Drones & Vehicles

Bicycle rim antenna

Bicycle rim antenna

Keep an eye out for good salvagable parts, especially around spring cleaning time – Several months ago I was walking home from the post office, nearing my place I saw it was “clean-up week”, the curb dotted with various piles of junk people had put out to be disposed off by the council pickup. The […]

Attention DC Dorks!

Don’t forget, the March meeting is tonight! I’ll be speaking on “Darkside Rocketeer,” my article from Volume 13 of MAKE, about self-taught American rocket scientist Jack Parsons, co-founder of JPL and Aerotech. Tom Lee will be speaking on low-cost approaches to bringing WiFi to Arduino. The Skinny: 7 PM – 9 PM (ET) ALWAYS FREE! […]

Wireless fireworks launch controller

Wireless fireworks launch controller

When I was a teen rocket geek, I had an almost fetishistic fascination with launch controllers. In our rocket club, we could afford only the most basic single button/key/light controllers wired to a car battery. But we could dream… about devices such as this beauty, a fully tricked-out 12-channel wireless control system for fireworks. DIY […]

Use bike tubes to store batteries

Use bike tubes to store batteries

Quick, simple and handy Instructable on using bike tubes to store batteries – also good to check out, 1,000+ uses of bike tubes. Related: Bike tube rubber bands, a one minute project, bike tube rubber bands. HOW TO – Bicycle Frame Protection. Clever instructable for protecting and camouflaging your bike using an old innertube…

DIY mobile multi-charger

DIY mobile multi-charger

Mark and Juliette McLean bicycled their way from Liverpool to Australia. The trip took almost 2 1/2 years to complete and they traveled over 24,000 km. During the trip Mark charged his laptop and batteries via his bicycle. It is a great solution for his mobile power needs. To keep the lights on and the […]

Live-video-rocket readies for launch

Live-video-rocket readies for launch

From the MAKE Flickr pool Member Mister Biggs scored a $30 wireless camera/receiver combo (cheap enough to put into harm’s way) and integrated it into into his first stab at a live-video-transmitting rocket. His description – Estes Canadian Arrow upgraded to accept E class engines, 1-inch fin extensions to increase stability, Kevlar shock cords for […]