Make: Online: Gadgets Archives

Gadgets Archive: Gadgets

November 20, 2009

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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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.

November 19, 2009

How-To: Custom wooden case for wireless charging mat

Instructables user jvalal didn't like the look of his Powermat inductive device charging station, so he stripped out the guts and "re-skinned" it with a handmade wooden case.

Arduino in Unity3D

Unity3D hacker Pieter Floris writes in to say that ~~he's~~ Patrick Gutlich has finally got his Arduino connected compass controlling a camera in Unity3D. The barrier of entry continues to be lowered by projects like this. Kudos, Patrick!

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Updated Power Glove with Bluetooth and Arduino

November 17, 2009

Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest launches today!

It's here! The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest launches today! Put on your thinking caps and dream up some awesome gadgets! To celebrate the release of the newest Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears, and the Kids of All Ages edition of MAKE (both at bookstores today), we're thrilled to be running this contest.

All of you adventure-seekers and gadget lovers out there are invited to join in. If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure "Crocodile Tears"? Design your dream Alex Rider gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, toothpaste, a pen). The winning gadget will be built right here at the MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic of what your gadget is made from and how it works. (Your schematic can be a diagram, a drawing or an explanation by you). Remember that the winning gadget will be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that could fly us to the moon)!

So what do you do? Dream up a gadget, of course! And what could you win? We're so glad you asked:

Grand Prize (one winner):

A signed collection of hardcover Alex Rider novels
iPod nano with a personalized message from author Anthony Horowitz
A backpack full of goodies and gadgets from the Maker Shed
The opportunity to have the winner's dream gadget produced in MAKE Labs and featured on Make: Online

Runner-Up Prize (two winners):

A signed hardcover copy of Crocodile Tears
An Alex Rider t-shirt

With prizes this good, how could you not want to enter?! The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest is open to kids ages 8 to 18, so get your kid, nephew, niece, grandkids, and yourself involved!

Need some inspiration? Check out these gadgets and book excerpts from previous Alex Rider novels to get those brain juices flowing:

Alex Rider book giveaway: Crocodile Tears

The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest launches TODAY! We're giving away two copies of the newest Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears, by Anthony Horowitz! The book comes out today as well, so win one here before others have a chance to scoop them up in stores. Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 22nd. Good luck!

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November 16, 2009

Millenium Falcon holochess table

I just discovered the Replica Prop Forum, and it has me on a bit of a Star Wars kick. This replica holochess table from Star Wars Episode IV was built by Philip Wise of Dallas, Texas:

Here's a video showing the basic demo mode, which is the audio and light pattern from the 50 seconds the game has in the first movie. The table is playing music from an internal flash drive and you can start the demo mode by pressing one of the 7 functional knobs. During the mode the audio plays and the lights repeat the pattern from the movie. After the demo, it goes back to the light pattern it was running, one of many, and returns to playing music.

November 13, 2009

Chumby in a box

Kent was impatient at having his Chumby Guts laying loose on the table, so he took to the box that it came in. This is a good way to see what the casing process entails and considering what it will ultimately need before committing to a proper case. Think of it as a Chumby case sketch model. Some of the other possibilities we've heard are cigar box Chumby and Teletubby embedding (called either TeleChumby or ChumbyTubby). MAKE Flickr pool member Pauric posted a set of photos showing how he gutted his first gen Chumby and installed it in a nice wooden case.

How are your Chumby Guts doing? Post up some Chumby photos in the MAKE Flickr pool, and send us some tips in the comments.

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In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

November 12, 2009

Real imitates virtual - Windows/Mac calculators

Korean product design firm MintPass came up with these great concept designs for real calculators that imitate their software counterparts. [via Boing Boing]

November 11, 2009

Flashback: Lego Recharger

This week's flashback is as fun as it is useful, brought to you by our own Make: Online contributing writer and the host of Make: television, John Edgar Park. Originally appearing on the pages of MAKE Volume 12, the Lego Recharger helps keep your gadgets all juiced up and stores your keys too. How incredibly convenient! Check it out.

