We spent our Halloween dressed as an irate traveler as we flew cross country, but it looks like a lot of people were having much more fun. [flaming_pele!]’s Aliens power loader is one of the best costumes we’ve seen yet. He built it by referencing a 1/12th model kit and a lot of photos. The final costume is about 80% full size which gets it under their 8 foot ceilings. There’s a video of the suit embedded below. Our love of power suits was documented fairly well in our roundup post this summer. Make found two other related costumes: a Star Wars AT-ST and a generic mech constructed from packing foam. Did any of you dress as something truly nerdy for Halloween? Continue reading “A Very Power Suit Halloween”
Wearable Hacks861 Articles
Coin Slot Detector
Wow, how quickly the wearable electronics world has slid into the gutter. They’re now resigned to watching our nations finest natural resource, the butt crack. This project by [semiotech] uses a LilyPad Arduino to monitor the exposure of the wearer’s coin slot. It detects the presence of light with a photoresistor and alerts the user with the vibrations of a pager motor. This breakthrough in coin slot technology will prevent dryness and certainly reduce our exposure to domestic terrorism. We see plenty of room for future development; the Arduino is already capable of logging exactly how often your coin slot is exposed. Even if you feel this is more protection than your coin slot needs, we recommend Neutrogena’s Coin Slot Cream for general upkeep.
Motorcycle Visor Rain Disk
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LsTVro-o1Q]
[andrew] sent us this proof of concept. Based off of the Spiech Clear view screen, used in marine applications, it uses a spinning disk to keep a part of your vision free of water droplets. While you may not be too impressed by watching the video initially, keep in mind that this was a quick prototype. With some planning and a little work, this could be moved to a more convenient location and run by a side mounted motor. It could even be made to be removable for fair weather. It probably doesn’t do so well with mud though.
Mini-POV Hat
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYU4grHD7g]
Viddy yourself this Halloween standing out amongst your droogs with this Mini-POV bowler. We’ll quit with the nadsat so as to avoid a kick to the yarbles, you have our sincerest appy polly loggy for starting in the first place. [cheeto4493] modified a Mini-POV to sit atop the bowler with an extension hanging out toward the brim that houses the lights. A motor, mounted inside the hat spins the entire device. Some counterweight was necessary to keep the whole thing from wobbling too much.
It is worth noting that, in person, the message scrolls slowly by. The refresh rate on the camera causes it to seem to jump around in the video.
Hydroelectric Power In Your Shoes
All comments on style aside, these are pretty cool. They are power generating shoes, that use water and a small turbine. As you step down, the water is forced through the turbine and recirculated back to the reservoir when you lift your foot. It may not change the world, but is definitely interesting. This reminds us of those shoes that we used to pump up til they burst.
Sneaker Power
just think about how much energy you waste when you pound your heels into the ground while walking or jogging. you exert a lot of effort fighting gravity to lift your foot and body from the ground, only to let gravity take over, allowing your body to fall forward onto your heel again and wear another layer from the sole of your sneaker.
the kind folks at the mit media lab decided to do something about this. by placing a piezoelectric element or a rotary magnetic generator into the heel of your shoe, you can effectively recycle some of your strut and use it for a mobile device.
it’s like regenerative braking for your feet.
Build Your Own Heads Up Display
okay, so i realize there’s not too much hackyness in this hack. it’s basically googles, fresnel lens, enclosure and a video source–then strapped to ones head in an uncool way.
all that said, i have a lot of things around here that can play video which are a lot smaller and lighter, so i think this is the start of a cool project….stay tuned.
