for the use-case, possibly actually non-rechargeable batteries (such as Alkaline) could be better still, as self-discharge isn't really an issue for these. personally, would probably use some alkaline D-cells or similar.
Brendan Bohannon True, but still i think the cells would have lasted longer overall, than that small lithium pack, and also they could be discharged to almost 0V without damaging them. he could have gone way overkill even and put a solar cell ontop, that way that thing would probably never run out of juice...
muh1h1 yeah. as noted, NiMH would probably work well, provided one gets the right type of batteries. a solar cell based charger could also address this.
i got a sorta challenge or request try to make a comadore 64 style laptop were you can swap out hard drive and ram and maybe the cpu also just a request/challenge :P
Felix is the perfect example of becoming more comfortable in front of the camera over time. So happy he's more involved in the front end of the show now.
Indeed thought so too, he does really well
Felix reminds me of Jamie Hyneman. Maybe because he's often the straight guy for Ben's shtick (like Jamie is to Adam on MythBusters).
You don't want to make a geocache too easy to find, or someone who doesn't know what's going on might find it and (unfortunately) trash it. Speaking from experience, here.
I do have one cache still active that I've hidden. It's been in place for over 11 years now, and people are still finding and logging it.
Brian Smith Aye. I'm not a pro geocacher, and I'm even less qualified at electronics- but the one change I would advise is putting it in a green/dark container.
Hi Ben
I have been Geocaching since May 2001. I am a charter member. It is a great activity and fun to do when camping. I have found caches in Nova Scotia (did look for one in the Ukraine but ran out of time) farthest east and Hawaii farthest west. Never had an electronic one.
I absolutely LOVE this project. Very fun! Would love to see more ideas for Geocaches!
Have to love the greenscreen :D
And if this thing would really be out inmthe wild, somebody would absolutely steal it.
Benedikt Müssig This is going to get muggled in days. It should be as small as possible and disguised as a rock... I've put relatively expensive caches out; it's always a gamble. If they put it at the lab, chained down?
Jason Patterson Well, if they chain it down, it can still get stolen by someone who really really wants it, but normal people wouldn't take it with them.
Another method would be having a cable attached to something and when the cable is cut, it starts some sort of GPS logger that is potted down in the case and reports its location via SMS.
This was a great video, the production and scripting was better than usual (which is pretty good to start with). It was more succinct, and well very well organized, giving the illusion that you were working on the project in a live environment. Good work.
am i actually the only one extremely annoyed by the laggy element14 intro? i think it looks so aweful wit its 3fps...
muh1h1 nope ur not alone :)
muh1h1 In the old intro it was fine as it was up for a much shorter time. It would be better if he made a new version just had a logo on a white background zoom in slowly or something.
muh1h1 *raises hand* Yep, me too. It really, really shouldn't lag, this is youtube not a video game - It has to have been pre-rendered.
I don't understand why they would render it at such a low framerate.
+SpaceCadet it has been slowed down because he talks for longer that in the old intro.
James Coyle Couldn't re-render?
Felix is definitely getting better on the camera!
Did anybody else realize they changed their idea on fly and omitted the latching mechanism all together.
love this one. I picked an arduino last year and found you on RUclips soon after. my motivation is to create an electronic geocache. this video is extremely helpful for the power concerns alone. I want to do a multi where stage 1 is a miniat and a tiny LCD to display coordinate for next stage. power triggered by magnetic switch. would love to see more like this.thank you!
error. oled not lcd
can you provide a schematic?
I saw this at Maker Faire Detroit July 25th and 26th. It was pretty cool
Best show yet I concede max is an improvement
glad to see felix become more comfortable with the camera :3
This has to be my favorite episode :D
I have only loose understanding of what you do on this show, but it's so damn entertaining to watch. Really wish I would have studied electrical engineering more as a kid.
I would have loved to see this one becoming some small "production run". Like for a client who ordered several of these, cleaning up the designs, ordering boards and making about 5 of them just to show what producing electronics looks like. Would have been really cool
Love it! Thanks The Ben Heck Show
Seriously? No Game Brains Part 3?! I've been waiting so long...
Did Ben really go outside???
Nice project, how does the beaglebone know to shut down? And how is it instigated?
Benjamin Harvey No, it was a green/blue screen.
2Black Cats Productions phew, he looks like he would burn easily!
