The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
As I predicted, the third week of October has brought with it the MAKE Flickr pool’s first Jack-o’-lantern of 2011โa leering, laser-cut, LED-lit orange from Hacked Gadgets blogger Alan Parekh. I’m also pretty stoked about the bolt-shouldered, needle-felted frog from FeltedChicken (whose koi I featured last Monday), and the latest amazing steampunkery from gogglerman.
Users of the Scratch visual programming language can now add an Android handset to their arsenal of plug and play tools. Using the Scratch Sensor app on your handset will get you access to the accelerometer and compass data over the Scratch networking protocol, turning the device into a readily available data acquisition module.
For folks who appreciate a good dose of nostalgia with their personal hygiene, Kylee Lane’s Apple ADB Mouse Soap will definitely hit the spot. Although, to be perfectly honest, I never really associated the ugly beige color of the older machines with cleanliness, but to each their own.
Using a nanosensor “tattoo” and a modified iPhone, cyclists could closely monitor sodium levels to prevent dehydration, and anemic patients could track their blood oxygen levels.
Yes, you can cross-stitch your own artwork onto this nifty iPhone 4 case. What got me excited about it was that you could just as easily cross-stitch soft circuits on it with conductive thread. With a little extra effort you could barrow a little power and networking from the handset to give your project that extra kick. Or maybe you’ve always wanted a self-portrait done as a miniature latch hook rug. The possibilities are endless with this DIY case for iPhone 4 available from ThinkGeek.
Hereโs an elegant idea: A treaded โtankโ type platform for your smartphone, controlled via the headphone jack. All the software lives in the phone, and can be downloaded, installed, modified, and shared as apps. Itโs the work of Peter Seid and Phu Nguyen at Seattleโs Romotive, Inc. Their already-funded Kickstarter is still ongoing.
It rolls on tracks instead of walking, but this ditch-witch style tracked chassis retrofit with a pair of giant waldos is pretty much the power loader from Aliens. This video showing it in action is a great news segment from Ed Yeates of Utah’s KSL-TV, right up to the point where they start talking about the system as an “equalizer” opening up jobs to women “that might’ve otherwise been closed just based on strength issues.”
