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R2D2 has 8 Game Consoles inside
2009-09-24 03:53:00
  Console makers are always trying to make their machine sleeker and sexier than the competition. In the end the consoles usually look like a black or white rectangular box. If you are tired of the ordinary why not stuff all of your favorite consoles in something that look cool like a R2D2? That is exactly ...
More About: Consoles , Game , Inside

AION game played using Treadmill and Wiimote sensing Flapping
2009-09-23 21:52:00
The guys over at Mana Potions have developed a cool new way to play the new AION and get some exercise at the same time. Looks like running and flapping at the same time may be kind of hard but it is a good idea to get a bit of a workout. I wonder how ...
More About: Game , Wiimote

Balloon Experiments with Amateur Radio- Launch 4
2009-09-23 17:59:00
  Sending a balloon into near space has been done quite a few times by the BEAR group in Alberta Canada. Have a look at the details of their 4th launch where Tomoya Kamiko from Japan came to Canada with his HD camera to take it into space! "The balloon and camera were launched at 7:44 AM, ...
More About: Radio , Amateur Radio , Balloon , Launch , Experiments

Ignite talk - Adapting with Technology
2009-09-23 02:58:00
  Mark Argo put on a great Ignite talk at Ignite Toronto about our DIY environment. "Since the dawn of humanity we have fashioned objects to help extend our basic capabilities: see better, walk farther, speak louder, soar higher. More than ever we depend on these ‘gadgets’ to navigate our environment and culture. ‘Adapting With Technology ’ explores ...
More About: Talk

USB to RS232 Adapter Hack
2009-09-22 12:14:00
  Openschemes shows us how those $10 USB to RS232 adapters can be hacked to provide us a valuable tool. Nice thing about soldering some wires to a few test points on a finished circuit is that the circuit can be put away for use in the future. That never happens to a circuit that was built on a bread board since it will probably be ripped out to make room for another circuit before the original one is needed. "The most desirable type of adapter uses at least two chips: a USB controller chip such as a microcontroller and a level translator chip such as a MAX232. Other types can be hacked but they will probably need you to dump the firmware, rewrite it, and reprogram the device. That’s fun and all, but for now we’re just looking for a simple and CHEAP way to get a low-voltage USB serial port."
More About: Hack , Adapter

Arduino GPS Game
2009-09-22 03:07:00
  This Arduino GPS Game that won the Let Arduino Play contest over at Brico Geek looks like fun. Unlike normal games where you simply interact within the imaginary game space this one uses GPS to bring the game play into the real world. If someone would like to provide a few sentences that describe the game a bit better I would love to publish that.

Micro LED Controller - Light Chaser
2009-09-20 13:45:00
  Before you say this LED Controller doesn’t look micro, have a look at the board in the picture below with a 9 volt battery snap to compare it to. This board is tiny! You could hide this thing in model cars, train sets, props, this list goes on an on. Also the interface is a single button, it doesn’t get much simpler than that. Via: HG Forum
More About: Light , Micro

Dice Reading using an Arduino
2009-09-19 13:01:00
  Steve Hoefer has completed version 2 of his Dice Reading project (Version 1 can be found here). I was surprised to see that only 5 locations of the dice are looked at to determine what number is present since there are actually nine locations where the pips could be located. It obviously works but for some reason isn’t obvious to me at this moment!  "This version uses 5 IR emitter/receiver pairs to read five of the nine potential pip locations on a die face. I had to file down the edges of the detectors to get them pip-distance apart and place the emitters directly behind the detectors so they’d get maximum reflection from the surface"

Name the Thing Contest - 101
2009-09-19 09:05:00
Thanks to the Ohm’s Law Calculator Website for sponsoring the contest this week. They will be providing a useful Resistor Color Chart Mug to the winner. The site provides an Ohm’s Law Calculator, Ohm’s Law Wheel, E24 Resistor Sizes, Resistor Color Chart, LED Resistor Calculator, AWG Wire Sizes and mcd to Lumens Converterinformation. This site is sure to be useful when you are designing your next circuit, might even be a good idea to bookmark the site now instead of hunting for it when you need it! This contest will run for one week (Sept 19 - 25, 2009) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it. Please do not give the answer in the comments.  Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with "Name the Thing Contest " as the subject, and the message body consisting of: The name of the item in the above picture An example of what the item pictured above ca...

