Archive for the ‘Electronics’ Category
PCB / Component Rings
March 16th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Yuma Fujimaki is certainly not the first person to make jewelry from scrap electronics components, but IMHO she has done a better job of it than most. [via adafruit]
Posted in Crafts, Electronics, Green, Make Magazine, Wearables | 
Tags: creative reuse | 
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Lego Minifig Volt and Ohm Meter
This Lego meter uses a microcontroller inside the case to check resistors and batteries. A PC running a .NET application displays the value and uses text to speech to say the number aloud. [Via Dangerous Prototypes]
Giant etch-a-sketch built using projector
Members of the Manchester, UK hakcerspace HAC:Manchester used a projector, an Arduino, and some rotary encoders to build this giant project-a-sketch. Here’s a video of it in use by Maria of littlestar.tv:
[via Hackerspaces Soup]
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Collin’s Lab: Homebrew Piezo
Piezoelectric materials are about as close to magic as you can get. They turn physical pressure into electricity and can even turn electricity into physical pressure – an amazing sort of bidirectional converter for mechanical and electrical energies. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that you can easily ‘grow’ your own piezoelectric crystals overnight using just a couple of common ingredients – awesome.
Ever since I made my first contact microphone, I’ve been amazed by piezos and their unique abilities. I was more than psyched to learn I could make my own piezoelectric crystals after finding recipes online. Now I just need to figure out how I’ll put these little guys to good use … feel free to leave any ideas/suggestions in the comments below!
Posted in Electronics, Make Magazine, MAKE Projects, MAKE Video, Music |
Tags: DIY Projects, Earth Science |
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Working Handheld Homemade Pulse Laser Weapon
Like, not a toy one. Like, will punch a hole in a piece of thin metal with one shot. Like, kids, don’t try this at home.
This quote from maker Patrick Priebe is via Alan Parekh’s Hacked Gadgets:
It holds a small pulse laser head, capable of generating aMW-pulse [sic] of coherent infra-red light. One shot can punch through a razorblade, plastic, 5mm styrofoam when focussed [sic]. Effective range on 3m (dark surfaces)…you will see a stinging flame and a 5mm stain will remain on target. The goal was, to create handheld device…AS COMPACT as possible. Its 320mm long and weights about 2 pounds.
Materials used: Plexi for the center-plate, and brass / aluminum for the casing. Each and every part, handmade…took about 70 hours of work.
The claim of penetrating a razor-blade impresses me, although I note the only metal penetration in the video is thin aluminum, which has been painted, possibly so that it will absorb more light energy. There’s also some cool shots capturing the pulse’s plasma ball in midair.