Split Reaction

ASEE Freshman Projects AUV

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://www.icee.usm.edu/ICEE/conferences/asee2007/papers/658_FRESHMAN_PROJECT__AUTONOMOUS_UNDERWATER_.pdf

CSAW Honorable Mention!

ilya — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://isis.poly.edu/~vikram/poly_team2.pdf

iPod Movie Stand

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes we are stuck somewhere and we want to watch a movie on the iPod. My girlfriend andiE came up with this really cute idea to hold the iPod up. [insert picture] ~Dave

Add a Bat Signal to your Cubicle Phone

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I gotta say sometimes an office is like a pen, you know like the ones they keep farm animals in. Except you don't get a free daily allowance of slop or roll around in your filth. When I saw the cubicals at my job the first thing I could think of was, "How the hell do I make this look as obnoxious as possible without getting fired?" Then it hit me! Bat Signal! Most offices offers everyone the same generic phone. If you're away from your desk every phone sounds like yours and its annoying to run back. Now if you had a bat signal attached to the phone you could just look up to the sky (ceiling tiles) and know when trouble is calling. To build the bat signal its actually a little harder than just placing a bat logo in front of a light. [image of batsignal with flashlight] For the light we decided to use a 1 watt high brightness LED (3.4V @ 350mA). You really need something this powerful if you intend to see the signal during the day. Offices have a lot of ambient light so a typical 20mA LED wouldn't be noticed. [1watt LED] For the image I drew a design on a clear acetate sheet. To focus the light I used two lenses from eye loupes. [caption id="attachment_656" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Test Setup"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="alignnone" width="497" caption="Blue Bat Signal"][/caption] I wanted the device turn on when the phone rang. So I had a couple choices, have it connected inline with the phone jack, turn on with sound or turn on when the LED blinks. Since not all phones have LEDs the blinking solution was out. The ringing solution would depend on loudness of the phone and any loud noise may set it off. Reliably the only way to trigger it was to have it turn on when the phone line was active. [insert how phone lines work] [insert circuit] Insert actual build Costing $6 2x Eye Loupe (where do we buy? can we buy other lenses?) $2 Housing (PVC tube?) $4 High power LED $5 Circuit $1.50 PCB $3 5V Power supply/battery powered?/USB? (USB must be under 100mA)

Hot Server that Calls You to Chill

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So a company I knew had this issue with their server overheating.. usually the indication that the A/C was down was increased whining and moaning that the E-mail didn't work and the server was down. A little too late. Then I thought how hard would it be to make a K type thermistor to monitor the temperature and alert us the temperature was rising before the crash? I built a circuit and it turns out this company already made one. Being a big geek I'm going to justify that the learning experience is worth more that buying a commercial product. Especially when its $100+ https://www.temperaturealert.com/default8.asp

DiY Chemical Tool Etching

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I've recently found a solution to an annoying problem. I keep loosing tools out of a tool set I have. I've tried marking them with a sharpie and sticking labels on the tools, but the marker doesn't stay, while the labels peel off. Engraving is out of the question as the tools are drop forged. Recently I came across an etching pen. This pen can be used to chemically etch metal, leaving a permanent mark, allowing me to write on my adored tools. Being the frugal Diyer, I decided I could make my own by modifying a highlighter to dispense Ferric Chloride, a printer circuit board etchant. Ferric Chloride eats away at metals so whatever it's on will be engraved.

Ardunio Based SwissArmyMeter

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I realized I waste a lot of time trying to locate all the developer tools, cables, and power supplies to program simple things like timers and servo testers. What I need is a programming platform that I can use to do high level tasks while having the ability to switch to a customized DMM with a change of a few jumpers. Here are some of the things I use a lot. Continuity Test -This one is a given for all digital multimeters Countdown Timer -A Timer like this would be useful for my spud cannon, or even my camera shutter. Adding a little relay makes this even more useful. Frequency Counter -My DMM doesn't do this, some do, but still it's a really easy thing to program. Voltage Measurement -DMMs are nice for this but sometimes you want to have a spare or monitor multiple voltages. Current Measurement -A lot of times when debugging embedded systems it pays to watch the current. You can easily see a current spike up when something is back powering and it may give you the warning you need before you blow up your FETs. Current Source/Limited Supply -Well just like the current measurement a current limited supply is always great. When I get new boards designed I always try to limit the current by using a 500mA phone charger as a supply. That way if I shorted something nothing will explode on me. -It's also really useful for LED testing and laser diode testing. Since those are really current driven devices not voltage driven, it's better to just drive them with a set current, like 20-30mA and let the forward voltage follow it. Capacitor Measurement -I've been burned by not having one of these many times in surface mount kits. It is not as big of a problem for leaded parts as there are package markings, but even those are annoying to read. Three Channel PWM -PWMs are always good to have. A three channel PWM allows you to control three motors with variable speed while adjusting color tone on a tricolor LED very well. Servo Tester -Servos are great tools, sometimes you just want to toggle one. Having a servo tester in a kit saves time from having to dig up code for one. A lot of theses functions can be muxed, but I'm sure that all of it can be fitted into a small microcontroller platform. I'm getting sick of having to dig up old projects. I think I may just design an arduino that supports all of this and build 20 of them and never worry about this stuff again. Anyone want to help?

High Quality Power Supply from a PC

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So I gotta say, power supplies are expensive. I thought about purchasing a desktop power supply for a couple years now. Oh the joy to have a little display that tells me voltage and current, having a negative supply rail. Even the ability to current limit the supply so I could use it as a current source. Its really nice to have a desktop variable supply but the prices are a lot more than what I really need for home use. Especially when I can modify an old PC power supply. They are pretty beefy and I can get them for free. It helps the environment reduce waste so why not. If I break it I can recycle it the same way I would a PC. There were some downsides to modifying my own. A power supply is pretty hideous compared to the rest of my desk and often I would short the leads blowing up my circuit. I realized a 400W power supply is sometimes overkill. It got me thinking, I should make something with a smaller footprint, with more functions and some better protection. A PC Power Supply could also power a lot of equipment, a function generator, USB charger, 12V car charger. Hot wire cutter. Thats kind of what got me thinking to build a platform that could just plug into a PC power supply. If it was modular more tools could be built and powered from one supply.

EG1004

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Intro to engineering

Automatic Toliet Cleaner

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So I came back from a two week vacation once to find my toilet transformed from foul smelling cesspool to Hellish creature from the Swamp. I guess since the toilet wasn't flushed or cleaned for weeks the bacteria within multiplied. That made me think of an automatic toilet cleaner. Something that would use low power and clean the toilet every week. This was manual cleaning was minimal. It would need something that would dispense a cleaner, lets say 1/4 cup borax overnight, and a button to activate it so the user could manual clean or disable it. My idea is to drill a hole in the toilet and attach a string to the valve. A motor then pulls the string to flush the toilet. This way both the controller and the normal switch can flush. When controller flushes the toilet it also adds some bleach to the water to disinfect it. Afterward a couple minutes the toilet would flush again removing the bleach. Since we already have a toilet flusher we can add a infrared detector so you can flush without touching it.

Desk Top CNC

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cost Breakdown Stepper to Shaft Couplers 3/8" 1.5" long ACME Coupler If bought ~15.25 (each, need 4) Homemade Coupler 7/8" DIA X 4 FOOT BLACK ACETAL ROD 13.99" (each) 4-40 USS COARSE HEX MACH SCR NUT ZINC PL $.82 (100) 4-40 x 3/8 PH PHL Machine Screw 18-8 SS $3.72 (100) Acme Rods, Nuts, Washers 3/8"-12 ACME OIL FIN3' THREADED ROD $3.99 (each, need 3) 3/8"-12 CARBON RH 2G ACME THREADED HEX NUTS $1.49 (each need 8) .375X.875X.2812 DBL SHIELDED RADIAL BRG. $2.07 (each need 8) C Channel 1/2" x 96" 1/16" Aluminum C channel ~$10.56 (each) Speed Max stepper speed 500pps 2.5 turns per second 12 turns per inch 12.5 inches per minute Precision Stepper 200 steps per revolution 12 revolutions per inch 2400 steps per inch 0.000417 inch" per step

Amazingly Cheap AdHoc Text Messaging

ilya — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don't know what purpose it will have, but for a long time now I wanted to make my own wireless communicators. Something bare bone and simple like a mini wireless telnet terminal - where you would type in a message and each keystroke will transmitted to everyone in range around you. Anyone who else the same device as me would see what I'm typing on their screen. They would be able to write back too of course. I always wanted to make my own wireless protocol. I can buy a simple transmitter and receiver, a small keyboard, a display and a arduino to control everything. Sparkfun has these really easy to use transmitter and receivers. Cheap radio transmitters, $5 each http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8946 http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8950 Phone Keyboards http://www.futurlec.com/Keypads.shtml Perhaps we could even use it in one of these POV things.

Bloons Monkey Turret

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The first thing I thought after playing Bloons was, I MUST have a dart throwing monkey. If you've never played Bloons you're missing out. You mix an adorabe monkey, darts, balloons and its an addicting balloon popping puzzle game. I realized there are three main parts: coil gun, darts and a couple micro servos. The coil gun would launch darts ....etc etc For more Bloons fun I also recommend trying Bloons Tower Defense.

4th of July Confetti Cannon

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

NY has a ban on fireworks. To celebrate I decided to build a portable version of my spud gun. I wanted it to be small, easy to pump and still give a great wow factor at parties. [describe build] [mention interchangable barrel] I used streamers, confetti and glow sticks for projectiles. [add photos] [add photo how to load confetti]

1.5V Penny Fuse

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of people fumble around lighting fireworks in the dark. Its hard to see and the two minute attempted ignition is a snore. Back in middle school I developed a cheap 1 cent electronic fuse form household goods. Its safer, and works on a 1.5V battery. [describe 1.5v fuse] [describe using diodes or gates to mux it to more channels] [Show fuse build] [show fuse ignition]

Fireworks Extinguisher

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Last year I saw the scariest thing. A large fireworks mortar was launched out of a tube and it fell short and ignited at 30 feet. The shells flew onto the neighborhood houses. The shells afterward all did the same thing. Some even tipped over from the concussion and shot at the crowded. I wondered if a water cannon would counteract the flames exhausted from a bad shell.

Quick and Easy Booklight

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My gf wanted a booklight but the ones at Borders were 9.99. Saying screw this I went and bought some leds and wired up my own.

Web Cam Security Camera

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If you are burglarized there is nothing much the cops can do. There is usually no trace and you can only hope that you're not home when it happens. If you want to give the cops a chance at catching this guy you may consider turning your web cam into a security camera. Now recording the files on your computer won't help if the guy steals the entire machine. What you need is some software that will stream the files to a website continuously. That's where these useful sites come in www.justin.tv http://www.ustream.tv/ They are free and allow you to stream your webcam over the net. The only downside is that it comes with a lot of social networking features most of us don't need. If a service isn't your thing you may also want to try Dorgem. [link: http://dorgem.sourceforge.net/] Its an open source program created by Frank Fesevur. It allows you to record snapshots and upload them onto a ftp.

