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June 29, 2009

Sweet penny stove

We've covered these beer can stoves before, but this is a particularly nice one. And 'tis the season to be camping...

Penny Stove Instructions and FAQ [Thanks, Pete Marchetto!]

More:
Make a Pepsi Can Stove
A better soda can stove

June 28, 2009

AIDG is a NonGovernmental Organization (NGO) that helps provide low technology solutions to help address environmental and health needs to people living in communities without great access to the systems that many of us consider requirements.

Here are a few of their water-based initiatives:

Solar Hot Water:

XelaTeco, with support from AIDG's wonderful interns, recently installed a solar water heating system and water tower for La Guarderia, a childcare center in Llanos del Pinal, Guatemala. La Guarderia was started by two non-profit organizations, Pop Wuj and Jóvenes Juntos, who saw the need for daycare and after school homework assistance in a community plagued by poverty, domestic violence and alcoholism.
Jóvenes Juntos requested the hot water system to promote healthy hygiene practices amongst the children served by center, particularly in the cold winter months. The presence of hot water is expected to reduce the occurrence of skin ailments, such as scabies and other rashes. This segment of the project was funded by AIDG.

Ram Pump:

As the water runs downhill from the source to the ram pump, it gains force and velocity. When this velocity reaches a determined point, the water closes a valve in the ram pump known as the "impulse" or "waste" valve. The force of the water against the now closed impulse valve causes pressure to build inside the pump. The water sends high-pressure shock waves in all directions (the "water hammer," or "ariete" in Spanish, from which the pump gets its Spanish name, "Bomba de Ariete"). These shock waves open another valve, the delivery check valve, and water squirts through reaching altitudes of up to ten times greater than the vertical distance from the water's source to the pump. An air vessel installed in the pump acts as a kind of regulator which keeps the flow at the top steady, instead of delivered in bursts, as the pump internally functions

Sand Filtration:

Properly managed sand filters remove 96%-98% of water borne pathogens such as E. Coli and Giardia, producing a positive significant impact on the health of target users. The greatest effect is expected for young children, who are extremely susceptible to diarrheal diseases caused by exposure to contaminated water. Diarrheal disease causes approximately 2 million deaths per year among children in developing countries.

The World Health Organization has some good documentation on sand filtration technology.

To find out more about AIDG, check out their blog and their photos.

June 27, 2009

Getting real with Physical Design

[Image from Shopbot Tools]

Daniel Smithwick has been working to develop a new model for architecture. Instead of building each structure as a custom object, people can use software and hardware to make repeatable designs that can be manufactured and assembled where and when they are needed.

He recently wrote an article on the Shopbot site to help explain his vision of design and manufacturing of housing and other objects.

Our company's vision is to revolutionize architectural design and production and to make these processes transparent by empowering consumers throughout the world with the online tools and resources that enable them to become the producers of their own creations.
Not only are there incredible inefficiencies in the current practice of design, fabrication and construction of architecture, but until now these processes have been limited to costly design professionals, wasteful manufacturing facilities and labor-intensive site work.

You may want to take a look at the Physical Design site for more information.

June 24, 2009

PC case beehive

In response to my post of the clothes dryer chicken coop, Instructables author Alois sent us a link to his computer case beehive. The red jar lid on the front of the hive helps the bees find their way home. Who knew?

Computer case beehive

June 23, 2009

Re-Make: Transparent boat

My latest guilty SkyMall pleasure is this "Moloniki" transparent polycarbonate canoe by Clear Blue Hawaii. It's 13' long, 3' wide amidships, and almost 1' deep, and the polycarb is UV-stabilized to prevent sun-yellowing. Of course it looks cool, but what is really attractive, to me, is the prospect of being able to see what's going on underwater beneath you. The price, unsurprisingly, is prohibitive: $1600 new.

Ouch. I can't justify that. Especially since the lip-syncing scandal tanked sales of my album.

So, as usually happens sooner or later, my thoughts have turned to making my own more accessible version. And, as I've learned by many embarrassing experiences, the first step of any new design project is researching what people have done before. There isn't much out there, but after googling around for awhile I finally hit on it with "plexiglass boat."

