Luke is 10 today. One of his presents was the UB Funkeys starter set - look on YouTube for a v.quick intro. Essentially you have a USB 'hub' on to which you stand little plastic characters. Each different character unlocks different parts of a game. Its a brilliant idea from a marketing point of view because by the time you have bought all 40 at £5 a pop, you have paid a lot of money for the game.
So, and you can probably guess what is coming next, I'm looking at hacking it, physically
On the bottom of each character is a row of 5 metal contacts- 1,2,3,4,5. These match terminals on the hub. I have metered the resistance on two different ones to see the differences and this is what I get:
On both 1-5 = 1kOhm
Then you find equal resistance from 1-2 and 2-5, 1-3 and 3-5, 1-4 and 4-5.
Lets call 1-2 (or 2-5) A, 1-3 (or 3-5) B and 1-4 (or 4-5) C
On my red Funkey, A = 160KOhm, B = 18KOhm and C = 110KOhm
On my white Funkey, A = 18KOhm, B = 110KOhm, C = 360KOhm
What do you reckon is going on in there? Obviously its the different resistances program the 'identity' but I can't help thinking I'm missing something. Why the equal resistances to pins 1 & 5 from each middle pin?
T.
So, and you can probably guess what is coming next, I'm looking at hacking it, physically
On the bottom of each character is a row of 5 metal contacts- 1,2,3,4,5. These match terminals on the hub. I have metered the resistance on two different ones to see the differences and this is what I get:
On both 1-5 = 1kOhm
Then you find equal resistance from 1-2 and 2-5, 1-3 and 3-5, 1-4 and 4-5.
Lets call 1-2 (or 2-5) A, 1-3 (or 3-5) B and 1-4 (or 4-5) C
On my red Funkey, A = 160KOhm, B = 18KOhm and C = 110KOhm
On my white Funkey, A = 18KOhm, B = 110KOhm, C = 360KOhm
What do you reckon is going on in there? Obviously its the different resistances program the 'identity' but I can't help thinking I'm missing something. Why the equal resistances to pins 1 & 5 from each middle pin?
T.
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