Old Digital Camera Security System

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

All my cameras were free hand me downs. I didn't buy into the concept of paying $300 for a model that would be outdated in a few years. Especially since 3MP was good enough for my 1024x768 monitor. One idea I had for people with old cameras was to build a security system with them. Hooking up a camera to a doorbell or proximity sensor. That way anyone who approaches the house will have their photo taken. This works

How to Unify your Cables for your PC mod

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

One of the top PC mods I've seen was the murderbox. It was black with blue LED accents and liquid cooling. It had a sleek look and the wiring was amazingly neat, they even had braided webbing on the supply lines. I was never a fan of the various colors from the ATX supplies and the cable length was always too long making it flop around. One way you can fix that is cut the cable short and re splice it, but then it looks even uglier. Now you have goofy colored wires and heat shrink tubing. Well you can fix all of that up and turn all the cables into one color, by dipping them in some Plasti Dip. Plasti Dip is a liquid rubber you dip old tools into. When it dries it forms that cool rubber handle. If you used it on wire you get an awesome look plus they also sell a color kit, so if you need red wires for your pc mod you can make all your wires red. Odds are you will never need to dissect the power supply, but if you did, you can always cut the plastic dip away find the color and then reseal it.

Energy Friendly USB Mod

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

On the back of my desk I have all my USB gadgets nice and hidden on a pegboard. Its neat and I really love it. One thing is still out of place and it irks me. I'm talking about my external hard drive. It has a switch to turn it on and off but to keep it concealed I need to hide it in the back where I can't reach the switch. If I leave it on its loud and I'm wasting power. What I really needed was some way to disable and enable my harddrive's power by plugging or unplugging the USB cable. What I decided to do was install a relay that triggers off of my USB port so when my computer turns off so do the USB peripherals. Heres how I did it. [insert relay circuit]

DIY Pet Feeder, Functional and Attractive!

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

[Insert Genius Here]

ASEE Lemon Powered Car

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Back in college We built a Lemon Car [insert paper]

Connecting a keypad button matrix to an Arduino

ilya — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I bought a retro looking keypad and I've decided to hook it up to my arduino. Here is how I did it.

This is the keypad that I got. It has 7 pins which are used to read the state of 12 buttons. You only need 7 pins to do this, instead of say 12 or 13, because the buttons are wired up in a matrix. When you press a button it will connect 2 out of the 7 pins together. When you press a different button it will connect a different set of pins. To know which button is pressed is all you have to do is check all the possible combinations to see which two pins are connected. Now don't run away yet, the keypad is much easier to use than it sounds. Let's start off with a working example and then I'll explain how it works. If you are reading this tutorial and have your own keypad then connect it to the arduino as such: [caption id="attachment_1061" align="aligncenter" width="306" caption="Wiring Diagram"][/caption] Now that your keypad is wired to your arduino it's time to make it work. Download this example sketch and upload it to the arduino. Here is what the main loop function of the example sketch looks like. [caption id="attachment_1023" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Reading button presses from the keypad"][/caption] Here we check to see if any of the buttons are pressed. If a button is pressed then we output which button it is through the serial port. It's pretty basic, but it shows that the keypad does work. If you are following along, get this code working before continuing on, because next we dive into the guts of how this works.

Gory Details

If you're the curious type and glanced at the example sketch before you uploaded it you might have noticed this part on top: [caption id="attachment_1064" align="alignnone" width="609" caption="Funny looking code"][/caption] Columns? Rows? What are those random numbers and what does it mean "order is important"?? Now this would make a lot more sense if we knew how the 7 pins of the keypad were internally connected. If we look in the datasheet, we find this diagram: [caption id="attachment_717" align="aligncenter" width="295" caption="Circuit diagram found in datasheet"][/caption] Here we can see just what sort of matrix the buttons are arranged in. We can see that out of the 7 pins, 3 of them are columns and 4 of them are rows. Remember how a pair of pins gets connected when a button is pressed? Using this diagram we can see which pins get connected by which button. For example, according to the diagram if we press Button 1 then Row1 will be connected to Column1. Likewise, if we press Button 8 then Row3 will be connected to Column2. As a demonstration of this, let's take a look at a small program that checks to see if Button 8 is pressed.

Example: Controlling a LED with Button8

In this example we are going to turn on the LED if Button8 is pressed and turn it off if Button8 is not pressed. The schematic for this example is shown below. If you connected the keypad to your arduino as shown before then you should be set for this example. The only new addition is the pull-up resistor. But don't worry, this pull-up resistor is inside the arduino chip and can be turned on with 1 line of code. One important detail to note about the schematic is that when Button8 is not pressed, pin Column 2 will be HIGH. And when Button8 is pressed, Column 2 will go LOW. With that in mind, lets take a look at the code for this example: [caption id="attachment_1109" align="alignnone" width="643" caption="Example program turns on LED when button 8 is pressed"][/caption] This program turns on a LED if it finds that Row3 is connected to Column2. To do this, Row3 is set as an output and Column2 is set as input. With this arrangement, if you do a digitalRead on Column2 it will read HIGH. When Button8 is pressed, Row3 will connect to Column2 and pull Column2 down to LOW. So, to review, the pin for Column2 will read LOW when Button8 is pressed and read HIGH when Button8 is released. This concludes the example. Now, lets say you want to change this program to use Button7 instead of Button8. How would you do it? It's pretty simple, all you would have to do is a digitalRead on Column1 instead of on Column2. How will that work you ask? Look at the Circuit Diagram above again. When button7 is pressed it connects Row3 to Column1. Okay, so the theory is simple, but the question becomes, if Column2 is pin8 on my arduino then which pin is Column1? To find out we have to look at the datasheet again and this time find this table: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="398" caption="Keypad pinout from datasheet"][/caption]

This table shows the pinout of the keypad. This is how I knew that Column2 was connected to pin 8 on my arduino. I saw that my arduino pin 8 was wired to keypad pin 1 - and according to this table, keypad pin 1 is Column2. Lets try this with Column1. According to the table Column1 is pin 3 on the keypad. And we wired pin3 of the keypad to digital pin 6 on the arduino. So that means Column1 is pin6! The picture below shows this a little clearer.

Scanning the entire keypad for button presses

Now that we know how to read one button at a time, lets do something a little more advanced. Lets read the entire keypad and figure out which button is pressed, if any at all. To do this we have to read the state of each button one by one. We start with button1, then button2, and all the way to the pound sign ( # ). We could write 12 consecutive if statements, one for each button, but that would be cumbersome. A much better way to do is using a loop. Below is a function that does just that. Lets analyse it. [caption id="attachment_1121" align="alignnone" width="691" caption="Function scans entire keypad and return which button is pressed, if any."][/caption] Here is the function I wrote to check all of the buttons on the keypad. I actually used a nested loop instead of a single loop. The inner loop checks the 4 rows one by one. Once the inner loop is done, the outer loop increments the variable j by 1 and then the inner runs again checking the 4 rows, only this time for column 2. Once done, the outlet loop increments j one more time and the inner loop runs again checking the 3rd and last column. If the program execution gets through the whole loop structure that means no button was pressed. In this case we end the function by returning 0. Remember this code snippet?

: Funny looking code

Now we can see that the cols array holds the pins that are the columns. The first line means that pin 6 is column 1, pin 8 is column 2, and pin 4 is column 3. Now we also see why order matters, the first value in the array always means column 1. Congratulations, now you know how to work with keypads. If you still have any questions feel free to ask in the comments.

Computer Hardware Poster

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://sonic840.deviantart.com/art/Computer-hardware-poster-1-7-111402099

Cho Ko Nu Repeating Crossbow

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

tesla coil

Andie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

use the volvo ignition coil http://www.rmcybernetics.com/projects/DIY_Devices/homemade_tesla_coil.htm

HAARP

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ultra Sonic Water Vaporizer + Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Antenna. HAARP is a ultra large ELF antenna used to study the ionosphere, the theory is that is may induce changes the jet stream pattern modifying the weather. As an elf antenna operates it moves the ionosphere up causing the jetstream to change. This may just be a load of conspiracy crap but I sure would like to test it and possible make a vapor powered air zooka or glow effect

Touch Sink

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There is a capacitive touch sink out there. Using a sprinkler valve, and a static measuring device a sink could be set up in a touch fashion. The only thing that needs to change is the valve. A bypass needs to be made so the vales can still actuate it. False triggers can still be a big problem

LED VU METER

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

wiki vu meter

Game Scenario Paint Ball Sentry

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Concept Build two bad ass paintball sentry turrets Design a tracking system that rivals human players Upgrade that tracking system to exceed human players =Totally Awesome Parts Marker: Smart Parts ION Effective Range: ~60 feet Weight: 2.2lbs Price: $200-$300 Warp Feed Paintball System $130 each (+standard hopper 200 rnds) http://www.airgundesignsusa.com/warp_feed.shtml Pros: Omni Feed, easy to load 20+bps Easy Reload Cons: Complex system, multiple mechanical failure points Awkward Mounting System Q Loader $87.85 (+1 mount +2 tubes 200 rnds) http://www.qloader.com/ Pros: Omni Feed, easy to load 20+bps Easy to Mount Cons: Annoying reload

Peltier Mini Fridge

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/20_solder_paste_fridge.html

Really Cool Robotic Links

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

High Speed Robotics http://hackaday.com/2009/07/30/amazing-robot-dexterity/

FireBall Cannon

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dust Ball + Flare = awesome

Arc Reactor Chest LED

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Magnets + LEDs = YaY

Modifying a LoJack Key Fob

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Keyless Entry System

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Capacitive touch screen on glass

DIY FLEX PCB Printer

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Perhaps modifying the fuser will be the first step Get this http://mgchemicals.com/products/421.html in any of these sizes 421-125ML 125mL (4.2 oz) Liquid 421-500ML 500mL (17 oz) Liquid From http://www.web-tronics.com/liti124.html http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8275 other...? Or get these http://cpc.farnell.com/mega/600-021/tin-plating-powder/dp/PC00250 http://crownhill.co.uk/level3.php?cat=47&sec=21

Workshop

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paint 2x Primer $20 per can 2x Paint $20 per can

Articulating PC Case Mods

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Coanda effect UAV

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://www.aesir-uas.com/index.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXVtUCABiv8

Small Parts Vials

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="437" caption="Small Parts Vials"][/caption] As the boards get more complex I seem to buy more and more surface mount parts. I decided I needed a better way to organize all the passive components or I would lose them all to the floor. I found this site thatsold small part vials. http://www.lacontainer.com/lab_esd.htm I found a storage bin with wheels and I modified it with an anti static spray paint and made it into my own parts drawer. 051100 051600 typical resistor are 60mm long

Weld your own thermocouples

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/easy-cheap-thermocouples/

Pogo Test Probe

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I needed a test probe that I could easily use to measure signals and pull pins low or high. I was getting sick of the large alligator clips so i decided to make a test probe out of a berg pin, a few resistors and an LED. It turned out to be very ergonomic and compact since it was all in a pencil. Best of all the pencil added a bit of springy action so I can probably adapt this and use it as cheap bed of nails fixture to program boards or connect to odd shaped devices.

