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November 20, 2009

How-To: Open source intervalometer for Canon, Nikon cameras

peterdr intervalometer.jpg

Instructables user peterdr has put together a really excellent tutorial on how to build his CT-1 open-source hardware intervalometer for Canon and Nikon digital cameras. There's more info about the project at his personal website, and a parts kit is for sale on Amazon.com.

Posted by Sean Michael Ragan | Nov 20, 2009 02:05 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Instructables, Photography | Permalink | Comments (1) | Suggest a Site

PYMT, a multi-touch library for Python

Interested in building programs with fancy multi-touch interfaces? Speak Python? Well, in that case you might want to have a look at PYMT. Designed for rapid interface design, it looks like it would be fun to play around with. [via the space station]

Make: Projects - Pneumatic trough, part II

image from golden book of chemistry experiments page 28.jpg

Last week I wrote about how to construct a simple sheet metal "bridge," which, in combination with an ice cube bucket and an olive jar, makes an effective pneumatic trough for collecting gas samples over water. This week I'm going to show you how to use this apparatus to generate and collect pure oxygen, and how to use that oxygen to observe the brilliant blue flame of sulfur oxidation.

CAUTION

As a general rule, flammable greases like petroleum jelly should not be exposed to pure oxygen. There is no appreciable danger in this experiment, which involves only a small volume of oxygen at atmospheric pressure in a container with a free lid, but if you are working with larger volumes of oxygen, oxygen under higher pressure (as in a cylinder), or (most emphatically) liquid oxygen, do not use grease or other readily oxidizable materials in constructing apparatus.

Tools:

Pneumatic trough apparatus from part I
Small piece of plate glass (I used the mirror from a makeup compact)
Lighter
Twisted wire sample loop
250 mL Erlenmeyer flask (I got mine from The Maker Shed)
#7 two-hole rubber stopper to fit Erlenmeyer (mine came from this assortment)
Two 80 mm lengths of 5 mm glass tubing to fit stopper (such as this)
Approximately 18" length of 5/16" OD x 3/16" ID PVC tubing to fit glass tubing (common hardware store item)

Materials:

Water to fill bucket
Elemental sulfur powder (also called "Flowers of Sulfur," available at some drugstores and here.)
3% hydrogen peroxide (common drugstore item)
Manganese dioxide (can be recovered from an alkaline dry-cell battery or purchased here)
Petroleum jelly (drugstore)

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Cardboard tube battle

My local library picked up on the festive trend of Cardboard Tube Fighting. The Boston Globe covered the preparations:

The group discovered cardboard tube fighting last summer in time to incorporate a bit of it into a presentation on Greek mythology at a reading program party.

The weapons are cylindrical pieces of thick cardboard about 4 feet long. The appeal, explains young-adult librarian Ellen Snoeyenbos: "It's totally ridiculous.''

As word of mock combat with reliably harmless weaponry spread among the town's youthful warriors, Snoeyenbos and the Bookmarks seized on the fund-raiser as a chance to exploit their discovery of the fighting fad made popular by YouTube.

Saturday's event will feature one-on-one tournaments, guild-on-guild skirmishes (up to 10 fighters per team), "and an all-out battle for possession of the Royal Crown,'' according to the club.

They've gathered hundreds of tubes, and youth of all ages are uparmoring in a pulpy way.

More:
Cardboard Tube Fighting League

Make: Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Gifts for dads

There's a funny thing about dads' toys. Very often, kids borrow dad's supposedly grown-up toys and dad plays with toys designed for a much younger demographic. With that in mind, we present the Gifts for Dads list, filled with stuff that may appeal to more than one generation in your household. And you may also want to check out the holiday gift guides over on the GeekDad blog.

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LEGO-sized hole punch by MUJI

Paper craft meets LEGO with MUJI's quad hole punch and kits, available November 27th at MUJI Japan. [via CRAFT]

Cross multi-tool

bit cross.jpg

Dutch designer Michiel Cornelissen sells these cruciform screwdrivers, which are laser-sintered stainless steel. There's a flat-blade, a Phillips head, and an IKEA-sized hex bit. [via Dude Craft]

How PCBs are routed

One hour of PCB routing with EAGLE, compressed to seven minutes, over at adafruit.