Benjamin Harvey check the last 10 seconds, you can see his outtakes in front of the green screen ;)
Ha! Great video! Since he was in Boy Scout gear, I was hoping for a payoff on the "Batten down the hatches!" bit from the opening titles...
Ben,you are my big FAN!
Nice and in depth! You guys have a link for that power supply? I have a couple projects in mind for it.
One thing I'd add to it would be a solar charging circuit. I know you didn't want to drill into the case, but, that would greatly extend the life of the geocache.
Ive watched so many of these videos and am always entertained. Love the Felix workbench shot. One request for something that is pretty silly but, for me, really distracts from the videos.. please have Ben clear his throat. some scenes he's clear, others times it sounds like he's gargling ice cream.
You could add a solar panel on to the lid and have a drip-charger charge the battery it would run for years then. Except ofcourse in those Midwest winters that have snow cover the panel for soooo many months ;)
Video Suggestion: Ben and/or Felix reads Viewer Mail and/or Comments!
that's amazing that's the same code I use on my luggage
***** Isn't that 1,2,3,4 .... 5? ;)
Seen provisions for a electronic latch in the design , but wasn't shown in the final reveal , was there a hidden compartment in the box that opened up to reveal a log book to sign as well ?
Found probably 20+ geocaches while wandering. Never actively looked for them.
fantastic !!!!
More beaglebone projects please!!!!
That was a very good chromakey at the beginning of the show. Usually YT are not very experienced with proper keying.
Only the green spill could be supressed a bit better but hey
Honestly, I could see the ATTiny power controller being useful for making smarter power controllers for Single Board Computers like the Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black.
BeagleBone? Is that something Beagle Bros (Duck Tales) would use to try to steal Scrooge's gold? :D
MotionRide It's the Beagle _Boys_...
Even though Ben was using an AVR Dragon, I like the ATMEL ICE more as its cheaper and still has JTAG, SWD and ISP.
Where is it? I'd like to look it up. I just found my first geocache today!
Nice little project.
By the way, I noticed that you're not using the image stabilizer anymore, the video looks loads better!
I've always thought a cryptex would make for a cool geocache. Once again, requiring a code to open it.
That's a great project. An expensive cache but pretty good :)
Nice, liked at fractions of seconds before....
the only change i would have done since you had to weigh down the box is sticking in more batteries 1 year bfff 5 years is more like it!
Great show!!! They should have put a solar charger in it and then they would have power for years.
Nice new glasses!
wow, I only started Geocaching about 3 weeks ago (already found 70caches and 3 trackables!)
Ah, I remember finding one of these in the park
7:33 What's with that thing Ben used to rub his head with in the Slot loading NES when he was really frusterated with it?
And also: with silicon thingies that use lots of power use less voltage than low power thingies. ATmega/tiny: 5V. BeagleBone Black: 3.3V. Intel Xeon E5-2699 v3: around 1V
Pretty cool...could be a fun way to prove who found it 1st...as long as some creep does not break or steal. Those cases are expensive, my little one was like 70 bucks.
A week after the hitchbot gets mugged you come out with this video. lol
I thought they were going to put the buttons on the outside and the code was going to actuate an unlocking mechanism/solenoid so the lid would open. I didn't see that later. Did I misunderstand the purpose of the motor being activated with the initial test?
OMG! Felix should do Obama impressions on SNL. His voice is dead on.
amazing
Solar panels Ben! Solar panels!
This would be cool to use some sort of solar power unit to charge or run it
I know it was more or less the point of the build, but wouldn't it have been easier to simply put in an "ON" switch? That way, the system wouldn't take any power at all, instead of being in sleep mode?
P.s.: It would be cool to be able to browse pictures of previous discoverers on the device!
now that 301+ has been taken out, we have to actually get there before 301 views. View 60!!
***** They claim that they just took it away, but I was view 60 as well
View 62! :P
Andloo Yunty I'm the 64th viewer!
2Black Cats Productions 67th!
Ilovelazers lol 65
I guess the lock didn't work out?
Cool Love it...
Was Felix wearing Predator camouflage up in those trees?
You seem a little too comfortable in that scouts outfit Ben! Mmm :)
As i watch this, all i can think is "some one will find this and assume it is a bomb."
Somebody might mistake it for a bomb.
I would have added a lipo battery and i would have also put a solar panels to charge it as well
It's nice to see Felix finding his stride on the show and it really sucked when they blew him up on Breaking Bad
Is the box waterproof ?
