classic hacks

2768 Articles

Multitouch MAME Cabinet

December 24, 2008 by 19 Comments

mame

[rdagger] sent us this really well done multitouch MAME cabinet build. He ha penned to find a used, and fairly worn cocktail cabinet. The monitor was damaged, keys lost, and internals had been home to mice for some time. He promptly tore out the old guts, replaced the smelly mouse damaged base and began building the projection system. For touch sensing, he’s using a web cam with the IR filter removed to detect disturbances in some IR laser beams. We’re not completely clear on how he mounted the lasers, he skips over that part.  There’s nothing groundbreaking in the technology here, we’ve done multitouch many times before. This project stands out in its execution. [rdagger] has done a fantastic job, the construction looks fantastic.  Check out a video of it working after the break.

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Guitar Hero Cymbal Remake

December 23, 2008 by 10 Comments

drums

[Matt] found, like many people, his Guitar Hero: World Tour cymbals left much to be desired. They were only detecting hits intermittently and starting to crack and fall apart as well. While he was waiting for his warranty replacements to arrive, he just couldn’t help by try to make his own improved version. Using about $25 worth of parts, mainly consisting of plastic plates and some neoprene material, he managed to make some pretty fantastic replacements.  A video of them working might be a nice addition, but the writeup was pretty detailed otherwise.

Digital Clock Building

December 22, 2008 by 10 Comments

clock

[punkky] has been documenting his adventures building digital clocks. They each use six 7-segment LED displays, but he’s been gradually changing how they are built. The first version used a CMOS BCD-to-7-sement latch on each display, which is tied to a PIC16F627a. For the next run, he added multiplexing, so he could drive all the segments using just thirteen pins. He’s posted a final schematic with code and details of how the clock timing actually works.

Gas Powered Blender

December 21, 2008 by 22 Comments

gas_mixer1

We aren’t sure what [stubman] needs to blend, but whatever it is, it must require some serious power. [stubman] put together this industrial looking gas powered blender. While gas powered blenders certainly aren’t a new thing, he did add a nice touch with an electric starter. While maybe not as cool looking as some we’ve previously covered, this one would look good in any shop. Why are gas powered blenders so popular? Why not gas powered pencil sharpeners or gas powered can openers? We’ve seen a gas powered vacuum!

Modifying R/C Frequency

December 19, 2008 by No comments

rc_mod

Cheap radio controlled toys can provide countless hours of amusement, especially when friends have one too. You can’t always plan ahead enough for everyone to have a different frequency and sometimes, it just isn’t an option anyway. There is a solution, and it isn’t very difficult. [frickelkram] takes us through the process of changing the frequency that the toy runs on. He starts with the simplest way, which involves replacing one piece in the controller and simply adjusting the receiver. He notes that this often fails as the receiver just isn’t built to be adjusted easily. He continues to show how to get it done even if the first method fails.

Nandhopper 1-Bit Noise Synth

December 18, 2008 by 11 Comments

synth

Sometimes, a little bit of noise can be fun. This little noise synth called the Nandhopper, is a quick simple project to get started. The parts list is pretty short, mainly material for the sensors and a 4093 Quad, 2-input Schmitt trigger and NAND gate. You end up with an easy to use, fairly small 1-Bit synth. If you don’t know what a 1-Bit synth sounds like, watch the demo video. Sure, it just sounds like noise to us, but that’s music to some people.