[Chuck] sent me this How-To on building your own custom Guitar Hero controller. I love the idea – the stock controller is a bit small for me. This one was built for a Child’s Play fund-raiser, so maybe you can score it and help get some games to some kids in need.
Remember, there are just 20 more days to get your entry in for the Design Challenge!
[Walter] sent in his version of a PIC binary clock. It’s a nice alternative If you don’t want one that runs off TTL logic, This one runs on a PIC 16F628 (Microchip is great for samples) and displays hours in 5 bits and minutes in 6. His blog also features a decent looking programmer, and he shows off his version of the Suunto dive computer interface that’s been around for quite a while.
The DefconBots rules have been announced for Defcon 15. The reference design is actually pretty good on it’s own – I’m curious to see what sort of improvements the teams will come up with. The RD includes a full tutorial, so teams will definitely have a fighting chance. [via Midnight Research Labs]
The only rule is speed, so I wonder how many guns will feature multiple barrels. It seems that they don’t care how much ammuntion is used. (It does say no shotguns) Hrm, maybe a mini-gun that covers the 5×5 area with fine enough resolution to hit everything? Sure it lacks finesse, but firepower-a-plenty!
Now I can’t find his page but one of the Danger founders had built something similar using a Mac as the controller and a paintball gun. Of course, we’ve seen similar guns before.
[mo] sent me this video showing the latest on hacking the wiimote via bluetooth . They haven’t figured out all the values yet, but this is only the beginning. How long until we see some mac/pc games that can use the Wiimote?
I’ve gotten quite a few good submissions lately, so don’t get mad if you’re not up. I can’t resist high voltages, so this Tesla coil project capable of 30 inch lightning bolts built by [PlasmaFire] caught my eye. Not too bad for a high school project.
From his description: The Tesla Coil that I built runs on normal house current (120VAC, 60Hz), fed through line filters to two Franceformer 9060 P-E neon sign transformers that output 9000 volts at 60ma each. After going through a high-voltage Terry-style RFI filter, the power is stored in a 4.0-joule capacitor bank. This energy is dumped into a copper-coil primary. The secondary, made from cast acrylic and motor winding wire, and a topload, made from dryer duct, aluminum foil tape, and a wood disc, complete the overall assembly.
(oh, and just for fun: the cylon roomba. Thanks [tod])
After sushi-thanksgiving at my house, I’m beat – but you guys have been busy on the tips line.
In one of those special moments of vengance, the ‘real’ ps3 grill was created. (It’s been built, don’t be fooled by the fund raising graphic they were too lazy to remove.)
In another moment of consumer electronics death, a 25mw 405nm laser was obtained from a blu-ray DVD burner and turned into the closest thing to a light saber I’ve seen.
[James Coxon] sent in his autonomous RC car project (link dead, try Internet Archive). I found his Pegasus high altitude balloon project even more interesting.
If you haven’t already heard about it, if you can hack this ps3, you’ll actually get to own it. Thanks [good4me] and [wierdguy].
[Chris_rybitski] sent in his music syncro’d christmas light control – he runs the AC audio into diode rectifier to drive a SSR.
If you really hate squirells, [Alexiy] thinkgs you might find a remote controlled airsoft gun handy.
Don’t forget to check out the Hack-A-Day Design Challenge. I already announced the iPod, the MAKE controller and Daisy MP3 player kit, but look for another prize announcement soon.
Let the holiday geekery continue!
[Matt] sent in Electrifried 2 – the second version of a device with one purpose: shock your friends like you’ve got a giant shag carpet. The ion generator is used to provide create a static electric charge on demand. Looks like another great alternative use for a negative ion generator that could take evil christmas giving to a new level.
