This is an interesting project that uses an old CD-ROM drive to make a CD-ROM Door Lock. Granted the system isn’t very secure however it would be trivial to connect it to a real deadbolt. It sounds like the system is voice activated but it is just the inventor asking his son to control the system while it was being recorded. "The circuit board in the middle is an
Jerome Demers who is currently an intern at Solarbotics created this Miniball Solar Robot. Since it doesn’t just drive around it seems to have a mind of its own. "This robot uses a solar engine circuit. A small solar cell by itself generally doesn’t have the power to make a motor move, so you have to store this power up in a capacitor, which is a small battery-like storage
The guys over at the Project Lab have made a cool Computer based Etch a Sketch project called Hack a Sketch. Looks like it works just like a real one. This project is basically the reverse of this Etch a Sketch hack that we have seen before. Thanks for the tip Jack. "An Arduino board reads the inputs from two potentiometers (the knobs), and sends the information via USB
To be efficient solar panels should track the sun. This Self Powered Solar Tracking System by ahmadbakri13 of the Palestine Polytechnic University looks to work very well. There is not much details about it though. Hopefully the creator can share a bit more about the inner workings. It is probably similar to other solar tracking systems that we have featured here before though. "2 DOF solar tracker based on
Here is an interesting project that allows you to have the look of a flickering candle without the issues of open flames. There is an Instructable for the project here and more details over at Gadget Gangster. "The fakenflicker is a tiny, battery powered candle simulator. 3 colored LED’s authentically flicker and fade, just like a real candle, controlled by a PICaxe 08M. This project was designed by propellanttech.
Prototyping circuit designs are usually needed even after a circuit design has been developed in conjunction with a circuit simulator. Bruce Heran built this Vacuum Tube Prototyping Design Board to allow to test designs quickly and easily. "I have frequently found that the models do not agree with the final build. Some are right on, but most are off enough to turn a good idea into a waste of
A simple game is always much more fun when it is spiced up with some cool electronics. The wooden tilt maze game has been around for a long time. This Marble Maze that is Remote Controlled using an Accelerometer kicks up the original game by allowing the player to interact with the game using a controller that moves the real game according to user movements. Have a look at
