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May 20, 2009

MakeShift 17 deadline this Friday

Mountain Bike Rescue

This Friday, May 22nd, is the deadline for the MakeShift challenge that appeared in MAKE, Volume 17. To enter, send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com.
Here's the challenge:

The Scenario: You and your best friend, both experienced mountain bikers, take off on a daylong jaunt to explore a little-known and rocky canyon trail. The ride is challenging but spectacular until, as you finally decide to turn around and head back, your friend's bike hits a loose rock, skids out from under him, and they both topple off the edge of the trail down into the canyon. Smashing his knee in the fall, your friend manages to land on a thin, unstable ledge about 15 feet straight down from the trail, only able to keep himself from falling farther by grabbing onto a small but secure tree branch jutting out from the rock, while his bike cartwheels out of sight to the bottom of the canyon.

The Challenge: Your friend is clearly in a lot of pain and there's no telling how long the ledge he's on will hold, so riding the many miles out to the trailhead to call for outside help is not an option. And, as is always the case in these situations, your cellphone gets no signal out here. Bottom line, you need to figure out a way to get your friend, who weighs a good 30 pounds more than you, up off that ledge and back down the trail to your car before nightfall -- which is maybe four or so hours off.

What You Have: In addition to your bike, you've got your daypack, which contains a canteen of water, some protein bars, a basic bicycle repair tool kit, an extra inner tube, your Swiss Army knife or Leatherman tool, a strong, flexible, 3-foot wire saw with split-ring finger-handles on both ends, some waterproof matches, and roughly 30 feet of strong nylon cord you use to tie your bikes onto the car. Since you know from experience that you can't predict the weather, you also have some waterproof nylon rain gear and a warm jacket.

There are some small trees on the upper side of the trail but none immediately adjacent to the ledge where your friend fell. Though he's conscious, it's best to assume he can do very little to assist you in getting him off the ledge below, and he certainly won't be able to walk if and when you do. However, he does have enough strength in his arms to hang onto the tree branch, at least for now. So what are you going to do?

If duplicate solutions are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and most creative solutions will each win a MAKE T-shirt and a MAKE Pocket Ref. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your solution. Good luck!

For readers' solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

Posted by Shawn Connally | May 20, 2009 03:30 PM
Announcements, Make Challenge | Permalink | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

March 6, 2009

MakeShift 16 Deadline

Today's the deadline for the latest MakeShift challenge, which graced the pages of MAKE, Volume 16. But since I forgot to remind you readers about the deadline, we're extending the deadline by 1 day, to Saturday, March 7 (tomorrow!).

Here's what you're up against:

Tick, Tick, Tick ...
The Scenario: You've worked late into the night as a computer engineer in the high-rise headquarters of an international bank, and you're finally heading with your briefcase to your car in the subterranean parking garage. Your car is the only one left on this dimly lit level, parked along a cement wall right near the elevator. But, as you pull out your keys and are about to hit the unlock button, you hear a loud beep behind you.
Startled, you turn to see an object against the wall just a few feet away with a pulsing red light on it -- and in the poor light, you can immediately make out an illuminated timer which is now ticking off the seconds from a 3-minute window!
There is a jumble of multicolored wires, and an array of three motion detectors set to cover a 180º field off the wall, all of which are wired into a small black box sitting on a large brick-shaped object that's slightly smaller than a shoebox. Also atop the brick and on its ends, you see three horizontal glass tubes that appear to contain mercury with wires at both ends, as well as a metallic-looking cylinder with several long wires jammed into the side of the brick-like mass. There's little doubt left in your mind now that this is a bomb! -- and your arrival here must've set off the timer.
The Challenge: Though you know how mercury switches work, you're uncertain of the purpose of the motion detectors, or of the black box -- could it contain a hidden transponder? If you try to move out of range or call for help with your cellphone, might your attempt to flee or the cellphone signal set the device off? Hell, even pushing the unlock button on your key ring now could send the wrong kind of signal, no? But panic is not an option, as it seems you have less than three minutes to decide your best course of action. So what are you going to do?!
What You Have: Your briefcase and pockets contain what a computer engineer might normally have, within reason -- if that includes a Swiss Army knife or Leatherman tool, so be it. Beyond that, your brain is the best tool you've got. So think fast, and ... good luck.

Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by March 7, 2009. If duplicate solutions are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and most creative solutions will each win a MAKE T-shirt and a MAKE Pocket Ref. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your solution. Good luck! For readers' solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

January 22, 2009

Reuseum will inspire you to Make cool stuff

The "Reuseum" is a mega-mart for all things Maker-Friendly. Based in Garden City, Idaho, this place holds tons of old and vintage electronic surplus and junk as well as hosts Maker and Circuit Bending workshops! Check out their site to find out what they have and their "EVENTS" page for more details on the workshops and classes

The Reuseum via GetLoFi

July 26, 2007

MakeShift

Make 858
The creator of MacGyver challenges you to retrieve your keys from the bottom of a 15-foot crevice in the desert.
The Scenario:
Thinking you could use a new hobby to get you off the couch, your significant other gifts you with a metal detector for Christmas. After digging up loose change in your backyard and at the beach for a few weekends, you decide it's time for a real prospecting adventure. So, after loading up your SUV with the metal detector, a pick, a shovel, pry bar, and enough snacks and water for the day, you both drive 80 miles out into the desert to poke around some abandoned gold mines you've heard about.

Finally reaching the end of the road in the middle of nowhere, you ask your partner to unload the car while you head for the rocks to survey the landscape. But as you climb through some old barbed-wire fencing to look for a trail, your keys - attached to your Swiss Army knife - fall out of your pocket and skitter off across the rocks before they disappear into a deep, six-inch-wide crevice between two boulders. (Don't you just hate when that happens?) Needess to say, neither your cellphone nor your OnStar system gets reception out here, and the fancy anti-theft option you went for makes hot-wiring your SUV all but impossible.

The Challenge:
Without transportation, you're stranded. To avoid the daunting prospect of walking back out to the main road - as well as "never hearing the end of this" from your mate - you're going to need to recover those keys.

The boulders are too massive to be moved in any way and you don't have a direct sight line to your keys. But you are able to ascertain that the depth of the narow crevice can't be more than 15 feet. It's about noon now, so you've got at least 6-7 hours of daylight to work with before it gets dark. Surely someone with your skills and ingenuity can get those suckers out of there in time to get you home safely, if not still salvage the outing, no? As the wheels start turning, your mate appears and asks, "Is something wrong, honey?"

Here's what you've got:
In addition to everything mentioned, there's a basic tool kit in the car: hammer, screwdriver, adjustable wrench, snippers, pliers, etc., as well as 100 feet of nylon rope. Because this is an old mining area, there may also be some small pieces of wood and metal lying around.

Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by Aug. 17, 2007. If duplicate designs are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and creative solutions will each win a MAKE sweatshirt. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your description. For rules and solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

MakeShift - Link.

February 22, 2007

MakeShift: Castaway

Make 367
Tomorrow is the last day to turn in solutions to the MakeShift challenge from volume 08!

The creator of MacGyver challenges you to survive on a deserted island.
There are few fears more primal than being cast away on a deserted island in the middle of who-knows-where. Maybe it's a throwback to our eviction from the Garden of Eden, or the nagging realization that Earth itself is just such an island in the endless ocean of space. Whatever the reason, it has been and remains a mainstay of the collective imagination.

The Scenario:
You are on a small sailboat in the South Pacific when a freak wave of Biblical proportions swallows your craft. You awake to find yourself on the rocky, sandy beach of--what else?--a tiny deserted tropical island. As the fierce equatorial sun beats down on you, you realize that the boat is gone, but a large section of the white, waterproof nylon sail has washed up on thet beach.

Relieved that you are alive and have sustained no major injuries, you quickly scout out the island. There is a cave for shelter, an abundance of vines and vegetation, but no trees to speak of. You see enough sea birds and marine life to provide a subsistence diet, but there is no source of fresh water! And the rainy season is still months away.

The Challenge:
Come up with a reliable way to produce potable water until you are rescued--or the meaning of life is revealed to you, and being rescued no longer matters.

Your items:
You have only the nylon sailcloth and what you were wearing when you washed ashore: a dark, waterproof windbreaker; a T-shirt; and shorts, in which you find your Swiss Army knife (or Leatherman tool) and a pack of waterproof matches. If it provides additional motivation, feel free to be cast away with the fantasy celebrity of your choice--but this person is still counting on you to provide drinkable water. And if you're looking for extra points here, forget the pack of matches.