Magnetic Wall Climbing Robot

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Title says it all, now build it

general purpose arduino

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

automated powder cannon/flamethrower no programming required arduino an arduino that is programmed once and doesn't need to ever be again good for simple things like timers adjusted via resistors and caps example a 1000kohm resistor would equal a 1000 second delay

Automated Tape and Reel Cutter

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gasifier

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wood burning wood gas device

spark gap generator

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cremora Fireball

Andie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://blog.skylighter.com/fireworks/2008/09/cremora-fireballs.html

wooden machines

Andie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marble Machine 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEsaVXZrIsQ&feature=related Marble Machine 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z2A6qJyURY&feature=fvw Marble Machine 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYfJAMP-BE&feature=related Marble Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e3wv7LnKoI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx8TyijsOdQ&NR=1 Rolling Ball Clock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZWz6457asM&NR=1 How the marble Pump Works http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/marbles/pump.html http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/marbles/index.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny4KIPmKdWA&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K568lhOOJLc&feature=related

water pressure powered shower light

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://toolmonger.com/2009/10/02/its-just-cool-water-powered-shower-light/

Baking Soda Sand Blaster

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just as it sounds its another thing we need

Paralyzed Communication

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

After watching "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" I wanted more ways for the handicapped to communicate. The movie is about a man who is paralyzed and unable to speak. He is able to blink and a speech therapist develops a method of communication for him. She would read a special alphabet going from most frequently used letter to least. Then when she said the right letter he would blink once to confirm. The amazing part of this was, the movie was based on a book written by a paralyzed man. That got me thinking, a device could probably be made to detect eye blinks. Maybe a webcam pointed towards the eye could detect it and a PC could decode a blinked morse code stream. In multiple parts of the movie the character wanted to scream "stop changing the channel" or "help there's a fly stuck on my nose." Unfortunately he had no way to communicate if no one was looking in his eyes. Something audiable and portable would have been great. Perhaps another useful thing would be a mouse controlled vision tracking system. I have no idea when this project will be launched, but I hope I will have the bandwidth sometime soon. References http://www.deafandblind.com/word_frequency.htm

Braiding supplier

dye — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

http://cableorganizer.com/nylon/

Leonardo Robot Man

atticdweller — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Here is my Leonardo Robot. Enjoy downloading it from: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1769 So a few days ago a friend of mine was itching to build something. They look around and start showing me a neat paper robot from http://www.paperrobots1999.com/home.html I was thinking it's really cute, but I have a 3d printer so I had to make one for myself. I realized that the transition from paper to plastic is one that is hard to make. It requires joints that work in plastic and all the joints are going to be rigid now. For instance the hips on the paper robot are done by just having loose thread, I can't do that in plastic. Anyway, I knew how to make hinges in plastic from my previous post of an evil robot hand here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1413 I then set out to make my own robot. But how should I structure him? A little Golem to call my own to do my evil bidding. I thought I should make him perfect. But how can I make him perfect? Suddenly I knew the place and who to ask , Leonardo Davinci's notebooks. Leonardo sketched up the perfect proportions for a human. So I decided to follow them. In Leonardo's notebooks he wrote "

Trigger a 'Cactus' receiver with a Radiopopper transmitter

ilya — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Type blog entry here

dfk;gnj;sdfgjjsdgh

admin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:13:15 +0000

Back side

ilya — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:36:49 +0000

lexan mini itx pc top

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ilya — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:57:57 +0000

Lego Gun Turret

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:23:52 +0000

Lego Pin Hole Camera

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:05:40 +0000

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B&W Photography

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Japanese Bakery Bunnies

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admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:01:17 +0000

Childhood brought to life

New Arc Reactor! I mean Arc Welder

dye — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:23:46 +0000

So its finally suppose to be a warm weekend here in NY. If I'm lucky I'll get the chance to test out my new Arc Welder. Someone donated it a couple months ago, but its been too cold to start testing it. If you don't know what welding involves check out the video below. Its definitely a skill that requires practice. I'm not any good but I hope to get there. This video gets me drooling. The donated welder came with some welding sticks and a disappointing hand held mask. It was flimsy and the lens didn't fit well. I finally dug into my wallet and bought a mask from harbor freight that could auto darken. I chose the blue flame design because as we all know flame decals make things go faster. The auto darken feature was pretty handy. Normal welding mask have a very dark tint, you are pretty much blind until the electrical welding arc starts to form. In arc welding you have to have good coordination feeding the weld rods into the joint while maintaining a very slim distance. If you feed too slowly the arc gap becomes too wide and it stops welding. If you feed to fast you get the rod stuck to the metal and it starts shorting. With an auto darken mask there is a sensor which detects the presence of the arc and darkens only when you are welding. The mask I bought was solar powered (had a battery too) and it could also adjust darkness levels. It was a bit expensive ($59) but safety wise it sure beats these guys. Expert Village has some really good video tutorials to start with.

About the Editors

admin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:50:28 +0000

Split Reaction is a DIY/Project blog created by a group of amateur DIYers, artists, writers, engineers and photographers based in the NY state region. We have a lot of random ideas and we decided to collaborate and take our projects to the next level. Enjoy! the peoples Ilya - Web Developer/Editor/CS dye - Editor/Electrical/<3 andiE andiE - Photographer/Editor/<3 dye Chris - Physics/Robot Andrey - Editor/CompE

Peltier Devices

dye — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:00:32 +0000

So what is a Peltier device? Well its a thermoelectric device, or a heat pump. When you apply electricity to it, it pumps heat from one side of the device to the other, creating a very cold side and a very hot side. Well what is it used for? Most people use it to cool computer processors or to make small mini fridges or coolers. Since it doesn't require moving parts its very quiet. Plus it can reach freezing temperatures very quickly. However, there is a catch, remember how I said one side gets hot? Well you need to cool that side somehow otherwise it will overheat. Normally a good way to do that is to use a large piece of metal called a heat sink, some thermal grease wouldn't hurt either. Here is one in action via "laszlofabian," you can see it go from room temperature to frozen 50 seconds into the video. Another really cool thermoelectric property of this device is the 'seebeck effect.' If you apply a very large heat to one side and a cool source to the other you can generate electricity. Sweet! Now of course there is a catch. Most of these devices have a low efficiency (4% or so) and in order to generate more power you need it to be very hot on one side and very cold on the other. The bigger the difference in temperature the more power, and that is hard to accomplish. Plus the devices aren't what you would call super cheap (approx $15 for a 350W device). Now if you had a wasted heat source and a cooling source you could turn that wasted heat into free energy. Awesome! Want to learn more follow these links http://www.peltier-info.com/info.html

Epilog Challenge

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:23:55 +0000

[gallery link="file" columns="2"] Instructables and Epilog is sponsoring a competition to win a $8K Epilog Zing Laser cutter. We don't know why its called a Zing but we want it. :-) We have a few ideas we are are testing to see how Green they really are. No not moldy green, but rather environmentally friendly green. The idea of the laser cutter contest is to create an instructable that is both environmentally friendly and awesomely epic. I believe its even part of the requirements. Well we plan to create something more than epic. Perhaps even more than legendary. Not just mediocre or novel, we plan to introduce an idea that is green in every sense of the way to the point of generating power. Hopefully if we win we can kit our idea if there is enough public interest and we can sell the services to have other DIYers etch and cut parts for a low cost since the cost of the laser will reduce the immediate cost of manufacturing. Hopefully any additional revenue could be placed into create something even more awesome.

d945gclf2-mobo

ilya — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:19:49 +0000

20-134-216-08

ilya — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:23:31 +0000

power-supply

ilya — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:31:10 +0000

miniitxenclosure

ilya — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:42:08 +0000

harddrive

ilya — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:44:49 +0000

Infrared Thermometer

dye — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:15:20 +0000

So we just got our hands on an infrared thermometer. The Raytek Autopro. It's a cool little device with LED illumination and a dual laser targeting system to ensure your focus measure temperature. It can measure a range of -32 to 535°C (-25 to 999°F). We took it out to measure some common heat sources for the Epilog Laser Challenge. Here are the results. Ice water was 32°F Ilya's Hand was 79°F His face was 92°F Compact fluorescent light was 123°F Exhaust of my car was 113-120°F (initial to fully warmed) Interior of the exhaust was 140-532°F Exterior of the muffler was 115-200°F Car in the sun was 65°F outside and 110°F inside My car is a black Honda CRV. Its only a four cylinder engine so it took a while for the temperature to reach 532F. Perhaps an engine with more cylinders would heat up more.

cropped-spark-logo.jpg

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:08:42 +0000

http://www.splitreaction.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/cropped-spark-logo.jpg

cropped-spark-logo.jpg

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:12:43 +0000

http://www.splitreaction.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/cropped-spark-logo.jpg

cubicle-warrior

ilya — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:23:32 +0000

100_1463

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:42:20 +0000

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admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:43:51 +0000

epilog-laser

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:12:29 +0000

robotsmall

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:12:33 +0000

instructables

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:16:16 +0000

Epilog Laser Contest Entry

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:27:32 +0000

Instructables and Epilog is sponsoring a competition to win a $8K Epilog Zing Laser cutter. We don't know why its called a Zing but we want it. :-) Take a look at our entry We have a few ideas we are are testing to see how Green they really are. No, not moldy green, but rather environmentally friendly green. The idea of the laser cutter contest is to create an instructable that is both environmentally friendly and awesomely epic. I believe it's even part of the requirements. Well, we plan to create something more than epic. Perhaps even more than legendary. Not just mediocre or novel, we plan to introduce an idea that is green in every sense of the way to the point of generating power. Hopefully if we win we can kit our idea if there is enough public interest; and we can sell the services to have other DIYers etch and cut parts for a low cost since the cost of the laser will reduce the immediate cost of manufacturing. Hopefully any additional revenue could be placed into creating something even more awesome. more here

Launch Date

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:18:48 +0000

Looking for more content? Check back on July 20th when SplitReaction officially launches!

Steampunk WALL E

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:17:19 +0000

We added a Steampunk WALL E to our Epilog Laser Contest Entry. Its a much lower cost and more fun to learn with than a cell phone charger. take a look and give us a vote if you like it. Click Here to Vote for us

steampunk wallE

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:53:10 +0000

fire powered lego car (step 6 ad)

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:58:24 +0000

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Rolling Mine

dye — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:59:35 +0000

So I was playing Gary's mod and it hit me... Then I shot the stupid rolling mine with a rocket and it blew up. Then I started thinking how cool would it be if one of these were real. I found this little bugger Rotundus. Its a rolling robot that uses a pendulum like weight inside to cause the outer sphere to move. It has an array of sensor as well as a camera. They say it makes 6mph and from the video it sounds amazingly silent. Well that's not very intimidating... I thought how would I make this less controlled and more insane in speed. Attaching a few rockets to a soccer ball would do the trick but I wouldn't be able to aim it very well at my friends. I was wondering how well would it work to have a Ball with a gyroscope mounted internally to keep it upright. To help the ball gain speed instead of pivoting it would be moved by ducted fans. Two top and bottom to give it the forward kick and two on the side to lean it left and right. To make the ball bounce up and down it could be spring loaded.