0.3 mA isnt low sleep voltage through. You need a few pA. Fast with a normal arduino
No solar panel for automatic recharge?
What does this entire project cost? I've used Ammo Boxes as Geocaches before, and usually someone takes it or removes it. Hate to spend a lot of money on a project like this only to have it broke or stolen.
what programming language are you using there? was it c++?
looking at Ben's skin and stomach he doesn't do any out door activities
Has it been registered on www.geocaching.com?
Why dont you use a hardware switch to power up the system the moment the lid is opend?
perhaps add contact information, laser etched into the black plastic, a QR code that triggers the email app on your phone, to send a message in case of the battery pack being dead. or if something else is wrong. adding (with spray paint) a geocaching logo to the top lid might be a good idea. This would or could turn out costly, the ability of the cash to "phone home" if somebody used the cash using 3G/4G cell or if possible access via an open WiFi spot nearby. perhaps leaving instructions for the finder to setup a wifi spot on their phone the cash could automagicaly connect to so it could send it's data instead of having to go to the cash to fetch the data. another thought is, why not make the strapping strips go from one side to the other to hold the keyboard instead of "lips"..that way the keyboard can't be pressing into the case.. just to make it a bit more misuse proof
Felix for God's voice in the next movie ;)
Build a more efficient Virtual Boy that has a head strap, color and more modern first person games like Call of Duty.
what was the purpose of the electronic lock...I dont see where it was used
From the Thumbnail, Ben Heck looks like Old Joseph Joestar
Why not just use more batterys to weigh down the base it would also extend the life between recharging
If you were planning on a battery life of 1 month then I think this episode should have been put off for a month to accuratly test it, and also so that you could have posted the pictures and messages of people who found it at the end of the episode.
What USB camera was used?
Question:
Is it possible to make a well known console like the ps4 from scratch?
The Ben Heck Show ***** : BEST FELIX ACTING EVER!!!! :)
BTW.... What's the keyboard for?
on/off button and timer will be sufficient
You should see if you can mod a full size gaming PC into a portable
Being a noob to electric stuff, does converting dc 7 something volt to 5 give more efficiency? does the battery last longer?
No, in fact reducing the voltage will actually generate some heat and make it less efficient. However, if you plug 7 volts into a 5v device, there is a very high chance it will break.
Im gonna go find this and steal it
I understand this is part of a bigger picture thing but...
What would have been wrong with instead of the 2nd board with the ATtiny, just have the BBB directly on the battery with a switch that closes the circuit when you open the lid.
If you have some other kind of sensor (when it rains, or at a certain time of day, or when there's noise or something...) that needs to turn the BBB on, then ok, I get it, but for this particular use case, it seems WAY overengineered.
WHY NOT put a solar panel on it, so to use it people have to take it and bring it in a sunny area to power it
I wonder how alligators smile :P
Only One Month?? My cache is Still working with button cells for last ten years
Was the "invisible" voice Felix....?
should have put a way bigger battery in there, like a 8S2P NiMH Cell, that way you would be able to put a much bigger screen in without the tipping over problem...
muh1h1 agreed. I probably would have also gone for NiMH for this. no need for small/light batteries here.
a possible concern with NiMH at least is that cells are more prone to self-discharge than LiON, which could imply being careful with the choice of cell types (otherwise the batteries will go dead after sitting a few months, so low-self-discharge batteries would be needed).
for the use-case, possibly actually non-rechargeable batteries (such as Alkaline) could be better still, as self-discharge isn't really an issue for these.
personally, would probably use some alkaline D-cells or similar.
Brendan Bohannon True, but still i think the cells would have lasted longer overall, than that small lithium pack, and also they could be discharged to almost 0V without damaging them. he could have gone way overkill even and put a solar cell ontop, that way that thing would probably never run out of juice...
muh1h1 yeah. as noted, NiMH would probably work well, provided one gets the right type of batteries. a solar cell based charger could also address this.
i got a sorta challenge or request try to make a comadore 64 style laptop were you can swap out hard drive and ram and maybe the cpu also just a request/challenge :P
I would have added a small solar panel. keep it alive much longer.
Needed to weigh something down? Concerned about not having enough power? I'd have added more batteries.
You didn't tell us what it happening in the next episode :(
18:30 Sweetness!
Good job but the screen was very small
view 62 great project
yay geocache