MachineGrid::Robots at Work

Digital Picture Frame Hacking Roundup

With all the nice hacks on digital picture frames scattered around the web, I decided to put them all in one place for reference. Due thanks to all the hackers out there who put their work out for everyone to see. It’s the joy in reverse engineering. For some of the hacks I’ve included a compressed file with the code and webpage archived in case the original site goes down. If you are the author an would not like it, please let me know.

Please read : If you would like to be notified of new frames being hacked, leave a comment below and check the “subscribe to comments” box.


PHILIPS Picture Frames
[v]incent was able to display his images directly to the frame by writing a little script which prepends a binary header to the JPEG file. There is a detailed writeup on how he reverse engineered the picture frame format.

Detailed info:

• Models: 7FF1AW, 7FFICMI
• Webpage[Archive]
• jpg2frame Script



CEIVA Picture Frames
The CEIVA runs on a Cirrus Logic Maverick(EP7212) controller. It’s based on a ARM720T core with 2Mb Flash and 4Mb DRAM.
Initial hack done by [c]olin. The frame runs on Linux. Necessary patches and images are provided. [b]rad keeps a worklog here
New code can be loaded via a serial port on the PCB through a simple level converter.




Detailed info:

• Models : Not Specified
• Webpage
• Webpage and Code [Archive]



KeyChain Displays
[j]eroen from Spritesmods maintains a wiki of compatible keychain displays with his firmware hack. He and a couple of guys regularly update it with new displays. Most of the displays use the SITRONIX ST2205U controller in them. I tried my hand in doing the same with the Hannah Montana Vu-Me photo frame. I got close, but bricked it in the end.
Their code is maintained at Google code

Detailed info:

• Models:
• TomTec
• Coby DP-151SX/DPKEY
• HK unbranded
• Keypix
• Dealxtreme SKU5218
• Innovage
• Dig-291
• Innovalley
• Webpage
• Wiki
• Google code



DIGITAL SPECTRUM MemoryFrame
The MemoryFrames run on WindowsCE5. [r]etoor from mozy.org managed to crash the frame using a keyboard, mouse and following a sequence. The frame runs on an ARM920T – a 32bit Arm9 processor. The following is an excerpt from his “YouTube’s more info…” link:
…”Basically you need both the mouse and keyboard plugged in, scroll down past the “Settings” option, scroll back up, and click the word “Settings” with your mouse. There is no enter key on the keyboard so you have to click the mouse….”


Detailed info:

• YouTube
• Buy – Amazon



SAMSUNG SPF-83v Frames
The frame parses feeds and regular html pages for images and displays them. You can use the frame’s i-net-functions to serve it data.
[t]obe from Infolexikon uses PHP to gather data and writes it all to an image using gd. These images are then pushed to the frame at regular intervals.

Detailed info:

• Webpage
• Script-[Original][Archive] Thanks for the update [d]p
• Buy – Amazon



JUICEBOX Digital Frames
[j]oevennix managed to rip out the LCD from a Juicebox and enclose it in his own custom frame. He didn’t have the mp3 kit at that time( although you can get it online), so he soldered a SD card slot into the cartridge connector. His webpage is down. The following is an archive of his work.

Detailed info:

• Archive
• Pdf



If you find this interesting or have some new ideas or links on frames, please post in the comments. Don’t forget to Subscribe [email]for more followups and hacks. To get updates on this page, subscribe to the comments below.

Posted in Hackable Toys, Tutorials, hacks | 11 Comments »

Taking Apart the Spy Video ATV-360

I finally took apart the Spy Video which I got for a very good deal. I wanted to see if it would serve as a good platform for a robot and if the drive system could be upgraded. The most difficult part was taking apart the wheel hubs. The interesting part in the hubs design is that a better motor can be attached to it. The following sequence shows me taking the vehicle apart. Might come in handy for hardware hackers out there.

1. Various views of the vehicle.

2. Remove all the screws from the bottom of the vehicle, including the tracks.

3.Remove the top shell slowly. Don’t pull on it. You will need to disconnect the camera, antenna and mic headers to get it free.

4. Once the top shell is free, the circuit board and the drive system is visible. There is a bank of FETs for the motors. The board is very well labeled.

5. To take apart the drive system, loosen the screws around the orange box. Then unscrew the black tab keeping the wires from the orange box secure.

6.Taking apart the wheel hub is a chore, but possible with pliers, a small glass jar, some flame and some strength.First, remove the stopper from the shaft. Use pliers and strength:

Remove the large gear and everything between the gear and the stopper. Now again using pliers, remove the torque check gear:

Remove all the stuff after that including the orange cap with the three screws. Once the orange cap is removed, the black cover on the other end of the wheel can be removed:

Now for the interesting part. The wheel hub is dead set into the shaft and we need to remove it. Make sure you have a small jar, like below, ready. Choose one such that it’s mouth is small enough only for the shaft to go in. Ignore the gears on the shaft in the picture. You should be having just a blank shaft with the black hub and orange cap on.

Make sure you have the orange cap on. Now heat the shaft with a flame for around 30 seconds. This is just to soften the hub’s hold on the shaft. Holding it over the flame too long is going to melt the plastic.

Now while the shaft is still hot, place the shaft as shown below and hammer the other end down.

The shaft should come out after a few bangs. The wheel is now disassembled:

7. Why all this? I can now use a hub adapter and attach the ATV’s stock hub to a better motor.
The following hub adapter is from Lynxmotion. I will need to drill new holes to match the adapter.

If you are interested, check out your local Target store or you could try Amazon:

Thanks for looking. Any questions, ask in the comments.

Posted in Hackable Toys, Robots, Tutorials, hacks | 4 Comments »