Water Bottle Rocket Up

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:03:46 +0000

Water Bottle Rocket Sideways

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:04:00 +0000

dsc_38411

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:44:50 +0000

Backyard Hydrogen Rockets

dye — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:46:56 +0000

A couple summers ago I got a bit bored and decided I wanted to build a water bottle rocket. The concept is pretty intuitive. Fill a bottle with a liquid and pressurize it with a bicycle pump. When the pressure gets high enough you release the bottle and it will fly into the air as the water is released. This version was ridiculously easy to build, a 1/2" pvc pipe, an end cap with a tire valve and pressurized by a bicycle pump. I used a 20oz bottle and I pressurized it to 20 psi. To keep the bottle locked in place I used a bent coat hanger. Needless to say this method isn't the safest, do you see where my head is? Knowing they do blow up I wouldn't recommend repeating it. One thing I always wanted to build was a HHO Rocket. The idea is you take a water rocket and instead of using a pump to generate pressure you create the pressure explosively. By passing a current through the water you create hydrogen and oxygen gas inside the bottle. If you wire a piezo sparker from a BBQ lighter you can click it and it will ignite the gas. This causes an explosion which generates the pressure you need to launch the bottle. I like this design because you didn't have a pressure vessel slowly building up pressure that could explode at any moment. By making it combustible, you can be prepared for when it launches. If it does explode its not that much of a surprise. Also you don't need to build a latch to hold the bottle in place.

sr-watermark

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:49:00 +0000

img_0153

ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:45:49 +0000

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ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:45:57 +0000

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ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:46:16 +0000

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ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:46:25 +0000

img_0153-plug-close-up

ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:46:29 +0000

7 pin jack

ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:05:32 +0000

7 pin plug

ilya — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:05:34 +0000

Make Circuit Boards at Home

dye — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:30:36 +0000

Circuit boards are pretty cool to make. When your circuits get big enough its much easier to design a circuit on a Computer Aided Design Program like Eagle and print the circuit board than to wire it up on a breadboard. You have two routes to make your PCBs. The first is order them for a couple bucks from a site like BatchPCB or PCB Pool. These guys gather PCB designs from various do-it-yourselfers and when they get enough to fill a production panel they ship it out. The only catch is you have to wait a bit. The second choice is to make the PCB at home. If you are working primarily with through hole components homemade pcbs are what you're looking for. Its easy to achieve a good quality pcb for those components and its relatively cheap once you get started. Here is a good introduction on the various ways to make your own PCB http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php?aiocp_dp=guide_pcb http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/pcbs.html

Populate Circuit Boards using your Toaster

dye — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:41:44 +0000

A lot of times I find value just reinventing the wheel. Yeah sure the wheel has been invented, but do you really know how it works? Sometimes I see a lot of people walking around touting their fancy dodads and cellphones and they know little about how it fundamentally works. We accept a lot of things as the 'way it is' and we don't care to ask why it works. Cellphones for example use electromagnetic waves, not surprisingly so does bluetooth, wifi and pretty much most of your broadcast multimedia. They just vary in the frequencies and technique. This kind of brings me into the topic of reflowing printed circuit boards. The components you have on a circuit board need to somehow be electrically connected to the wires routed on the pcb. Rather than solder them on one at a time, a metal paste is applied and the components are stuck to it. Then its all stuck into a special oven and the paste melts connecting everything in one shot. That's fundamentally how circuit boards are populated. Its pretty easy to do even at home. All you need is something that can easily reach the melting point of the solder paste and a smart way to turn it off or on before the components start to burn. I was thinking about modifying a bread toaster into a reflow oven. A toaster is able to reach the melting point of solder. It also has a small volume so it would heat up faster. It has many coils rather than just two like a toaster oven, so the heat would be more evenly distributed. Though a bit small most of my pcbs would fit in the toaster. Without saying this is a pretty dangerous project if you don't know what your doing. Perhaps one of these days I will get the chance to work on it.

img_0179

ilya — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:56:43 +0000

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ilya — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:56:55 +0000

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admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:45:16 +0000

p_00514

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admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:48:19 +0000

french-frie-machine

dye — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:45:47 +0000

keypad3x4b

ilya — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:45:06 +0000

layout

ilya — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:48:29 +0000

output-arrangement

ilya — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:55:19 +0000

DIY Power Supply

ilya — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:15:20 +0000

Today we take a look at re-purposing computer power supplies. If you're anything like me you probably have a small stash of computer power supplies lying around in the corner of your room. You saved them just in case your computer's supply dies but now they are turning into clutter and a magnet for dust bunnies. Now I've finally found a use for at least one of them: to use as a bench power supply. Here is the end result. A small box that sits on top of my desk. It has 4 posts: Ground, 3.3volts, 5volts and 12volts. Hit the jump for more details. Here is the power box again. It has a toggle switch to turn it on and off and a LED light that glows when it's turned on. If we follow the cable we see that it leads to the original computer power supply. Only it has been slightly modified. The cables have been cut off and instead the chassis has been fitted with a plug. The plug has 7 pins, which are used for 12v, 5v, 3.3v, Switch, and 3 pins for Ground. Each wire of the power supply has a specific voltage. Here are the wires I soldered to the plug: RED wire - 12 volts ORANGE wire - 5 volts YELLOW wire - 3.3 volts GREEN wire - Switch BLACK wire - Ground Some more pictures. Inside the box are just wires soldered to the binding posts, LED, and the Switch. Close up on the connector. It was bought from Futurelec.com. The power supply wires used to come out of that hole, now there is a plug mounted there. The hole turned out to be just the right size, I got really lucky. Here is what you'd find inside of the breakout box. The switch on the black box turns the main power supply on and off. The power supply has this feature built in already. All that was needed to be done was to wire the green wire to the Switch along with Ground. When the Green wire is connected to Ground, the power supply turns on. When the Green wire is left disconnected, the power supply turns off. Normally the motherboard does this, but by connecting the wire to the Switch I can turn the power supply on from the black breakout box without having to bend down and turn on the Switch on the power supply itself. If you're thinking about building your own power supply out of a computer supply I recommended this tutorial.

3D Printer Review

dye — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:49:38 +0000

So I've been thinking about making a 3D prototyping machine for a while now. I'm lazy and making the parts by hand is a chore. 3D printers and cutters open the ability to draw a model on my PC and create it without actually measuring and cutting all the parts. So far I've seen a couple types CNC Mills/Lathes (computer numeric control) Deposition 3D Printers (Melted Wax or Plastic) SLA (Stereo Lithography Apparatus) Liquid Powder Printers (liquid hardener added to a powder bed) Paper 3D Printer(sheets of cut A4 paper with glue) http://www.mcortechnologies.com/ 1. CNC routers are great tools, they are subtractive and are used to manufacture parts out of wood, plastics, and even metals by cutting chunks from a solid block of material. Most CNCs have a cutting tool mounting on a XY linear slide which allows a cutting tool head to travel across the entire region. The tool head is mounted on a Z axis which lowers the head to cut or lifts it up to jog to the next area. One of the big drawbacks of a typical CNC is the inability to cut underneath the material. Since the tool only cuts from the top you would not be able to do things like cutting the bottom of an arch without flipping the material over. CNCs can produce very strong models. The result will have the strength of whatever material you cut, so long as your tool head is powerful enough to cut through. Some great CNC links include www.cnczone.com 2. Deposition/3D Printers are additive. Instead of cutting away material they have a tool that deposits little droplets of wax or plastic. The plastic or wax is melted in the tool head and ejected out of a nozzle. Most of the wax/plastic units I have seen offer no choice in colors. Wax tends to be weak and will break if dropped. The abs plastic depositing machines are usually strong. Comparable to Lego bricks. These typically can't print archs either since the print head needs some support underneath in order to print successfully. Some printers offer two heads, one that ejects the material and one that creates supports that are removed after the model is finished. RepRap is an interesting deposition type printer that uses a thermoplastics to create models too. Its more of a hobbyist machine that has the ability to machine it's own parts. Replication! Well at least the non metal parts, circuits and others are still bought. Another open source machine that has achieved some popularity is Fab@Home Most of these machines though only print in a few colors, pretty much the color of the material being feed through the thermal extruder. There are also some versions of these machines that use chocolates, sugar glue and other fun materials but the general rule is they liquidfy and deposit it in layers which eventually harden 3. Now SLAs are the definitions of awesome. They work with a bath of a UV sensitive resin. There is a platform that first sits near the surface of the bath exposing only a hairline fraction of the entire UV resin tank. A fancy 100mW or more UV laser turns on and cures the resin that it hits. The SLA machine does this layer by layer and since the laser is such a fine tool and more controllable than a extuder head it can achieve higher resolutions than deposition printers can. These models have great accuracy but their models also only come in one color. The models are fairly strong, stronger than wax but most plastic printers can printer stronger models. To my knowledge no one has made a homemade SLA. 4. Now I added the powder type 3D Printers into their own category because even though they deposit materials they act similar to SLA. In a powder type 3D printer there are two trays. One for powder to be used and one for the model. The model tray is initially empty. It then gets filled with a layer of powder and a print head moves over the powder depositing a liquid hardener that reacts and hardens the powder at select locations. Another layer of powder is then added and the process repeats until the model is done. Then the model is separated from the unhardened powder and is dusted off and sealed. Because the powder acts as a support complex shapes can be made. If the model was a hollow ball the powder material would support the shape while its being printed but it would come out as unhardened powder. Since these liquid deposition tools don't need to be heated they usually rely on a inkjet like tool head which allows it to easily achieve higher resolution since the tool head is created by a stereolithograpy method and it is typically faster since the print heads have a matrix of nozzles. Also a lot of these models use actual inkjet print catridges so a wide variety of colors can be printed on the model. Something the other machines did not offer. There have been some successful replications of these machines but none that also produce color on the DIY side of the world. Let me know if you find one and I will post it. 5. Paper 3D Printer? Now this one is a completely new concept. MCOR had the bright idea to glue layers and layers of paper while cutting the paper to make a 3D model. I have to say this was pretty smart. The models come down drastically in cost since glue and paper are commonly avaliable and cheaper than thermoplastics. (I don't even want to think about how expensive the SLA resin is ) Now this company hasn't actually sold their printer but its pretty interesting. It seems like it would be a lot greener than the other methods. CNCs produce waste, thermoextruders produce heat and their models are not always recyclable and SLAs are extremely expensive.

Toiletology 101

dye — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:19:33 +0000

I was thinking of little innovations to make in my usual thinking spot. Then it hit me, I should be building an automatic toilet flusher. I needed a little intro as to what all the little moving parts in a toilet were called and I decided to take Toiletology 101. Its kind of amazing how we take bathrooms for granted. I thought this video was a bit impressive. I'm glad all that junk mail I recycle is going in its proper place.

Lee Valley Light/Flashlight Holder

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:27:35 +0000

When I was a young whipper snapper, my first lesson in automotive repair was enlightening and required extreme dedication. My father passed it down to me, as I'm sure countless fathers have around the world. It's like it was just yesterday, when my dad started off with those classic few words, "Son, hold the light." I don't know about you, but I would have killed for one of these tools. I feel like I could build one just as easily, but for $9 bucks this tool isn't too expensive. Opinions?

Bricks of Mass Destruction

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:29:17 +0000

[caption id="attachment_26" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="click click boom"][/caption] When our Lego bricks disobey their creators... This was a little Lego Turret I built using 80% ABS Lego Bricks. The other 15% is an automated BB gun. I control it using the standard Lego Motor box and the BB Gun is powered using a Cell Phone Charger as a power supply 5V at 1A. The base is wide so the recoil of the gun doesn't tip the gun over. Plus it gave me the chance to use the oversized wheel from my dissassembled Lego Starwars Hail Fire Droid and use it for lazy Susan. Some of you can add better than I and realize I'm missing 5%. That 5% is a resin I used to attach some Lego Beams to the Gun. By doing that I Lego-ized the gun in case I ever need to rebuild it. The toy is a manual control turret so it doesn't need limit switches.

Don't Fall Asleep First

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:34:43 +0000

Andrey annoying me at the ASEE 2007.

HOWTO: $250 Media Computer

ilya — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:47:51 +0000

Build your own media PC for only $250. All the parts are available on newegg.com and even leave you enough to pay for shipping. Motherboard $81.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121359&Tpk=D945GCLF2 1 gig Ram $11.49 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216 Hard drive $49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136099&Tpk=WD800BEVS Power supply $52.50 http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-90-80W-power-kit?sc=8&category=1097 Enclosure $39.95 http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-mini-itx-enclosure Total Cost Motherboard $81.99 1 gig Ram $11.49 Hard drive $49.99 Power supply $52.50 Enclosure $39.95 ------------------------------------ $235.92

How Curly Frys are Made

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:49:05 +0000

AndiE and I were walking around Manhattan and we stumbled upon a street fair for Bastille Day. Bastille Day is a French national holiday honoring the Storming of the Bastille. We had some wonderful crepes and acted like tourists. I couldn't take my eyes off of this french fry machine they had. So flippin' cool. You can even hear me say it's so flippin cool.

