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July 8, 2010

How-To: Retrofit a Magic 8-Ball with an OLED display

Awesome new entry in the Gadget Freak Design Contest from Mariano Alvira:

The steps outlined here will show you how to modify a standard Magic 8 Ball to replace the normal message icosahedron with a OLED screen, and how to add wireless microcontroller, and accelerometer. The screen is submersed in the normal Magic 8 Ball goo so that all the original aesthetics are preserved. The messages can be reprogrammed wirelessly without having to open the 8 Ball. The accelerometer detects when the 8 Ball is in use (e.g. tipped from resting to looking through the Magic Hole) and signals the microcontroller to turn on screen and fade in the messages.

The contest is definitely heating up, but there's still plenty of room for competition. The deadline is coming up on July 13, so get cracking!

More:

July 6, 2010

DIY iPhone 4 bumper case

I, too, was impressed when Apple unveiled its integrated antenna case design at the iPhone 4 announcement event back in June. Little did I know the actual reception of the iPhone 4 would be worse than my original first generation (OG) iPhone. The issue has even prompted Apple to seek out actual antenna engineers (seriously). Until there's an official fix to this problem, folks experiencing the "death grip" can try Oliver Nelson's 99 cent "Ghetto iPhone 4 case". Just a few cuts here and there on your fashion forward rubber bracelet and you'll be sending and receiving calls on par with an outdated feature phone in no time. [via cnet]

July 2, 2010

Mobile optometry solution for developing countries

MIT's Camera Culture team has created a very unique and cost effective mobile optometry solution for developing countries using an Android phone and a small plastic device clipped on to the front of the mobile. The patient looks through the eyepiece on the device and tries to match up lines on a grid. When the patient finishes the test, software on the phone calculates a prescription. [via Engadget]

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July 1, 2010

Homemade blow-molding gun

Blow-molding (Wikipedia) is an thermoplastic forming process in which a hot polymer pre-form is injected with gas to press it against the inside of a hollow mold. It's how most plastic bottles are made. Designer George Fereday got annoyed that the primarily-industrial process was so inaccessible and decided to build his own DIY version, which extrudes pre-melted polymorph plastic through a custom die attached to a normal caulking gun to create the hollow pre-form. There's more detail over at Core77.

June 28, 2010

Android 2.2 "FroYo" running on a Nokia N900

If you like Nokia hardware, but haven't quite grown accustomed to the MeeGo OS, then you'll really dig this port of Android 2.2 "FroYo" to the Nokia N900. [via Technience]

HTC EVO hackers drop the 30FPS limit

The fine folks over at XDA have patched the latest EVO rev to circumvent the imposed 30FPS limit that has been bothering EVO owners for some time. [via phandroid]

June 27, 2010

Soda can solar heater

Dan's soda can solar heater provides up to 120 degrees of temperature differential.

Ever since I built my first soda can solar heater three years ago, I've received plenty of input on how to improve the design for better heat output. For that reason, I never hooked up the first one - in fact, I gave it away to a friend - and set about building a bigger, better version, suffering through three cold winters in the garage. I started out by looking for a sliding glass door, which I found locally for free, then took all my measurements from that. Minus space for the insulation, the sliding glass door allowed for 180 cans (versus 50 for the first version), which took a while to accumulate, given that I've sworn off soda the last few years.

While Dan doesn't provide many directions for his project, the blog entry for his first heater provides much more information.

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June 25, 2010

Add an accelerometer to an RC transmitter

If you are into Radio Control Models or robotics chances are that you have an old RC transmitter laying around. This article describes how to create a motion control module for your RC transmitter, that will allow you to control your model or robot by simply tilting the transmitter case.

The tutorial includes schematics, instructions, and lots of photos.

June 24, 2010

Homemade bath faucet / showerhead

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, from user safoocat.

Ever get tired of those fake chrome faucet fixtures that end up leaking and you can't fix them? Then make your own from pvc parts. The hose going off the top is the shower.

There's no doubt I have eccentric tastes, but I love the way this looks. Would be even cooler if she had, like, a stainless steel feed trough or something for the tub.

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Handmade lens cap

June 23, 2010

Brainstorming oil leak containment

Over at Core77, designers are brainstorming containment ideas for the BP oil leak:

Are you tired of watching the BP Oil Spill continue to flow unabated, and all anyone seems to be talking about is who is going to pay for the damage that is ongoing with no end in sight?

The relief wells that BP has finally begun drilling to shut off the leak will not be ready until the end of the summer, while the BP Oil leak is producing an Exxon Valdez sized spill every eight days. That’s about 12 more Valdez’s on the way at least!

Where has all of the ingenuity gone? Can industrial Design save the day? Ready, Set...Brainstorm!...

One discussion member pointed to the site for submitting your idea directly to Deepwater Horizon Response, who has "established a process for collecting and reviewing oil spill response solutions from scientists and vendors." And makers, I presume...

How-To: Radioshack light-up switch hack

When shopping for switches, it's really satisfying to dig through a drawer full of awesome options for your project, but it's easy to get stuck with something that's not quite right if you don't read the package carefully. I identify with Randy Sarafan's illuminated switch problem:

I was about to wire it all up into my newest guitar pedal when I realized that this switch actually required 120 VAC to illuminate! What's up with that? This bugged me a great deal as I would be working with low-voltage DC, not high-voltage AC. This was not going to do.

I immediately resolved to replace the little bulb inside with an LED. This required a near total dissection of switch, but after a little figuring out, I am happy to report that the mission has been accomplished. Follows is a method for converting an illuminated Radioshack switch from 120VAC to 3-12 VDC.

