Instructables user [ManaEnergyPotion] has posted a rather humorous Bluetooth handset hack. He simply took apart an airsoft handgun and a Bluetooth headset, and then placed the components neatly within the case. The earpeice is actually in the barrel of the gun, while the microphone is in the handle. You pull the trigger to answer a call, or to end a call. The best part is that they took this to the iPhone product launch, and posted a video of people’s reaction to this as an actual product concept. You can check it out after the break.
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BiPed Robot Version 3
Instructables user [alex.v] posted version 3 of his BiPed Robot. This robot is designed to mimic the control and movements of a human’s lower body. It has 12 degrees of freedom and a nice custom framework CNC’d from acryl sheets. The electronics consist of servos controlled by a custom board built around an ATmega8 and 3 ATtiny26s all programmed in assembly. He also has custom desktop software written in VB which allows direct control of the robot and graphs sensor data. His site contains pictures, videos, and design materials.
Breath Controlled LED Candles
Instructables user [cedtlab] has posted an interesting LED project that simulates birthday candles. The circuit runs on an AVR ATTiny45, and is powered by 4 AA or AAA batteries. By using a Charliplexing technique, they are able to drive all 20 LEDs with only 5 pins of the ATTiny. A thermistor is used for detecting breath by measuring temperature changes, and then blocks of LEDs turn off depending on the change detected. They have provided schematics and source code for everything. Make sure to check out the video of the “ficticious birthday party” after the break.
Paintball Gun Silencer
In paintball, the element of surprise can make the difference between victory and defeat. While we can’t help you with the sounds of labored breathing and shuffling feet as you waddle across the field, we did find this guide on how to make a silencer for your paintball gun.
To build this you will need two lengths of PVC pipe, one slightly larger in diameter than the barrel of the gun, the other about 1″ beyond that. You will also need PVC reducers that fit the pipes, cotton balls, and various cutting and finishing tools. Cut the stopper tab from the smaller pipe and put into a reducer, hammering the reducer into place. Cut the pipe about 1″ away from the reducer, being careful to make the cut as even (perpendicular to the length of the pipe) as possible. Now drill six straight lines of ten holes along the pipe with the smallest drill bit possible. Sand down the inside of the pipe by wrapping sandpaper around a cylindrical stick and move the stick in and out of the pipe. Cut the larger pipe so that it is slightly shorter than the smaller pipe. Fit the two pipes together and fill the area between the two with about 20 cotton balls. After that, fit the second reducer to the other end. At this point the silencer is functional, but guide author [MrAngryPants] suggests painting it black.
As the paintball and CO2 are expelled from the gun, the cotton baffles dampen the resulting sound wave.
3x3x3 LED Cube
[portreathbeach] built this simple 3x3x3 LED matrix. It uses a PIC16F690 in a ZIF socket for the brains. Each layer has nine LEDs with the cathodes tied together. The anodes from each LED are connected to the LED below. The LEDs are multiplexed so that even though all layers appear to be on, they’re being addressed individually. He’s included software, so you can build your own animations. Video of the matrix in motion is after the break.
Multitouch Rear Projection TV
[Christopher Jette] did a amazing job converting a 56″ rear projection television into a multitouch display. His original inspiration came from this drafting table project. The screen is a large sheet of 1/2″ acrylic with a screen material attached to the back side. The screen edge is surrounded by 168 IR LEDs. When a finger tip touches the surface it scatters the LEDs’ IR light. A webcam sees this scattered light and determines where the fingers are. Inside the box is a standard video projector. This is a great reuse of old equipment and we love to see a hobbyist making up ground where manufacturers aren’t. For more info on multitouch projects, we suggest the Natural User Interface Group. Here’s a video of [Christopher]’s display in action:
Mechanical White Board
[Romado12187] just posted a walkthrough of his mechanical dry erase board project on Instructables. It was on display in the Microsoft booth last weekend at Maker Faire. Unlike [sprite_tm]’s version we covered earlier, this one is built more like a traditional pin plotter. The construction was done entirely in [Romado12187]’s dorm room and uses plywood and PVC pipes for the majority of the frame. The mechanical components were purchased from SDP/SI and the controller hardware are Phidgets. He included a joystick, but it also has a C# command line program for control. [Romado12187]’s write up also has a lot of improvements to help make your first attempt better than his; buying a premounted board and being very exact in calculating motor power are recommended. Catch a video of the plotter in action after the jump.