Lego Candy Dispenser

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:04:22 +0000

Here is a little Candy dispenser I made for the office one day. I bought one of those massive bags of M&M peanuts and the guys around the office finished them in a day. photos and more videos after the break

Lego Pin Hole Camera Hearts Macro

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:11:09 +0000

[caption id="attachment_38" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Works with 35mm Film and 100% Lego"]Lego-35mm-camera[/caption] Well... there is a catch. The images are too light and it must be used and loaded in dark environments. I hope to make a better one some day.

Lexan Mini ITX PC

ilya — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:14:16 +0000

Have you ever wanted a computer that you can leave on 24/7 and not even notice that it is on when you walk into the room? I know I have. Now I finally built one that is so quiet you can't hear if it's on or not even if you stand next to it.

As a bonus, it is only the size of a large book, has a 1.6Ghz dual core atom processor, and idles at 19C (or whatever the room temperature happens to be).

Here is a video to give you an idea of how small the computer is. Notice how it makes almost no noise when it's on. If you walked into the room you wouldn't be able to tell that there is a computer there too. Cooling The dual core Atom motherboard used to have a small fan on it that cooled the graphics processor. That was removed and a 140mm Scythe fan was placed on top of the entire motherboard. Why such a ridiculously large fan? Because it's quiet. Rate at 10dB, it is the quietest fan that I have found for sale and it happened to be 140mm big. So I worked with it, and it turned out to do an amazing job at cooling the whole computer. I was worried at first. While this big fan does move a lot of air, it moves it over a large area. The original 10mm fan sat directly on the chipset heat sink, providing localized cooling, which I was afraid the big fan might not match. I'm glad it worked out well in the end when I finally assembled everything and tried it out. The 80 watt Pico power supply I used is over 95% efficient and produces almost no heat. [caption id="attachment_18" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Front side of the Lexan mini ITX computer"][/caption] The front of the computer has the power button. No USB ports or sd card readers. I was satisfied with just having 4 USB ports in the back. I used this computer as a media PC. I have a projector connected to it as well as a wireless mouse and keyboard. [caption id="attachment_16" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Top of the Lexan mini ITX computer"][/caption] And finally, The stats:

Dual core 1.6Ghz Atom processor
Integrated video card
1 Gig ram
80 Gig hard drive
80 Watt Power supply
Awesome lexan case
Under $250

g

Andie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:56:35 +0000

g1

Andie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:56:57 +0000

g2

Andie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:58:21 +0000

il_fullxfull64428290

Andie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:06:58 +0000

Lego Candy Dispenser

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:33:51 +0000

Top View

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:35:08 +0000

Side View

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:36:46 +0000

Underwater Lego Robots

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:03:20 +0000

One of the happiest moments backs as a Teaching Assistant in college was when a Professor told me to build a underwater autonomous course under $1000 and out of Lego Bricks. There are a lot of things to over come if you are building one. But its not impossible to build a pretty intelligent Lego submersible. Especially when they are now digital with microcontrollers and sensors. One of my favorite examples was when Rhode Island University Beat MIT's AUV with their Lego version.

flyer

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:20:21 +0000

flyer1

dye — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:21:53 +0000

Steampunk Jewelry

Andie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:38:03 +0000

I've always been into unconventional things. So when I came across this website selling the most unusual jewelry I was in love. The creator of these unique designs, who goes by the name edmdesigns, has chosen to brand the art as the "Tiffany's of Steampunk." Influenced by the craftsmanship and vintage artistry of the Victorian era, edmdesigns reanimates those same designs for us. Although other items are up for sale as well, but as I am a girl, naturally I am more attracted to the jewelry, most notably rings. ~andiE

delaymeasurer

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:27:45 +0000

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Air Cannon

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:04:06 +0000

Confetti Cannon

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:20:21 +0000

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admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:51:25 +0000

Party with Air Cannons

dye — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:02:56 +0000

[caption id="attachment_853" align="alignnone" width="332" caption="Air Cannon"][/caption] Air Cannons are amazingly fun to play with at BBQs. Its really just my adult Nerf gun. You just fill the pressure chamber with a compressor and then hit the valve and watch the thing go. My normal projectiles are confetti, fruits, stale dinner rolls and glow sticks. I usually fire a couple shots of water to clean the cannon. The water shots make a really cool rain effect and feels great in the summer. What about Explosive Cannons? I used to build spud cannons powered by hairspray and starter fluid when I was in boy scouts. They are definitely more portable because you don't need an air compressor and it's a faster reload than a bicycle pump. They are half the cost too. I finally got sick of the inconsistencies and went air powered. With gas powered some would never fire, some would fall short, some would even ignite the PVC on fire. Air powered gave me a measurable force and the extra cost was well worth it. This video is NOT MINE! It does display the reason why I don't like Combustion Cannons Is it Safe? If you know what you are doing Air Cannons made from PVC pipes are generally unsafe. If you don't know what you are doing, then well, adios, nice knowing ya. PVC by any respected engineer is not a good pressure vessel, it's easily damaged when dropped, brittle in the winter, and if it does not fail, it becomes a pipe bomb with PVC shards with you right next to it. Schedule 40 pipe can be rated around 200+psi. As a safety margin I usually pressurize my cannons around 75 psi. I used a tire valve stem to pump air in and it tends to leak at higher pressures so I don't wish to break it. At 75 psi my cannon turns a solid apple projectile into pure sauce. My Portable Party Cannon I made a smaller version of the big one for parties. It's the same cost as the big one ~$36, but the benefit is that it can be powered by a bicycle pump rather than a full compressor. I also added a solenoid sprinkler so I can add a remote in the future. Below are some photos. This one is the miniaturized version, instead of using a 1" manual valve. I used a sprinkler valve from Home Depot. I am hoping to one day build some electronics for this and make it remote. I built it in an hour for parties to launch confetti. That black electrical tape is to hold three sections of pvc around the cannon as a tripod. Air goes in from a bicycle pump from the tire valve stem on the right. It takes about 20 pumps to hit 35psi for confetti. Streamers are usually inexpensive ($1 a roll) and they are fire retartant. It takes 1/3 of a roll to fill the barrel. I cut the streamers into 1" x 0.5" sections of confetti and cram them down the barrel. If you make it too small it becomes a mess to clean up. The barrel on my design screws off so I can load multiple barrels and the change the size. This manual bypass on the solenoid valve works well enough till I rig up a remote system. How to Build One There are some really complex designs out there, but if all you want is a big BOOM!, smirk and "Holy Crap that's Awesome!" I recommend a compressed Air Cannon with a simple 1" valve. (SpudFiles) has plenty of research and forums on the topics, so there is no need for me to reinvent the wheel. Spudtech.com also sells a lot of the parts you wont find in Home Depot, like clear PVC and 125psi safety valves. Other People's Videos I'm crazy about not having accidents with my cannon, but I can't say the rest of the internet is. Here are some fun videos of people without the same philosophy. Yes it Hurts Cannon Backfires and Pipe Ignites

Iron Man Gauntlet

dye — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:36:01 +0000

Ilya, (one of the other editors) informed me the other day of how he found my Spanish clone. Turns out somewhere in Canada there is an electrical engineer named Carlos who hosts a pretty cool project blog Carlitoscontraptions.com. A lot of his hardware projects match ones I've done in the past. I'm particularly a fan of his Iron Man repulsor gauntlet. It allows a lot of freedom in motion and it lights up as he bends his wrist. He has really good pictures and a video of it here. I have my own side project replicating the Iron Man Wrist Rocket. Its on/off because I'm using CO2 cartridges to fuel it and I've shot them all. :-) Perhaps if I ask nicely, Carlos will want to collaborate. We can use his for the left arm and mine for the right... now all we need is an arc reactor... [link] ~dye

Workshop: Melting and Casting Metal

dye — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:19:18 +0000

Lionel Oliver has an amazing site documenting his experiments metaling and casting metal. He shows how to build a variety of furnances from a simple charcoal furnance out of bricks and dirt to more complex propane furnaces. The best part is he does this all in his backyard. Once you can melt metal you can start recycling old things like aluminum cans or lawn chairs and forming real tools and parts. Lionel even built an entire gingerly lathe using his metal foundrys. http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/lathe1.html ~dye

SR Projects

dye — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:36:16 +0000

This is a page dedicated to Projects completed by the SR team Electrical DIY: Desktop Power Supply for Projects -ever want a decent power supply but couldn't afford it, convert an old PC power supply into one instead. Computers Mini ITX PC -a quiet little PC that makes a great add on for any media center LEGO Lego Candy Dispenser -Little toy I made for the office, dispenses M&Ms Lego Pin Hole Camera -Lego Pin Hole Camera I tried out Underwater Lego Robots -A project platform we designed for Polytechnic University, the idea is pretty much mixing programmable ICs with Lego Bricks. A little more advanced than the old snap bricks we use to play with. Lego BB Gun Turret -name says it all

Workshop

dye — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:43:11 +0000

Big Bad Wolf, Vortex Cannon Style

dye — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:16:56 +0000

Chris linked me to this video, it's a vortex cannon on steroids. When a spherical mass of a fast moving fluid moves through the air, it can form torroid shaped vortex rings, similar to blowing smoke rings. This helps the mass stay together as it moves through the air so its almost like an invisible ball of air. Want your own? You can always buy the Airzooka

Tron the Movie

dye — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:33:04 +0000

Yes they made a movie out of it. I gotta say I do like my dystopian societies. Fellow geeks commence drooling. Thanks andiE for finding it. ~dye

Photography

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:22:48 +0000

Here are some of the gang's photography. Ilya Andie Andrey

Vanilla Sky

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:26:41 +0000

Solar Explosion

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:26:42 +0000

Flying Solo

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:26:43 +0000

When all else fails fly a kite

Streaks

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:26:44 +0000

Andie's Photos

Andie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:34:33 +0000

Montauk

[gallery link="file" orderby="rand"]

procexp

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:37:04 +0000

button matrix code snippet

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:45:15 +0000

cropped-spark-logo-with-bar.jpg

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:41:13 +0000

http://www.splitreaction.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cropped-spark-logo-with-bar.jpg

Petri Dish Audio Meter

dye — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:23:48 +0000

Matthew Shieh created this very interesting audio meter. Instead of the typical LM3915 VU meter, Matt designed the amplifier to capture ambient sound from a small mic. For the interface he used a photoresistor and capacitive touch button controlled by a PIC16F716 . The photoresistor lets him dim the LEDs when it's dark to save power. His project really shines in the write up and best of all fits into a petridish. read

keypad ardunio wiring diagram

ilya — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:07:33 +0000

rows and columns init

ilya — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:49:36 +0000

Pogo Probe

dye — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:03:32 +0000

Pogo Probe

dye — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:05:15 +0000

reading a single button

ilya — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:14:10 +0000

keypad pinout

ilya — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:12:10 +0000

button8circuit

ilya — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:09:12 +0000

GetButtonPressFunction

ilya — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:51:14 +0000

KeypadMatrix

ilya — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:01:58 +0000

keypad datasheet 5111893Dd01

ilya — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:05:29 +0000

singleKeypadButton

ilya — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:21:03 +0000

button8circuit

ilya — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:44:08 +0000

KeypadMatrix

ilya — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:48:19 +0000

singleKeypadButton

ilya — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:20:42 +0000

buffout white bg

ilya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:31:58 +0000

buffout assembly

ilya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:32:23 +0000

buffout factory sealed

ilya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:45:04 +0000

buffout out of bottle

ilya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:00:43 +0000

Fallout 3 Buffout, in real life!

ilya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:44:15 +0000

I made own my real life Buffout! Check it out:

It's really easy to make. All you need is a handful of items.

