Posts tagged with diy

DIY capacitive sensitive floor tiles

Posted on November 23, 2009 4:57 AM

Have some time on your hands and don't want to remain idle and be associated with the devil's workshop? This DIY capacitive sensitive floor tiles project ought to suit you then, as it allows you to construct a USB-connected DDR controller from scratch. You will use an Atmel ATmega8 microcontroller inside to run the V-USB firmware, while analog to digital converts to read in data from the capacitive sensors. Not too sure on whether this system is durable in the long run or not though, as hardcore DDR players can attest to.

Wooden Induction Charger

Posted on November 23, 2009 4:28 AM

The Powermat surely kicked off a new way of juicing up your thirsty devices after a long, hard day at work, but this mod brings things to another level. The guts of the Powermat office charging solution have been removed and placed within a hollowed-out hardwood for that added touch of class which you won't find anywhere else. There is a huge problem with this if you decide to embark on a DIY trip - you've got to make sure the wood is thin enough to obtain a positive lock on the charging coils below the surface without having to go through the wood.

iPhone macro lens carousel mod

Posted on November 23, 2009 3:51 AM

Have a pile of junk in your working area that you're not quite sure what you could do with them? The iPhone macro lens carousel mod might trigger a spark or two in your brain, where it offers an opportunity to come up with a unique accessory for your iPhone alongside recycling a bunch of scavenged optics. The wonders of a used jam jar cap...

Snaefell hybrid bike car

Posted on November 23, 2009 3:03 AM

The Snaefell hybrid bike car by François Knorreck is a handcrafted vehicle that took 10,000 man hours to produce alongside €15,000 in funds, merging a Laverda motorcycle alongside a custom-built carbon fiber and polyester sidecar. The sidecar’s parts were taken from a variety of vehicles such as a Volkswagen Golf GTI, a Citroen Xantia and an Audi 80. Running on the Laverda’s 1000cc engine, you get a gull-wing door on the sidecar alongside a car seat with seat belts.

Sega Dreamcast made portable

Posted on November 23, 2009 2:02 AM

This isn't the first (but it might be the last, who knows?) Sega Dreamcast developed, but it does look pretty stunning. You get clean and compact styling, where it packs in a 7" widescreen display, an integrated controller and stereo speakers. Too bad such DIY projects will never hit the market...

Electric shaver modded with new button

Posted on November 20, 2009 8:53 PM

This electric shaver has been saved from the trash thanks to the ingenuity of its owner who decided to replace a faulty power switch with one of his own - it does make us wonder though, won't it get in the way of the shaving process being this long and all?

DIY accelerometer-controlled USB gamepad

Posted on November 20, 2009 8:00 PM

An idle mind is the devil's worksop, but then again sometimes idle minds conjure up wonders like this homemade accelerometer-controlled USB gamepad which houses a PIC18F2550 from Starlino within.

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).

If you're interested in making one of your own, head on here.

DIY MINI controller kit

Posted on November 20, 2009 8:18 AM

Looking for some simple DIY stuff to fiddle with over the weekend? Well, if you’re feeling particularsly rich, you could always go for DJTechTools’ upcoming solder-free MIDI controller kit, which gives users 16 arcade style button triggers and LEDs that will apparently be released as open source when it’s launched. $165 seems a little steep for a simple ready to assemble DIY kit, but if you’re up for it, you’re welcome to pick one up when it’s launched.

Cram Your Chumby Into Another Casing

Posted on November 14, 2009 2:57 AM

Do you have some Chumby Guts lying around your house with nothing else better to do? Well, you could always cram it into the shipping box that your Chumby came in and make it into a really cool DIY project. As you can see, that's what the maker of this Chumby did. Check out more pictures on it here.

DIY water purifier

Posted on November 13, 2009 9:11 PM

Why waste money on a water purifier from an appliance store when you can do it yourself? A 68-year-old retired engineer did just that, using a plastic bottle with a magnet to remove from the water surplus of some metals. Pretty neat! Other modifications include the funnel neck of a plastic bottle filled with millet, helping saturate the water with vitamins. Something worth looking into during a long weekend, eh?

Didgeridoo modified electronically

Posted on November 12, 2009 10:13 AM

Kyle Evans has taken his technical know how to heavily modify this didgeridoo.

I created this instrument to experiment in the combination of the organic sound qualities of a didgeridoo with the advanced signal processing capabilities of modern computer programming and sound synthesis. This custom built didgeridoo features externally mounted modules that allow the performer to process and manipulate the sound of the instrument in real time. All control data is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth and is controlling several audio processes created in a custom-built software environment.

There is some surreal quality about merging both the old and the new, eh?

