home hacks

1890 Articles

Replicating Connectors By Machining PVC

April 21, 2010 by 12 Comments

[Alex] bought a hang on tank filter for his aquarium. Unfortunately it was made for a different water level than he was using and didn’t have the ability to adjust that he needed. Add to that the non-standard pipe sizing which compounded the problem by making it difficult to extend the intake and output tubes. He overcame this by machining PVC pipe to match the stock connectors. After turning the PVC on a lathe he added a neoprene o-ring and painted the assembly black. The new connector allows standard size PVC fittings for easy changes in the future, and it keeps his turtles healthy and happy.

Toaster Web Interface

April 19, 2010 by 25 Comments

Within a ten-hour window [Wes Brown] threw together this toaster with a web interface for one of his classes. He sourced the WIZnet embedded webserver for the project but this could be pulled off with a homebrew webserver as well. When you point your browser to the correct address you’re greeted with images of bread that have been charred to various degrees. This greatly complicates the act of making breakfast while at the same time presenting a possible fire hazard. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading “Toaster Web Interface” →

Virtual Windows That Track A Viewer’s Position

April 16, 2010 by 44 Comments

Winscape will let you replace that garbage-strewn ally view with just about anything you want. The two windows above are actually plasma screen televisions. In between them you can spot a Nintendo Wii Remote that is used to track an IR badge worn by the person in the room. As they move, the images on the screens are changes to simulate the change in perspective you would see out of a real-world window. Take a look at the video after the break. This is unfortunately not an open source project but the software is available for trial and we find the concept interesting. If you can write video processing algorithms you may be able to take the Wii Remote Whiteboard concept and turn it into a Winscape clone. Continue reading “Virtual Windows That Track A Viewer’s Position” →

Make Cotton Candy At Home

April 15, 2010 by 23 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYmBGOiMOIo&w=470]

If you are anything like us, you are suddenly filled with childlike glee when you think of big fluffy poofs of cotton candy. The thought of making it at home has a certain appeal, but that machine is a mystery reserved only for those elite enough to get through cotton candy maker school. Or so we thought. As it turns out, it is actually quite simple. You can make one and be serving cotton candy in an afternoon with parts you probably have sitting around. The video above is pretty easy to follow, but if you want more information, there’s an instructable as well.

[via MakeZine]

Electronic Wind Chime

April 14, 2010 by 16 Comments

The Winduino II uses fins to pick up the movement of the wind and translate it into music. Each fin is attached to the main body using a piezo vibration sensor. The signals are processed by an Arduino housed inside and the resulting data makes its way to a computer via a Bluetooth connection to facilitate the use of Max/MSP for the audio processing. Included in the design is an array of solar panels used to keep the battery for the device charged up. Hear and see this creative piece after the break.

Continue reading “Electronic Wind Chime” →

Project J.A.R.V.I.S.

April 7, 2010 by 59 Comments

[brightcove vid=76029544001&exp3=16977198001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=245991542&w=470&h=325]

Project J.A.R.V.I.S. is an attempt to create a digital life assistant, or DLA. The name comes from the version in the movie Iron Man. While the details of the build are pretty slim, you can see that he’s using a mac mini for the base with an Arduino controlled RFID reader at his door. What is really interesting is how functional he has actually made it. Watch the video on the site to see a pretty good explanation of features.

[via Gizmodo]