Author: Zoe Skyforest

3791 Articles

DIY Induction Heater Draws 1.4 KW And Gets Metal Hot

November 29, 2020 by 16 Comments

Induction heaters can make conductive objects incredibly hot by generating eddy currents within the metal. They’re used in a wide variety of industrial processes, from furnaces to welders and even heat treatments. [Schematix] whipped up his own design, and put it through its paces on the bench.

The build in question is a fairly compact design, roughly shoebox-sized when fitted with its six-turn coil. Running off anything from 12 V to 48 V, the heater put out at a massive 1.4 kW in testing. At this power level, the high current draw led the power traces to heat up enough to melt solder, and eventually burn out. [Schematix] plans to rebuild the heater with added copper wiring along these traces to support the higher power levels without failure.

The heater is able to quickly heat ferrous metals, though was not able to meaningfully dump power into aluminium under testing. This is unsurprising, as non-ferrous metals primarily undergo only Joule heating from induction, forgoing the hysteresis portion of heat transfer due to being non-magnetic. However, modification to the design could improve performance for those eager to work with non-ferrous materials.

We’ve seen a few induction heaters before, for purposes as varied as soldering and casting. Video after the break.

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Advanced Printer Control Aims To Stop Idle Waste

November 29, 2020 by 21 Comments

3D printers are capable of creating complex geometries with a minimum of fuss, but one of the tradeoffs is the long period of time it takes to print a part. Often, printers are left to run for many hours with a minimum of supervision to complete their tasks. This can leave printers idling for long periods of time after their work is finished. Noting this, [TheGrim] put together the Advanced Printer Control.

The aim of the APC is to monitor 3D printers, and shut them off when their work is complete. The aim is to avoid leaving printers running for hours after their prints are finished, which causes needless wear on fans and screens which can have a limited life. This is achieved by putting an ESP8266 in charge of the printer’s AC power supply, via a triac. It measures the current drawn by the printer when idling and in use to set a baseline. Then, whenever the printer drops back to idle levels, a timer begins. When the timer runs out, the printer is switched off. There’s also an option to automatically trigger shutdown with an I/O pin, too.

It’s a project that aims to extend printer life and save power, too. Of course, if you’re really worried about power draw, you could use a solar powered printer instead. If you’ve got your own printer controller hacks, be sure to drop us a line.

A Clap-Activated Machine For All Your Applause Needs

November 29, 2020 by 6 Comments

Applause is greatly revered as a symbol of warmth and adoration from a crowd. TV shows that film in front of a live audience often cue their audiences to clap in order to generate the desired auditory atmosphere. Of course, you don’t have to rely on squishy humans to do all the work. [Dillon] built a machine of dubious utility – one which generates mechanical applause when activated by the sound of clapping. (Video, embedded below.)

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the project was built for a Useless Machine contest, but that doesn’t diminish its value as a learning exercise. An Arduino runs the show, using a microphone module to listen out for loud noises such as claps. If two claps are detected in the nominated timeframe, the machine begins to flash its “APPLAUSE” lights and clap its hands. The Arduino achieves this with the help of a relay, which switches on a motor spinning a belt-driven cam which seperates the hands. The hands are then pulled back together to clap via a length of stretchy bungee cord.

With an incredibly noisy drivetrain and somewhat amateur clapping ability, the sound coming from the machine isn’t exactly recognisable as “applause”. However, it’s a start, and it remains the best clapping machine we’ve seen this decade. If you’ve got your own under construction, consider dropping us a line. And if all this has you waxing nostalgic for the vintage Clapper circuit, you can always build one of those, too.

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Building A Workshop Crane From Scratch

November 26, 2020 by 8 Comments

Buying tools is all well and good, but it doesn’t suit the ethos of Youtube channel [Workshop From Scratch]. Building what you need is much more the go, and that’s demonstrated ably with this home-built electric workshop crane.

