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Archive: Electronics
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January 24, 2007
HOW TO - Building a internet controlled security robot
Here's how to build a security robot that can be controlled and viewed over the internet. The planned final version will be a kids 48" electric car with a network camera attached... [via] - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 24, 2007 03:18 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Robotics |
Permalink
| Comments (0)
Real-world control panel for the virtual world
William and Andy write in with a physical controller for the virtual world -
"Andy and I cobbled together a hardware control panel and wired it to its counterpart in Second Life. We like to think of it as somewhat "entangled."
The physical panel is built on top of an Arduino development board, and connects to Second Life through a series of scripts. As a practical matter, we're hoping more refined approaches can make life easier for machinima and multimedia events in Second Life." - Link.
Related:
- Arduino + virtual worlds - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 24, 2007 02:23 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Virtual Worlds |
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| Comments (1)
HOW TO - Make a Wii laptop
If it's a console, Ben Heck can make it better... Here's the start on how to make a Nintendo Wii laptop-
"In today's How-To, part 1 of 3, we'll describe how this mod was accomplished, starting with the disassembly of the unit, initial computer drawings, and "reworking" of the heat sink.
A week from now, part 2 will cover the rebuilding of the Wii internals as well as the design of the case. Finally, part 3 will cover cutting and building the case and installing everything into it. Let's take a look!
Alright let's crack open a Wii! To do this we'll need a regular small Phillips screwdriver and a special 3-prong "Nintendo" screwdriver." [via] - Link.
Related:
- The Wii laptop - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 24, 2007 12:01 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Gaming |
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| Comments (0)
January 23, 2007
LEMURplex Robotics classes for kids and teens
Here's a good one for NYC area maker kids & teens, Eric writes -
"LEMURplex, Brooklyn's new performance, gallery and teaching space for art and technology, begins robotics classes for kids on February 3rd. The classes are entitled Intro to Robotics for Kids and Teens: Building Robotics Projects with LEGO Mindstorms NXT. Initially, we will be offering two sessions, one each for ages 10-13 and 14-17.
Mindstorms NXT (http://mindstorms.lego.com) is the latest generation of LEGO's hugely popular system for building beginning through advanced robotics projects. LEMURplex classes are based around Carnegie Mellon University's acclaimed curriculum "Introduction to Mobile Robotics," developed specifically for teaching youth using the NXT system.
In eight 90 minute hands-on sessions, students will learn about robotic concepts, motion, sensing and programming at an age-appropriate level. Working in pairs, students will build a new project each week using NXT kits and computers (which are provided for use in class). Each project will focus on different fundamental robotics principles.
Classes will be held on Saturdays for eight weeks, on the dates 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24 and 3/31 (with 2/24 off for school vacation). Classes for ages 10-13 run from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm. Classes for ages 14-17 run from 12:30 - 2:00 pm.
The cost for each eight-week course is $395. Class size is strictly limited, so sign up soon to ensure a space. Once classes are filled, we will place additional students on a wait-list and notify you when additional sections are opened.
For more information on LEMURplex and to register for classes, please visit" - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 06:49 PM
Electronics, Events, LEGO |
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| Comments (0)
Smoking "Pot" (With an IP address) - DIY "Big Green Egg"
Rama writes -
"I was inspired to upgrade my smoker setup after reading this entry. Mine is very similar, based on the Stoker BBQ System, but uses a cheap $20 terracotta pot instead of the fancy/expensive Big Green Egg." - Link.
Related:
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 03:24 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (9)
MAKE MP3 player in an a "infinite reflections of a heart" art work
One of the reasons we made the MAKE open source daisy MP3 player was for artists to easily use in their projects and we've seen a few examples so far, here's another. Matt writes -
"..I was involved in an art piece that used your (MAKE) Mp3 player. It was an interactive art piece, in which you would look at a two way mirror and see yourself, then activate a light and see infinite reflections of a heart suspended in earbuds, and you could listen to a sound that went a long with it. I enjoyed using your product, and if I can tell anything more about the way I implemented it into this projected I would be happy to..."
Daisy MP3 Player Kit - Store and more info.
More photos after the jump as they say...
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 02:16 PM
Arts, DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
12V 15A power distribution box v1.0
Will writes -
"Ok, so here is the scenario: working with CCTV cameras a lot you find that most of your pro-sumer nightvision cameras run on 12VDC. Turns out that all the commercial solutions for distributing 12VDC are limited to 5 amps. Not a whole lot of juice when you are wanting to drive 16 cameras a 500+ milliamp.
After brainstorming on how to build a better system (and more stylish) I realized that a 400 watt PC power supply could kick 15 amps and keep trucking. That was the kind of power I was looking for, almost a full amp per camera if I needed it.
