I’m sure most people that have built a CarPC are already familiar with shutdown controllers, but I think this hack is pretty clever. Computers don’t like being turned off suddenly so you need to figure out how to power down the PC safely. This circuit has a serial connector and appears to XP as a generic UPS. When the ignition is turned off it breaks the 5V line to COM pin 8. XP responds by hibernating. Once the computer shuts down the relay for the power inverter opens. When the ignition is switched on the inverter powers up and the computer turns on.

[thanks SilverPill]

Continue reading “CarPC Shutdown Controller” →

Here’s a hack that’s been around since the very start of the hot rod movement. Car exhaust flame throwers work by interrupting the spark to the engine. This dumps raw fuel into the exhaust system. The fuel is ignited by a coil and spark plug placed right before the exhaust tip. Doing this will shorten the life of your engine (and pedestrians). The raw fuel strips the oil off the cylinder walls and contaminates the oil causing more wear and tear. Also, this mod can’t be used on a fuel injected car. It would foul the O2 sensors and catalytic converter. Never the less, our fascination with electricity will live on.

[thanks matticus66]

Continue reading “Exhaust Flame Throwers” →

Meghan Desai and Yiling Li built this radio controlled car telemetry system for their “Designing with microcontrollers” class. They had looked at several other RC projects and decided it would save a lot of trouble if they didn’t attempt to work with the car’s on-board microcontroller. They built separate boards to house the four IR sensing pairs, temperature sensors, accelerometer, and an Atmel Mega32. All of the collected data is transmitted at 433MHz. On the receiving end is another Mega32 that processes the data and formats it for display on a TV. They’ve done an excellent job documenting their project.

If you have to do a design project this semester, we’d love to see it. Just get some free hosting from Blogger and post your project. I’m using Blogger as an example since they don’t crash and burn when we link to them.

Continue reading “RC Car Telemetry” →

Jesper has created an automotive performance meter using a handful of ICs. The key chip is the ADXL202 from Analog Devices. It measures acceleration while the AVR 8515 keeps track of time and does all of the calculations. All you need to do is enter the weight of the vehicle and the meter will calculate your 0-60 mph time, 60-0 braking distance, and maximum horsepower. There is a complete schematic on Jesper’s site, but the code still needs to have a few bugs worked out. This project is essentially a reproduction of the first generation G-TECH/Pro meter (bunnie has a picture of the original board). The new generation G-TECH meters are fun to play with and do interesting things like determining the engine RPM by measuring the noise in the electrical system.

Continue reading “AccelR8, A Homemade G-meter” →

Brent Curry had been planning on taking a trip and with previous adventures testing both his endurance and comfort, he decided to construct a new vehicle to for his travels. The couch bike has two independent gear trains and uses a tiller handle to control the front wheels. Brent and his Norwegian cohort Eivind used the bike to explore Maritime Canada. They only drew attention from the cops 3 times during their journey. They did have a little trouble with the couch being 7 inches wider than a Lincoln Navigator; when riding on paved bike trails they had to disassemble the bike to get around gates designed to prevent motor vehicles. The travelogue also mentions being forcibly dismounted only once, when Brent failed to grab both brakes at the same time.

[via Treehugger]

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Once Scot got his second motorcycle it became very apparent that he needed to figure out a way to transfer his gadget gear between bikes. A simple trailer connector is used to provide 12V to the bag. This power is distributed by a block with three switches on it. One powers the map light. Another powers the radar detector. The third switch is for a future MP3 player. With some cable shortening Scot was able to get the radar detector and its display into the bag. Now by simply disconnecting the power lead he can move the whole bag to a different bike.

[thanks Sleekblack]

Continue reading “Electrified Tankbag” →

Russ W. Moore of Bad Brothers Racing has an awesome project on his hands. The motorcycle frame is from a Yamaha YSR-50. Smaller than a standard street bike and larger than a pocket bike it comes with a 50cc engine and is street legal. The gas turbine is being constructed from a Cummins ST-50 usually found in large trucks. The documentation is pretty thorough and covers the build from the beginning. It’s still in progress, the exhaust and pumps still need to be mounted, possibly a starter too. The ECU will be a Basic Stamp II. See, you don’t need to be Jay Leno or have 150K to have your own jet bike.

[thanks arocketman]

Continue reading “Mini Gas Turbine Motorcycle” →