These pictures are from a fairly anonymous Picassa album belonging to "Shadicus." If you know anything more about this boat or its builders, feel free to drop me a line. From what I can tell, this craft, which took first place in a "junk boat" contest, has a hull made of scrap polycarbonate sheet. It's not great looking, and one of the captions mentions that "it takes on a little water." Still, it's a starting point: The Thing Can Be Done. And obviously it didn't cost much.

Now, having wiled away the better part of a day building boats in my brain, I have my own fairly well-developed ideas about how it might be done. But I want to hear yours. So make with the comments, folks: How do we do this?

From the pages of MAKE:

Totch Brown's Pit Gator Boat from MAKE 06 might be a good starting point.

June 21, 2009

Open source EV controller

Photo from Paul and Sabrinas EV Stuff

Nikki likes this open source Electric Vehicle controller project. With an EV, your primary components are the motor, batteries, charger and the controller. If people can develop a design that will allow a more inexpensive and high quality motor controller, they can move the technology in a good way towards better components and systems. Nikki says:

They're looking for people to help with the project and donations to help finish the testing and documentation. It's certainly worth a go at building yourself, or working on with some students. They have some videos at YouTube of the conversion and the prototypes.

The OS EV motor controller project ReVolt wiki with a bit of info, including a set of photos showing the build process, and the MPGuino, to help keep track of your energy cost per mile.

If you are interested in the process of building an EV or even building your own electric motor controller, you will find this web site a great place to start. Our electric motor controller project involves not just us, but several gracious contributors from other sites including Ecomodder and the EV tech group.

You may want to listen in to the EVCast featuring the project.

June 19, 2009

Oil drum rocker

Nice retread of the familiar oil-drum-chair concept, which manages to actually connect the form of the drum and the function of the chair in a rational way. There are four rubber feet--two in front and two in back--and the arc between them can be adjusted to set how far the seat rocks, presumably all the way down to no rocking at all. The seat is made of "waxen smoked bamboo," which also happens to be the magical name of my hippie sister-in-law. Via Recyclart.

P.S. I'm collecting drum/barrel chairs in the comments. If you know of one we haven't mentioned, please to drop us a link!

More:

June 18, 2009

Opening ellipse chaos table

Peter Marigold designed this ellipse "chaos" table that slides open to accept a number of different leaves. Looks great for backyard buffets and ripe for a remake. Via NOTCOT.

June 16, 2009

Upcycle CD iPhone Dock

So you've got a pile of spent CDs you'd rather not toss into a landfill and a shiny new iPhone 3GS in need of a dock. What are you going to do? Well, if you're like Jules over at Geeky Gadgets you're going to do the green thing and fabricate an upcycle dock using available materials, a little all purpose adhesive, and the ever-popular Dremel rotary tool.

[via GeekyGadgets]

In the Maker Shed:

In the Maker Shed: iPhone Hacks

June 12, 2009

Nikki's plugged Prius

Nikki is all about electric vehicles. She does a great job at explaining how she is rebuilding and modifying the old and new EVs in her fleet. Her photo stream on Flickr helps her document projects like converting her Prius into a plug in hybrid electric. She is a frequent host for the EVCast, a podcast about electric vehicles. Check out her site for her regular updates on all things EV.

Nikki is a maker who is using her tinkering skills to convert the systems in her life to be more green. She is also having a good time learning about electric vehicle transportation and sharing her knowledge with the world.

Look for more photos of electric vehicles:

June 11, 2009

Sci-fi-chic eyeshades use ancient design

From the MAKE Flickr pool

Behold Igaaks' CNC plasma torch-cut sunglasses, as demoed at a recent TechShop Durham monthly meeting -

Material is copper, bent by hand, then heat treated, then coated with acrylic.
[...]
The only thing it might need is some kind of padding for the nose, and after talking with folks at the Meet-up, I think a small piece of molded silicone would work.

Though they look decidedly retro-future, the original Inuit design dates back about 2,000 years -

Before the introduction of tinted sunglasses, the Inuit wore slitted snow goggles to prevent snow blindness when travelling in the brilliant sunlight of spring.

Read more on The Winnipeg Art Gallery's site

June 10, 2009

Remaking a Maker Faire booth

So, what to do with a slightly-used booth from Maker Faire? Well, if you're Dino, of DinoFab, you make a food prep/passthrough counter for your kitchen. Nice that he's still wearing the shirt, too. Memories.