June 22, 2010

Giant LED matrix

Richard Kline wrote in with his detailed and well-written tutorial on how to create your own ginormous 5x7 display.

I built this large display, which is designed to mimic a common 5x7 LED readout, out of pink foam insulation and sundry other bits from Home Depot. The LED's are diffused 5mm RGB's wired together with a cut-up IDE cable...both are cheaply available in bulk from Ebay.

Camera filter holder calculator

Chris Molloy from New Zealand writes:

I'm about to embark on an epic (for me at least) hiking expedition, and, in the name of minimising pack weight, my SLR is staying at home and my compact camera is coming out to play. BUT one thing I was potentially going to miss was the ability to use a polarising filter (most compact cameras have no ability to mount filters on them and my Canon Ixus 900Ti is no exception). I wanted to find a way to hold a filter in front of the my compact's lens in such a way as to: eliminate reflection from the rear of the filter; ensure the holder avoided blocking any of the sensors on the front of the camera, and; still be able to rotate the filter (a key requirement for using a polarising filter).

The obvious KISS solution was a cut-off cone that matched the diameter of my filter at one end and the lens surround at the other (loose enough so as not to impede the lens in any way). The depth of the holder needed to be great enough to clear the lens at it's shortest/widest and longest/narrowest zoom. The holder was to be made of thin, black (to reduce reflectivity) plastic (waterproof/durable). The whole thing would be held together with black insulation tape, which is strong, but removable, if I ever want to recover the filter.

His filter holder calculator takes in some basic measurements and outputs SVG code for making your own custom filter holder.

Strongly bond metal to glass with rear view mirror adhesive

The glue that holds rear view mirrors in place is amazing stuff, that breaks all the normal rules about adhesives: it holds a joint between two extremely smooth, entirely nonporous surfaces that are subject to near-constant mechanical vibration, extremes of temperature, and ongoing exposure to UV radiation. And it holds for years, even decades. If you are faced with one of those "impossible" gluing problems requiring a strong metal-glass or glass-glass bond, try using a rear view mirror repair kit on it. They can be had for a couple bucks from most hardware stores.

June 15, 2010

Dead-simple shutter speed tester from old mouse parts

Pablo shows off his simple hack for testing the shutter speed of the old cameras he restores: A phototransistor from an old computer mouse, a battery, a flashlight, and a mono audio plug to his computer's microphone port. He records the pulse in a simple audio recording utility and measures the time between the peaks. [Thanks, Billy Baque!]

June 12, 2010

iPad stand made from a Panavise & Sugru

Kent Barnes made this wonderfully clever and elegant iPad stand using the suction attachment of a Garmin GPS, then molded Sugru around it to make it compatible with the base from a Panavise. That plus a bluetooth keyboard makes for a cute little desktop!

June 8, 2010

USB host mode on Nexus One

Normally, when you connect your Android mobile to your PC you're mounting it as a device. If you want to do it the other way around, you're going to have to put the interface into USB host mode. Android hacker Sven Killig has got his Nexus One running in host mode and has connected all sorts of interesting devices to it. In addition to a USB keyboard, mouse, webcam, he's also got an external monitor running X. [via iSmashPhone]

June 4, 2010

Self-experimentation, unusually effective

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A paper by Seth Roberts on how/why self experiments are so effective (PDF) via Quantified Self.

Over 12 years, my self-experimentation found new and useful ways to improve sleep, mood, health, and weight. Why did it work so well? First, my position was unusual. I had the subject-matter knowledge of an insider, the freedom of an outsider, and the motivation of a person with the problem. I didn't need to publish regularly. I didn't want to display status via my research. Second, I used a powerful tool. Self-experimentation about the brain can test ideas much more easily (by a factor of about 500,000) than conventional research about other parts of the body. When you gather data, you sample from a power-law-like distribution of progress. Most data helps a little; a tiny fraction of data helps a lot. My subject-matter knowledge and methodological skills (e.g., in data analysis) improved the distribution from which I sampled (i.e., increased the average amount of progress per sample). Self-experimentation allowed me to sample from it much more often than conventional research. Another reason my self-experimentation was unusually effective is that, unlike professional science, it resembled the exploration of our ancestors, including foragers, hobbyists, and artisans.

Some of the most prolific makers I know seem to enjoy improving themselves as well as the things around them - they're like little laboratories of optimization. Pictured above, a photo from my recent visit to Instructables. Christy and Eric who run the show there found they work better if they walk all day slowly at the computer - a challenge, so they built treadmill computer desks.

June 3, 2010

Industrial robot arm catapults flaming bowling balls

This is a publicity stunt for a company that makes energy drinks called "Mana" and "Health" packaged to look like WoW or other fantasy-video-game potions. What's more, we have hit their video of the robot in action before. But I could not resist that fireball photo, and this link has some good technical info about interfacing with the robot, hacking the release mechanism, and framing that awesome night shot using a blinking LED "tracer" bowling ball. Just don't forget to buy some Mana Energy Potion while you're there!

May 27, 2010

Bike rack hack

Maker and avid bike hacker Antoine was inspired by this Incredible Rim Rack instructable enough to go and build this very elegant bike rack out of a broken U-lock and busted rim.

Lashed together with a u-bolt and hose clamp, the finished rack looks like a high-end retail product that follows the line of the bike. It's also supposedly quite strong and dutifully performs its intended task. [via BikeHacks]

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