Energy & Sustainability
If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!
Roadcasting is a system that allows anyone to have their own radio station, broadcasted among cars in an ad-hoc network. It plays the songs that people want to hear and it transforms car radio into an interactive medium. The site has a movie, screenshots and source code. [
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum in East Greenwich, RI looks pretty neat. The red building houses the wireless collection. The next building is the Massie Wireless System station, “PJ”, built in 1907. It is the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. The building in the center houses the stationary steam engine collection. This collection includes the only surviving George H. Corliss engine running under steam today. The Mayes building houses the Mechanical Engineering library and the collection of steam engine models. Link. Thanks Brian!
RC Cars on the Battlefield
Sgt. Greg Papadatos of the 69th Infantry Regiment has posted some details about how soldiers in Iraq are using Radio Controlled cars to test objects to see if they’re bombs. When they find unidentifiable debris in the road, E.S. sends out his little RC car and rams it. If it’s light enough to be moved or knocked over, it’s too light to be a bomb, so we can approach it and get rid of it. If it’s heavy, we call EOD. At night, they duct tape a flashlight to the car. Link.
Gumball 3000
The Gumball 3000 is a somewhat underground race London to Monaco through Hungary. Jalopnik has a round up of the coverage. Lots of live pictures, blogs and more. Last year my pal Alex Roy won one of the categories with his DIY police car- You can see the transformation and more about Gumball 144’s “Polizei” entry here.
DIY KITT Car Scanner
Might be neat to add this to an actual car PC…This custom mod gives your computer the personality of KITT, the computerized car from Knight Rider TV fame. It slides into a CD drive bay, and only has a single standard power connector. The project is a light display which imitates the dot in KITT’s hood. It looks like the scanning eye of the car’s computer that is so smart it has a personality and acts autonomously. Some people have said the computer shows more emotion and personality than the main actor, David Hasselhoff. Link.
Mod your Honda/Acura Navigation System
I’m hoping a Maker out there might consider check this out (and take pictures)- this site offers a GUI, console and source versions of a tool to change the graphics in the navigation system in Acura/Hondas. The trick seems to be to know the special codes to display the BIN files in your nav system, pop out the DVD, make a new one, mod the files and then hit some codes to have the car take the new graphics. This also seems to open up a lot of other hacks and mods if you can change other things. Link.
Real Virtual Car
One is a mechanical genius, the other is a platform game hacker. They decided to join forces and turn a racked car into a simulation. They connected the car’s pedals, steering, gearshaft, to the game platform. It’s on hydraulics to turn the car in curves, there’s a fan to increase the wind when the speed is going up, and they install a small engine to make the sounds. Even the gauges work! Link.
