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Archive: Electronics
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July 24, 2007
Wii telescope control
This enterprising stargazer figured out how to control his Orion Atlas EQG telescope mount with a Wii controller.
Fun with an Atlas. Video inside. - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jul 24, 2007 07:07 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Gadgets, Science |
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July 23, 2007
BEAM bots with complex behaviors
I just realized that Bruce Robinson's impressive analog robots have not been blogged here on MAKE. His articles on "The Application of Human Motor Control Theory to Robotics" and "Learning Robots" blew my mind when I first read them years ago. People are always asking me how far BEAM concepts can be taken. I point them to these articles, Bruce's robot experiments, and to the Wow Wee robot family (designed by BEAM inventor Mark Tilden), which employ many BEAM concepts. "Learning Robots" describes how short and long-term memory can be created using all-analog components. It's a shame he hasn't updated the site in years. He seemed to be interested in really pushing the envelope on analog control.
Robinson's Hider robot (seen here) demonstrates two behaviors (light seeking and "fear" -- running away from loud sounds), using nine sensor elements. In his work with BEAM tech, Robinson even came up with his own First Law of Robotics: "The capability for complex behaviour is limited by the number of sensors."
A Dissident's View of Robotics (a.k.a. Robinson's Robots) - Link
Hider - Link
Related:
- HOW TO - Build BEAM Vibrobots - Link
- Solarbotics - Link.
- A Beginner's Guide to BEAM - Link.
- BEAM robot - flashing eyes - Link.
- Pummer! Part robotic plant life, part techno-sculpture, these desktop toys are easy and fun to make. MAKE 08 - page 84. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition.
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jul 23, 2007 06:10 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Robotics |
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Game machine hacking at Vienna Dorkbot
The Vienna chapter of Dorkbot did a video of their last meeting, focused on game machine hacking. The hacks range from refurbishing and computerizing an analog pinball machine, to an electric guitar casemod (the NES Paul), to making music with the Nintendo DS. The meeting takes place at Metalab, an amazing playground for hackers in Vienna.
Dorkbot Vienna #3 - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jul 23, 2007 01:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Gaming, Portable Audio and Video, Retro, Toys and Games |
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Ordering PCBs from China
Julian Bleecker has a piece on his blog detailing how he goes about ordering cheap (and amazing for the price) custom PCBs from a company in China. Shown here are ten copies of six PCBs, all for $159. Sweet.
More PCB Stuff - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jul 23, 2007 11:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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Power-Saving pedometer also measures speed
AVR based pedometer! -
A pedometer is a device that counts the number of steps taken by a person and calculates the distance traveled by multiplying the number of steps by the length of the step. Here's a design solution for building a pedometer using the AVR MCU. The circuit not only combines all of the features of the traditional pedometer, it saves power (low power consumption is a must for a portable device) as well. The design also includes instantaneous speed measurement.Power-Saving pedometer also measures speed - [via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 23, 2007 06:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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July 20, 2007
Integrate LCD and GPS Modules Into Your Projects - Awesome Electronics Workshop Video Podcast
This week, Joe Grand brings his expertise to Weekend Projects for the Awesome Electronics Workshop. You'll learn how to use LCD and GPS modules and integrate them into your own projects! Both are simple modules that you can integrate into your own electronics projects!
Download the zip file with all the code you'll need for the projects and check out the pdf to see the schematic!
Weekend Projects is sponsored by Microchip Technology. Check out their seminars and the Microchip Masters Conference
Posted by Bre Pettis |
Jul 20, 2007 10:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, MAKE Podcast, Weekend Projects |
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Integrate LCD and GPS Modules Into Your Projects - Awesome Electronics Workshop PDFcast
To start off, we hook up the LCD module and show you how easy it is to send text to it! Then we hook up a GPS and run a program that reads the NMEA data off of it. Then we combined the two components together and went geocaching!
In the PDF, you can see the schematics and you can download a zip file with all the sample code we used in this podcast to re-create these projects! PDF Link
You can get the video and PDF downloaded automatically in itunes if you subscribe! - Link
Posted by Bre Pettis |
Jul 20, 2007 09:05 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, MAKE PDF, MAKE Podcast, Weekend Projects |
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July 19, 2007
DIY RumblePak for Nintendo DS Lite
Xyzzy writes -
This was an attempt to make a RumblePak for my DS Lite. Sure you can buy them for a few $$$, but where is the fun in that?Instructables DIY RumblePak for Nintendo DS Lite - Link.I wanted the Rumble Pak to fit into the existing blanking plate of the DS Lite that slots into the GBA cartridge slot. This would make it blend in with the NDS and not stick out or have an odd colour. I could have used the PCB that is contained within the blanking plate, but didn't want to ruin it in case I had to send it back. I opted to dismantle an old Pokemon Pinball GBA cartridge and use the edge connector.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 19, 2007 06:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Gaming |
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DIY projects from Russia
A MAKE reader writes in -
Russian makers website with a lot of original DIY science and tech experiments. Now in Russian language only, but photos and videos are cool anyway. All this was done by a few young geeks from Phoenino village near Moscow.Молодежный научно-технический центр - Link & translated pages.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 19, 2007 05:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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MIDI NES control
This fellow is jammin with a homemade MIDI Nintendo controller - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 19, 2007 04:00 PM
Electronics, Gaming, Music, Retro |
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Power with no strings attached
Windell writes in -
Here's an article in EDN magazine titled "Power with no strings attached" discusses practical small-scale wireless power transmission. There are two really cool things in this article. First, a cutaway through the base of rechargeable electric toothbrush, showing the inductive coupler design. (How these things work has been discussed recently in the Make forums.) Secondly-wow- they built and show a wall clock that is *powered by* absorbing 2.45 GHz radiation. That's the frequency used for 802.11b/g (and sometimes n).Power with no strings attached - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 19, 2007 02:00 PM
Electronics |
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July 18, 2007
Switchable audio homebrew solution
Mindtrip writes -
The Problem:Switchable audio homebrew solution - Link.