With that in mind, I chopped open a power supply I pulled out of a computer and I quickly came to realize this was going to be easier than I thought. Paying attention to where the yellow and black wires attached to the power supply's circuitry I began hacking at the wires, removing them all." Thanks Chrome Ghost - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 12:48 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (4)
Piklab: an open-source IDE for PIC and dsPIC development
Stokes writes -
"Microchip's line of PIC microcontrollers remain very popular with hobbyists, despite their development environment being more proprietary and Windows-centric than those of other microcontrollers. Enter Piklab: an open-source IDE for PIC and dsPIC development, leveraging a number of open-source tools and tying them together in a single environment.
Piklab is still in beta, but it shows a lot of promise." - Link.
Related:
- HOW TO - Make a TRAXMOD - SD card MOD player - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 10:52 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
Printable (free) Valentines day cards, with robots
Blissfully bitter writes -
"If you're feeling nostalgic for grade school, when you had to give Valentines to everyone in your class, WHiRR has some elementary-friendly mini cards available to download, print, and distribute. Hand them out to friends, lovers, and strangers on the street. Print them as they are or get DIY and embellish them with 3D baubles. The possibilities are almost limitless!
The WHiRR mini-Valentines are free for personal use." - Link.
Related:
- Give MAKE for the special Maker - Link.
- Give CRAFT for that special crafter - Link.
- Or just get they a Maker store gift certificate (they never expire!) - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 23, 2007 07:06 AM
Crafts, Electronics, Holiday projects |
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| Comments (2)
January 22, 2007
HOW TO - Use a laser to etch PCBs (printed circuit boards)
We're working on some new and exciting electronic kits, part of the process of testing these kits is to do a quick prototype PCB (printed circuit board). At the usual method is to use a laser print and transfer the image, then using etchant remove the unneeded copper. It's not exactly precise unless you're really good - so I thought it might be fun to try using a laser cutter.
We sprayed the copper board with black spray paint and then the laser simply removed the black portions away by burning it off.
The results were "ok" - in fact, it worked and the board worked - but we're still going to experiment more. The black spray paint isn't ideal and we're going to seek out some type of brass marking spray or something (anyone have some ideas?). Regardless, after a quick web search this appears to be the first attempt - there's also photo resist with a laser we might try, but that's for another day.
Here are some photos of our experiment in fablabing - Link.
Related:
- HOW TO - Direct to PCB ink jet resist printing - Link.
- PCB making - Link.
- HOW TO - Make PCB's with a laser printer - Link.
- PCB creation process - Link.
- HOW TO - Build a PCB router - Link.
- HOW TO - Photo etch circuit boards - Link.
- DIY Ultraviolet light source for PCB exposure - Link.
- HOW TO - Create your own PCB's - Link.
- PCB Creation - Printed Circuit Boards for the Masses - Link.
From the pages of MAKE:
Printed Circuit Boards. Step-by-step instructions for making your own PCBs at home. MAKE 02 - Page 164. Subscribers-- read this article now in your digital edition or get MAKE 02.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 04:39 PM
Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (12)
HOW TO - Remote controlled RGB LED mood light
5Volt writes -
"Control the colour of a powerful LED light beam with a remote control, store the colours and recall them at will.
With this thing I can control the colour of a bright light into many different colours using the three fundamentals colours : red green and blue. Adding them toghether with different intensity can yeld very great a range of colours from the visible spectrum.
Specifically my mood lamp can shift colours through 32 intensity values for each RGB colour giving 32*32*32 = 32768 different combinations of hue, intensity and brightness. It can also store 10 different combinations can be turned on or off, all of these through a TV remote control.
The intensity of each red, green and blue component is done via PWM so heat dissipation is kept to a minimum.
The circuit is simple and there are no pushbuttons as control is done entirely through the remote control. I use this circuit to light a flower vase. The flat case of the box I chose does a good job at balancing the vase. The pictures provide some ideas. One day I am possibly buying one of those glass cubes with LASER created 3D shapes inside to go with the lamp. For now glass vases are just fine." - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 11:54 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
HOW TO - Flash MIDI
Fred sent in a great Flash (Macromedia/Adobe that is) to MIDI control project --
"From 1734 when Louis-Bertrand Castel, a Jesuit monk, created the Clavecin Oculaire, a 'color harpsichord,' until today, artists have created instruments for performing color compositions. In the late 19th century, Alexander Rimington created the first 'color organ' for use in public performance. In the 1920s and 30s, Thomas Wilfred traveled the United States and Europe performing 'lumia' recitals with his 'clavilux.' In this tradition, I developed a computer system that allowed for the performance of user-controlled Flash animation.
The user interface is a Mad Catz Playstation 2 game controller and the UC-33e Evolution MIDI controller by m-Audio. The computer is an Apple iMac G5 with 1.8 GHz processor and 1.5 GB of RAM. The MIDI and game controller signal data is sent to Flash (.swf) files being played through the stand-alone Flash Player, utilizing ActionScript 2.0 code in Flash 8 via MAX/MSP 4.6 software. An LCD projector and sound system are the final destination outputs. " - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 10:23 AM
Computers, DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
HOW TO - 5 transistor PIC programmer (wire-wrapped onto an index card)
Klee27x writes -
"Make your own PIC programmer for your computer's parallel port. This is a variation of David Tait's classic design. It is very reliable and there is good programming software available for free. I like IC-Prog and PICpgm programmer." - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 08:36 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Instructables |
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| Comments (0)
MiniPov kit mod - Get a taxi in Singapore
JRL modded the MiniPov kit we sell in the MAKE store to hail taxi's better in Singapore. Turn it on, choose the text and as you wave it around it spells words in the air...
