Cool Gadgets

Active Pickguard Project based on the Freescale Kinetis Microcontroller

Eli Hughes developed this Active Pickguard project for a Freescale Kinetis contest. He unfortunately didn’t win the contest but that doesn’t change the fact that the project is totally cool. The contest had a ton of entries and with a quick look at the prizes you will see why, a first place prize of $10,000 isn’t too shabby! I love the cat6 cable that is used to plug it in.

Laser Targeting Wrist Mounted Crossbow

If you have see the DIY Pulse Laser Gun or the Iron Man Repulsor Light Laser Glove Project then with one look at this Laser Targeting Wrist Mounted Crossbow you would know that Patrick Priebe was the mad man behind it. Watch the video below to see it shooting balloons, cans and light bulbs. I would think that a micro video camera mounted on the glove would make for some

Hot Glue Climbing Robot

This Hot Glue Climbing Robot from the Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory at ETH Zurich isn’t exactly practical but it is an interesting concept. The robot can climb almost any surface by attaching itself by using glue. The biggest disadvantage of this method is that hot glue takes a long time to dry where it can support the weight of the robot. Via: ieee Spectrum

DIY Stairs Illumination Project based on an Arduino

I am honored that this stair lighting video of our stair lighting controller kit inspired Youtube user Notcranium to build his own. His is based on an Arduino and he has used RGB lights to jazz things up a bit. Great looking stairs Notcranium! At an electrical cost of around $2 per year you sure can’t beat the effect and not having to keep a stairwell light on all the

Halloween House Lights

I am sure Light o Rama (who happens to he DIY friendly) loves the holidays. When people like Youtube user KJ92508 from Riverside, CA places an order they are sure to break out the huge shipping boxes. The capability of the system looks amazing but it should considering there are 1144 channels out lighting outputs controlling the lights! “Most all lights have been changed from incandescent to RGB LED so

DIY Pick and Place Machine called the redFrog

I was just catching up on some episodes of The Amp Hour and heard about this DIY Pick and Place Machine by Build Your Own CNC Router Machine. I love the fact that the entire thing has been constructed from everyday items. It isn’t the fastest thing but I love machines that you can program and walk away and get something else done while it completes the task. If you

Chain Clock

You might remember the Timing Chain Clock that was featured earlier this month. Steve Moseley left a comment letting us know that there is actually one similar to what I was saying would be cool to see. I was thinking that it would be great to have the Timing Chain Clock have three gears and chains so it could show hours and minutes. Well Youtube user Mosignose actually has built