Misc Hacks

4181 Articles

Peltier Desktop Drink Cooler

February 15, 2005 by 5 Comments

peltier drink cooler
i found this link in my inbox, courtesy of j. peterson.  we’ve posted a peltier beverage cooler before, but i think this one deserves mention as well.  it hasn’t had the finishing touches, so it’s not as pretty yet.  however, this one does come with a digital temperature readout.  more importantly, it’s big.  you could countersink a couple of these babies into your dining room table and start living the 21st century good life, as imagined way back in the mid-1900s.

just think, your home of the future, complete with soda-cooling, plate-heating countertops and a kitchen computer.

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Embedded Linux Billy Bass

February 13, 2005 by 4 Comments

linux billy bass
if you haven’t seen this project before, it’s well worth a look.  the author shows us how to control billy from a pc104 embedded pc running linux.  included is an introduction into using open source tools for creating audio transcriptions, which can then be used to make billy lip-sync to custom audio clips.

the software controls the bass via the pc’s parallel port.  if you are interested in doing something like this, you might also want to check out the article we recently posted on controlling an r/c car from your parallel port.

toy hacks and controlling devices from your pc are really great topics.  i’d love to see more hacks like this.  make sure to send in your tips!

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Basic Stamp Controlled Kegerator

February 11, 2005 by 20 Comments

kegerator

evan jensen sent us a link to his basic stamp kegerator.  the microcontroller monitors and regulates the temperature, and outputs status information and the name of the current beer to an lcd display.  this looks like a fun project if you are looking to get started with hacking electronics.  for our non beer drinkers, i can assure you that root beer is also best served cold and from a tap.

i’ve never used a basic stamp before, but i’ve noticed that a lot of other people are using the microprocessor to do cool things, including james the weather ballon hacker from earlier this week.  i just ordered a starter kit last evening, so if people are interested maybe i can post an introduction when i receive it.

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High Altitude Linux Weather Balloon

February 9, 2005 by 15 Comments

weather balloon

“i found it in my cow pasture, buried in the snow. i was riding my 4 wheeler.”  that’s what the postcard said when it returned to me after i sent it up with a helium balloon a couple weeks ago.  it traveled roughly 100 miles.

but i digress.

james meehan’s story began quite similarly, but he decided to take his balloon fascination to a much more fascinating and hackerly level.  follow the link to read about how he designed and constructed his linux powered weather balloon, complete with gps, packet radio uplink, and video camera.  he says it’s the coolest thing he’s ever done.  i can’t really vouch for what else he’s done, but this project is pretty darn cool.

when you’ve finished marvelling at this hack, make sure to also check out the home brew, high altitude glider we wrote about a while back.  i love this high altitude mischief.  if you know of similar projects, send ’em in!

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Diy Dual Conversion Ups

February 7, 2005 by 29 Comments

diy ups

for a while now, i’ve been grabbing cheap used ups boxes to run my home servers off of.  problem is, they are just about useless.  i can run an old p2 (no monitor!) off of one for about 5 minutes before it fails.  even if i were to chain a few of them together, the puny sla batteries in them typically go dead a month or two after i buy them anyway.  consequently, i’ve been going through them like candy.

searching for a solution, i came across this article for building a diy ups.  with an inverter, a power supply or charger, and a car battery you can have yourself a pretty solid dual conversion ups that is expandable to meet your downtime needs.  it’s worth a read even if you just want to know how a proper ups works.

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Underwater Video Camera

February 5, 2005 by 8 Comments

underwater camera housing
in this article, paul hart details the third revision of his underwater camera housing.  by using a few reed switches that interface with the camera remote (for zoom control) and a small solenoid (to depress the record button), he is able to control the camera from the outside of the housing with a magnet.  don’t miss the page that describes the electronics.  it works well, it looks good, and you can watch some cool videos that he’s made with it.  two thumbs up.  thanks for the tip, paul!

now, i’m sort of an ‘above sea level’ kind of person, but i guess one of the things that hackaday is all about is finding out what’s going on under the surface of things.  if you didn’t read it already, check out the article on making a timer activated camera.  we should combine some ideas between these projects and make a tethered still/video (or both) system that you just toss off the side of a boat.  got a better idea?  let’s hear it!

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