Frustromantic Box, a reverse Geocache

The question remains, what is in the box?

One of the best feelings in the world is when one of our posts inspires a fellow hacker to plan, create, and execute his or her own project. [Russ] let us know about his Frustromantic Box which he gained inspiration from the original Reverse Geochache we posted about. For those out of the loop, the box is locked and will only open in a certain location. The current distance to the  location is … [Read more...]

SpiderBot prompts laser envy

spider-bot-laser-cutout

[Daniel's] horrifying hexapod makes us wish we were sitting next to a laser cutter. The parts are cut from 4.9mm plywood and include laser-sculpted sections to allow the twenty servos to properly seat in their mounting spaces. We would suggest that you build it in secret so as not to ruin the surprise when your house mates come home to find this romping around their room. Sadly, we couldn't … [Read more...]

Adafruit Eagle library

adafruit-eagle-lib

We love it when a PCB comes out right the first time. We're careful enough with our designs that if something is wrong it's usually a footprint problem, like we picked the wrong package for the components. Adafruit is helping to make the design process easier by sharing their Eagle library. Like the Eagle library version control we saw earlier in the month, this library is housed on github making … [Read more...]

Turntable light sequencer

turntable-light-sequencer

[Benjamin] built a sequencer that uses a turntable and light sensors to lay down a funky beat. If you like creepy videos with repeated gratuitous corderoy-clad rear-ends we've got you covered after the break. Art film aside, he's got an interesting project. Four light sensors are mounted below the turning record with LEDs hovering above. His hatred for old LP records is apparent because holes must … [Read more...]

Coded entry using your wristwatch

wristwatch-door-entry

[Ziyan] and [Zach] built a door entry system that uses a code entered from your wristwatch. They're using the TI eZ-430 Chronos that we saw in November. There is a project box mounted over the deadbolt lever. Inside, the wireless fob waits for the watch to connect. When a watch has connected and the correct code is received (using 128 bit encryption) the fob actuates a servo to turn the lock. On … [Read more...]

Buzzle: a morse code puzzle box

buzzle05p

[lucasfragomeni] built the Buzzle after being inspired by the reverse geocache puzzle. The Buzzle was built as a gift to a friend. It's a tricky gift too. His friend can't open it until he decodes the words being displayed in morse code via an LED. A word is chosen at random, so you would have to decode it each time you want to open the box. That's a pretty neat security feature. Sure it's not the … [Read more...]

Robots in space

SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites) are experimental robots made at MIT for the purpose of testing robot locomotion in space. As you can see in the video above, they are capable of maneuvering pretty well. They seem to hold formation fairly tightly. They are using compressed CO2, through 12 different thrusters for positioning. They should be capable of … [Read more...]