Sci-Fi Contest Roundup: Thinking 4th Dimensionally

Notwithstanding [John Titor] and his time travelling ’67 Corvette convertible, the coolest time machine on wheels has to be the DeLorean from Back to the Future. BTTF is apparently a very popular theme for our sci-fi contest, with a lot of great entries.

You mean to tell me  you made a time machine? Out of a Hyundai Accent?

fluxAfter a careful bit of research, it appears the Hyundai Accent (GLS) has both a higher top speed and faster 0-60 time than a DeLorean, and that’s before the installation of time circuits, a flux capacitor, and plutonium reactor. [docbrownjr] and [Jennifer] decided their Accent was the perfect vehicle for a time machine conversion and decided to add a Mr. Fusion  to the mix.

Like the on-screen version, this version of a Mr. Fusion is made from a kitchen appliance. With the original Krups coffee grinder out of production, the team settled on an iced tea machine. There will, however, be copious amounts of dry ice involved,  as will half-empty beer cans and banana peels.

WiFi-enabled Flux Capacitor

ledAfter knocking his head on a toilet, [Beamsjr] came up with a great idea – a networked flux capacitor, able to display the Teamcity build progress.

This build is going all out with custom PCBs – one for the controller board, and three for the shift registered LEDs underneath the acrylic knobbies in the flux capacitor. WiFi is provided by the TI CC3000 module, with the main microcontroller being an ATmega 328p,

Time circuits on

segmentsHonestly, we’d be a bit disappointed if this contest didn’t have a BTTF time circuit build entry. Luckily for us, [atheros] and [bwa] are on top of things with their time circuit clock, complete with an alarm and FM radio receiver (FM isn’t going to work in 1955, guys).

Unlike a few other time circuit builds we’ve seen over the years, the guys are doing this one up right, with 14-segment LEDs for the month display. They’re etching their own boards for this one, and it’s looking like it’ll be a very cool project when it’s complete.

14 thoughts on “Sci-Fi Contest Roundup: Thinking 4th Dimensionally

  1. Heh, nice!
    Re. flux capacitors, I have some schematics here for a modification to the infamous Russian IV series “linear neon” tubes that turns them into flux tubes.
    Hint:- Uses some clever winding tricks but it should work well.
    Sometimes they do this by accident but I worked out how to make it happen on purpose :-)

  2. “FM isn’t going to work in 1955”

    (You young guys, I dunno)

    FM broadcasting started in 1937 and moved to the current 88-108MHz allocation after WW2 when there were about half a million FM receivers in use.

  3. here is my theory on some details on the discovery of the flux capacitor.

    1. he worked with 3 phase or brushless motors (even i think brushed motors are wound the same way) and the bump to the head caused a near death flashback to his 3 phase motor work.

    2. from what i have learned about migraine headaches more like the aura disturbance that comes up an hour before the pain what we are seeing is the vessels in the eye throbbing rapidly and maybe the bump to the head is near the eye and blood pressure changes rapidly causing 3 of the vessels to throb and is effecting ones that come together in the same way as a 3 phase winding on schematics.

      1. There, their, I hate to here someone being low while berating a entire nation of people, Maybe the rest of your dai will be better,

        Also, its’ aluminum, not aluminium, Even the discoverer said so, now play nice or i shall taunt you a second time,

        1. Can you provide a source on this? Everything I’ve ever read said that he started with Alumium, then changed to Aluminum, and finally a few years later to Aluminium. No mention of his personal preference on the matter, only that he made the official decision to change it.

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