Shake Phone To Start Scooter

June 18, 2012 by Mike Szczys 14 Comments

This scooter starts right up with a shake of your Android device. This shake must be done from front-to-back, because a side-to-side shake is reserved for unlocking the saddle ([Brad] stores his helmet within).

Connectivity is facilitated over Bluetooth, with a rocker switch near the left handle bar to disable the receiver so that you don’t run down the battery. You can see the locking panel hanging open on the front portion of the scooter. Inside he installed the driver board which patches into the ignition system and drives a solenoid for the seat latch. It sounds like the latching mechanism used a bowden cable whose handle was inside that locking panel. By adding a solenoid and generously lubricating the cable he managed to get it functioning from the driver board.

Check out the video after the break for a proper demonstration. The phone is running a Python script via SL4A, which takes care of the user interface.

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Adding The Apple ‘breathing LED’ To A Motorcycle

June 12, 2012 by Brian Benchoff 32 Comments

[spiralbrain] has a beautiful KTM Duke 200 motorcycle, but he’s found the factory configuration is a little bit plain. Wanting to add his own unique touch to his bike, he decided to add a ‘breathing LED’ to the parking light that slowly changes its brightness much like the LED on recent Macs.

From the factory, [spiralbrain]’s bike uses extremely inefficient (and somewhat ugly) T10 lamps for the parking light. This was changed over to a 12 Volt white SMD light bulb, but what really makes this build special is the way [spiralbrain] is controlling this lamp.

[spiralbrain] added a very tiny circuit consisting of an 8-pin microcontroller (a PIC12F683) that slowly dims the new SMD light bulb using the built-in PWM module. When the bike is taken out of neutral, the microcontroller stops at the highest PWM setting so the ‘breathing’ LED function is only engaged when not moving.

It’s an interesting mod that’s sure to draw some attention when [spiralbrain] is showing off his bike. As a bonus, the mod is completely reversible, so the bike’s warranty is still good.

Using Old Phones As An Intercom In Your VW Bus (or Anywhere Else)

June 8, 2012 by Caleb Kraft 68 Comments

In case you haven’t noticed from my many comments on the subject, I drive a VW bus. It is a 1976 Westfalia camper with sage green paint and green plaid upholstery. I absolutely love it and so does the rest of my family. We go for drives in the country as well as camping regularly. We have found that the kids have a hard time communicating with us while we’re going higher speeds. These things aren’t the quietest automobiles in the world. Pushing this bread loaf shaped hunk of steel down the road with an engine that might top out at 75hp results in wind noise, engine noise, and of course, vibration.

I decided to employ a really old hack to put two functional telephones in the bus so my kids can talk to my wife (or whoever the passenger is) without screaming quite so loud. This hack is extremely easy, fairly cheap, and can be done in just a few minutes. The result is a functional intercom that you could use pretty much anywhere!

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Pneumatic Car Launcher Is Actually More Than Just A Hacker’s Fantasy

June 6, 2012 by Mike Szczys 11 Comments

So if you had to launch a car through these goal posts how would you do it? Certainly not with a slingshot (although we might have gone with a steam-powered catapult a-la an aircraft carrier). That maroon car with the white stripe is about to make the flight thanks to a very powerful pneumatic launcher.

We don’t usually attend the demolition derby, so this sort of thing is new to us. And we were even more surprised to find that this isn’t strictly a novelty act. The system is actually how some of the more dangerous automotive stunts are done for the movies. This launch sends the car in a graceful arc that is right on target and reminds us of the cliffhanger stunts from The Dukes of Hazzard (TV, not the recent movie). But if you’re a director looking for a horrific car accident, the rig can be altered to send the car spiraling through the air. Sounds like the record is nearly eight turns while airborne.

We don’t have any extra cars to launch, so we’ll stick to making the confetti fly.

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Electronic Bike Derailleur

June 6, 2012 by Brian Benchoff 38 Comments

[Nabil] sent in an awesome electronic bicycle derailleur. Now, instead of pulling a steel cable with a shifting mechanism, [Nabil] can change gears electronically. As a bonus, the derailleur can be controlled by a small bicycle computer, so he’s always in the right gear.

The new electronic derailleur is controlled by a pair of servos with push buttons in the handle bar. This allows [Nabil] to automatically trim his chain, completely eliminating chain rub.

This electronic shifter is part of [Nabil]’s much large bike computer project. In addition to electronic control of what gear the bike is in, [Nabil] will be adding a GPS, accelerometer, an altimeter and a heart rate monitor and pulse ox meter. That’s an impressive bit of kit, and we cant wait to see the entire project finished. You can pick up the current version of the design over on GitHub and follow all the updates on [Nabil]’s blog.

Chibikart: Step-by-step Lets You Build Your Own Tiny-wheel Racer

June 5, 2012 by Mike Szczys 11 Comments

[cHaRlEsg] posted a rant, then posted full instruction on how to build this electric go-kart for yourself.

Now the rant calls this an unobtainium-free sibling to the Chibikart. We’re sad to report that the unobtainium he’s talking about are the hyper-awesome hand-wound hub motors that powered the original kart which left us dumbstruck after seeing it for the first time. But look, few mortals have the skills and tools necessary to manufacture those circular marvels of modern engineering.

So you’ll just need to settle for stuff you can buy to assemble the tiny kart seen here. It’s all-electric, using two DC motors to power the rear wheels. You can catch it racing around the hallways in the video after the break. The only thing we can see missing from the equation (other than red shells and the like) is a helmet and bumpers (you’ll see why at the end of the clip).

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Bike Alert Tells Drivers To Back Off

June 4, 2012 by Mike Szczys 79 Comments

Bicycle commuters are often in a battle with drivers for space on the road. [Hammock Boy] does all of his commuting on two human-powered wheels, and is quite interested in not getting hit by a car. He decided to ply his hobby skills to build a device that helps keep him safe. It’s not just a tail light, it’s a sensor that shines brighter the closer a car is to the back of the bike.

The sensor portion is the ultrasonic range finder seen in the center of the protoboard. Surrounding it is a set of LEDs. Each is individually addressable with the whole package controlled by an Arduino. The sketch measures the distance between the back of the bike and whatever’s behind it. If there’s nothing, one Red led is illuminated. If there is an object, the lights shine brighter, and in different patterns as the distance decreases.

Certainly the next iteration could use a standalone chip without the need for the whole Arduino. This could even work with two battery cells and no voltage regulator. We also think the use of any other color than Red LEDs is suspect but we do love the concept.