Label: Get the label from this site: http://www.weeklygeekshow.com/2009/07/fallout_cosplay_accoutrements.php Scroll down a little until you reach the template for buffout (it's going to be a link to a jpg file). Once you download it you're going to have to print it out to scale. It should come out exactly 6 inches long and 2.5 inches tall. An easy way to do this is to toss the picture into microsoft word, where it should automatically get scaled to the correct size.

Bottle: Next you need the bottle. I got mine from here, http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item.asp?item=B633 The bottle costs 70 cents but the site charges a surcharge of $10 if your order is under $50. To get around the surcharge I requested the bottle as a free sample. The store allows you to order a single free sample of any product. The only downside is that you still have to pay the $7 shipping cost. Don't forget to get a matching lid for the bottle: http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item.asp?item=L207PS

Now you wait. The bottle and lid should arrive at your door steps in 3 to 5 business days. This is a good opportunity to go out and buy a pack of Altoids. You'll need them for later.

Once you have the bottle all that's left to do is stick the label on. I printed my label on regular paper and used permanent double sided scotch tape to adhere it to the bottle. A strip of tape at the start and end of the label will hold it on forever.

After you get the label on, fill the bottle with Altoids and screw the lid on, tightly. The lid you purchased has an inner liner that is going to fuse with the rim, and seal the bottle air tight; giving your Buffout that straight-from-the-factory look. Like this:

[caption id="attachment_1175" align="alignnone" width="255" caption="Brand new, factory sealed Buffout"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Opened bottle of Buffout"][/caption]

Enjoy! These upgraded Altoids should now give you an instant +60HP, +3END and +2STR !*

* Note: Altoids might not actually give real life character bonuses, other than fresh breath.

Dyson Air Multiplier (seriously it's a fan)

dye — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:11 +0000

No it's not a stargate, believe it or not it's a bladeless fan. This fan blows a stream out of the blue ring. The blue ring has a special airfoil shape that can magnify the airflow up to 15x. Since it involves no blades this stream is uninterrupted. This fan seems pretty cool (if $300 means nothing to you,) if you ask me I'll stick to my propellor style fan. Mine comes with soothing fan noises and doubles as a sound effect generator. It certainly has the wow factor, but hackaday.com pointed out it probably has blades in the bottom to push air into the ring. Perhaps not the same traditional style but blades still. This design is very novel, so as far as the user is concerned it's bladeless. It's like buying a Roomba and realizing it needs to be emptied every once and a while. Dyson also developed the Airblade hand dryer (the funny looking one you place your hand into and pull out slowly.) Plenty of videos on their site. [via Toolmonger] [via HackaDay]

Saw Dust Cannon

dye — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:27 +0000

Sawdust Cannon. from Ben Stone on Vimeo. Hehe, now someone go build a rapid fire version.

Pumpkin 2009 (resized)

dye — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:15:29 +0000

DSC06009

dye — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:23:40 +0000

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dye — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:23:41 +0000

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Halloween 2009

dye — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:00:01 +0000

This weekend I was carving pumpkins with my girlfriend. Pumpkin carving, a soothing time to bond, relax, and justify having power tools. Rather than hacking away at a pumpkin with a dinner blade, my trusty jigsaw and dremel did most of the cuts and an exacto knife detailed. It was much less effort and the pumpkins came out great. Being me, I wasn't settled with a mildly dangerous tea candle. I upgraded the wick by adding part of a regular candle. This made the pumpkin burn with a much more ominous glow (Harzard +1). It was good, but not great. I went down to the shop and bore a hole into the back of the pumpkin. Add one spray can and that brought the pumpkin from seasonal fire hazard to double fisted spray can/fire extiguisher dangerous (Harzard +3 Safety +2). In hind sight I should have bore the hole larger. Why? Well the fuel I'm spraying there tended to puddle up in the opening and set the pumpkin on fire, thankfully the pumpkin was fresh and still moist. More photos after the break [gallery]

D.A.V.E. the Turret

ilya — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:03:46 +0000

A couple of my friends and I took the mechatronics class at our university last year. For our final project we built an autonomous sentry turret capable of picking out people in a room and shooting them down. We called it the Digital Assignation & Violence Entity, or D.A.V.E. for short. We think this is the latest in proactive autonomous personal defense, if you happen to be on a shoe string budget that is.

Some of D.A.V.E.'s features:

Finds people up to 20 feet away
150° scan range
Holds 20 foam darts at a time

Since this was a class project we were expected to purchase our own supplies for anything we wanted to build. Which meant we where going to build this turret out of whatever supplies we had on hand. We made the frame out of scrapes of wood we had around. The toy gun we purchased at a 60% discount from a KB toys that was going out of business. The fabric covering the base used to be a pair of pants...

How it works

Working with limited funds meant we had to make a few sacrifices right from the start. As much as we would loved to have the turret controlled by a laptop running motion tracking software we didn't want to spend that kind of money. Instead we opted to use a distance sensor mounted on a servo as our method for finding people in a room.

With the distance sensor, our theory of operation went like this. Make a distance measurement, if the distance is really far (20 feet or more), assume there is no one in front of the sensor. Now rotate the sensor a few degrees and take another reading. If the new distance measurement is less then 20 feet assume that we have found a person. Now we rotate the the turret to the same angle as the sensor and open fire.

This technique worked really well for us when we placed the turret in a wide open area. However, when we placed it anywhere indoors it didn't work so well. Any wall or object closer then 20 feet away from the turret was automatically seen as a target.

We were able to improve our target acquisition technique by having the turret do an initial scan of the area in front of it before looking for targets. This involved rotating the distance sensor 180 degrees and and taking a distance measurement at each position. This gave us a map of what the room looked like in front of the turret. This allowed the turret to ignore objects that are closer then 20 feet that were already present when the turret was turned on.

For example, with this new method if we take a distance measurement of a wall that is 10 feet away, we would know it's just a wall that was there before. But when, at that same angle, we get a distance measurement of less then 10 feet we can assume that now there is a person in front of that wall.

This is the target acquisition method we went with in the final version of the turret. It allowed us to plop the turret on a table in any room and have the turret always adapt to it's surroundings.

Of course getting the turret to work reliably took a lot more effort then we initially thought. The distance sensor worked out, but it was not without its pitfalls. More on that a little later.

Here are some more pictures of the turret. Click on a picture to see a larger version of it.

One limitation of the turret's targeting system is that the room has to be empty during the initial scan on power up. If there is a person standing in the room during the scan, the map will become unusable when that person walks away. Also if the turret is moved or nudged after it builds the map, that's going to make the map of the room unusable as well. Here we see the brains of the operation. An arduino clone (a USB Boarduino) runs the whole show. We purchased it from adafruit. Here is a closeup of the breadboard. On the breadboard is a buzzer, a Darlington transistor (which acts as a switch to control the dart propelling motor) and a miniature relay (used to control the trigger mover motor). Wires from the breadboard lead to this breakout board which houses connectors for the rest of the turret's electronics to connect to. This is the trigger motor. As it rotates it moves the trigger forward and back. The toy gun used to be semi-automatic, where one pull of the trigger equaled one shot fired. Now this motor transforms the gun into a fully automatic weapon. To make the gun shoot faster we removed all the internal springs attached to the trigger. We found that we didn't need the springs to return the trigger to the starting position since we attached the trigger to the motor using a rigid arm. We keep track of how many shot we fire thanks to a small magnet glued to the tip of the trigger and a reed switch mounted right under it. Every time the magnet passes over the reed switch we know the trigger made one complete backward-and-forward motion, or in other words, exactly one shot. The trigger motor is attached to the gun using friendly plastic. When heated to around 70 degrees Celsius, friendly plastic becomes soft and malleable like play-dough. When it cools down to room temperature it becomes an astonishingly rigid and strong plastic. We picked it up from a local art supply store, but you can find plenty of it around the internet. A servo tilts the gun up and down. It has a custom Lego-gear servo horn which we molded out of Alumilite. In the end we decided not to have the gun tilt at all. We were unable to balance the gun evenly on the axis of rotation and as a result the servo didn't have enough power to tilt the gun more than 10 degrees up or down. We removed the servo's internal potentiometer and soldered an external one in its place. This way the gun's tilt axis will act as the native shaft of the servo. Here is a close up of the control panel. The knob sits on a push-button mechanical encoder. You spin the knob to scroll though different menu options and push it to make a selection. The red cancel button brings you back to the main screen. We purchased the LCD screen from sparkfun. Its white text on a black background is extra-fancy, just as advertised =D. Here is a closeup of the ultrasonic sensor. It's attached to a servo using a bracket made out of friendly plastic. We went with this distance sensor because it has the longest range out of all the distance sensors we looked at and it is not too expensive (only 30 bucks). Using an ultrasonic distance sensor as a person tracker gave us a bit of trouble. The sensor measures distance by producing a small, high frequency sound and timing how long it takes for the sound's echo to return back to the sensor. In theory, sound waves could get distorted or absorbed, which means that in certain envorments the sensor's performance can be less than optimal. In practice, when we would measure the distance to something soft like a set of curtains, or a couch, our distance measurements would fluctuate wildly. Sometimes two subsequent readings to the same curtains would be as much as two feet apart. Initially when we first tested the turret we would get a lot of false positive targets. While looking for a person in the room, the turret would scan over the curtains and identify them as the target. To filter out the false positives we now take multiple distance reading every time a potential target is in sight of the sensor. If the distance is constantly fluctuating we know we are pointing at a soft object. If the distance remains low we know we are pointing at a person. The rat's nest. Breakout board on the top shelf, breadboard on the bottom. Here you can also see part of the 9.6v Ni-Cad battery pack that powers the whole turret. The battery is rated at 1 amp hour, which is a fairly low amount. To save power the turret stands still until it detects movement using its passive infrared PIR motion sensor. This is the same sensor that is used in automatic light switches, the kind that turns the lights off when you leave the room. Once the PIR motion sensor reports that there is movement the turret wakes up and does an active scan with the servo mounted distance sensor to pinpoint the target. The top part of the turret disconnects from its base. This makes it convenient to take apart and transport. When the top is connected to the base, it's held in place securely using good ol' gravity and a bit of friction. Here is the connector that connects the base to the top part of the turret. Look how happy it is to be connected properly. Base disconnected! More components are placed around the perimeter of the base. Here you can see the mini breakout board that the base's electronics connect to. The base holds the components that did not fit on the turret. The top part of the turret will not turn on by itself since the power switch is part of the base. Here is the bottom of the servo that rotates the ultrasonic sensor. A PIR motion sensor is right in front of it. The motion sensor is attached to the base using a mount made out of friendly plastic. This is our 5 volt voltage regulator. We got it from DealExtreme. It's pretty cheap, and works well. To the right of it is the key switch. We bought it from Electroinc Gold Mine. They sell the key switch at a discount because it's missing the mounting nut. This wasn't a problem for us, as we were able to make our own nut out of friendly plastic. It's that white glob around the switch. Friendly plastic FTW, seriously. We draped fabric over the base to make it look nice. We used a staple gun to attach the fabric. Closeup of the keyhole. This is the on/off switch for the turret. Here is the bottom of the turret's top part. The turret rotates on a lazy susan. Inside the wooden blocks is a standard servo that rotates the turret left and right. On the bottom, there is a channel cut away for the ribbon cable to run through. The screw sticking out the back acts as the physical end stop to make sure the turret doesn't rotate too far left or too far right. It's better to have the screw hit a stop then to have the servo's internal physical limit reached.

Here is the parts list that shows how much it cost to build this turret.

