{This instructable was created in fulfillment of the project requirement of the Makecourse at the University of South Florida (www.makecourse.com).} Inspired by the Wind powered machines built by “Theo Janse” I’ve come up with a design of my own, but with a twist. This design houses two 12volt motors to provide the power, an Arduino, […]
RC Strandbeest Continue Reading
Tracked robots usually require at least two wheels inside to work properly. However, [James Bruton] discovered a curious tractor design from the 1940s, the Fordson Rotaped, which only uses a single sprocket wheel inside each track. Being [James], he built a self-balancing robot around the rotaped concept. Instead of a lot of short track sections, the
ROVER USES DIFFERENT KIND OF TRACKS Continue Reading
Ever wished for some robotic enhancements for your next nerf war? Well, it’s time to dig through the parts bin and build yourself a nerf gun with aimbot built right in, courtesy of [3Dprintedlife]. (Video, embedded below.) The gun started with a design borrowed from [Captain Slug]’s awesome catalog of open source nerf guns. [3Dprintedlife] modified the
AUTO-AIMING NERF GUN TO GIVE YOU THE EDGE IN BATTLE Continue Reading
I got a relatively inexpensive 6040 CNC machine, and have been spending most weekends making the thing work, and then cutting stuff, learning the toolchain, and making subsequent improvements. Probably 90% of my machine time has been on making improvements. It’s not that the machine was bad — I got the version with ballscrews and a decently
BALANCED DESIGN AND HOW TO KNOW WHEN TO QUIT OPTIMIZING Continue Reading
It would be great if you could create your own filament. On the face of it, it seems easy to do, but as [Thomas Sanladerer] found out when he was a student, there are a lot of details that can bedevil your design. His extruder sort of works, but he wouldn’t suggest duplicating his effort. In fact,
FAIL OF THE WEEK: HOW NOT TO BUILD A FILAMENT EXTRUDER Continue Reading
Hackers love a good clock build, but its longer term cousin, the calendar, is more seldom seen in the wild. Regardless, they can be just as useful and elegant a project, as this cryptic design from [Wolfspaw] demonstrates. The project consists of a series of rotating wheels, displaying a series of arcane symbols. When the markings
CRYPTIC CALENDAR MAKES FOR A USEFUL WALL ORNAMENT Continue Reading
As far as robots are concerned, wheels and tracks are great ways to get around when you’ve got serious work to do. However, if you want to build something that feels more animal than machine, building a walking ‘bot is the way to go. [Technovation] delivers a great example in the form of this quadruped design.
ROBOT GETS AROUND ON ALL FOURS, THANKS TO MANY, MANY SERVOS Continue Reading
In this instructables I will show you how I made my own DIY laser engraver for very cheap. Also most of the parts are either salvaged from old things or are very cheap. This is a very interesting project for any electronics hobbyist. This engraver will be able to engrave wood, cardboard, vinyl stickers etc.
DIY Cheap and Sturdy Laser Engraver. Continue Reading
Building a robot arm is fun, but no longer the challenge it once was. You can find lots of plans and kits, and driving the motors is a solved problem. However, there is always one decision you have to make that can be a challenge: what effector to put on the end of it. If
ROBOT ARM SUCKS IN A GOOD WAY Continue Reading
In times like these, we all need to look beyond ourselves. This project might help: OnStep is an open-source telescope controller, a device that controls a telescope to point at something interesting in the sky. Want to take a look at M31? Use an app on a PC or smartphone, select the object and the
OPEN SOURCE TELESCOPE CONTROLLER PUTS SMART FEATURES IN OLD TELESCOPES Continue Reading