Ice Tube Clock Kit

Posted on November 12, 2009 4:12 AM

Want to own a cool looking clock that will set you apart from the rest? Well, the Ice Tube Clock will certainly help you in that direction. One look at the Russian-made, 9-digit, vacuum florescent display (VFD) and folks will certainly sing praises about it. To make things even better, it’s completely open source software and hardware, so mod it to your heart’s content!

OutRun arcade cabinet turned into car

Posted on November 11, 2009 11:57 AM

Truth might be stranger than fiction, and this adage holds true with the OutRun arcade cabinet that has been transformed into a car thanks to Garnet Hertz of the Pasadena Art Center College of Design. He has already installed all the relevant parts including wheels and motors to keep it up and running. An EVT America Electric Trike with electric motors will move the entire arcade cabinet with its "driver", while GPS sensors from an iPhone will be work in tandem with custom software to render out a "map" on the arcade screen in an OutRun style.

Bank notes turned into cellphone charger

Posted on November 10, 2009 8:37 AM

Open up your wallet and see the number of notes within - while most of us can just think about preserving and growing that amount, many others would prefer to indulge in their whims and fancies when the going is good. Emmanuel James thinks otherwise though as this Sierra Leonean student from the Makeni Polytechnic Institution came up with a device that juices up cellphones without the need for electricity. No, that doesn't mean he stays under a storm as a conduit for the lightning to a gadget, but he used local bank notes (Leones) in tandem with a couple of component circuits in between the two circuit’s poles terminal to produce electricity. Don't think this will be commercialized anytime soon as battery companies have the most to lose when that happens.

Voice controlled LED signage

Posted on November 10, 2009 8:24 AM

What happens when you throw in 120 LEDs, NerdKit, Python and an appropriate Google Voice module? Well, throw in some technical know how and you end up with a voice controlled LED sign. For instance, leaving a voicemail on the recipient's Google Voice account by starting with “message”, and it will then show the message to everyone for reading in just minutes. Would be nice to see future iterations see more security options thrown in for good measure just in case your other half sends you a naughty message...

NEStickle is one cool mod

Posted on November 10, 2009 8:03 AM

Fancy turning the classic NES into something different? That's what this guy did with his, the NEStickle which uses an old NES console chassis to hold a Sanwa joystick and its buttons within. The NEStickle will play nice with a variety of consoles including the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and computers from Windows, Mac and Linux stables. It doesn't forget its humble roots either, coming with an NES controller that can be connected to a regular NES.

RFiDJ controls HTPC with coasters

Posted on November 10, 2009 1:34 AM

Who would've thought that the humble coaster could be used to control your HTPC? That's exactly what Roteno Labs has done with their solution known as the RFiDJ. It relies on a set of picture frame coasters alongside mounted descriptive pictures as well as special RFID tags located within each one. Whenever a coaster is placed in the sensor area, the server will start to stream that specific selection which includes local news, This Week in Tech podcast and other specific albums. Heck, Roteno Labs even threw in a “shuffle” tag for good measure just in case you're at a loss when it comes to making a selection.

NCube coolest mod for GameCube just yet

Posted on November 9, 2009 10:16 AM

Here's one of the best mods we've seen to the GameCube so far - the NCube. It will load stock discs from an exposed spinning disc drive, where the innards are basically ripped out from an original GameCube. Within the chassis would be Datamax Kid's Delight, a Dreamcast Quantam Fighterpad, a 3rd party Wii Classic controller and components from the PSOne portable screen.

DIY microscope for cellphones

Posted on November 9, 2009 7:12 AM

Cellphones might come with some really high resolution cameras these days, but that doesn't mean they are great at macro shots. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, has come up with a DIY design for a cellphone microscope, writing his very own software to work in tandem with off-the-shelf parts that cost no more than $10. There isn't any lens to worry about basically, as magnification will be handled by the software, holograms and electronics.

SNEGENES P a custom built wonder

Posted on November 9, 2009 6:55 AM

Are you the type who loves to have a spot of classic retro gaming from time to time? Unfortunately, the upkeep of old handhelds and consoles can get pretty expensive and tedious in the long run, but here's a new custom built device that might just save the day - the SNEGENES P which is capable of handling games from the NES, SNES and Sega Genesis with aplomb. This is made possible thanks to the use of parts from an authentic “mini” SNES and a Gen-X clone machine. You will need half a dozen 2,600mAh batteries to run this thing (reminds you of the Sega Game Gear, eh?) that ought to last anywhere from 5 to 7 hours. Apart from that, the creator also threw in composite video and stereo audio outputs for added convenience just in case you want to play it on a big screen.