Here’s a pretty cool project done with the Lego NXT system. It’s a robot that will draw you a picture. Yes, we know it could be done cnc style, but this is much more fun. You load a picture into the software, adjust the levels so the software can create the vector version more easily, then let it rip. Now they need to add face recognition.

[TokyoDrift] has added mouse support to his PSP. He’s using a microcontroller to interpret for the PSP, through the serial port. You can see in the video above that this provides a functional mouse control, especially useful for first person shooter style games. He’s got lots of details as well as schematics available in the forum posts. We’ve seen other controllers added to the PSP, but this is the first time we’ve seen a mouse.

[via engadget]

[Jonathan] sent us his final project for ECE 476. His group built an LED POV display that can be updated wirelessly from a computer. They built it in a somewhat modular fashion, with the LED strip being a simple to replace module. This goes along with their plan to build a 3D version of the display. They have made it able to switch easily from it’s internal programming to direct computer control, allowing them to leave it alone in clock mode, or take control to play with it. The updates seem really quick, you can see them in effect in the video after the break. All source code and schematics are available on the site. We love these final projects, they usually have tons of data and great pictures. Keep them coming.

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It’s been many months since the T-Mobile G1 was initially rooted. In that time, the process has been streamlined and tools have been built to make it much easier. Having a rooted phone has become even more desirable with the recent release of the 1.5 firmware that includes an onscreen keyboard along with other improvements. Having a rooted phone means you can do tricks like setting up a 3G/WiFi bridge. [Taylor Wimberly] has written a guide to help you easily root your G1 without having to go digging through forums for software bits. The process starts by using [Mike Moussa]‘s rooting app to revert the phone to the RC29 build. You then use the “Android stupidly executes everything you type” exploit to launch telnetd and upgrade the bootloader. After that, the upgrade process is fairly easy. You just flash a new baseband and build. Once you’ve got your new custom firmware, you can do future updates using an app from the Android Market. We recently updated our Android Dev Phone 1 to 1.5 and haven’t had any issues.

[photo: tnkgrl]

We wouldn’t want to let a week slip by without something new being made to twitter would we?  This time it is a toilet. Don’t worry, they are sparing us the graphic details, it pretty much tweets every time it is flushed. As you can see in the picture above, they’re using an Arduino for the toilet/PC connection. If you really want to make something twitter, this might be a good starting point. It’s basically twittering every time a button is pushed. You can download the source code on the site as well as find a tutorial on Arduino basics.

[via astera]

This weather monitor can track pressure, temperature, and humidity and last several months on a pack of AA batteries. It has a PIC18f452 to control all the bits, as well as some fancy power management to get the most out of the batteries as possible. The screen displays the highest and lowest temperatures of the last 42 hours as well as having options to display all other sensor input, updated every minute or so. You can get the full schematic and parts list on the project site.

[via YourITronics]

We really wish we had a little more information on the construction of this, but [Jeff] made this APRS tracker several years ago. APRS, or Automatic Packet Reporting System is a system where shortwave radios put out small packets of data that are uploaded to a database available via the web. This specific one is relaying GPS data so his family can see where they are located. With current phones, you might think this is antiquated, but he notes that he took this through New Mexico and was able to transmit his position even when there was zero cell phone coverage.

This contraption was made in the late 80′s, expressly for shearing sheep. For some reason, it never really took off. We’re guessing because it takes forever and still requires a person to wrangle the sheep on to the holding rack. Having that person just shear the sheep themselves might be much quicker. We think they need to refine it a bit. It should be fast, and not require a person to load it. Maybe something like a modified version of this.