NEC announces universal translator … sorta, kinda

NEC announced what could be an early, real-life version of the universal translator -

NEC said the Tele Scouter was intended to be a business tool that could aid sales staff who would have information about a client's buying history beamed into their eye during a conversation.
But, it said, it could also be put to a more exotic use as a translation aid. In this scenario the microphone on the headset picks up the voices of both people in a conversation, pipes it through translation software and voice-to-text systems and then sends the translation back to the headset.
[…]
NEC said the Tele Scouter would be launched in Japan in November, 2010 but would initially lack the translation feature. A version that can provide subtitles would follow in 2011, it said.

Now we just have to see how good that translation software really is (please be good!). Read more over at BBC News.

Arcade button MIDI controller kit

DJTechTools' upcoming solder-free MIDI controller kit provides users with 16 arcade button triggers + LEDs and will apparently be released as an open source product at launch -

• Release Date: November 30th • Price: Aprox $125 for the Kit + Arcade Buttons ($2.50 each) optional wood case- $40 • Plug and Play-compatible device, compliant MIDI controller • USB powered • Must be assembled (no expertise required) • 16 programmable buttons • 16 programmable LEDs • Expandable to 20 programmable buttons and 4 analog controls • Limited-edition 200-piece run in this configuration (black PCB with blue LEDs)

Should the $165 asking price seem a bit much, do consider the full DIY options. [via Synthtopia]

Related:

Midibox rox your sox

DIY Devo domes

Troy Davis created some very awesome recreations of Devo's signature Energy Domes. Beginning with a tiered stack of fiberboard for the mold, through to vacuum forming, paint job, and padding - a thorough explanation can be found in his project pictorial. sweet.

Weekend Project: Beetlebot

Simple robot from your parts bin that avoids obstacles. Thanks go to Jerome Demers for the original article in MAKE, Volume 12.

To download the Beetlebot video, click here or subscribe in iTunes.

Check out the complete Beetlebot article in MAKE, Volume 12 or you can also see it in our Digital Edition.

In the Maker Shed:

In the Maker Shed: The Make Beetlebot Bundle

Weekend Project: Beetlebot (PDF)

Simple robot from your parts bin that avoids obstacles.
Thanks go to Jerome Demers for the original article in MAKE, Volume 12.
View the PDF of this project. and then subscribe to MAKE Magazine for other great projects
you can do over the weekend.

DIY accelerometer controlled USB gamepad

Check out this homebrew accelerometer controlled USB gamepad using a PIC18F2550 from Starlino. You'll find code and schematics on their site.

The code for the firmware was written in PicBasic Pro and it implements a HID USB device with 2 axes and 4 buttons (only 2 buttons connected in the prototype). The device is detected by Windows XP/Vista as a standard USB gamepad and can be used with many games and applications.
I am using a 2 Axes Buffered ±2g Accelerometer from DIMENSION ENGINEERING, it has a built in voltage regulator that allows powering the accelerometer directly from the USB bus (5V)

New in the Maker Shed: Mystery Box kit

The Mystery Box kit is a clever puzzle box made by our very own John Park, host of Make: television. Here is how it works: first you assemble the laser-cut wooden box, placing a treasure inside. Next, you present the Mystery Box and its hidden contents to a friend, loved one, or enemy. Ask them to not open it, instead encourage them to cherish the Mystery Box and its contents. Maybe they will listen to your suggestion, enjoying the mystery within for generations to come. Then again, maybe they will wait until you leave and eventually figure out how to open this clever wooden box? Who knows? One thing we do know, whoever receives the Mystery Box as a gift will certainly love it!

Popsci sees our gift guide...

Popsci's Mike Haney liked our Under $20 Gift Guide so much, he raised us another five, adding additional under $20 gifts from the Maker Shed. Thanks, Mike! We love you guys, too.

[And in the spirit of Phil's guide, where he included an item he couldn't resist over $20, Mike includes the MAKE Warranty Voider/Bomb Diffuser Leatherman, which is $39.95. Hey, count it as two gifts under $20.]