Lego Recharger
By John Edgar Park

On a recent trip to Legoland, I saw a neat product in one of the stores: a Lego key rack with Lego brick keychains. What a great idea, I thought. With this I could come home, empty my pockets, and have a consistent place to hang my keys. But wait, what about all the other devices I just pulled out of my pockets, where do they go? And, for that matter, how will all their batteries stay charged?

Then it dawned on me. If I attached a powered Lego brick to each gadget to provide life-giving juice for their thirsty batteries, I'd solve 3 major problems in my life: lack of gadget organization, lack of battery power, and lack of Legos attached to all my possessions.

The first thing I did was to sift through my Lego Mindstorms and Technic bins. I grabbed some 9V motor wire bricks and a large baseplate to start playing with the design. I wanted to avoid modifying the bricks as much as possible. I also wanted color coding so I'd be less likely to accidentally hang my iPod on the cellphone's brick, thus blowing up the iPod. This is a danger of universal connectors. Since the motor wire bricks come only in black, I needed to use additional bricks for color coding. I considered color-coded tiles on top of the device-end brick, but the smooth tiles always seem to hide a Lego's, well, Lego-ness, so I opted for a 2×2 studded plate instead. Much more geek chic. I placed color-matched bricks below the respective charger-side brick on the base plate.

Next, I needed to splice the motor wire bricks onto my power adapters and gadget plugs. My first attempt involved cutting, stripping, and twisting corresponding wires together, soldering them, and then covering the splice with heat-shrink tubing. This worked great, but wasn't very elegant. I wanted to leave these Lego dongles on my gadgets all the time, even when they were in my pockets, so getting the wire length down to a minimum was important. The splice wasn't helping that.

Looking more closely at the Lego 9V motor wire brick, I noticed 4 pressure tabs on its ends. I grabbed a small screwdriver and pried the bottom off the brick. Inside, the insulated wire pair was pierced onto 2 sharp metal posts. The wire was held in place by the pressure between a small ridge of plastic and the recently pried-off bottom. Excellent. I'd now be able to cut all of my charger wires in half, and simply crimp a Lego motor wire brick onto each end.

For my key chain, I ripped off the original Lego design. I drilled a small hole into a 2×4 brick and then screwed a small screw eye into it. My apologies to Lego purists for all the drilling, but hey, Lego did it first!

The whole system was cheap and easy to build, works great, and keeps my devices organized and charged. I've gotten so used to it that I've installed an unwired counterpart key rack at my office.

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Thingamagoop 2 sports Arduino/CV compatibility & more

Bleep Labs announced the sequel to their Thingamagoop synth/noisemaker and it looks to be one heckuva major upgrade. The Thingamagoop 2 features -

Analog VCO controlled by analog or digital signal from Arduino. (A separate Arduino board is not required)
Sample and hold, Arpeggios, noise, and bit crush effects with open source code so you can program your own sounds!
All the analog sounds of the original Thingamagoop.
Controllable LEDacle - Ramp and random waveforms with rate control.
New modulators - Square wave amplitude modulator and triangle wave pulse width modulator.
Tough, stomp box type body with silk screened graphics in 3 different styles.
Easy to access battery - No more screws!
Much fuller and louder speaker.
CV in and out.
Arduino Programmer jack. Easily hook an Ardunio board up to the Thingamagoop 2.
Kit now comes with a pre-drilled enclosure.
Still assembled in Austin, Texas by Dr. Bleep and friends.

