Year: 2005

StepMania: A DIY Dance Dance Revolution

StepMania: A DIY Dance Dance Revolution

Tournament (10)Here’s a great DIY Dance Dance Revolution “StepMania is a rhythm game. Arrows pointing in different directions scroll up from the bottom of the screen and the player must hit the corresponding button in time to the music. The game can be played with your hands using the keyboard, but the real fun comes when using a “dance pad” with foot sensors. StepMania has game types called “Dance”, “Pump”, “Para”, and “Ez2″ that are similar to other music games.” [via] Link.

Homemade backpack flamethrower

Homemade backpack flamethrower

FlametitleBrady writes “What you see is a homemade backpack flamethrower. I initially got interested after finding this page showing another guy’s plans on making one. I tried twice to make the main tank out of PVC, but for some reason the PVC just did not want to hold more than 50 PSI without leaking (the first one actually exploded at about 75 PSI). So I went the more expensive but safer route by using a metal tank. Also, with a metal tank you can use gasoline ($2.50/gallon) instead of denatured alcohol ($10/gallon) as the combustible liquid because gasoline eats PVC, so if I went the PVC route I’d have to use denatured alcohol.” Link.

Knitting with Paperclips

Knitting with Paperclips

Paperclipknit
Pink haired and heavy-metal lovin’ Zach, was an 11 year-old 6th grader last year in Bre Pettis’ art class. At the end of every year, Bre gives his students a chance to work on an independent project. “Zach already knew how to knit and brought in some string to knit with and he needed some knitting needles to being his project,” Bre recalls. “I remember him saying something like ‘I could have used pencils, but this is cooler.’ ” Zach ended up with a cool looking wristband, originally intended to be a scarf. Bre’s video blog, I Make Things, makes us wish we were back in school in Room 132 for art class. Thanks Bre! Link.

Wind-Powered Wi-Fi

Wind-Powered Wi-Fi

WindSeems like a fun project to replicate “…a windmill with a diameter of just 10cm which works by flexing piezoelectric crystals as it rotates, causing them to generate a current. A ‘gentle breeze’ of 16km/h is enough to generate the 7.5mW necessary to power a small electronic sensor. Such windmills are designed to solve the problem of powering Wi-Fi kit in remote locations. Geologists, for instance, can monitor seismic activity using wireless-enabled sensors located across large geographical areas.” [via] Link.