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rpaddock 16 hours ago [-]
This reminded me of a Blog entry I wrote about in 2013 on "Massive Electro-Pyrotechnic Initiator Chip Resistor (MEPIC)". These are 0805 chip resisters that are by design meant to let out the Magic Smoke that runs all electronic parts.
Sadly I could not get free samples from my Vishay Rep, that I was in good standing with. MEPIC85N8R0KTT come in lots of 10,000 to buy.
Be sure to check out the application note "A Guide to Using EPIC / MEPIC Igniters in Pyrotechnic Applications".
This is what I wrote about the MEPIC parts a long time ago:
"MEPIC resistors, also known as bridge resistors, are resistive elements that convert electrical energy into heat energy in a precise electro-thermal profile for the purpose of initiating a series of pyrotechnic events in a controlled energetic reaction. [They go BOOM on command, which is different than Rapid Spontaneous Self-Disassembly.]
The new Vishay Sfernice resistor is optimized for electronic igniter applications in automotive safety systems for the deployment of airbags and other safety devices; digital blasting in mining applications; and in fireworks applications for better synchronization of fireworks, music, and special effects.
With firing energy down to 1.5 mJ and a typical ohmic range of 2 Ohms (+/- 10 %), the device provides designers with very predictable, reproducible, and reliable behavior.
Offered in the standard 0805 case size for the wraparound and flip chip versions, with other sizes available upon request, the resistor features easy set-up of firing levels, and is compatible with various pyrotechnic compositions.
Offering ESD withstanding to 25 kV without extra protection, the MEPIC resistor's performance meets no fire/all fire conditions and the requirements of USCAR, AKLV16, and major car manufacturer standards.
The device is RoHS-compliant and conforms to Vishay "Green" standards. [Is it not great that Fuzes are 'Green'?]"
ForOldHack 1 hours ago [-]
MEPIC fuses... ok... Green? Oh my!
exmadscientist 12 hours ago [-]
The actual "make it go bang" bit here isn't the most potent. (I think I have capacitors here which wouldn't care in the least about this, despite their datasheet ratings.)
If you need to take it to the next level, consider something based on a xenon photoflash driver. These aren't as common as they used to be, but they're still not hard to make. I had to make one of these a while back and ended up using one of those $5 LTC chips but that was appropriate for the situation; there are certainly other ways to do it. This will basically charge a 400V capacitor up for you, which you can then dump into the 5V part. High-quality 5V capacitors will handle small spikes of this. But using a big 400V capacitor will make a big spike, which is not kind to the other capacitor. (I must confess I didn't try blowing up a lot of things on the one I made, but it was medical test gear, not technically a capacitor-blower-uper, and I was on deadline anyway. I also had other, significantly more destructive, equipment available to me should that be the goal.)
kps 13 hours ago [-]
I expected an alarm clock using a capacitor for timing. Either charge it to a delay-dependent level, or charge it to a fixed level and discharge through a delay-dependent path, or trigger when it drops below a delay-dependent level.
huydotnet 5 hours ago [-]
For anyone jumping into this thread hoping to see capacitor use for timing, there is this blog post about something like that:
But it is also art. It represents the waste in our devices that play out over 1-4 years (or say a few weeks for a vape) but in one night.
But yeah. Don't do it. Indoors? wtf!!!!
nmeofthestate 15 hours ago [-]
Oh no. I quite liked this until you said it was art that Represented something.
user_7832 14 hours ago [-]
To be brutally honest it sounds like LLM speak to me. The account being in green doesn't help.
The line between an LLM being told to sound like an HN user, and an actual user who's adopted LLM lingo is... vanishingly thin at times. I myself accidentally find myself using such phrases, I can hardly accuse others.
uberex 13 hours ago [-]
I am human, to prove it I have laid down an em-dash below:
—
alnwlsn 13 hours ago [-]
There are some grades of electrolytic capacitors for which this is probably the only thing they should be used for.
beeforpork 17 hours ago [-]
That sounds completely safe and healthy! Hmmmm, I love the smell of vaporized electrolyte, particularly when waking up!
fc417fc802 16 hours ago [-]
I feel like a wire detonator would be safer plus the consumables would be cheaper however even then I doubt vaporized copper or aluminum is good for you. Honestly just roll some firecrackers and use the ESP to light them off.
