Cryo-Mechanical RAM Content Extraction: A DIY Cold Boot Robot For A Thousand Bucks
summary
A DIY robot extracts decrypted DDR1/2/3 RAM by mechanically lifting cold chips and reading them on an FPGA-compatible board, achieving stable data retention at -50 Celsius and running the whole system under $1,000. It combines a modified CNC chassis with closed-loop stepper motors, elastomer test sockets, and a dry-ice or closed-loop alcohol cooling bath, synchronizes pulls to CPU-bound timing windows for multi-chip arrays, and reports repeated successful reads after months of calibration.
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chapters (9)
- 0:00Introduction and motivation
- 1:49Project background and failure
- 8:11Cold boot attack concept
- 13:05Intermediate build and punchline
- 14:51Building the CNC machine
- 20:07Key hardware innovations
- 26:03Precision calibration and testing
- 28:49Closed-loop cooling system
- 31:17Future research and company pitch
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