Weekend Projects Light Theremin Mod
Proving how extensible our own projects are, Weekend Projects reader Steven wrote in with his Light Theremin mod.
Technology
Triggering a Hardware Project with a Parallel Port
Mike Szczys of Hack A Day wrote in with this guide to hacking parallel ports on old computers. It turns out it’s super easy to use the parallel port (most likely hasn’t been used for years IF your machine has one) to trigger external electronic projects. I’m using an NPN transistor to use pin 1 […]
New in the Maker Shed: Mini Volt Meter
The Maker Shed’s new Mini Volt Meter is super handy for keeping your eye on voltages. It was originally intended for use in RC vehicles but works great with robots, breadboards, or other projects.
Android-Controlled BarBot
Nick Johnson’s barbot project has a lot of fun little details, like the laser cut pinch valves he uploaded to Thingiverse. Nick used an Android ADK board to talk to a tablet which provides the drink menu. I love how he solved the problem of dispensing liquids while keeping them food-safe. One problem with any […]
Gift Singularity: Give the Gift of a Strandbeest
I’m excited to be kicking off our Gift Guide Singularity series with a project I’ve wanted to do for years — build a motorized, microcontrolled Strandbeest walker. I plan to give it to a close friend who’s also a robot enthusiast. I’ll run through how I’m planning to approach the build and will follow up with some posts on my progress.
Photog’s Antique Mechanical Exposure Time Computer
This beautiful little gadget dates to the 1920s, and is known as Kaufmann’s Posographe. The linkages, of course, are hidden inside. The linked site, above, includes a patent illustration that shows how they work.
New in the Maker Shed: RGB Backlight LCD Displays
These new Arduino compatible RGB Backlight LCD Displays from the Maker Shed are a fancy upgrade from standard 16×2 LCDs. Instead of just having a single color backlight, these LCDs have full color RGB! That means you can change the background color to anything you want; teal, chartreuse, orange, purple, whatever!