“Father of video games” documentary
Motherboard has this wonderful look inside the world (and workshop) of Ralph Baer, creator of Pong, Simon, and other electronic/video game classics. Ralph Baer and His All-Purpose Boxes
Electronics
Make an LVDT with soda straws
It’s the McLVDT, a linear variable differential transfomer, made from McDonald’s straws. The creator writes: I made a primary coil on a normal sized straw, and made two secondary coils on the outside of the larger McDonald’s straw. Since the McStraw is large-bore (perfect for those thick high calorie shakes), the smaller straw with the […]
Linear optical encoder from printer parts
Here’s a linear optical encoder made from printer parts, a PIC 18F4520 MCU, and an L298 motor controller: The goal of this tutorial is to create a way to know where the ‘stage’ is, accurate to about 1/4” using optical encoding. The stage is controlled via a 12v motor so we will use an L298 […]
Another Wimshurst build
Jake has posted pics and info on Steampunk Workshop of another maker’s build of his Wimshurst machine, a project featured in MAKE, Volume 17. Jake writes: …This is a very elegant machine and some of Bruce’s innovations make it superior to my own! Here’s what the builder, Bruce, says about his version: These are some […]
How-To: Transistor tester
(photo by Michael L.) Though some of the fuller featured multimeters offer similar abilities, this ATMega8-based transistor tester project, identifies pins, measures gain, plus resistance and capacitance. Looks like a welcome addition to the workbench – schematic + source code can be found here [via Electronics-Lab]
Lo-tek capacitive touch sensor for Halloween fun
In this video, the fine folks at NerdKits show you how to use one of their kits and some aluminum foil to create a capacitive touch sensor that lights up LEDs when a hand is placed inside of a jack-o-lantern candy bucket. Capacitive Touch Sensor: Learn Electronics with a Spooky Halloween Project
Lithium-ion polymer battery charging with the Microchip MCP73833
Alex at Tinkerlog writes: For my latest projects I used a lot of single cell LiPo batteries. They are really nice. High power density, low self-discharge, no memory effect and they can deliver quite an amount of current. But LiPo battery handling is a bit more complicated than other rechargeable batteries. You have to take […]