The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
From the early days of synthesized speech comes this 1963 Bell Telephone Labs recording, which explains how the computer imitates human speech using punched cards and includes examples of synthesized speech, and even singing.
Ricky’s telepresence robot consists of a Mindstorms robot hauling around a Skype-enabled tablet. The robot is controlled by a color sensor which detects color-coded commands on the tablet’s screen and navigates accordingly. [via The NXT Step]
Today is Toolsday here at MAKE, so you know what that means – a live Google+ hangout where we will be discussing our favorite tools and workspace essentials. Tune at 2pm PST/5pm EST on the +MAKE page, or if you’re busy you can catch it later on the MAKE YouTube page.
I am a recently hired intern at MAKE and I work in MAKE Labs. My first build was the “Audiobook,” one of the projects for an upcoming issue of MAKE. It turned out to be fun to build and a good introductory project for me.
Nick Poole of SparkFun describes logic gates using dominos, with a standing domino equalling 0 (false) and a laying down domino being a 1 (true).
This build uses a custom 3D-printed / hand assembled case from RPi hacker Cottonpickers, which comes attached to the back of a 300mA solar panel, and has a bunch of nice features already built-in. Once you’ve got your Pi running on sunlight, David Hayward over at CNET UK will show you how to configure the Pi so you can access an external hard drive attached to one of its USB ports via FTP.
If you’re looking to jumpstart an ambient lighting project and could use a controller with out-of-the-box iOS and Andriod support, you might want to check out the iGloLEDset from MEA Mobile. They’ve currently got a 5V kit that comes with a nice iOS/Android app to mix color gradients on-the-fly from your mobile device. They’re also working on a 12V version that should work with a wider lighting selection.