Part	Cost	Qty	Subtotal	Description
Toy gun	$15	1	$15.00	Foam dart gun
Fairchild TIP 102	$0.70	2	$1.40	Darlington Transistor
Atmel ATmega328	$25	1	$25.00	Microcontroller w/ board
Sparkfun LCD-00813	$27	1	$27.00	LCD Screen
Hanse Electronics SE-10	$10	1	$10.00	Motion Sensor
Panasonic EVQ-WTEF2515B	$1	1	$1.00	Rotary Encoder
Maxbotix LV-EZ4	$28	1	$28.00	Ulstrasonic Distance Sensor
Hobbywing 5V/6V 3A UBEC	$10	1	$10.00	Voltage Regulator
Standard Servos	$13	3	$39.00	Servo
Lego Motor	$18	1	$18.00	Motor
9.6V NiCad Battery Pack	$10	1	$10.00	Battery pack
Lazy Susan	$10	1	$10.00	Swivel bearing
Radioshack 271-1721	$3	1	$3.00	10k Potentionmeter
Radioshack 273-074	$3.50	1	$3.50	Piezo Speaker
Plywood	$15.60	1	$15.60	Robot Chassis/Base
Miscellaneous Buttons	$2.00	1	$2.00	Buttons
Total			$218.50

Printable Ball Bearings, welcome to the future

atticdweller — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:18:53 +0000

It was made out of printed parts, so it would only last a month before I'd need to print new bearings and other moving parts. From Printcrime by Cory Doctorow. Link here: http://craphound.com/?p=573 I am glad to bring us closer to this terrible future. Here are some printable bearings I made. I am working on a project that needs alot of them and was enraged by not being able to print them. Especially after reading this story. Get the models here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3256 They are a little tricky to put together. Check out the video for more information:

The Mega Claw

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:32:28 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1351" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The first 3D model of the claw game"][/caption] So this was SplitReaction's first year at Maker Faire 2010 NYC. We wanted to wow the crowd and build something awesome, a project that would inspire kids to become makers and engineers. Also it had to be fun to build so of course the best thing was a Mega Claw Game. The second we thought of the idea, the nostalgia of numerous rigged items and victorious grabs overwhelmed us. A claw game was a challenge since it had plenty of electrical work, construction and ideas to present at Maker Faire and for the blog. It was also tough because we wanted to build it bigger than anything we’ve ever worked on, ten feet by ten feet to be exact. One promise we made to ourselves was to make it fair and for no one to walk away empty handed. Also we wanted a big grand prize that would have a guaranteed winner during the event. This was a pretty big project with plenty of updates so we'll try to hit each major milestone in posts with some minor posts in between. Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9) Download the Model http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4238 View the Flickr Pool http://www.flickr.com/photos/splitreaction/sets/72157624834445183/ Awards Maker Faire NYC 2010 Editors Choice Award Raffle ticket holders - Maker Faire NYC 2010 * please check out the following link Nintendo Wii Raffle Winner Idea or Events for the Mega Claw? E-mail: MegaClaw@splitreaction.com

Claw Game Model

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Slide actuation

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Top rails

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Claw Game Model(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)3

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End stop

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Pieces of claw frame

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Beginnings of claw assembly

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First closure test

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Claw beautified

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Joystick U-joint assembly

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Initial stab at the joystick

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Base construction

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Initial joystick testing

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Big red button

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Big red button innards

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Frame with wires

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Claw hanging down

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Moving assemblies

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First cut at mounting rails

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Hall effect concept

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Main electronic assembly

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Work in progress

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Wire mounting

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Box o' goodies

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Claw materials

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Wires

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PVC pipe for prize bin

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Beer didn't make it into the picture

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Budget

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Lego Claw

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bearing holder

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Picture 008

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block diagram

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block diagram

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The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:04:42 +0000

So we gave a lot of thought on what we would bring to Maker Faire NYC 2010. It needed to be fun to build, challenging to design and fun for non-makers to see. We wanted to keep it low cost or it needed to be marketable. Also it should be something we can upgrade every year. A mega sized claw was the best idea we had. It needed to be the biggest in existence, modular and transportable in a van, and just thinking about it brought nostalgia of childhood. The first thing we decided on was the size, it had to have a 10'x10' footprint. It's the maximum length we could fit in our cars and the maximum length any hardware store sells. The next thing we figured out was how many prizes we would need to stuff into this to make it look awesome. We figured the best way to fill the machine was to use balloons so it would look like a giant ball pit. The balloons would all represent a prize of some sort and be easier for the player to grab. A little math in the excel sheet below and we figured it would take close to 1000 balloons and take 1 person about 8hrs+ to fill it all up. Yikes! Also we started playing around with some numbers and we figured the project would cost us around $2000. It was too awesome an idea to pass up, no matter the cost. So we all committed and started chugging away at concepts and mini experiments.

Cost Estimate

Maker Faire 2010

Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:05:31 +0000

Here's a little sketch of the original idea for the Mega Claw. Build a big frame, make a slide go back and forth left and right and drop a claw. Easy right? FRAME We created a 3D concept and we figured 2x3 are only $2 each so it would be perfect. When we got to the hardware store we noticed that they were bulky and unfortunately a lot of them were twisted and warped. It would make it hard to design a modular system around those. Plus with the variation in material we needed to double everything up to make it strong enough. Eventually we gave in and decided to get a off the shelf canopy. It was faster to setup and only 1x1x4 when folded. Definitely made it easier to transport. MOTORS We need to have a total of 4 motors; x,y,z, and claw. We thought about buying large motors but then we would need adapters for the shaft and they were pretty expensive. We finally settled on using battery powered harbor freight drills, They were rated to go at 900 rpm on 18V so we figured on 6-12V they should be slow enough for the machine. If they weren't we could possibly gear it down, or use smaller pulleys. The best part was the drills come with a chuck and a gear train so we get massive torque and a coupler for only $20-30 each. A picture of how we attached the drill to the main shafts. The pulleys in this picture were made from a makerbot 3d printer. This component is the winch that raises and lowers the claw. SLIDES For the slides we had a pulley system similar to a clothesline. We had a sliding block that was pulled by two strings. Skate bearings on the block made it glide effortlessly. In this concept we had the pulleys sideways, being off center the block would fall off the rail a lot. Also we only have it anchored to the top so the entire assembly would tip over when the slide wasn't in the center. We realized early on we would need something to detect when the machine reached the end. We created these bumpers at the end that would hit a button or a reed switch (a magnetic sensor). In the final design we used a reed switch. CLAW For the claw concept we didn't bother with a 3D model first. We took out the Lego bricks and assembled what you see in the .gif above. It worked so well we simply redrew it to scale, added a third arm and scaled it up. More videos and design ahead--> Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:06:11 +0000

So I designed the real claw in Google Sketchup, a 3d design tool. I decided to make it out of 1/4in plywood and to add a skate bearing at every joint to reduce any friction or strain on the motor. In hindsight this cost a lot more and probably wasn't necessary. By the time I could turn my PC CAD on I already had this built in Lego Bricks. I gotta say I love those little abs bricks. We printed out all the patterns and cut them all out using a band saw. With the right motivation and sanding it all fit like a dream. More assembly Done! I found a site called www.gifninja.com and got a little obsessed with making animated gifs. Oh well it was time to disassemble the claw and peel off all the paper to paint it. Look at all those skate bearings. By the way those aren't bolts, those are all rods we cut and sanded to the right length. 3 Coats later I cheated and used a drill to power the claw in that video, but explaining how it works is a lot easier after you've seen the video. The claw has a little winch inside. There are three Kevlar ropes inside that lift the three claw teeth and make the claw close. The two chords on the outside are used to make the claw open. The outside and inside are wound in opposite directions so one pulls and the other releases. A pulley connects to the motor. This is a shot of the three chords that pull the claw closed. Using three helps the claw's finger close at the same time. Some springs were added so the pieces wouldn't slam so hard together. Threaded rod was machined flat on a grind wheel and drilled so the ropes would not chafe Pulleys made from plywood We always wanted to use a pneumatic piston, but the cost of the air cylinder, 20 feet of tubing and everything else made it too expensive. Maybe next year. Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:07:12 +0000

The joystick was a definite must. We had talked about it and stumbled across Mary Flanagan's giant joystick and it was final, we needed something epic. Just like her's, ours is modeled after the Atari days of joysticks. It's human sized and enough to be a project itself. We're hoping that we'll be able to use this to play games as well. We started with a wooden model and it was too heavy. It had a lot of inertia and stressed out our joints (on the joystick and our back.) We finally took another approach and made the joystick out of stacks of foam surrounding a pvc pipe. It would be modular, lighter and easier to transport. To make it all swivel we used a universal joint. Clearly we love skate bearings, but skate bearings were a little too short to fit into the 1/2in wood we used. So we designed a spacer. Front View Back View The button is a sparkfun arcade switch with a bent coat hanger as a spring. You can see the pink foam on the inside. Instead of painting the joystick we actually use contact paper to cover it. We sanded the PVC down on an endcap and we got an instant button. 6 coats of paint in case you were wondering. We kept dropping the cap and denting it. This is the U joint with the limit switches mounted on it. The switches are triggered before the joystick hits the edge. The whole assembly is held in the center using bungee cords. Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – The Frame, Sliders and Prize Bin (5 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:07:57 +0000

THE FRAME For the frame of the Mega Claw we figured we would start with a regular canopy. It was affordable and much more portable than the original one we started working with. In this segment We'll talk more about how the main structure was put together and why it was designed that way. We popped off the top and planned to add some pvc pipes and joints to form a large bin. The bin would then be covered with a tarp for the balloons and to hide the tarp we would buy some inexpensive black cloth. Here I am next to the frame at the lowest height. The off the shelf canopy was great because we could lower it when we needed to wire the electronics or fix things up. We could attach the machine to the canopy using ropes and hooks. This made the machine less stiff and alignment wasn't as important. This is the original rigid design. It probably wouldn't have been as convenient. THE SLIDERS Just like the claw we started out with many 3D models before we started building the sliders. These are the three sliders used on the machine. They are upside down in this photo. The one with the rope has a built in winch as well. More painting. The sliders work like a clothes line. The motor below turns the black plastic pulley. That pulls the second pulley which pulls the rope. Test video before we added a u joint. You can see the other side fall off the rail. The pulleys are made of 3 stacks of 1/3" wood. They worked really well. Here is a snapshot of the unpowered side and the axle we finally added to make it move. Here is a better picture showing how both sides are now connected with an axle. We were worried that the axle would buckle since the rails were suspended. We made two sets of universal joints out of pvc. This way even when the machine bends the axle will compensate. u joint attached to pulley THE PRIZE BIN The prize bin was made of PVC pipes. The hardest part was remembering where everything belonged. To secure the tarp and cloth we used grommets. These make the little brass rings on the tarps Now all we needed to do was drill some holes into the pvc and we could use regular 1/4-20 bolts to secure it. Makes a good bunker too. Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:08:45 +0000

HARDWARE This is the block diagram, some of the things may have changed since we first worked with it. The Mega Claw is an Arduino Pro Mini with some Sabertooth Motor Controllers and a PC communicating over serial. This is the pin out we used. We wired most of the signals with cat 5 cable so it made life a bit easier. Here is the development board. Behind the breadboard we routed out a hole. This way we can solder to it and keep everything secure on the backside. Wiring was a nightmare, the cable harnesses took days to wire. We wound up using molex connectors for most of the joints. To suspend the wires we used those spring loaded id badge holders. Some random motor testing. All was going well until 48 hours before Makerfaire one of the speed controller channels stopped working. It was horrible and we were in panic mode since there was no way we could afford over night shipping for a new one and they were about $67 each. The only thing we could do was scrounge around and ask everyone we knew for a loaner. Fortunately Chris still had some friends at PolyBots and they happened to have a real beefy one to loan us. Here's the machine being driven by our development board. SOFTWARE The software is a bit of a secret sauce cause we don't have it 100% functioning. We'll probably release that after Makerfaire since we're still tweaking it constantly. We actually have two pieces of code. One is the arduino script running on the microcontroller, the second is a script running on the PC as a sound board. This way when the machine starts the arduino can use the PC to play sound effects. Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:09:14 +0000

