Solar Power For Your Bike

September 4, 2013 by Marsh 5 Comments

After the headlight on his bike died, [Patrick] decided this was the best time to hack the remains and solve a few problems: namely a constantly drained battery from accidentally forgetting to turn the light off. He opted for a solar solution, as he already had both an Adafruit solar lithium charger and a Seeed Li-po Rider. [Patrick] picks the Adafruit board for its extra safety features like temperature sensing to prevent the cell from overheating.

The build uses 9 eBay-sourced 2V mini solar panels attached neatly on the bike’s mudflaps. Three groups of 3 panels in series provide the needed 6V into the Adafruit lithium board which safely charges a spare 900mAh Nokia phone battery from the junk drawer. [Patrick] admits this solar setup may be overkill. He decided to include a USB jack to keep his phone charged for some Google maps navigation. The Adafruit board does not step up to 5V, however, so [Patrick] tacks on a Mintyboost kit to kick the Lipo’s output up high enough to charge the phone.

Solar’s not the only alternative way to power your bike’s lights. Check out the RattleGen from earlier this year if you missed it.

DIY Lighting Solutions

March 10, 2013 by Jeremy Cook 14 Comments

With daylight savings time starting up, you might not have quite as much need for lighting, but this pair of hacks should keep everything well lit whether outside or indoors. Check out the videos of both in action after the break.

The first lighting solution comes to us from [Ben]’s Youtube channel. It’s a simple solution, press-fitting a clamp light into a 1 inch PVC Tee to attach the light to a pipe. The base is made with PVC shaped into three feet for a (hopefully) sturdy rest. Several lights can be used as needed, and would probably work well for making his next video.

The second light also comes to us from Youtube, and is about converting a stock LED light into one that is much brighter. Skip to around 7:00 to see the outdoor comparison. You may or may not want to do this exact hack, but you never know when you might want to swap out your blinkenlights for something that will scare the neighbors!
Continue reading “DIY Lighting Solutions” →

NFC Tags Control Your Home’s Lighting

February 22, 2013 by Mike Szczys 2 Comments

nfc-controlled-home-lighting

Here’s a home lighting hack that doesn’t require you to think about it after the initial setup. Instead of requiring the user to launch an app and select a lighting state, it uses NFC tags to select a lighting configuration. The tags can be placed in different parts of the house so that setting your phone on the table beside the door while putting your coat on will turn everything in the house off. Of course you need to crawl before you can walk so right now this proof-of-concept only switches the Phillips HUE bulb in the desk lamp.

That bulb is compatible with the Ninja Blocks system — but a Ninja Block or an Arduino with an Ethernet shield could be used to switch whatever you wish. The Ninja client code is an integral part of the system which is why the hardware side needs to relate to the platform. Also used is the On{X} service which bridges the gap between your Android phone and the home automation hardware. Once that is in place it’s only a matter of programming the NFC tags to do as you wish. Don’t miss a demo of this in the clip after the jump.

Continue reading “NFC Tags Control Your Home’s Lighting” →

The Universal Geospatial Light Switch

February 3, 2013 by Jeremy Cook 14 Comments

Home automation has existed in one form or another for quite some time, but we thought this take on controlling lights was quite interesting. Instead of having a menu of lights that you can turn on and off, this Android app lets you point your phone at the device and turn it on or of. Undoubtedly similar to how [Darth Vader] controls his lights at home.

Although the really technical details of this project aren’t listed, this setup reads the compass and GPS output of the Android device to figure out where it’s pointed in space. Combined with a script that understands the layout of the room, and an [X10] automation controller, it’s able to control lights accurately.

Be sure to check out the video of this device in action, or check out [Mike]’s [Project Rita] blog to see the other interesting projects that he’s working on!

Continue reading “The Universal Geospatial Light Switch” →

21st Century Light Bulbs Using 3D Printer And Chemistry Equipment

January 22, 2013 by Mike Szczys 20 Comments

lab-equipment-light-bulbs

[Andreas Hölldorfer] brings his light fixtures into this century by using a couple of modern technologies. The fixtures combine LED modules, 3D printed pieces, and laboratory glassware to give his room a unique look.

The glass enclosure is something he’s had on hand for quite some time but they never actually got used. There is an opening at one end which is meant to receive a stopper. He modeled one including holes for the wires and printed the piece with a 3D printer. Also fabricated in the same way is a bracket that is used for mounting the fixture to the wall. The blossom of components inside the glass are each made up of five LED modules. There’s no word on what he’s using for a power supply or how he managed the cable runs, but he did post an image of two of the fixtures installed in his living room.

Musical Light Show Is Far Less Complex Than You Might Think

June 21, 2012 by Mike Nathan 15 Comments

color-changing-light-tube

[Matt and Jason Tardy], who make up the musical performance duo known as AudioBody, were recently featured on Make: explaining how they put on one of their trademark segments. The most popular portion of their show features color changing tubes of light which the pair spin and fling around not unlike a higher-tech version of the Blue Man Group. While the visuals are pretty slick, the technique behind it is far simpler than most people initially imagine.

As you can see in video below, the tubes look to be nothing more than simple white lights. As the brothers work through their performance however, the tubes switch from white to blue and back again with a liquid-like transition between the colors.

The [Tardys] say that most people peg a microcontroller or other complex electronics as the source of their light wizardry, but the real answer is much simpler. Embedded in the end of each tube is a bright LED flashlight. A sliding blue filter positioned inside the tube provides the silky smooth transition between colors – no fancy electronics required.

If you would like to see how they were built, be sure to swing by the AudioBody web site for a how-to presentation by the [Tardys] themselves.

Continue reading “Musical Light Show Is Far Less Complex Than You Might Think” →

Giant Space Invaders With Road Barriers And No Moving Parts

April 26, 2012 by Mike Szczys 5 Comments

This is space invaders on the large-scale. To give you an idea of just how big this is, that’s a street lamp to the left. It’s being played on the side of a building, but it’s not really done the easy way. We’ve seen gaming on the sides of buildings by using projectors, but this one is more like a classic LCD handheld game… just really really big.

Each of the game pieces is hung in place on a black backdrop. The invaders themselves are molded-plastic road construction barricades. The shield area on the bottom is made op of center-lane dividers. All of the pieces are wired with lights that can be addressed by a central controller. As you can see after the break, just one button gets the action under way.

This is along the same line as the Christmas Light game we saw several years back. If you’ve got some extra strings of lights and don’t mind building a controller we think you should add a little fun to the neighborhood with your own giant installation. Just don’t forget to send in some pictures.

Continue reading “Giant Space Invaders With Road Barriers And No Moving Parts” →