Good luck, and rest assured that we're all out there looking for you.

~~~

Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by February 23, 2007. If duplicate designs are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and creative solutions will each win a MAKE sweatshirt. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your description. For rules and solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.

makezine.com: MakeShift - Link.

July 13, 2006

MakeShift 05: Analysis, commentary, and winners

In 1960, Woody Norris read a contest announcement in a magazine that changed his life and set him on the path of being a world-class inventor. The announcement challenged readers to submit a plausible but fictional account of a supposed new invention to be published as an April Fool's joke. Woody took up the challenge. Here is the interesting part: during the process of trying to come up with a product that was both plausible but a bit "out there," he came up with what would ultimately be his first successful invention. The rest is history.

Coming full circle, Woody is now the one throwing down the gauntlet, challenging you to prove your makeshift mettle by staying alive for 48 hours in a bank vault with limited oxygen. Over 100 of you answered the call, and Woody and I had to break open the engineering and chemistry texts to evaluate a good number of the submissions. In the end, Woody selected two winners and two honorable mentions; to say that selecting two winners from the pool of entries was difficult would be to understate matters. It was flat-out hard.

It is interesting to note Woody's unique method of evaluation. Before he would evaluate any of the responses, he felt like he had to submit himself to the challenge and solve his own problem. He even set up an electrolysis apparatus in his lab so he could get empirical versus theoretical measures of power consumption and 0/H production. Then, he used his solution and data as reference points to evaluate the entries. Woody's Solution is included here for your review.

Thanks to the MAKE readers who took up Woody's challenge - check out all the winners here! - Link.

March 3, 2006

Can LEDs in refrigerators enhance the nutritional value of vegetables?

Creesto has a Make challenge - "OK guys, in my house we LOVE fresh fruit & vegetables, but cannot spend the time going to the store every other day to ensure that they are as fresh as possible. I remembered reading about a high-end fridge that had LEDs inside to keep the fruits and vegetables happier/healthier for almost twice as long as normal. I found this, the Mitsubishi Electric - Refrigerator - Folio Series:

"Increase Vitamins, Preserve Freshness In order to enhance vegetables nutritional value, Mitsubishi Electric has installed a photosynthesis LED in the crisper, creating the world's first refrigerator that utilizes photosynthesis to enhance the nutritional value of your vegetables. For the first time in the industry, we are introducing an amazing function that increase vitamins in vegetables. Vegetables are alive even after harvesting. LED lights is irradiated during preservation, and photosynthesis is encouraged, so nutritions such as vitamin C are increased and foods are preserved with vitamin C that are 1.5 times as good as before. Starting from the concept of controlling nutrition loss, we have been able to achieve increasing nutritional values in a totally new-concept refrigerator. Research showed that the light's color was important: The orange light creates chlorophll in vegetables without inducing them to grow. A small bank of LEDs in the roof of the vegetable drawer produces lights at a wavelength of 590 nanometers (orange). Mitsubishi Electric found that after three days, the vitamin C level in broccoli sprouts stored in their new refrigerator was 50% higher than in a conventional refrigerator."

Here's my question and subsequent challenge:

Can this possibly have value as claimed? I'm a bit dubious, as photosynthesis (as I understand it) cannot continue once the plant and fruit have been seperated (no leaves). But there may still be benefits, even if just to assist in efficacy.

So, if there is SOME benefit, this doesn't sound too difficult to make at home, as long as you know what you are doing: how to wire into an existing fridge, what LEDs to use, etc.

What do you think, is this a worthy challenge?

Makers, are Mitsubishi's claims possible? Post up if you think orange LEDs will actually make your veggies better, ideas on how to do this and test it.

February 24, 2006

Make a meat reddening carbon monoxide fridge?

Meat224
Trehugger has a Make challenge that I think we'll pass on...you see, the Food and Drug Administration in the USA allows supermarkets to pack red meat in carbon monoxide gas so it appears red for longer, and then more people will buy it - so...the huggers threw down the loin chop challenge - "Here is a project for Make- connect tailpipe to refrigerator and have better looking food.". A little too gross and dangerous [via] Link. Thanks Nick!

Pictured here, random meat from the "Meat Identification test".

February 22, 2006

Making a $100 laptop for $75!

Remember the $100 laptop post/challenge we had on MAKE? We used an Apple eMate and hand crank (all less than $100) to see what was possible to put together with eBay, Freecycle and Craig's list. MAKE pal Mark Hoekstra of bicycle iPod charger fame picked up where we left off and built his own - here's how he did it - Link.

Hack this CMOS tiny camera module and win...

Sparkfun electronics has a pretty good Maker-style challenge - "This is a 640x480 pixel resolution CMOS camera used in the Samsung E700 cellular phone. While 0.3 mega pixels may not sound like a lot, this module is one of the smallest, lowest cost CMOS imaging modules currently available to the embedded market...We would like to announce a $200 prize to the first user capable of capturing an image on the new CMOS digital camera. This 640x480 camera is extremely small, low cost ($19.95), and based on proven cellular technology. Unfortunately we don't have much technical info to go with it. Up for a challenge?" Link.

February 9, 2006

DC Power Station for a lot of Cell Phones?