I recently installed a StarCom system for an upcoming tour of the Oregon/Washington coast. My girlfriend tours with me, and thus far we've used our own iPods with in-ear monitors for entertainment, and hand signals for communication. On this tour a buddy is coming along who wanted bike-to-bike communications; thus the StarCom. My girlfriend wanted to be able to listen to the radio conversations, as well as talk to me, but I realized that if I didn't do something, she was going to wind up running the iPod. We have different musical tastes, and while we both listen to audiobooks we're usually into different books at any given time. This meant I was going to have to listen to her stuff the whole time. Unacceptable!!!The Solution:
We use in-ear monitors, so I got the StarCom headsets that allow the use of your own headphones. I quickly realized this would make it possible to rig up some kind of switch or patch cable system that would allow her to listen to her own iPod if she didn't want to listen to whatever I had running on mine, but switch over to the intercom if I needed to talk to her. I scoured the internet looking for solutions, as well as all my local electronics stores, to no avail. No one makes a switchable audio input for personal headset use. However, I DID find a switch at RadioShack that lets you switch between computer audio input and an auxilliary audio, as well as switching output between computer speakers and headsets (clicky. And for only $2!! I figured if it were small enough, she could stick this in her pocket and switch between the intercom and her iPod at will.
All in an Altoids tin of course!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 05:00 PM
Altoids and tin cases, DIY Projects, Electronics, Music, iPod |
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| Comments (4)
RoboFlush
Joe built this thing to save him from holding down the toilet handle for 10 seconds every time he flushes... Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 02:00 PM
Electronics, Made On Earth |
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| Comments (17)
Build a QRSS (extreme slow speed continuous wave) transmission detector
This month's Gadget Freak comes courtesy of investment banker Hans Summers. He built a simple receiver capable of detecting QRSS transmissions on a fixed frequency. The QRSS receiver is powered by a computer's USB port and the audio output feeds into the PC's sound card. Hans used a toroidal transformer as matching and input filter, connected directly to a 30m (10MHz) dipole antenna and a useful oscillator/mixer IC as a crystal oscillator and mixer. Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 12:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (4)
HOW TO - Make DC Bicycle pedal power generators
Here's how to make DC Bicycle pedal power generators from the folks as Science Shareware -
Here you can learn to create your own green power electricity using a pedal power bicycle generator. We setup the 24 bicycle power generators at the 2007 Coachella Music and Arts Festival, 60,000 people a day for 3 days in the desert - Indio California. The bike generators were used for charging cell phones.DC Bicycle pedal power generator - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 11:00 AM
Bicycles, DIY Projects, Electronics, Green |
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| Comments (2)
Lightning activated camera shutter trigger
FC writes -
This circuit is used to trigger a camera's electronic shutter circuit when a flash of lightning is present. This circuit would also work for photographing fireworks displays or other events involving flashes of light. In a nutshell, the photo darlington converts light pulses into electrical pulses, the first LM324 section amplifies the electrical pulses, the second LM324 section is a high pass filter that only passes quick changes (lightning). The third LM324 stage is a comparator that allows only large pulses to pass through, and the 4047 one-shot stretches out the length of the pulses so that they are long enough to drive the relay and trigger the camera.Lightning activated camera shutter trigger - [via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 10:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Imaging |
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| Comments (1)
Ybox night (photos)
Special thanks to everyone who attended the Ybox build night, The Ybox is an open hardware and software spec for an IP-enabled set-top box in a candy tin, here are some photos! Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 09:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Events |
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| Comments (0)
Interfacing an AVR controller to a GPS mobile phone
Alex writes -
My goal is to build a kind of a mobile tracker. There are many different use cases you can think of but one of the obvious is a device, that is able to report where it is. This device can be put in your car and it could trigger an alarm, if the car got stolen. Actually it could tell you where it is.Interfacing an AVR controller to a GPS mobile phone - [via] Link.There are already mobile tracking devices out there, but they seemed to be too expensive and too closed for my needs. Another option is one of these new Nokia N95 which have built-in GPS. They are really nice, but about 600€, which is not a bargain. So I decided to do my own.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 08:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS |
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| Comments (0)
Robosapien micro-controller hack
How to change a Roposapien micro-controller with a Texas Instruments MSP430 - Link & PDF.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 05:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Robotics |
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| Comments (0)
Disposable camera mods
Greg writes -
I have been looking at mods and hacks for a while now, and I always save them when I see something cool. I have done several DIY projects using a disposable camera, and so they have always peaked my interest. I decided to take all of the mods that I have seen over the last few years and make a top ten list of what I think are the coolest mods for a disposable camera. These hacks are in no particular order.Disposable camera mods - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 18, 2007 03:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Imaging |
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| Comments (0)
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