So what kind of prizes does a massive claw machine have? Well we all chipped in and bought over $700 in prizes for Maker Faire. All the earnings will be used to power Splitreaction's web fees, projects and cost of the machine. We certainly like the prizes. We hope you guys will too! Also since we hate unfair claw machines, the MEGA CLAW will be a PRIZE EVERY TIME! In fact to sweeten the deal we will raffle a Nintendo Wii as a grand prize, mailed to the winner's house. It will start as one Wii for the event, but if we recoup our machine cost we will add more prizes. Since it's win every time we don't want the first player to grab the Wii and run away. Also we don't want to bury the winning prize at the bottom because that's just being mean. The best way to give everyone who's supporting us a fair chance to win is by making the Wii a raffle. In the machine raffle tickets will be attached to special balloons. Some balloons may have many tickets, some may only have one. We will also sell the raffles on the side for anyone who is not interested in playing the machine, but wishes to help us fund our next project. This is a really cool tool pen we got customized with our site. Limited Quantity, only 36. It spins, it bounces, it flies! We felt jipped in the Mp3 experiment #6 so we decided to order hundreds of bats and hammers for the machine. Here are Dave & Andrey showcasing how to use the bats and hammers Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9)

dye — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:09:57 +0000

The Night Before Maker Faire 'Twas the night before Maker Faire, when all through the house Not a motor was spinning, not even gauss; The sensors were mounted, on the joystick with care, In hopes that Bre Pettis soon would be there; The engineers were nestled all snug in their beds, Whiles visions of tesla coils buzzed in their heads; The prizes were ready, some were wizard caps, Some were inflatables, but none are pure crap. Happy Maker Faire! Some random things So we figured out how to pump up 1000 balloons quickly. We are bringing one of these home depot bucket vac and adding a nozzle to it. The nozzle is just the right size so we don't even need to hold it on the nozzle. Also as planned, the machine fits inside one minivan. (tools in another car) We won't show any videos of the full machine until after Maker Faire. It won't have all the bells and whistles quite yet like it will at the faire, but here is a teaser. See you all at Maker Faire! Table of contents The Mega Claw – Intro (Splash) The Mega Claw – Logistics (1 of 9) The Mega Claw – Concepts and Experiments (2 of 9) The Mega Claw – Claaaaw (3 of 9) The Mega Claw – Joystick (4 of 9) The Mega Claw – The Frame (5 of 9) The Mega Claw – Electronics & Software (6 of 9) The Mega Claw – Prizes (7 of 9) The Mega Claw – Maker Faire (8 of 9) The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

Maker Faire Day 1

dye — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:28:14 +0000

So we made it though our first day of Maker Faire. It was insane how many people were there. We quickly realized we had a lot to learn! People loved the 3D models of the claw game and got such a kick out of seeing the giant claw move. Sadly the machine was broken 50% of the time. All the dust was ruining the belts and end stops. We even broke the u joint for the controller three times, sparks were flying, literally, as we grinded parts back into shape. We're really sad we barely got any time to visit the other stands since we were repairing so much. We're 25% of the way to recouping the cost of the machine, hopefully we kicked most of the kinks out of it. The motors are starting to act funny, so signs are pointing to some catastrophic failure midday tomorrow. Get there early if you're still interested in playing. We've changed the rules so it's gonna be even more fun. Also Wii Raffle holders, your chances of winning are 1 in 40 as of Sept 25th 11:24 pm. Be sure to check back here on Monday the 27th when we announce the winner.

Mega Claw Wii Raffle winner

ilya — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:02:49 +0000

In this video we pick the winner of the wii raffle. Watch it to find out who won. If you're impatient, hit the jump to find out who won right away, along with detail on how to claim the prize. If the Wii goes unclaimed for a week, we'll have another drawing on Monday, October 4th. Once the Wii is claimed we'll make a blog post to let everyone know that it was. The winner of the Mega Claw Wii Raffle is the person with the raffle ticket number 2138! If that's you, please send us an email at win@splitreaction.com. In that email please include the following information:

Shipping Address
Email (we'll send the tracking number to this email)
Wii color (White or Black)
Confirmation Code (located on the bottom of your raffle ticket)

Wii prize still unclaimed, 48 hours later.

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 02:59:32 +0000

Forty eight hours have passed since the winning raffle ticket was drawn and the ticket holder has still not come forward to claim their prize. Where are you ticket holder number 2138? Your Wii is waiting. You have until Monday to contact us at win@splitreaction.com, or another winner will be picked that day.

Wii prize claimed just in time

ilya — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:41:42 +0000

The Wii prize was claimed yesterday afternoon, just one day before the deadline. The lucky winner was Lana from Connecticut who claimed to have the winning ticket and provided the correct confirmation number. Congratulations again!

Spider Web Jungle Gym

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:06:50 +0000

Out of Order

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:09:08 +0000

Prizes

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:10:15 +0000

Death Match!

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:10:58 +0000

The Mega Claw – Summary (9 of 9)

dye — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 03:22:39 +0000

We took the Mega Claw to Maker Faire on Friday and it was amazing. We had a great time in the pre-events, plenty of free food, free beer and samples, yum! We also got to play in the hall of science’s playground without those pesky kids in the way. The machine took us hours to setup, but it was all in good shape. Things didn't break until Saturday. Saturday We wanted to be fair so we made the game $4 play until you win. The color balloon that was picked up determined your prize. We quickly realized this wasn’t a good idea. People liked winning, but people had no idea what color was what. Also play until you win made the lines too long. Most players grabbed it on the first or second try, but some took 10 tries or more. Later that day the machine started acting funny. Motors stopped moving and the claw wouldn’t open. Everything seemed to need more tweaking. Our hearts sank when we started hearing snapping noises from the joystick. Kids were hanging from the joystick and the U-joint inside was taking a beating. We had to repair the joystick about four times over the course of the day and we lost at least three hours. Eventually the motors stopped working all together. We thought we burnt them out and it was the end of the Mega Claw. Even if we bought new motors, there wasn’t enough time to replace them all. Sunday We setup our demos, but we had no machine so we had to hang this shameful sign. We sold some of the prizes, but everyone wanted the machine. We finally cracked open the motors and it turned out the motors were fine, it was a broken bearing inside the gearbox messing everything up. We repaired it and like a phoenix rising from the ashes the Mega Claw was working! In fact it was working better than it ever had. The claw was grabbing superbly, the sound effects were blasting and even the wind was on our side. The crowds were amazing, everyone wanted to play. This time we got some tips from Saturday’s players and we changed the rules a lot. We learned people like options, we made it $5 play till you win and $3 for a single try. Also we dumped the color coded prize confusion. Instead if you grabbed a balloon you chose any prize. If you grabbed a balloon with a raffle ticket tied to it, you get both a raffle ticket for the Wii Grand Prize and something from the prize table. We were so happy that at the last hour of Maker Faire we announced Death Match! Everyone could play for free balloons. (We didn’t offer the prizes or raffle tickets for death match, to keep things fair.) Lessons learned 3D printed parts are good for prototypes, not for heavy use. In a dusty environment friction belts will become smooth In a dusty environment dust lubed parts will become tacky Kids are the ultimate stress test Bring a net, Maker Faire is windy It’s really fun to pop balloons

DSC02653 (25)

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:27:08 +0000

DSC02660 (50)

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:28:39 +0000

DSC02697

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:29:52 +0000

Homemade ACME Tap

dye — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:32:43 +0000

So I've been working on a new CNC mill and I'm using ACME rods to drive the x and y axis. An ACME rod has fewer turns per inch and allows the machine to move twice as fast. The only downsides are ACME couplers and nuts are expensive and difficult to make without $40 ACME taps. I stumbled onto Michael McKinley's site and decided to try making a homemade tap. He used a drill press and a file for his. I wanted to spice it up and used a Dremel and belt sander, it took 30 minutes and saved me a lot of money. Best part this trick can be used on any threaded rod as long as the material you are cutting into is soft. Michael's site has a lot more detail on the angles of the flutes and how to cut the reliefs. I winged it since I was only cutting delrin plastic. I might fine tune it at a later date if I want to try some soft aluminum. I colored the flute of the tap to show it more clearly This was the first thing I tested the tap on, just some scrap Delrin plastic.

Homemade BB Gun using a One Way Valve

dye — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:29:26 +0000

I got bored and decided to make a BB gun using my air compressor. The secret sauce is a one way valve that blocks air from the firing chamber but allows air in the other direction to rapidly propel ammo into the gun. This allows me to tube fed BB's, even when the gun is inverted. It's also much faster than gravity feed versions. Watch the video for some action shots and how to make the valve.

Lego Self Resetting Target Range

dye — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:23:19 +0000

One of my hobbies is taking out the Airsoft gun and picking off innocent Lego bricks from a shelf. Eventually I got tired of picking up my fallen victims and decided to turn the Lego's into a self resetting target range. I wanted to make a cool electronic range, but I figured there must be an easy mechanical way that doesn't cost me $12 per servo and days worth of wiring. I looked on the internet and found some $60+ dollar targets and just knew I could redesign them using Lego pieces. Once I found the right angles and proportions for the pieces the thing worked like a charm. When I shot the bottom two targets they get locked in place. When finished I shot the top target to release the bottom two. I added a stop motion video on how to construct one at the end and some different views so you can build your own.

Apple infused Pumpkin

dye — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:36:13 +0000

Delicious Apple Infused Pumpkin using an Common Household Air Cannon

Lego Styrofoam Cutter

dye — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:12:32 +0000

Lego bricks are great for making models, but sometimes you can make real tools with them. If you want to work with foam you should definitely consider building this hot wire cutter. It's a great tool because it doesn't leave any dust and it cuts through foam like butter. A few years back I didn't have any scrap wood but I had plenty of Lego pieces.

WebCam Time Lapse

admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:12:28 +0000

Webcam Time Lapse

admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:12:54 +0000

Time-lapse Using a Webcam

dye — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:19:27 +0000

Check out JaGe090879's amazing time-lapse video of a Gecko being eaten by ants. A lot of times when I build something or do a tear down I want to record the entire process the same way. That way when I need to put it back together I can remember the steps. Using my PC and a simple script I automated my setup to record a snapshot every few seconds. It's a bare bones setup and I've tested it to work on most windows Xp and 7PCs. Feel free to use it for your projects. [download after the break] I can't take credit for all the software, the webcam control is a derivative of rysiora from Poland's work. I just implemented the time-lapse portion. The whole program is written in AutoIT, a great free scripting language that lets you manipulate and simulate the windows user interface. Instructions Step 1) Download Exe Step 2) Run Exe Step 3) Set the timing (hit pgup/pgdn to increase or decrease while running) Step 4) Hit F1 if you want to take an instant snapshot Step 5) Hit esc to exit Step 6) Find your pictures in the same directory Step 7) Profit Got a computer with a webcam? Great! Running Windows XP or 7? Excellent! Running a MAC OS or Linux? Sorry the AutoIt language doesn't work on those. Womp womp womp.... Download Program [exe] WebCam Time Lapse Download the source code [zip] Webcam Time Lapse