The crane is put together in a straightforward manner using basic steelworking techniques. Plates and bars are machined with a drill press, bandsaw and grinder, though we could imagine you could use hand tools if you were so inclined. An ATV winch is pressed into service to do the heavy lifting, powered by a set of 12V lead acid batteries placed in the base. This design choice does double duty as both a mobile power supply for the crane, and acts as a counterweight in the base.

The final result looks sharp in its orange paint finish, and does a good job of moving heavy equipment around the workshop. The legs are reconfigurable, so that even very heavy loads can be lifted with appropriate counterweight placed on the back. It’s a significant upgrade on the earlier version we featured last year, which was hydraulic in operation. Video after the break.

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Tiny Ethernet Routers Now Available In Gigabit Speeds

November 26, 2020 by 63 Comments

If you need to move a lot of data, and fast, Gigabit Ethernet is a great way to do it. However, most network hardware outside of datacenters is fairly space inefficient, a headache if you’re building a robot or drone. Enter the Gigablox, a super-compact Gigabit router for just these applications.

The Gigablox takes its mission seriously, with its compact size the ultimate design goal. The entire switch fits on a tiny 45 mm x 45 mm PCB. To this end, it eschews the common RJ45 connector, which is bulkier than necessary. Instead, thin Molex PicoBlade connectors are used for the five ports on board. Cables are included to convert between the two connectors, and obviously crimping ones own is easy to do, too. For those who need to connect more devices, several Gigablox can be hooked up in the same way as any other Ethernet switch. The Gigablox is a non-blocking switch, too – meaning all five ports can run at full speed simultaneously.

The design is the sequel to the SwitchBlox, and the later SwitchBlox Nano, both designed by [Josh Elijah] earlier this year. The pace of development is impressive, and it’s great to see [Josh] bring Gigabit speeds to the compact form factor. We can imagine a few good uses for these boards; share your best ideas in the comments below! Video after the break.

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TV Head Is Great Replacement For Your Real Head

November 25, 2020 by 19 Comments

The head is one of the few parts of the body that it seems impossible to live without. Many people are, of course, not happy with the one they’ve been given. For those dreaming of a more digital replacement, [Vivian’s] TV Head might be just the accessory to meet those needs.

The build starts with an old CRT, which [Vivian] promptly gutted to make room for her head. In place of the original tube, a thin polycarbonate sheet was installed with window tint applied. Behind this, rows of WS2812B are set up in a grid, spaced apart just enough to allow the wearer to see through.  The setup is controlled by a Circuit Playground Express. A small PS/2 keyboard is used to control the light show, and the onboard accelerometer can be used for gravity reactive animations.

For some reason, screens as heads are remarkably emotive, and we kind of want one for daily wear. We can imagine it making a great Halloween costume, too. If you’ve always wanted to cosplay as one of those colorful robots from the Opening Ceremony of the 2002 World Cup, here’s your chance. You will not be surprised that this isn’t the first TV head we’ve featured. Video after the break.

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“Enhance” Is Now A Thing, But Don’t Believe What You See

November 25, 2020 by 64 Comments

It was a trope all too familiar in the 1990s — law enforcement in movies and TV taking a pixellated, blurry image, and hitting the magic “enhance” button to reveal suspects to be brought to justice. Creating data where there simply was none before was a great way to ruin immersion for anyone with a modicum of technical expertise, and spoiled many movies and TV shows.

Of course, technology marches on and what was once an utter impossibility often becomes trivial in due time. These days, it’s expected that a sub-$100 computer can easily differentiate between a banana, a dog, and a human, something that was unfathomable at the dawn of the microcomputer era. This capability is rooted in the technology of neural networks, which can be trained to do all manner of tasks formerly considered difficult for computers.

With neural networks and plenty of processing power at hand, there have been a flood of projects aiming to “enhance” everything from low-resolution human faces to old film footage, increasing resolution and filling in for the data that simply isn’t there. But what’s really going on behind the scenes, and is this technology really capable of accurately enhancing anything?

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