Electronic Hacks

Erebus Scarecrow - Computer Controlled Intelligent Scarecrow
Complex Hacks

6

These University of South Florida students built this Computer Controlled Intelligent Scarecrow to enter a Microsoft design contest, their entry won second place. Video after the jump. “Our idea for this project was to develop an “intelligent scarecrow” called the Erebus Scarecrow. The system is designed to protect ponds at a fish farm from bird predators that can cost farmers thousands of dollars in losses. The Erebus Scarecrow helps the

WIFIBOT - Wifi Robot
Complex Hacks

20

There are a few versions of this cool robot, check out WIFIBOT for lots of design details. Video and more pictures after the jump “The purpose of WIFIBOT is to develop and make low cost robotic systems for an increasing number of applications using off the shelf technologies like the WiFi, which is the common denominator of all our products. WIFIBOT was born to fulfill the need there was in

Make a USB Charging Flashlight
DIY Hacks

7

After reviewing the Forever Flashlight for The Gadget Panel I couldn’t help but take its capabilities to the next level. I wanted a portable USB charger that could recharge things like my iPod Shuffle. I know there are lots of battery powered options, but I wanted something that didn’t need battery replacement. USB power is 5 Volts and that is exactly what this flashlight puts out on the auxiliary power

Hack the LG LAC-M6500R MP3 Car Stereo USB port
Cool Gadgets

4

What can make a sweet high end car stereo even better? Some custom electronics to relocate the USB interface will do the trick. “Some friends buy me a nice MP3 player for my car last year. This stuff looks great and you can even plug a hard-drive. The main issue is that the firmware only support 999 files on a single USB device, so that’s enougth for ~4Go of MP3

Launch 20 megapixles 20 miles high
Complex Hacks

4

Click To Play   Last week we introduced you to the High Altitude Balloon experiment. The project is getting closer to completion, watch the video to see the progress. “Make: is going to space.Have you ever wanted to go up into space? Well, you don’t have to try and win a golden ticket, be a millionaire, or an astronaut… you can send your own payload into space! In this Make:

Parallel Port controlled Opto-Isolated Triac Light Driver
Computer Hacks

8

Raphael Assenat has designed a circuit that allows a computer parallel port to control 110VAC lighting. It is optically isolated allowing the computer to remain safe as it switches the high voltage. “I had been thinking of controlling my room lighting using my computer. I bought some triacs and opto couplers to do this. I drew the schematic and built a prototype. Everything worked well. When I was wondering in

LC Meter Based on the AVR Microcontroller
Complex Hacks

Dick Cappels has made a DIY LC meter. As usual he has provided full schematics and code so you can build your own. “There must be half a dozen similar LC meters on the web. Why didn’t I just download one of them and use it? I suppose part of the answer is that I wanted to do some of it myself. As nice as these other projects are, I