Great Gifts For Electronics Geeks For Less Than $20

Money hats

Moneyhats
Origami money hats, sent in by a maker - anyone know where this is from?

BEAM turns 20

Speaking of BEAM robotics, this "school" of robotic architecture celebrated its 20th anniversary on Nov 10th. Twenty years ago, on that date, BEAM creator Mark Tilden built his first BEAMbot, the Solarover 1.0, out of two dead calculators, two dead Phillips cassette mechanisms, and parts from Laser printer cartridges. Solarbotics has a little celebratory post, with some thoughts from Mark Tilden. Mark writes:

...I went on to build dozens of similar robots based on the primitive Solarengine neurons that year, which led to the BEAM International Robot games, international lectures, the 1992 Santa Fe Artificial Life conference (lecturing alongside Brooks), publications, books, TV, kits, Solarbotics, Los Alamos National Laboratory research, NASA, and a broad line of WowWee robots which have sold around 20 million units to date (not forgetting the thousands of hand-built robots by colleagues, enthusiasts, and steampunks internationally).

Oh, and Solarbotics is also having a sale of a bunch of BEAMbots and components through the end of the month.

20 Years of BEAM Technology

More:
BEAM coverage on Make: Online

MakeShift 19 deadline November 20th

The deadline for submitting your solution to the MakeShift challenge from MAKE Volume 19 is fast approaching. Napping in an ocean kayak is generally never a good idea, but what would you do if you stuck in this predicament? Work your brain, get creative, and win stuff! Here's the MakeShift in its entirety:

The Scenario: You're an experienced and avid open-ocean kayaker, setting off early from your favorite coastal launch point for a restorative and invigorating day on the water. You've checked with the Weather Channel and the National Weather Service, and both have predicted sunny weather, slight clouds, and virtually no wind. So, after donning some sunblock and checking your gear and supplies, you're off.

The launching goes OK, but you take on a little water fighting the breakers. When you finally clear them, you paddle steadily until you're about 1 mile offshore, which you confirm with your GPS. Venturing out a little farther, you paddle parallel to the shore for a few hours. Then, adjusting your life vest and seat cushion to make yourself more comfortable, you stop to relax and enjoy the scenery, but between the warm sunshine, the gentle roll of the ocean, and the hypnotically reflective water, you nod off.

The Challenge: When you wake several hours later, the ocean is choppy and a strong, southerly wind has picked up, which has pushed you at least 3 miles from shore and continues to grow in strength. You dig for your cellphone just in case you need to call for help, only to discover that the saltwater you took on earlier has rendered it useless. You paddle hard for shore, but even after a relentless hour, the winds and currents seem to erase all your progress and the tall beachfront hotels are becoming mere dots on the horizon. You realize more paddling might be fruitless and only exhaust you completely. So what do you do now?

What You've Got: Two gallons of fresh drinking water and a basic survival kit with a compass, a lightweight 6×7-foot survival blanket (silvered on one side and dark on the other, in a pouch), heavy-duty nylon tape, and a coil of thin but strong nylon rope. You've also got a Swiss Army knife (or similar tool), some marine binoculars, a GPS unit, your waterlogged cellphone, some basic medical supplies in their own self-contained marine emergency medical kit, and an extra paddle. You also have a lightweight, waterproof windbreaker and some foul-weather gear stashed in the small but useful front storage compartment.

To Enter: Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by Nov. 20, 2009. If duplicate solutions are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and most creative solutions will each win a MAKE T-shirt and a MAKE Pocket Ref. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your solution. Good luck! For readers' solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

Solar-powered miniball

It may look like some futuristic Christmas tree ornament, but the miniball is part of the BEAM robot family of "rollers." A miniball is a motorized hamster ball that, sadly, you don't see in the wild too often. Solarbotics used to sell a miniball kit. This Instructable, by MAKE contributor and Solarbotics intern, Jérôme Demers, shows you how to make your own.

Solar Powered Miniball Wannabe

More:
How-To Tuesday: Make a Beetlebot
BeetleBot Revisited
Mousey the BeetleBot?