contests

675 Articles

Hackit: Laser Cutters – With A Prize!

March 10, 2008 by 169 Comments


I’m going to have a special guest in my workshop for a while: an Epilog Mini 24 45 watt laser cutter. This is entirely thanks to Epilog Laser down in Golden Colorado. Here’s today’s hackit: If you had access to your own 45 watt laser cutter – with a 12″ x 24″ work surface, what would you make with it?

Oh, and there’s a prize on this one. Whoever comes up with the best idea will get a free laptop engraving session. (You can always just ship me the display cover.) You can have your own art put on, or we can always tattoo your machine with the Hack-A-Day logo.

(Pictured is Ladyada’s laser cutter. Mine’s coming tomorrow!)

Hackit: Your Ultimate Hacking Workbench

January 20, 2008 by 61 Comments


This isn’t quite a traditional Hackit, but I think you guys will dig it. Here’s the challenge: Given a budget of $600, put together the best hacking workbench you can. Don’t include computers or the actual bench in your budget. Oh, and you have to spend it all.

By the way, the best five submissions will get a chance to win a secret prize that I’ll be announcing around the end of next month.

HackIt: New Life For Old Laptops?

November 11, 2007 by 161 Comments


Last time, I challenged everyone to shout out with new ideas for those old TiVo boxes. The response was fantastic. I’m not feeling too exotic tonight, so I’ll make it easy: The laptop. Years ago I found an article on using old laptop screens to make an electronically dimmed window. At tie time, LCD panels were $1000 items. Today, screens and old laptops can be picked up for a song.

Since ‘Hackit’ is a new idea, I’m still working out just how I’m going to handle it. Each week I’m going to bring up some hardware. You guys get to pick your brains and suggest new, interesting projects. Every so often, I’ll tally up some of the best ideas and put up a bounty for pulling one of them off. Maybe it’ll be cash, maybe some spiffy hardware – I’ll let you know when we get to it.

So, got a better idea? Let’s hear it.

PosterBot – Hack A Roomba Into Poster Printer

September 7, 2007 by 6 Comments


(I’m in a robot mood this week, ok?) [Wyatt] sent in his posterbot. Lacking the gift of girly handwriting, he grafted an inkjet printer onto his Roomba to make posters for him. There have been other bots to do this, my favorite being the graffitiwriter. Of course, [Wyatt]’s bot is less likely to get you arrested.

Want a shirt?
By the way, I’ve got a spare Hack-A-Day shirt sitting here. Send in a link picture of your Hackspace to the tips line. The best/worst will get some attention and the best one gets an official Hack-A-Day shirt.

DC Entries: Last Batch

February 28, 2007 by 15 Comments


Here’s the final batch of entries we received and considered for the Design Challenge.

[Chris] sent in a stereo amplifier (watch out for pop-ups) designed for iPods (or similar) using LM386 amps and a minimal parts count.

[Fabian] submitted this excellent tube amp. It’s based on the ECC83/12AX7 tube, and runs off a mere 12-14VAC.

[Edgar] sent in this combination PIC/AVR programmer.

Finally, we’ve got a simple PIC/EEPROM programmer by [Ian]. (view the unzipped version here)