Try this with a tantalum capacitor. Careful not to lose an eye...
Uncle_Brumpus 15 hours ago [-]
Luckily our eyes tend to be closed when we're asleep. Evolutionary safety squints.
mc3301 3 hours ago [-]
I'd like to see a study on the threshold of projectiles versus safety squints. I searched around, but couldn't find a paper.
nine_k 13 hours ago [-]
Heh. I hoped to see a fully analog capacitor-based "movement", either a mechanical movement powered by periodic electric pulses, or maybe a device using split-flap displays powered by three highly precise, thermally-compensated capacitor discharge circuits.
peterabbitcook 16 hours ago [-]
So it’s not UL listed?
Do you need the 15V input to torch the capacitors and run the relays?
Could I use a 5V USB ESP32 dev board instead, and just put a boost circuit or MOSFET on the relay load side for the explosion circuit when it needs to go off, or are there other components that need the higher voltage?
arcaege 10 hours ago [-]
You could, but from my measurements the capacitor tends to pull ~1A before it bursts, so you'd be running up against the 3A limit of USB. At voltages below 12V, they don't seem to go off reliably.
rpaddock 10 hours ago [-]
Have you tried a backwards polarity tantalum capacitor?
I've seen those go off just on their normal voltage when installed backwards. Sometimes immediately and other times with significant delay.
Eye Projectile and Eye Flash protection along with hearing protection are required.
bilsbie 16 hours ago [-]
What’s happening at the electron level that makes them do this? Anyone know?
sdlion 15 hours ago [-]
If I recall correctly, electrolytic capacitors have to get "burned in" during manufacturing to make them work.
A current is passed through the capacitor and a thin film of oxide is built up in one of the terminals, according to the polarity. This is why electrolytic caps have polarity, if you use them with their polarity inverted, you flake off that oxide layer and thus short them out.
A free running current in that electrolyte boils it off, and you get an exploding cap
cmos 14 hours ago [-]
The perfect alarm clock would start lighting your life dreams on fire if you didn't wake up, cause that's whats happening anyway.
gosub100 11 hours ago [-]
Tangent: I remember when hackaday posts about building cool and or useless circuits were posted constantly to HN. Now I can't remember the last time I saw one. (I know this link isn't hackaday, but it's exactly like what they feature).
notahacker 11 hours ago [-]
Wondering if we can adapt this for our pulsed power system :)
inigyou 14 hours ago [-]
Electroboom did this first, right?
piinbinary 14 hours ago [-]
The README references Electroboom's implementation
ahoka 15 hours ago [-]
Is this not technically an IED?
NDlurker 15 hours ago [-]
Doesn't look improvised to me.
stackghost 12 hours ago [-]
This is absolutely how IEDs are made. You buy an old Nokia phone and wire the speaker/ringer to the detonator. Call phone -> boom.
In fact, TFReadme directly references Electroboom/Mehdi Sadaghdar who did this with an old-school analog alarm clock (the kind with an actual bell) and in the video he muses that it's literally a time bomb, har har get it.
fc417fc802 4 hours ago [-]
> wire the speaker/ringer to the detonator. Call phone -> boom.
Given the constant stream of spam and scam calls I get that seems like an incredibly bad idea.
PunchyHamster 8 hours ago [-]
"Sorry I overslept, the capacitor didn't go off" gonna be funny excuse
adnaahmed 16 hours ago [-]
the alarm clock for the ai age, it needs an LLM
KaiserPro 15 hours ago [-]
It is an LLM
a Life limiting machine
user_7832 13 hours ago [-]
Nice job OP, and thanks for the demo video! PS to others, keep your volume below 40%.
...I may or may not have jumpscared myself by cranking the volume up before the alarm time as it was so quiet.
block_dagger 16 hours ago [-]
How about a flux capacitor clock?
kavyanshkh 2 days ago [-]
gng thats crazy!
netrap 14 hours ago [-]
that's a bomb dude.. lmao.. don't take that anywhere!