The Arduino integration alone is quite awesome, and along with control voltage input/output this should be a really versatile platform for cooking up some unique sounds. Kits and preassembled versions are currently available for pre-order over at Bleep Labs

In the Maker Shed:

Thing-a-ma KIT

DIY Palm Touchstone car mount

This has to be the coolest car mount for any mobile device out there. Originally designed for home use, maker remington870_20ga from the everythingpre.com forums wired a stock Palm Touchstone Charging Dock to run directly off his car battery using off-the-shelf components. Not only do you get an unencumbered view of the screen, your mobile device gets a chance to charge itself without all the messy cables.

November 10, 2009

Calculator mouse

Pt 2274
There's a lot of crazy going on with the "OpenOffice" mouse we posted up earlier, turns out it's not "authorized" but it did spark a lot conversations about mice with more than a couple buttons. Pictured above is the calculator mouse I picked up in Japan a few years ago a Tokyu Hands, I love it!

Alex Rider book giveaway: Scorpia and Ark Angel

As a special preview for our upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Scorpia and Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz, the fourth and fifth books in the Alex Rider series. Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 14st. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck!

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Alex Rider's radio mouth brace, a Dream Gadget Contest preview

On November 17th, we'll be launching the Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, to coincide with the release of the next chapter in Alex's adventures, Crocodile Tears . The book comes out the same day that MAKE, Volume 20 (the kid-themed issue) hits newsstands! In case you're unaware, Alex Rider is a young spy whose exploits are chronicled in a popular series of teen spy/adventure books. Alex uses all sorts of crazy high tech contraptions, made from things in his school backpack, to get out of sticky situations.

Attention all adventure-seekers, gadget lovers, and closet inventors. You are invited to join in the fun! If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure Crocodile Tears? Design your Alex Rider dream gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, a toothpaste tube, a pen). The winning gadget will be built here at MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic, tell us what your gadget is made from, and how it works. Your entry can be a schematic, sketches, and/or an explanation by you. Remember that the winning gadget should be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that fly us to the moon)!

In preparation for the contest, we're offering excerpts from the Alex Rider books, highlighting the fantastic, clever (and entirely fictional) gadgets used by Alex. Up this week is the Radio Mouth Brace from Scorpia.

Radio mouth brace:This brace is a simple and easy-to-use tracking device. The radio transmitter is held on a circuit board printed over the top of the brace so that it lies against the roof of the mouth. The metal loops that hold it in place act as an antenna.

When it is worn, the brace transmits a steady and powerful signal, which is constantly monitored by MI6’s network of radio towers. Each tower analyzes the direction and strength of the signal, and by putting this information together, the location of the wearer can be pinpointed. The accuracy of the system depends on the amount of information available, but it is usually as close as one hundred feet.

A tiny switch built into the underside of the brace changes the frequency of the radio signal being produced. This is often used as a distress call.

The brace operates on kinetic power, in the same way as some modern watches. At the back of the device, in a hollow molded to the roof of the wearer’s mouth, is a small, flat box containing a capacitor, a small weight, and a microgenerator. As the wearer’s head moves, the weight moves back and forth, causing the generator to spin. This produces enough current to keep the capacitor charged and the radio signal transmitting.

You can download the high-res schematic for the bike pump and download a sample chapter from Scorpia to see how Alex uses it to get out of trouble.

Disclaimer: Excerpts from Alex Rider: The Gadgets by Anthony Horowitz are fictional and for inspiration only. Readers should not attempt to recreate these gadgets.

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November 9, 2009

Driving a car with an iPhone. A freaking car. For reals.

John Boiles, who earlier this year showed us how to control an RC car using an iPod's internal accelerometer (and also how to control the lights on a dance floor in more or less the same way), is a member of Austin, TX, based engineering collective Waterloo Labs, who have up-gunned his iPod technology to control steering, brakes, and acceleration on a full-size automobile. Definitely not the safest hack I've ever blogged, but probably the most impressive. Great work, lady and gents. [Thanks, John!]

Compact cellphone microscope

This novel approach to cellphone microscopy from Dr. Aydogan Ozcan from the University of California, Los Angeles, foregoes bulky lenses and magnifies electronically.

