“What Is My Purpose?” You Amplify And Display Signals.

[Andy_Fuentes22] likes to stream music, but is (understandably) underwhelmed by the sound that comes out of his phone. He wanted to build something that not only looks good, but sounds good. Something that could stream music through a Chromecast or a Raspi, but also take auxiliary input. Something awesome, like the Junkbots Sound System.

The ‘bots, named LR-E (Larry) and R8-CHL (Rachel), aren’t just cool pieces of art. They’re both dead-bug-walking bots with an LM386-based amplifier circuit and an AN6884-based VU meter in their transparent, industrial relay bodies. LR-E is the left channel, and his lovely wife is the right channel. The best part is that they are wired into the circuit through their 3.5mm plug legs and the corresponding jacks mounted in the Altoids tin base.

[Andy] built this labor of love from the ground up. He started with some very nice design sketches and took a bazillion pictures along the way. We think it sounds pretty good, but you can judge for yourself after the break. If VU meters are your jam, here’s another that’s built into the speaker.

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Solar-powered Junkbot

solar_powered_junkbot

Instructables user [martzsam] recently built a simple robot using miscellaneous junk he found around his house. The first parts he scrounged up were a pair of 1.5v electric motors and some wire scraps, after which, he went to work on an old garden light. He detailed how to carefully remove the light’s solar panel as well as the charging circuit, which he used to power his robot. The pieces were mounted on some old erector set parts after a bit of rewiring, then the bot was set in motion. [martzsam] also mentions that he tweaked the solar panel’s charging circuit and battery to run the motors at half speed until light is shone on the panel, at which point the robot runs at full speed.

This project would be great to do with kids as it teaches the concepts of re-purposing common household items as well as allows them to use their imagination in designing a fun, yet simple robot. Gather up some old junk and your kids/nieces/nephews and get going!

Continue reading to see a quick video of the robot in action.

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