DIY Hacks

DIY Firework Ignition System

  Want to impress some people at your next big event? You could make your own fireworks controller and put on a big show for them! This looks like a fun but potentially dangerous project… "At the heart of my firework ignition system is an SX48 running at 50 MHz. I was able to make full use of the SX’s 36 IO pins. Thirty lines are dedicated to the 30

Spykee Meccano Robot

  I remember my Meccano set that I played with when I was growing up. Lots of nuts, bolts and pieces of metal. This Spykee robot represents the new face of Meccano that I could only wish was available when I was a kid. I can just imagine the creative hacks that we will see in the near future! Thanks to Sven for the system overview.  " Spy robot. Spykee

Message Pump - USB to LCD Display Adapter

  The Message Pump project from Spikenzie Labs provides you with some surface mount soldering enjoyment and a resulting device that will allow you to display messages from your computer. Lots of computers don’t have a serial port these days so the USB connection is very handy. It is available in many forms including bare board or a kit with all the required parts.   "The Message Pump A.K.A. the

Measuring Gas Consumption using a Camera Phone

  This project is all about Measuring Gas Consumption using a Camera Phone. Who knew you could use the built in camera from a phone to watch for fire! Every second a determination is made if fire is present, when it is a database on the phone is updated with the fire activity which will later be retrieved using Bluetooth to calculate gas usage. "I wanted to measure the gas

DIY Geiger Counter with USB Interface

  You probably don’t need a Geiger Counter but wouldn’t it be fun to have one? This DIY Geiger Counter project will not only demonstrate how to build one, this circuit will also connect to a computer using USB to grab the data. Since this device used very high voltage the output to the USB is opto-isolated to protect the delicate low voltage computer circuitry. "The Geiger-Muller tube is a

iRobot Arm Robot

  Have a look at this Robot that is built on an iRobot platform. Have a look at the number of sensors, this thing has lots of computing power since is uses the Propeller microcontroller from Parallax. "This is an iRobot Create fitted with a Robot Arm I pulled from an old Radio Controlled vehicle. It uses a Propeller Protoboard and motor controllers and accelerometers from Parallax to control the

Pop Can Solar Heater

  If you are looking for a way to lower your heating bill this year you probably want to look into this Pop Can Solar Heater idea. It is quite simple and is nice since much of the contents of the system is recycled. " The Cansolair Solar Max 240 consists of a four by seven solar collector (28 Square feet, or 2.6 square meters). Solar Max 240 has 15