The page pretty much lacks every possible detail, but [Mattias] put together his own RADAR camera notification. It uses a published database of camera’s and a GPS receiver to notify the driver that they’re approaching one of the many permanent speed detection cameras in Sweden. Despite the lack of details, I can guess about the design. It shouldn’t be that difficult to construct something similar with a PIC or AVR with a decent amount of memory. Just compare the current location with the list, and notify the driver when it determines that it’s within a specified distance. Unfortunately all the RADAR detectors where I live are strapped to police cars.
Misc Hacks4181 Articles
Laser Dance Pad
[A. Smyth] passed this along – it’s another take on the non-mechanical dance pad. The first prototype used IR detection, but apparently the hardware was flaky. The new version uses cheap laser pointer style diodes with photo detectors. Personally, I want to see one that breaks the laser into a line and collimates the resulting beam, and senses beam interference by measuring the intensity. (And it would look incredible with a fogger) The electronics are pretty simple – the photocells are interfaced with the guts of a USB game pad and breaking the beam creates a button push.
Industrial Alarm Clock
While clocky runs away from you, this alarm clock can probably strike back. It’s got a pair of basic stamps along with relay’s to control external devices. [Jason] built it from parts he already had, and has visions of it being used for stage fx control later on. For now, I’ll bet that none of the guests will want to attempt turning it off for fear of reprisal by the clock.
Sanfordyne – Scavenged AM Tube Radio
[H.P. Friedrichs] sent in his Sanfordyne project a while back, but It took me a while to appreciate the effort he put in. (Partly because the write up is so long – but thorough) Grab some of your favorite caffeine supplement and take your time reading over the details. Most of the parts were scavenged, and he mechanically etched the pc board with a dremel tool.
DIY A/C Zone Controls
I’ve been planning to computerize my A/C once I buy a house. I stumbled across this simple vent mod. A $10 servo was added and controlled with some off the shelf computer servo controllers. Personally, I have visions of doing this along with several 1-wire temperature sensors. Check out the DIY zoning project for more ideas along these lines.
Accessing The RPM Sensor On A Pc Fan
This one is almost too simple, but it might come in handy. It turns out that Pabst fans (and probably several others) already have the circuitry for RPM monitoring. Pop it apart allow pcb access and add your own RPM sensor lead to the PC board. Not all fans will have it, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll have an RPM sensor instead of a rotor lock indicator on the common PC board component.
My Motors Finally Came Extra
I’ll be hiding out in my workshop tonight, so I figured I’d give you guys a little extra today.
[Ashish] added a servo to his laserpointer/webcam range finder to give his microbric robot the ability to navigate before moving.
[Fredrick] got really motivated, built his own apple I clone and programmed it to play life.
[natetrue] built a sweet wireless motion sensor. [via hacknmod]
[sprite_tm] made a mechanical web page hit counter.
Some people, like [Nuri], really enjoy pain.
Finally, [chad]’s got a different idea on alternative uses for the Wiimote.
