conv.

All stories
TechQuiet 11d · day 11

Father-son duo builds a tiny computer inside an Altoids tin

A two-month hardware project turned a free robot from MIT Swapfest into a pocket-sized Arduino gadget.

newest coverage 10d agosummary written 10d ago3 pieces171 likes & upvotes7 comments Hacker NewsNewswiresMastodon

What to know

  • A father and his 12-year-old son spent roughly two months turning a free robot kit from MIT Swapfest into a custom tiny computer housed in an Altoids tin.
  • The build went through five iterations, overcoming a missing display pinout, a failed AI lookup, desoldering mishaps, and broken wiring.
  • The son performed the CAD design, 3D printing, and much of the hands-on soldering and debugging work.
  • The writeup reached Hacker News's front page as a widely shared hobbyist project story.

uvdn7 Author, father and project collaboratoruvdn7's son 12-year-old co-builder

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in 3h at Oct 31, 6 PM; 3 pieces over 11 days (1 article · 2 posts) Oct 31, 6 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Hacker News 1, Newswires 1Oct 31, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 12 AM — quietNov 1, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 1, 5 AM — quietNov 1, 8 AM — quietNov 1, 11 AM — quietNov 1, 2 PM — quietNov 1, 5 PM — quietNov 1, 8 PM — quietNov 1, 11 PM — quietNov 2, 2 AM — quietNov 2, 5 AM — quietNov 2, 8 AM — quietNov 2, 11 AM — quietNov 2, 2 PM — quietNov 2, 5 PM — quietNov 2, 8 PM — quietNov 2, 11 PM — quietNov 3, 2 AM — quietNov 3, 5 AM — quietNov 3, 8 AM — quietNov 3, 11 AM — quietNov 3, 2 PM — quietNov 3, 5 PM — quietNov 3, 8 PM — quietNov 3, 11 PM — quietNov 4, 2 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — quietNov 4, 2 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 2 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 2 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 2 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 2 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietNov 7, 2 AM — quietNov 7, 5 AM — quietNov 7, 8 AM — quietNov 7, 11 AM — quietNov 7, 2 PM — quietNov 7, 5 PM — quietNov 7, 8 PM — quietNov 7, 11 PM — quietNov 8, 2 AM — quietNov 8, 5 AM — quietNov 8, 8 AM — quietNov 8, 11 AM — quietNov 8, 2 PM — quietNov 8, 5 PM — quietNov 8, 8 PM — quietNov 8, 11 PM — quietNov 9, 2 AM — quietNov 9, 5 AM — quietNov 9, 8 AM — quietNov 9, 11 AM — quietNov 9, 2 PM — quietNov 9, 5 PM — quietNov 9, 8 PM — quietNov 9, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quiet 1
Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9yesterdaynow · 7:24 PM ET
  1. 1

    Project writeup posted and climbs Hacker News

    uvdn7 published the full build writeup, which was posted to Hacker News and syndicated feeds, reaching the front page.

    “My 12-year-old son and I spent about two months on, what we call, the Altoids project.”
    — uvdn7, Blog author · source
    1. 1 outlet Altoids Project

      first by HN Frontpage, 11d ago

    • hn100@social.lansky.name

      Altoids Project Link: https:// uvdn7.github.io/altoids-projec t/ Discussion: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5 0321048

      hn100@social.lansky.nameMastodon10d agoview on Mastodon ↗
  2. background

    Son fixes broken wiring, project reaches final form — After two connecting wires broke, the son replaced them with ultra-fine 30 AWG wire, debugging a wiring mistake himself; the finished tin was completed with real Altoids added in a small ziploc bag, marking the fifth and final iteration.

  3. background

    Desoldering mishap destroys a display, new iron fixes v4 — An attempt to desolder the display pulled off a copper pad, ruining it; after ordering a replacement from Adafruit and a new soldering iron, they hot-glued the new display in place and got everything working for the first time as v4, with the lid closing with some struggle.

  4. background

    Solderable breadboards and a real Altoids tin produce v3 — They added solderable breadboards to reduce wire clutter and switched to an actual Altoids tin from a grocery store, which was taller than their original tin; the lid still did not close.

  5. background

    Project moves into an Altoids tin as v2 — Inspired by a YouTube video of a tiny computer built into an Altoids tin, they switched to an Arduino Nano with LiPo battery and PowerBoost, with the son doing CAD and 3D printing, but the lid would not close.

  6. background

    Pair get display working, dub it v1 — Using the found schematic, they wired up the display and ran the Space Trash game from the U8g2 library, calling this version v1.

  7. background

    AI hallucinates the display's pinout — After disassembling the robot to reuse its 128x64 display, the pair tried using AI to find the pinout, but it produced a 20-pin layout for a display that only has 10 pins; they eventually found the correct schematic on an Arduino forum post.

  8. background

    Father and son receive a free robot at MIT Swapfest — At MIT Swapfest, a couple gave the pair an assembled robot kit built years earlier by their daughter, after learning the father had brought his son; they also bought a used ThinkPad for the project.