Cool Gadgets

How to Build a Touchless Lightswitch
Cool Gadgets

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Ryan from Googlemarks brought us the NERF Rifle a short time ago. Well he is back at it, this time he has built a microcontroller based capacitive sensor. “Capacitive sensors have historically been regarded with fear and hostility among hobbyists. They’re notoriously flaky, unreliable, and difficult to design. Further, they traditionally fall in the “analog domain” which is something the casual microcontroller hobbyist can sometimes wince at. They usually require

Flexible Electronic Curtain
Cool Gadgets

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This product reminds me of a show I saw many years ago about strange washrooms. One public washroon was in a busy street and all four walls were LC. When the door is unlocked the glass is perfectly see through but as soon as the door is locked all four LC walls turn white. If someone finds a link please post it… “Yesterday Micro Reactor System was kind enough to

Making a Hard Drive Laser Oscilloscope
Cool Gadgets

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You might remember the Hard Drive Laser Oscilloscope from a few weeks ago. I have had many inquiries about how to build one. This page should give you enough details so that you can make your own. Basic Overview A hard drive voice coil circuit is hacked to allow it to be directly connected to a stereo output. This allows audio to move the hard drive read write head. Mirrors

Hammerhead, the CD thrower
Cool Gadgets

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Looking for a fun way to destroy all of those old CD-ROM disks that have confidential information on them. Give the Hammerhead a try! “Hammerhead the CD thrower is composed of two main parts, the head that throws disks, and the tail which feeds the head with compact disks. Two big “4×4 off-roader” (8466) wheels, rotating very fast, grip the CD as it is inserted between them by the feeder,

KEYSPY Keyboard Data Logger
Cool Gadgets

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Not that I am suggesting you use this for illegal purposes… But there is something about the power of a key logger that is cool. “The KEYSPY is a hardware keyboard logger that can record keystrokes from a PS/2 keyboard and send them back to the PC at any later time. It consists only of a PIC16C84 microcontroller, an EEPROM (24C32 up to 24C512) an analog multiplexer 4053 and a

Wind Powered Lights
Cool Gadgets

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The Wind Light is an interesting device, not exactly my style though. They remind me of the deer whistles. ” * Light up by wind when car drives. No cable, and no batteries required * Easy installation * Stick or screw this wind light on any place of your car or motorcycle * Motion activated, turns on automatically when you drive, turn off automatically when car stops * Different light

Game Boy, LEGO Hack
Cool Gadgets

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The XRC is a cool new controller that allows you to use for your Game Boy that is collecting dust. ” The Xport Robot Controller (XRC) turns the Game Boy Advance and standard LEGO components into an advanced robot development system. The XRC combines the features of the Xport plus * 4 closed-loop back-EMF motor controllers * 16 digital sensor inputs * 8 analog sensor inputs * In-system NiCd, NiMH