WALL-E Email Alerter
2009-09-18 13:10:00
  I love a good WALL-E hack and here is a cool one where WALL-E will alert you when you get new emails. TotoroYamada from Lets Make Robots has some great documentation of his build. I can think of lots of cool applications for a robot that can get my attention by waving its arms around. If this was made a few months ago I think it would have been in this Top 10 WALL-E Hacks list. Thanks Totoro. "The robot is actuated by three 9g mini-servos, and controlled by a SD21 servo driver and a picaxe 18x… i know, it’s a bit like killing a mouse with a rocket launcher, it’s just that i want to get used to the board before building my next robot, but i have to order a bunch of 08M for that kind of experimentation, as soon as i get them i’ll do the brain transplantation."
More About: Email , Wall , Wall-E

scoreLight - Musical Laser
2009-09-17 13:02:00
  The scoreLight project by Alvaro Cassinelli, Daito Manabe and Yusaku Kuribara is an amazing piece of technology since it changes the way we would normally interact with a system. Simply draw some lines on the paper or cup your hands to interact with scoreLight. It reminds me of the the freedom that the Drawdio project allowed. "scoreLight is a prototype musical instrument capable of generating sound in real time from the lines of doodles as well as from the contours of three-dimensional objects nearby (hands, dancer’s silhouette, architectural details, etc). There is no camera nor projector: a laser spot explores the shape as a pick-up head would search for sound over the surface of a vinyl record - with the significant difference that the groove is generated by the contours of the drawing itself. The light beam follows these countours in the very same way a blind person uses a white cane to stick to a guidance route on the street."
More About: Musical , Laser

Creating a Near-Space Imaging Vehicle
2009-09-17 02:25:00
  This impressive Near-Space Imaging Vehicle was created by a the RPI Electronics Club in about 30 hours and for about $300! Could there be a business idea behind this project? After taking some hi resolution pictures at various heights for a day spend the rest of the week selling them to the residents of the area.
More About: Creating

Pictures that look Fake
2009-09-16 23:30:00
  I am usually more interested in taking very close up pictures of small electronic items. If you are interested in close up photography have a look at this Instructable that bloomautomatic put together for that. On the other hand I have never tried to take these type of cool outdoor pictures but I think next time I am out snapping some pictures I will have to keep my eye open for some cool placement trickery like in these pictures! "This shot was taken at the Perito Moreno glacier in the Argentine region of Patagonia. The 250 km2 (97 sq mi) ice formation is an important tourist attraction, and the sheets of frozen fresh water clearly offer ample opportunity for a little playfulness with visual perspective." "This touching shot makes aiming for the top not such a fanciful dream after all. The most famous landmark on the Parisian landscape is the perfect prop to make this little girl seem like a giant standing some 324 m (1,063 ft) tall. The low camera angle and ...
More About: Pictures , Fake

Smart Power Grids
2009-09-15 23:21:00
  In the latest Electronic Products magazine there is a great article about the latest technology in smart power grids. Power Integrations is a leader in this field that is sure to be adopted widely. Subscribing to the Electronic Products magazine is free as long as you are in the USA. Hacked Gadgets does receive a small payment for each subscription to any of our Free Magazine Subscriptions so we appreciate the support from all who subscribe to the free magazines that we offer. "As electric utility companies grapple with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the increasing costs and lead-times for introducing new generating capacity they are turning to the concept of the “smart grid.” One of the core elements of the smart grid is the smart power meter that communicates with both the energy supplier and the consumer to provide real-time information on energy consumption and cost. The energy supplier’s biggest headache is catering for the peak l...
More About: Smart

Harness Insect Flight and Vision Electronically
2008-06-10 13:21:00
DARPA is funding some fantastic research but being able to Harness Insect Flight and Vision Electronically is a concept that is far out. The goal is lofty but based on the research results they have achieved to date I think their plans are attainable. "DARPA’s goal is to create cyborg insects that can fly at least ...

Order Dominos Pizza via Command Line
2008-06-09 13:11:00
  Why go to all the trouble of dialing the phone to order a pizza. Now you can Order Dominos Pizza via Command Line . Looks like this can’t work here in Canada though.  :(  I think it would be cool to setup a crontab to automatically order a pizza for you on a schedule. I ...
More About: Digg

WiFi Controlled Telepresence Tank
2008-06-08 17:15:00
  Have a look at this Wifi Controlled Telepresence Tank , you could roam around your house from work and scare away any burglars who dare enter the house of an uber geek. "well the last 2 quarters me and my friend have been working on our senior design project for electrical engineering. It’s basically a tank you ...

