Dot Matrix Clock On The Way

September 12, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 25 Comments

[Kevin] sent in his almost finished open source dot matrix clock. Sporting a hefty 40 x 16 display powered by a PIC 18F he has complete pixel by pixel control of the graphics. Combined with with a triple buffer he is at least able to output 15fps, with planned 30fps. While this has great potential for a clock, what about going further? Twitter updates, chat messages, weather updates, the current airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow; it will be tough to beat the competition without some more features. Either way, its an awesome project and we can’t wait to see it completed.

Exoskeleton Rental Now Available

September 11, 2009 by Mike Szczys 31 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_k30yeCk4c]

The HAL two-leg exoskeleton is now available for rent in Tokyo for $2300 per month. We saw the HAL in our power suit roundup from last year. There is footage of this lower-extremity suit demonstrated by three people. The video is a bit creepy because the they are apparently just out for a stroll in the city.

We really do want to see this succeed. Every time another advancement in exoskeletons comes around we glimpse the future of mobility and freedom for victims of paralysis. The machine is controlled via an interface that picks up electrical impulses on the surface of the skin. The built in battery provides power for up to five hours of operation before recharging is necessary.

[Thanks David]

Rock Band Drum Set Remake

September 11, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 11 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQhAx4l0fvs&feature=player_embedded]

We’ve seen some impressive mods for the popular video game Rock Band, from new cymbals to an air powered kick pedal, but we cant say we’ve seen someone go as far as the folks over at EDrums. They start off making their own mesh heads, a junction box to connect everything, and then a base to hold it all together. It is definitely some dedication and hard work for a setup that will only be used in the living room in front of the T.V. Check out some more video of it in action, and a comparison to the original Rock Band drum set, after the break.

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Drilling Precise Grids

September 9, 2009 by Mike Szczys 13 Comments

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Drilling precise grids without a CNC machine can be tough to pull off. [Ookseer] has come up with a nifty method for dilling aligned holes with a drill press. He uses a right-angle jig on a Dremel drill press with stacks of business cards as spacers. The same number of cards is added between the substrate and the jig to space each new hole evenly. This method comes in handy when drilling grids in an enclosure for speakers, temperature sensors, or for an aesthetically pleasing design.

Life Size Animatronic Wolf Tail

September 9, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 31 Comments

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We’re not 100% sure the usefulness of this hack, but it is extremely interesting regardless and will probably make a lot of furries happy. WolfTronix presents their method for creating a realistic animatronic wolf tail. It uses an Atmel MCU controlling two servos alongside a mess of Klixx toys and paper clips to produce a nice wag motion. The guide is extremely detailed and looks to be fun, so long as you don’t mind the monotonous task of shaving off potentially hundreds of ‘nubs’ as they call them. Either way, you’ll definitely have the best (and only…) tail on the block.

Thanks [J. Peterson]

Time Lapse Light Sculptures

September 8, 2009 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

time_lapse_light_sculptures

[Jared] sent us a feature he posted involving time-lapse photography and an LED. Using a custom built aparatus an LED is moved on two axis’ during a long exposure of around thirty seconds. The frame is wood and PVC with two gearhead motors powered by AA batteries to provide the locomotion. The LED is powered by a 3v button cell and automatically transitions through different colors.

Proto-board Z80 Computer

September 7, 2009 by Mike Szczys 19 Comments

diy_zilog

We’ve seen Z80 processor based computers before but they usually use a printed circuit board to easily and reliably connect all the components. [Marton] sent us his Z80 based computer from a while back that is built entirely on prototyping board. He made his own video board that utilizes a TV as the monitor and his own mainboard incorporating a keyboard controller. The system runs at 4 MHz, has 32k of ram, and runs [Marton’s] own system software which he has posted. Its quite impressive and we love the protoboard porn with thousands of grey wires running everywhere.

[Marton] used the resources on [Hans Summers’] site for his project. Make sure to check it out if you’re interested in a broader background concerning DIY Zilog Z80 computers.