542354234235 13 hours ago [-]
Just about anything can be turned into a bomb. Take a coffee cup, a smart watch, and 5 lbs of C4, and it could easily be turned into a bomb, for example.
Sadly I could not get free samples from my Vishay Rep, that I was in good standing with. MEPIC85N8R0KTT come in lots of 10,000 to buy.
Be sure to check out the application note "A Guide to Using EPIC / MEPIC Igniters in Pyrotechnic Applications".
https://www.vishay.com/en/product/53058/
National Semiconductor, bought by TI, used to make a similar part, check out the application note:
https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snoa217/snoa217.pdf
This is what I wrote about the MEPIC parts a long time ago:
"MEPIC resistors, also known as bridge resistors, are resistive elements that convert electrical energy into heat energy in a precise electro-thermal profile for the purpose of initiating a series of pyrotechnic events in a controlled energetic reaction. [They go BOOM on command, which is different than Rapid Spontaneous Self-Disassembly.]
The new Vishay Sfernice resistor is optimized for electronic igniter applications in automotive safety systems for the deployment of airbags and other safety devices; digital blasting in mining applications; and in fireworks applications for better synchronization of fireworks, music, and special effects.
With firing energy down to 1.5 mJ and a typical ohmic range of 2 Ohms (+/- 10 %), the device provides designers with very predictable, reproducible, and reliable behavior.
Offered in the standard 0805 case size for the wraparound and flip chip versions, with other sizes available upon request, the resistor features easy set-up of firing levels, and is compatible with various pyrotechnic compositions.
Offering ESD withstanding to 25 kV without extra protection, the MEPIC resistor's performance meets no fire/all fire conditions and the requirements of USCAR, AKLV16, and major car manufacturer standards.
The device is RoHS-compliant and conforms to Vishay "Green" standards. [Is it not great that Fuzes are 'Green'?]"
If you need to take it to the next level, consider something based on a xenon photoflash driver. These aren't as common as they used to be, but they're still not hard to make. I had to make one of these a while back and ended up using one of those $5 LTC chips but that was appropriate for the situation; there are certainly other ways to do it. This will basically charge a 400V capacitor up for you, which you can then dump into the 5V part. High-quality 5V capacitors will handle small spikes of this. But using a big 400V capacitor will make a big spike, which is not kind to the other capacitor. (I must confess I didn't try blowing up a lot of things on the one I made, but it was medical test gear, not technically a capacitor-blower-uper, and I was on deadline anyway. I also had other, significantly more destructive, equipment available to me should that be the goal.)
https://notes-huy-rocks.translate.goog/posts/diy-pomodoro-ti...
(google translate link because the original post was in Vietnamese)
Did anyone else smell capacitors when they watched the video? The brain does funny things.
https://github.com/ArcaEge/capacitor-alarm-clock#Demo
But it is also art. It represents the waste in our devices that play out over 1-4 years (or say a few weeks for a vape) but in one night.
But yeah. Don't do it. Indoors? wtf!!!!
The line between an LLM being told to sound like an HN user, and an actual user who's adopted LLM lingo is... vanishingly thin at times. I myself accidentally find myself using such phrases, I can hardly accuse others.
—
Do you need the 15V input to torch the capacitors and run the relays? Could I use a 5V USB ESP32 dev board instead, and just put a boost circuit or MOSFET on the relay load side for the explosion circuit when it needs to go off, or are there other components that need the higher voltage?
Eye Projectile and Eye Flash protection along with hearing protection are required.
A current is passed through the capacitor and a thin film of oxide is built up in one of the terminals, according to the polarity. This is why electrolytic caps have polarity, if you use them with their polarity inverted, you flake off that oxide layer and thus short them out.
A free running current in that electrolyte boils it off, and you get an exploding cap
In fact, TFReadme directly references Electroboom/Mehdi Sadaghdar who did this with an old-school analog alarm clock (the kind with an actual bell) and in the video he muses that it's literally a time bomb, har har get it.
Given the constant stream of spam and scam calls I get that seems like an incredibly bad idea.
a Life limiting machine
...I may or may not have jumpscared myself by cranking the volume up before the alarm time as it was so quiet.