Cyborg toy piano
The inimitable Ranjit Bhatnagar has been working on this voice-controlled toy piano. In this video three folks at NYC Resistor test out its range by laughing and singing!
DIY Projects
How-To: Mount a video camera in a model rocket
James Yawn’s site Recrystallized Rocketry has lots of great information about DIY rocketry, including this great tutorial about mounting a video camera. This hot pink rocket is called the “sugar rush,” because it is powered by Yawn’s homemade potassium nitrate/sugar rocket fuel. [Thanks, Kenneth!]
Make: Projects – Harvesting chemicals from a battery
This tutorial shows how to take apart a spent zinc-carbon dry cell of the common household type. Besides making for an interesting object lesson in electrochemistry, taking apart a spent D-cell, for instance, allows you to salvage many materials which can be of use to amateur chemists–materials which would otherwise probably end up in a landfill. Separated from its reactive components, the leftover parts of the battery can be safely added to most municipal recycling streams.
Handmade Settlers of Catan gameboard
From the MAKE Flickr pool Sean_st shares pics of his homegrown Settlers of Catan boardgame. He even carved his own buildings and roads from soapstone & alabaster! Have a closer look at his work on Flickr.
Kindle etching and DIY adventures (video)
The Engadget Show: Kindle etching and DIY adventures with Adafruit Industries. Some footage and a tour of the show at Adafruit, I hang out there quite a bit :) Josh writes – If you’ll recall, some months ago we held a little competition for readers to submit artwork destined for laser-etching on the backsides of […]
RPM pinhole cameras, kits, and free plans
RPM cameras sells handmade mat-board pinhole cameras, optionally cased in leather as shown above. They’ll sell you a kit for half the price of a finished camera, and they also host a free tutorial on how to build a simple version for yourself. [Thanks, Billy Baque!]
Attach an SLR lens to an iPhone with the Phone-O-Scope
Camera hacker Bhautik Joshi, who brought us the brilliant DIY tilt-shift lens hack, has produced another great optical device. Detailed instructions on his site walk you through the creation of the Phone-O-Scope, an optical coupler that allows an iPhone to accept a standard SLR lens.