For this electronic system of magnification, inexpensive light-emitting diodes added to the basic cellphone shine their light on a sample slide placed over the phone's camera chip. Some of the light waves hit the cells suspended in the sample, scattering off the cells and interfering with the other light waves.

Far From a Lab? Turn a Cellphone Into a Microscope [via picturephoning]

More:
Cameraphone microscope extension revisited
Cell phone camera turned remote microscope

November 7, 2009

The Chumby has landed!

Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to see a box on the doorstep. The return address was from the Maker Shed. That could only mean one thing: The Chumby has landed!

My daughter had to draw first blood on the package. We cracked the box and checked out the stuff inside. After going to the hypnotist show to benefit the school drama department and doing strange things on stage, I felt refreshed and motivated to assemble and play with Chumby guts until long past my bedtime.

I didn't take any photos, in large part because of the very helpful images already taken and posted to the MAKE Flickr Pool.

Build instructions are on one double sided sheet of paper. I missed it the first few times I looked through the box because I thought I would find a booklet. There is a link to the instructions pdf on the Chumby guts page in the Maker Shed. The directions are pretty good, but leave a bit to be desired. I found the photos by MAKE Flickr Pool members MTBFO and ewee to be essential. Early in the build, I was wondering which of two sets of small screws to use, and found that the silver ones were likely the ones by checking a photo. I also found the notes on many of ewee's pictures to be really useful.

So now there is a new tooltoy in the arsenal. This should be fun, and already the big question is "How do you case this thing?" Kent Barnes has extended the chumbilical cord that connects the mother and daughter boards and seems ready to move things around. John Park has a nifty laser-cut case. The box that it came in is sized about right for a first enclosure. The next case will probably be a cigar box, which is very alluring lately. You can clothe your naked Chumby guts by following these instructions.

As soon as it was plugged in, the disembodied Chumby woke up, started talking and showed a tour of the basic functions. Within a few minutes, it had upgraded the firmware and brought me to the website to register it. Finding the household wireless was a snap. Over on the Chumby wiki, you can find resources on hardware, software, and more.

In all, this has already been a fun project with few pitfalls. The next steps of customizing the case and configuring the software are exciting prospects at this point. Now that she's awake, my daughter is curious about how each of the widgets work. This will be a fun thing to have.

Have you got a some Chumby guts waiting to be animated? If you've already built yours, please weigh in with your tips and tricks by adding a comment or two. If you have a glamour shot to share or process set of pics, post them over to the MAKE Flickr pool.

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

November 6, 2009

The patented 18 button OpenOffice mouse?

Oomousep3
It's not April 1st, so I'm going to guess it's real. The patented 18 button OpenOffice mouse -

In partnership with the OpenOffice.org community, WarMouse announced the release of the OpenOfficeMouse, the first multi-button application mouse designed for the world's leading open-source office productivity suite. With a revolutionary and patented design featuring 18 buttons, an analog joystick, and support for as many as 52 key commands, the OpenOfficeMouse is intended to provide a faster and more efficient user interface for OpenOffice.org applications such as Writer and Calc than the conventional icons, pull-down menus, and hotkeys presently permit.
"You can do far more with this mouse than most people are likely to realize at first," said mouse designer Theodore Beale. "You can launch applications from the desktop, and in your browser you can fire up a specific Internet site with one button, then close it with a double-click on the same button. In Writer and Calc, you can have your most powerful and complicated macros on one row of buttons and simple functions like Bold, Undo, and Format Cell on another. It's very useful in games like World of Warcraft, because even without taking the joystick into account, you've got 16 commands within one click, 40 within two, and all 72 icons on the six action pages within just two double-clicks or less."

I'm hoping they consider the Chumby-style patent so others could improve on the hardware, perhaps adding more buttons.

Reminder: Alex Rider book giveaway

As a special preview for our upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, part of the Alex Rider series! Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 8th. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck!

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