BBC covers an old-school hacker

FignitionRevB

Yesterday, the BBC posted an article on [Julian Skidmore]'s AVR-based homebrew computer. [Julian]'s project uses an AVR and a derivative of Forth to recreate the capabilities of the 8-bit computers of yesteryear. With 8kB of RAM, [Julian] got a TV-out up and running, and even included code for a Lunar Lander game. We're happy for [Julian] getting some notoriety as an old-school solder … [Read more...]

Build a real-life Escher’s Waterfall

escherismagic

Instructables user [GuokrDIY] has provided a translation of a detailed guide on making one of our favorite Escher inspired illusions. Unlike the previous speculated solutions to Escher's waterfall this one manages to keep the water path coherent up until the top level. The trick of the whole setup is very carefully controlling perspective to overlap the water source and outlet.  We say water but … [Read more...]

Mini quadrocopter is Crazy awesome

crazyflie_quadrocopter

Quadrocopters are all the rage lately, and while we have seen our fair share of large devices, [Arnaud Taffanel, Tobias Antonsson, and Marcus Eliasson] have been dutifully working to buck that trend. Their CrazyFlie is a miniature quadrocopter that uses its PCB as the main structure of the device. Since the goal was to use a PCB as its frame, the copter’s footprint from the edge of one motor … [Read more...]

EEG-assisted hand control

ipsihand

[Sam Fok], an engineering student at the Washington University School of Engineering wrote in to share a project he and his classmates [Raphael Schwartz, Mark Wronkiewicz, Charles Holmes, Jessica Zhang, Nathan Brodell, and Thane Somers] have been working on as their entry in the 2011 RESNA Student Design Competition. Their project, IpsiHand, is designed to help rehabilitate those who have suffered … [Read more...]

Real-time digital puppetry

digital_puppet_show

If it sometimes seems that there is only a finite amount of things you can do with your kids, have you ever considered making movies? We don’t mean taking home videos - we’re talking about making actual movies where your kids can orchestrate the action and be the indirect stars of the show. Maker [Friedrich Kirchner] has been working on an application called MovieSandbox, which is an … [Read more...]

HDD unlocking on the Mitsubishi Multi-Communication System

mitsubishi-mmcs-harddrive-security

It's a few years old, but [Brian360's] method of unlocking the hard drive on his Mitsubishi Multi-Communication System is quite interesting. Mitsubishi describes their MMCS as a human-vehicle communication tool. It's basically an in-dash screen and controls to display navigation maps and play music. [Brian] found that the hard drive for the MMCS in his 2008 Lancer was locked, and could not be … [Read more...]

A beginner’s guide to LED matrices

led_tutorial

[Rajendra Bhatt] wrote in to share a tutorial he put together demonstrating the basics of using LED dot matrix displays. While this subject might be old hat to many out there, his helpful walkthroughs are geared more towards beginners who are exploring various electronics concepts for the first time. He explains the theory behind LED displays using a PIC-driven 5x7 matrix as an example. He … [Read more...]