The holidays always remind us of our favorite toys from when we were kids. Johnny Astro, an Erector set, and — of course — a Spirograph. [CraftDiaries] has an Arduino machine that isn’t quite a Spirograph, but it sure reminds us of one. The Arduino drives two stepper motors that connect to a pen that can […]
ARDUINO DRIVES FAUX SPIROGRAPH Continue Reading
Kinetic projectiles are a seldom-used weapon of war, consisting of heavy metal slugs dropped from a great height by aircraft. On the way down to the ground, they pick up enough speed to kill enemy troops and even penetrate light armor. [i did a thing] tried to replicate this simple technology using a consumer drone. The
KINETIC STRIKES VIA A CONSUMER GRADE DRONE Continue Reading
One of the challenges involved in recycling plastic is determining the specific type of plastic a given item is actually made of. To keep up with demand, large scale recycling centers rely on various automated systems to separate different types of plastic from a stream of incoming material. But in less technologically advanced parts of the world,
AN OPEN SOURCE DETECTOR FOR IDENTIFYING PLASTICS Continue Reading
Notice: no vintage Hewlett Packard test equipment was harmed in the making of this overly complicated Nixie clock. In fact, if anything, the HP 5245L electronic counter came out better off than it went into the project. We mention the fate of this instrument mainly because we’ve seen our fair share of cool-looking-old-thing-gutted-and-filled-with-Arduinos projects before, and
A NIXIE CLOCK, THE HARD WAY Continue Reading
Tesla is well known for making cars that can accelerate quickly, but there’s always room for improvement. [Warped Perception] decided that his Tesla Model S P85D needed that little bit of extra oomph (despite the 0-60 MPH or 0-97 km/h time of 3.1 seconds), so he did what any sensible person would: add three jet turbines
TESLA MODEL S GETS BOOST WITH JET ENGINE UPGRADE Continue Reading
I’ve not used an FM radio for years, but if you’d like to teach younger generations about older technology and show them how to solder components there’s an RDA5807 based kit that would allow you to build DIY FM Radio operating in the 87 MHz to 108 MHz range. The JC-300 kit comes with a
Build a DIY FM Radio with this $12 kit Continue Reading
By now, [CuriousMarc] and his team of volunteers are well versed in 1960s hardware restoration. So when a vintage IBM I/O Tester came into their possession, a full machine makeover was all but inevitable. The I/O Tester dates from around 1965, which roughly coincides with the introduction of IBM’s lauded System/360 computer mainframe. In addition to
RESTORING A VINTAGE IBM I/O TESTER Continue Reading
The concept of vending machines in hackerspaces is nothing new, but [iooner] took it a step further – as hackers ought to. Putting HDDs into the rotating spring of a repurposed vending machine, right where you’d expect to see a Granola bar, isn’t revolutionary – but we don’t remember anybody doing it before this. And, with how
HDD VENDING MACHINE WORKS LIKE A VENDING MACHINE SHOULD Continue Reading
A new open source project will soon be available via the Crowd Supply website in the form of the portable Bluetooth midi piano built using Arduino and an ESP32. At its core the Hamster Mix project is a portable midi controller powered by Arduino that connects via Bluetooth over MIDI. Enabling you to control effects as well
Hamster Mix pocket Bluetooth midi piano Continue Reading
Analog clocks are beautiful things inside, using ornate gear trains to keep track of time in a dance of mechanical beauty. However, all too often, the complexity is hidden inside. This gear clock design from [Tada3], however, proudly shows off its workings. A small stepper motor is used to run the clock’s movement, a small part
A SIMPLE 3D PRINTED GEAR CLOCK SHOWS OFF HOW IT WORKS Continue Reading