"Immediately I had in mind an application for it which would be to hail a taxi in Singapore.
I have therefore taken the original hardware and schematics of the project (see here) but have modified it slightly by adding one additional switch between pin 11 of the AVR chip and ground and one 10K resistor between the same pin 11 and pin 20. Then I have written a different program to run the device which allows me to have 8 different texts and permits the usage of bold and inverse attributes." - Link.
Source and binaries are on the site too, nicely done. Open source hardware begets fun like this.
Related:
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 06:22 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (4)
SecureLED - Optical access control, with LEDs
This is pretty neat, uses LEDs instead of RFID. Requires line of sight to transmit, but that's actually a good thing...
"SecureLED is an optical access control device which replaces current RFID or Magnetic Strip technologies with a cryptographically secure, contact-less device which communicates over commodity Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
Project Summary
This project started with one central premise: current physical access control systems are insecure in fundamental ways. We sought a way to remedy this problem, and came accross recent work which demonstrated the potential of communicating over cheap commodity LEDs. We used these as the basis of our system, building on top of it devices which use a cryptographically secure challenge-response protocol to authenciate a user.
As such, we built both a reader and a small key device (which we had originally planned to implement on an ATTiny2313, but did not for reasons listed below). The reader outputs the industry-standard Weigand protocol, so it is interoperable with current systems. All in all, we believe that this solution presents a powerful alternative to current technology. " [via] - Link.
Code is available on the site too.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 22, 2007 12:43 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (1)
January 21, 2007
The Wii laptop
Good God, Ben Heck made a Nintendo Wii laptop and will later release the how-tos so you can make your own, excellent work Ben. He writes -
"It's the Wii laptop! We spent the last few weeks (including much time spent over the holidays evading relatives) slaving over this bad boy and finally it's complete. Check out the features:
- 16:9 widescreen LCD, 7-inch diagonal.
- Stereo sound
- Gamecube controller port
- Built-in short range Sensor Bar
- Ports for using original Sensor Bar and A/V output jacks (for use on external display)
- Built-in power supply and compartment for power cord
- Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.7 x 2-inches
Starting next Tuesday we'll be doing a multi-part How-To with detailed instructions for building your own Wii laptop, as well as loads of photos of the construction process. But for now check out the gallery for more detailed photos of the unit, and click on to see some video of the Wii laptop in action.
The Wii laptop - [via] - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 21, 2007 07:41 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Gaming |
Permalink
| Comments (0)
Video Critter game board
Owen writes -
"The Game Board is designed to stack directly on top of the Video Critter or Video Critter Hi-Res boards, creating an entire audio/video system you can hold in your hand. It provides a USB connection for programming, and 8 buttons and 2 LEDs for creating your user interface.
The board is layed out like many popular video game controllers with four navigation sytle buttons on the left, two A - B buttons on the right, and two auxiliary buttons in the center.
The kit also includes 4 nylon spacers and a 10-pin header (not pictured). The mounting holes on the Game Board line up with the mounting holes on the Video Critter or Video Critter Hi-Res, so a #4 screw can be used to attach them with the nylon spacer between the boards. The Game Board attaches to the first 10 pins of the I/O header on the Video Critter or Video Critter Hi-Res, so a 10 pin header is provided for this. " - Link & details.
Looks good for $39 - I'll get one and do a review soon (if anyone else does first, just email me and we'll post your review).
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 21, 2007 07:36 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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| Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
HOW TO - PC Power 12 V regulator circuit
Neelandan just posted up another great project, a 12v regulator circuit to power things from your PC--
"To safely power something from your PC, the attached loads have to be limited to a safe current in order to avoid the chance that a short circuit might cause inadvertent shutdown and damage to your data. This circuit can be used to safely bring out the 12V line from your computer to supply a limited amount of current to power external gadgets." - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 19, 2007 03:40 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (3)
iBoy - Gameboy iPod case
Ryan writes - "Here's a fully functional iPod case made from an original Gameboy. With internal dock connector...no iPods were harmed in the making of this device." - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 19, 2007 11:40 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, iPod |
Permalink
| Comments (1)
January 18, 2007
Famicon Video Circuit Bending
This circuit bent Famicom by Kaseo has an entire extra Famicom for the breakout box. Circuit bending goes visual. The form factor is rad and the visuals would make an awesome background for live music.
[via] - Link
Kaseo's "Bent or die?" circuit bent speak and math looks awesome too!
Posted by Bre Pettis |
Jan 18, 2007 08:16 AM
Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (1)
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