USB Rocket Launcher Hacking

kinect

Matt Cutts used our awesome Kinect/USB-hacking article to begin his USB rocket launcher hacking adventure:

I got a USB Missile Launcher for Christmas. The manufacturer, Dream Cheeky, provides software–but only for Windows XP. And I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be fun to practice some USB reverse engineering skills?” Because another Christmas present was a USB protocol analyzer from Total Phase. I should note that plenty of other people have apparently already written drivers/software for USB missile launcher toys, but I wanted to poke around myself.

Total Phase makes a high-speed USB 2.0 protocol analyzer for $1200, or a regular-speed USB protocol analyzer for $400. Here’s a trick someone mentioned: if you get the cheaper protocol analyzer and need to work with a high-speed USB device, you may be able to plug the high-speed device into a low-speed USB hub to slow the device down.

I decided to start with ladyada’s excellent guide to hacking a Kinect by reverse engineering USB packets. So here’s what I did.

Check out Matt’s project with source code and more here!


Halloween season is here!
Halloween season is here! Check out all the posts, gift guides, and more!

Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — NewProducts Featuring Adafruit RP2350 22-pin FPC HSTX to DVI Adapter for HDMI Displays!

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Adafruit Grand Opening, Profile MicroPython Memory and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi — Classic editor

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Garden Lights, Bluetooth 6.0, and more!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — A look at Boeing’s supply chain and manufacturing process

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — When do I use X10?

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.