Fun & Games

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

Drum Controller Parts Harvesting

Drum Controller Parts Harvesting

Today’s dumpscore included a Guitar Hero drum controller. I don’t have any use for it as a controller at this time, but I’ve been curious what is inside this category of devices. There were also about a half dozen guitar controllers for various game systems, but I wasn’t as interested in those today.

When I got home, I cleared off the table and grabbed a screwdriver. A half hour later, I had a nice neat pile of the electronic parts, and the rest of it was stashed away in the recycle bin. There was some neat telescoping tube in the stand, but I don’t have an immediate use for that stuff, and don’t have enough of it to create a storage category for future use.

Cubelets Modular Robotics System

Cubelets Modular Robotics System

Cubelets are a robotic construction system from Modular Robotics. Using color coded cube modules, a maker can create a robot from snap together pieces that contain sensors, logic circuits, or “actions”. When attached together, the modules communicate via i/o built into the connector. Cubelets seem like they’d be the perfect introduction to robotics because you could easily get started creating robots without having to pick up a soldering iron.