Solar Hot Water Panel with Sun Tracker
2008-06-08 04:37:00
  Banev left a comment on this sun tracker project that shows his cool Solar Hot Water Panel with Sun Tracker in operation. The panels follow the sun and heat water in a hot water tank. The computer monitoring is what makes it real interesting!  

Name the Thing Contest - 50
2008-06-07 08:38:00
  The winner for the last contest will be announced soon. The prize will help you to have a closer look at custom circuit boards, board repairs etc. This contest will run for one week (June 7 - June 12, 2008) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above ...
More About: Contest , Contests , Thing

Hexapod Robot CNC Router
2008-06-06 14:02:00
  We have seen this robot grow over the months, the first feature was face tracking, then it was drawing, now the Hexapod Robot will do CNC Routing! Using the router head shown above this Hexapod robot by Matt Denton is even more flexible. Still not perfect but how many CNC machines can walk over to ...
More About: Router

Wireless Accelerometer Mouse Pointer
2008-06-05 15:04:00
  This project shows you how to build a Wireless Accelerometer Mouse Pointer. I think in time these types of input devices will be in everything allowing for added functionality. I can think of lots of great applications on cell phones for example, I would like to have a Google Maps up on my phone and ...

Extertec SPYKSTER - Extreme Trike
2008-06-04 13:20:00
The Extertec SPYKSTER is a very cool looking trike! The new steering concept that it uses looks very comfortable and simple to use. I wonder when we will be seeing more vehicles using that steering method. "The vehicle has proven itself to be extremely capable, traveling at speeds in excess of 230kph(140mph) with no sensitivity issues ...
More About: Extreme

Smart Card Hacking
2008-06-03 14:36:00
  Chris Tarnovsky, the owner of Flylogic Engineering spoke to Wired about some of his Smart Card Hacking techniques. It involves lots of dangerous acids to burn off some of the protective layers so it isn’t a DIY project. He is able to probe a data bus on the chip and read or inject information! Below ...

Computer asks for Money
2008-06-02 13:36:00
Here is a great use of some old computer hardware. We have seen hard drives playing music before but not after asking for money. "The old PC plays music on using some old floppy and hard drive mechanisms, then opens its CD tray to beg for your spare change. If you don’t pay, he ...
More About: Money , Computer

Crazy PC Case Mods
2008-05-31 13:28:00
  If you are looking for some inspiration for your next PC case mod have a look at some of these Crazy PC Case Mods ! I have seen a few of them before but this Microwave PC Case mod stood out. I love how stock the microwave looks.

Find the Item Contest
2008-05-31 07:34:00
  Something a bit different this week. As you have probably seen we offer many free technical magazines that can be subscribed to by answering a few questions. The contest this week will be a hunt for the matching magazine. The knife we are giving away this week will help you void warranties like no ones business ...
More About: Contest , Contests , Find , Item

Robot Power Plant
2008-05-30 19:22:00
This Robot Power Plant project by Ken Gracey over at Parallax shows how we can get away from using huge batteries for power hungry mobile projects. There are pictures of his second build style after the jump.  "Project Purpose:  To develop an outdoor robot power system which can deliver many more amp-hours of energy than batteries, using a gas engine ...

Camera Flash Stun Gun
2008-05-30 13:52:00
  With just a few tools and a disposable camera you can build an inexpensive stun gun. In the video the wires are simply twisted but you should use a bit of solder to hold the wires securely.      
More About: Flash , Camera

Lego Autopilot
2008-05-29 18:10:00
With the Lego NXT being such a versatile platform for building and maintaining projects, I figured I needed to mention this crazy design. Chris Anderson over at diydrones.com built a small RC plane that he transformed into a UAV with a Lego NXT controller and some Robot C code. Any follower of the Lego Mindstorm ...
More About: Autopilot

DSLR Camera old Flash Adapter
2008-05-29 13:14:00
  You can build this DSLR Camera old Flash Adapter for a few dollars and still use your old trusty camera flashes on your new gear. Looks like a nice simple and robust circuit. "This instructable shows you how to make a really easy and simple circuit, that protects your new camera from high trigger voltages in ...