This project consists of retrofitting a vacuum cleaner to fire a projectile through the usage of air pressure (or lack thereof). The parts: Vacuum cleaner, obtained from a garage sale, 12″ wooden dowel, 10 feet PVC pipe, and Tee fitting for the pipe. I’ve seen bigger versions of these do some amazing things like send a ping pong ball through metal cans. Link.
If you live in Bat country, this is good project- A bat detector is an instrument that will detect the presence of bats by tuning into the echolocation ultrasounds they produce. There are a variety of commercial bat detectors available but what excited me were the numerous internet sites with home-built detector circuits. I stumbled across these sites while trying to decide what to do with a 1968 Braun Cylindric T2 cigarette lighter. What resulted was the Cylindric Ultrasonic Bat Detector. Link.
Rob Cockerham makes weird things, some of them work, some of them are more social engineering pranks, and some are brilliant costumes. Check out the “How much is inside Adventure” projects and “Incredible stuff I made”…Link. I think I like the paparazzi costume the best.
Looking to take VR photos of objects? Here’s an interesting DIY way…“Used together with my Coolpix 990 remote control, this turntable forms an automatic studio for simple VR-object movies. It rotates the object on 360° and shoots photographs with equally spaced angles. You can then animate these images with a VR-object viewer such as PTviewer, Freedom-VR or Objplay. Remote and turntable can both be built with Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System (only parts included in this box are needed)”. Link.
Health24.com has a friendly reminder that DIY projects can get you hurt if you’re not careful (Ladders always make me nervous too)…many people underestimate the dangers in doing their own home repairs. In the UK alone, 70 people die per year while fixing their homes. Most of them fall off ladders…The largest single cause worldwide of DIY injuries, is falling off ladders. Power tools and electricity are also high up on the list. We’ve all been zapped, zorked and have had some close calls- be careful out there. Link.
It’s the weekend, it’s starting to warm up- and that means lawn care season is just about here. CocoonTech has a great thread about making your own sprinkler system. There are enough electronics, planning, schematics and parts to make this a fun project. If I had a yard, I think I’d hook the sprinklers in to a weather reporting system along with a local “do not water” notification system so they won’t turn on if there’s a water shortage. Link.
Clever chair, could be a cheap way to make lots of things… Compress and roll your oldest papers and assemble them following the easy construction method illustrated. No doubt that the structural design of this very cheap compressed paper stool will be strong enough to support one or two friends at tea time. Link.
