2010

Name the Thing Contest - 144

The prize this week is a mountaineering clasp that is sure to add some flair to your keychain or provide a cool way to clip your backpack in place. This contest will run for one week (August 14 – August 20, 2010) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it. You

GameBoy and PIC Microcontroller Hacked into an Analog Meter

Dig that GameBoy Advanced out of your closet for this GameBoy and PIC Microcontroller Hacked into an Analog Meter project. Ken Kaarvik used a PIC24HJ128GP502 to run the project, what is really cool is that the GBA doesn’t load the program from a cartridge but rather directly from the PIC microcontroller! This isn’t the first project that Ken has done with a Game Boy, have a look at lots more

Tomy Omnibot 2000 Robot Arm Hack

If you are into robots you need to have a look at Ron’s TheOldRobots.org site. This Tomy Omnibot 2000 robot that Tomy made cost $600 back in 1984. In modern dollars that would work out to be around $1250.I remember seeing the ads and wanting one but at that price I can see why I never did get one. If you have one and want to make the second arm

KUKA Robot Arm turned into F1 Ferrari Simulator

We have seen KUKA Robot Arms turned into DJ music machines and ice cream machines but this F1 Ferrari Simulator is something else! Paolo Robuffo Giordano and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany are the ones behind this cool idea. Via: PopSci “The CyberMotion Simulator is basically a full motion simulator adapted to a racing car game. Players (or subjects, the researchers prefer to

Multi-Barrel Airsoft Machine Gun

We all know Airsoft to be a fun safe sport right? Airsoft guns shoot small round plastic pellets which can sting a bit but it’s all in good fun similar to a paintball. Kuba sent in a link to his Multi-Barrel Airsoft Machine Gun which is a bit more intimidating. There are going to be lots of tutorials on the site, a few are complete like this one. The huge

Bi-Color LED Clock based on the TI MSP 430 Microcontroller

Kenneth Finnegan just completed a Bi-Color LED Clock project that is based on the TI MSP 430 Microcontroller. Thanks to the cheap development environment I think we will soon see many more MSP430 projects in the near future. Kenneth used a plastic single gang junction box and a cover plate as the project box, coming in at around $1.00 it would be hard to find a cheaper box to house

Answer Phone Calls with a Handgun

Just stick the barrel of the gun in your ear and pull the trigger. That is how you answer this Bluetooth headset. Not sure you could use this in many places though. We recently had a law pass where I live that made talking on a cell phone and driving illegal. It is legal to use a bluetooth device to talk though. I am thinking that this device would still