Archive for 2006/06
DIY Binary clock
Hans DIY binary clock from scrap - “All the parts for this clock came from scrap. The red LED’s making up the display came from an old video player. The high brightness green LED was also from an old video player (a different one). The TTL logic chips were from old computer boards, with the possible exception of the 4518 counter chip, which was probably a left over spare from my Sidereal Clock project. The transformer came from an old audio cassette player.” [via] - Link.
POV in a combat robot
What makes a combat robot more badass? Having it spell words or patterns in the air on its blades, Trebor the Mad Overlord writes - “More than a few people have mused upon the idea of installing lights inside the weapon of a combat robot. Similar “Persistance of Vision” setups are available for bikes and car wheels, but of course, doing it with a robot is kicking it up a notch! I’ve thought for some time that it would be fun to see what could be done with easily available materials, but never had the time to get around to it — until now! “ - Link.
USB Bit Wacker
Spark Fun has a handy (so it seems) PIC dev board that can be bootloaded and then shows up as an RS232 com port - “This is a spectacular little development board featuring the PIC18F2455. Based on the work of Brian Schmalz, the UBW is a small board with a command intrepreter for basic input and output control. When attached to a Windows computer, the UBW will show up as an RS232 Com port! You control the individual I/O pins on the PIC through simple serial commands. Board comes fully tested, preprogrammed, and assembled as shown.” - Link.
HOW TO - Make your own throwing stars
If you have a welder and some old box cutter blades you can make your own throwing stars, Saga writes “Ever wondered what to do with all of your old box knife blades? Well, instead of throwing them in the garbage can, you can throw them AT the garbage can. Project consists of welding six blades together to make the fiercest throwing star you have ever seen.” - Link.
HOW TO - Make can lanterns
TangMu writes “Recycle your used drinks cans into potential fire hazards!! A modern take on the paper lantern… now even shinier” -
You will need:
Any size or shape of drinks can (Preferably unopened as of yet as we need the flat top to balance the tea light on)
Something to put said contents of can in.
Our friend Mr Stanley the Knife.
Pliers (I find Snub nosed easier of this)
Also needed but not pictured:
A small length of wire ~10cm
A tea light (those lil lights in a metal pot)
Matches
Link to Instructable.
Dixie cup spherical dodecahedrons
Here’s a fun Instructable on how to make dixie cup spherical dodecahedrons - “The Dixiesphere is composed of twenty spherical-hexagonal 7-cup modular units, which you will construct first. Each hexagonal modular unit consists of seven cups hot-glued together such that one central cup is surrounded tangentially by six more cups. (The spaces between cups will look like equilateral triangles with concave edges, and the circular bases and rims of the cups will look like hexagonal close-packings of circles, but they will posess a slight overall curvature, as the circles define the surfaces of spheres.) It is important that the central cup contacts each of its surrounding six cups at their bases. It’s a tight fit getting six cups around a center cup. Work quickly while the glue is hot to ensure that all upper rims and lower bases of the cups are flush, and that there are no superfluous gaps between the bases of the cups.” - Link.
Night popper robot kit (learn to solder)
Max (pictured here) is learning how to solder with the night popper robot kit, if you’re looking to teach your little Makers at home soldering and electronics, might be a good one to check out. Keep up the good work Max! - “The Night Popper waits until it gets dark and then it starts its random exploring. While it explores it sets off a brilliant almost firework looking display from it’s 3 white lamps and emits a crackling popping sound from its on board piezo speaker. Features 2 small DC motors, 2 photodarlington transistors, a relay/CDS cell circuit and 4 drive transistors. The special bonus with this robot is that you get 2 snap off PC boards with 21 components that you solder in before building the robot. By doing this, you can gain ample soldering experience before building the Night Popper. Great learning tool and if you already know how to solder, just snap off the boards and build the Night Popper only.” - Link.
Homemade Oil can guitar
Great collection of instructions from the ATLAS of Plucked Instruments - “The ramkie is the famous “blik kitaar” from Southern Africa; a home made guitar, using an empty oilcan for the body. The wooden neck is sometimes stuck all the way through the can; sometimes it is fixed to a wooden “lid” on the top. The 4 to 6 strings (if not of nylon) are made of unraveled bicycle brake wire. The frets are made from U-shaped pieces of wire stuck in the front of the neck. The kind of capodastre construction is usually just an upside-down bridge and can not be moved. The ramkie is mainly found in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.” [via] - Link.
Crochet Wire Earrings
Wire is in this summer for anything jewelry related. Why not crochet yourself a pair of earrings? Stitch Diva Studios has this pattern for sale featuring 9 different styles of earrings. They also have a really complete tutorial on their site on how to work with wire, from the basics all the way to knitting and crocheting with wire. Link.
Related:
Beaded Wire Bracelet - Link.