DinoFab

June 9, 2009

How-To: Sew a catamaran trampoline

No, not a trampoline for bouncing, which is what I thought when I first saw this, too. The fabric bridge across a catamaran is also called a trampoline, and is constructed from strong fabric, sewn to the frame through the grommets around the edge of the fabric. Instructables user TimAnderson's catamaran trampoline was in disrepair, so here he shows us how to repair the piece using the original grommets, but new fabric. He used a UV-resistant fabric for lasting strength in the sun.

June 7, 2009

Prong your Prius

If you have a Prius, and want to go more than a mile in battery mode, then you might want to check out 3 Prong Power

3Prong Power is delivering enhanced Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) conversions for our customers. Our goal is to meet and expand the demand for PHEVs that has been seen nationwide, starting in the Bay Area.
This technology enables using two distinct power sources and enhances fuel efficiency. Take it to the next level, make your car a true Hybrid...Plug it in.

This sounds like a neat system. Certainly it is not free, and the conversion costs fall in a lump onto the consumer's bank account, but in the long term, it appears to save fuel costs and have environmental benefits as well. Refueling with electric takes a few hours, and costs about as much as the equivalent of $1 a gallon of gasoline.

June 6, 2009

Make your plans for SolarFest!

In the mail today arrived the 36 page schedule/flyer for this year's SolarFest. Based on the three I've been to in the past, this should be an excellent time as well. There are plenty of workshops, live music, and great vendors who have either made their own wares or are willing to share lots of information.

[Photo from Connors934 on Flickr]

Set in the hills of Vermont, many people bring camping gear and sleep out, but there are other options. The on-site campgrounds are mostly in the woods at the site. Food in the past has been excellent and prepared by vendors from the local area. If you would like to help with setup or breakdown, check out their volunteers page.

June 4, 2009

Treehouse Designs Skate Deck Chair

The beautiful thing about Maker Faire is that you often get a sneak peek into designs folks have in the works but that are not available yet. One of my favorite prototypes I saw was the Treehouse Designs Skate Deck Chair. From their site, the chair is a "prototype for a furniture line in kit form constructed of reclaimed skateboard decks and CNC-milled color fin ply." I, for one, can't wait until this kit is available because I have 6 old decks waiting for a new life. You also gotta love that the design team on this project is father/daughter duo Lance and Amanda Glover, coming up with a styley and functional use for Amanda's old skate decks.

June 1, 2009

Lovely minimal garden foot bridge

So I will admit, in a moment of profound, existential boredom, to picking up and leafing through the SkyMall catalog in the S80 on my flight back from Maker Faire yesterday. I will offer my standard excuse for such behavior: I was looking for clever ideas to liberate by re-make-ifying them. And one of the things that jumped out at me was a litle arched Japanese-style garden footbridge like the one shown below. A simple piece of carpentry, admittedly, but of elegantly minimal beauty. I looked around for plans online, and discovered these, by Rod Bird at Redwood Bridges in Mena, AZ. Rod apparently makes and sells bridges like these for a living, so double love to him for open-sourcing his design.

May 30, 2009

The Sun Curve teaches about natural systems

Sun Curve is a project for schools to help kids learn about solar energy, wind, biology and natural systems exhibiting at Maker Faire. The Sun Curve uses Open Educational Resources to support their curriculum.

May 27, 2009

Alarm clock carpet

This alarm clock carpet could be a fun remake with a gutted alarm clock circuit's switch replaced with conductive fabric stitches triggered by stepping on the rug. Via Inspire me, now!

May 23, 2009

Converting Saturns to EVs

AMP Motor Works is a company set up to convert the mass produced Saturn Sky to an Electric Vehicle.

AMP claims that the Sky EV gets 125 miles per gallon equivalent fuel economy based on how much energy it takes to charge the batteries. At current energy prices, this will cost you around 3 cents (US) a mile.
Additionally, because the car is all-electric, it produces zero tailpipe emissions and has many other added side benefits such as no oil changes, no regular tune-ups, no clutch, no transmission fluid and no differential fluid -- all of which could add up to significant savings over the life of the vehicle beyond obvious savings on fuel costs.

This sure isn't a cheap way to get an EV, but, you gotta start somewhere, right?