SpiderWrench has a Maker challenge! "Ok, I really need help with this. I have several prototypes without power, (or rather, I have been forced to use an AC power strip with 30 individual, ugly chargers and a mess of wire everywhere) here is the situation: I need to be able to charge 30 new cell phones on a single power supply. Through some risky experimenting on my part, I have been able to charge 3 cell phones off of a single wall transformer, and I know I need more power to get 30 up and charging. I have thought of using a modified laptop/PC power supply, and I think it will work, but I do not want to risk blowing up 30+ $300 cell phones which are not mine to blow up." Post up ideas in the forum! Link.

Ideas for crazy messy wire-wrangling

Great discussion in the MAKE forums! Leenwebb writes - "Like many of us, my house is filled with wires. And until we get the Broadcast Energy Transmitter from the GI Joe movie working, I need the wires. But here's the thing: they're ugly. And, often, in the way. So I am putting a call out to all Makers: What do you use for wire-wrangling?..." Link.

December 13, 2005

Incredibly tiny RC controller helicopters...

Scott writes "Alexander Van de Rostyne has been designing and fabricating ever-smaller micro-helicopters out of advanced materials, batteries and remote control systems for the last six years or so. The latest has 4 channel control and weighs in at 6.9 grams ( 1/4 ounce ) with battery." Link. The site has tons of photos, details on the miniaturization efforts and hamster comparisons.

December 6, 2005

Playing movies on a camera?

Emlodnaor writes "i have a toshiba pdr-m700, and was wondereing if it is posible to somehow convert movies into the same format as the camera uses, too see them on the camera.. i've tryed some, but can't seem to figure it out... any help would be nice." Have any suggestions? Post them up! I've tried this with a few cameras and usually they store another file that you can't replicate to play the movie you put on the camera. Link.

November 28, 2005

IR control from USB?

Gene is looking for a scriptable USB-IR controller - "So far I have not been able to find such an animal. I bought the first generation of Robosapian. The robot from wowwe toys. It comes with a real crazy remote control. You have to press many keys in certain combinations to make the robot do anything. If I could program a dynamic IR device with the codes and then create scripts.. It would be possible for me to make my robot do all kinds of neat things. Also I am into doing time lapse videos. That is where you setup a camera and let it run for about an hour.. I throw the video into my computer and use the editing software to speed things up. That is fine.. But I have an Olympus 8mp digital SLR camera. It also has an IR control out. A programmable IR device as I described above would really help me out with my camera. I could setup a high resolution picture every 15 seconds using a laptop on location replacing the IR controller. This would produce a very high quality time lapse once I put it in my editing software." I think the USB-UIRT might be a good start, any other suggestions for Gene? Link.

November 20, 2005

MAKE Challenge: Auto gain amplifier

Amp Charles is looking for some help with a project, read the challenge and post up in the comments if you have ideas! "When you listen to music or speech in a noisy environment you have to constantly, continuously adjust the volume control: boost the gain when the sound level is low, reduce the gain when the level is high. For example trying to listen to a movie in an airplane, or to a program in a car. What's needed is a gadget that automatically changes the gain of the amplifier, as a function of the average sound level, to reduce the dynamic range of the sound source -- an audio compressor."

Read full story

November 18, 2005

MAKE Challenge: What to do with an old Tivo?

Daniel writes "I purchased a first generation Tivo unit a few years ago and used it in the "normal " way. But since then I have moved and I do not have a use for a landline. I am relutant to toss it because it is still good hardware. Which brings me to the question: What alternative use is there for a first generation Tivo unit?." Link to Tivo hacks...add your suggestions in the comments!

November 3, 2005

Low cost wireless bridging?

Judah writes "We run free community events around the NY/NJ metro area, and have a great opportunity to have our events broadcast nationwide, via a cable modem to sattelite uplink. The challenge: some of these events take place in buildings with SLOW internet connections. After some research, I have found in every location a cable modem within about 1,000 feet (either in an office or someone's house) that we can use, but these cable connections can be across a busy street and/or a few buildings away. Attaching antenas to these buildings is not really an option. We need a free standing ethernet port (i.e. not a card in a computer - needs to be a port on a router, access point, etc.) to connect the polycom camera to so it can talk directly via IP to the sattelite uplink. My first guess was the Belkin pre-n routers, but it turns out you can NOT bridge them. Any ideas for a low budget solution?" Post up in the comments!

October 19, 2005

Maker Challenge: Prius - Music hack

Michael Tiemann here at OSCON has a challenge "Many car audio systems have a feature that increases the volume of the program to keep the signal level constant over the noise level. But with cars like the Prius, we can control the level of the noise based on the signal--a better approach. The first hack is to mod the Prius power management system so that in addition to battery level, acceleration, and speed, it takes GPS data into account..."

Read full story

October 16, 2005

DIY Plasma pencil?

Janet sent this in and has issued a Maker challenge to build a "Plasma Pencil" - "The pencil generates a "cold plasma," which can be used to kill germs that contaminate surfaces, infect wounds and rot your teeth. In the future, it might be used to destroy tumors without damaging surrounding tissue. Laroussi, an associate professor at Old Dominion University, hopes the beam will soon find its way into doctors' and dentists' offices." Link.

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