Fun & Games

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.

Pedal Powered Machines by Maya Pedal

Pedal Powered Machines by Maya Pedal

Worldwide Cycling Atlas produced this excellent video about Maya Pedal Asociación, a Guatemalan organization which has been repurposing bicycles into machines since 1997. Created because of the expense and scarcity of electricity in the municipality of San Andrés Itzapa, their Bicimáquinas are pedal-powered pumps, blenders, threshing machines, and washing machines. They’re doing great work and […]

Smartphone-Controlled Ball Launcher

Smartphone-Controlled Ball Launcher

Andrew and his brother built this great ping-pong ball launcher out of salvaged and repurposed parts. I especially like the 13-ball hopper made from two paper towel tubes taped together, and the clever K’Nex-controlled release mechanism. The launcher is controlled with an Arduino connected to a computer and activated via a remote desktop app from […]

Worlds Largest Game Controller

Worlds Largest Game Controller

According to Guinness Book of World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012 the team of engineering students Benjamin Allen, Stephen van’t Hof, and Michel Verhulst from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have created the Worlds Largest Game Controller. Weighing in at 265 pounds, measuring 12ft X 5ft 3 in X 1ft 8 in, costing […]