Lots of steam engines this Saturday in East Greenwich, RI
Yankee Steam-Up: For model makers, Machinists, Engineers & Historians
Wireless
Robotic swarm over Switzerland
Subscriber RocketGuy tipped us off to this EPFL School of Engineering project involving a fleet of swarming flying robots. Using an ant-inspired swarming algorithm running on a Linux SBC, this network of swarming micro air vehicles is purportedly the largest of its kind.
Android controlled Bluetooth lamp
Smartphones are great remotes. Check out this lightweight Bluetooth enabled novelty lamp mod by Bitartist. Tricked out with a AVRtiny2313 and Bluetooth module, you can turn the lamp on and off via a mobile app. It will also perform double duty by notifying you of incoming calls.
Minimalist cell phones
It has no display, and that’s not a stylus–it’s a pen. So you can write important numbers on the paper card pictured, left, and snap it into the clear display pocket on the phone’s back. Available in five subdued colors from John’s Phone, of the Netherlands. I’m tempted. [via Boing Boing]
How-To: Make a WiFi radio in a pinch
If you’ve got an extra WiFi access point laying around and would like to stream audio to your stereo from sites like Pandora, last.fm, and Slacker Radio, then you’ll appreciate this informative how-to video from Tinkernut. Based on work available at MightOhm, this segment will get you up to speed with installing firmware, adding USB audio, and general configuration.
Control your camera flash with a TV remote
Like using off-camera flash units for your photography, but tired of having to walk over to them to adjust the flash power?
Tesla-style through-ground magnetic wave communicator
Interesting article over at AAAS’s ScienceNOW about MagneLink, a short-range wireless communications system being developed by Lockheed-Martin that uses magnetic fields, rather than radio waves, to transmit information. Supposedly Tesla first experimented with such a system, hoping to compete with radio, in the 1890s. For most wireless applications, radio is clearly a superior system; magnetic wave communicators suffer from limited range and poor signal-to-noise ratios. There’s one thing they can do, however, that radio can’t: easily transmit through hundreds of meters of rock or clay. They can, therefore, be depended on in the event of a mining accident to allow trapped workers to communicate with rescue personal in situations where radio is impossible and wired systems may be inoperable or inaccessible.
