The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
Instructables user spookylean shows us how to make this cool little folding prop based on a weapon from the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. He does it the labor-intensive but inexpensive way–cutting the profiles by hand from clear hardware store Plexiglas and then painting them black. I am too lazy for that and would probably just have them laser-cut from black plastic to start with. Embedded magnets lock it in the deployed position.
The worst thing about summertime in Austin is the facehuggers. They’re more than just a nuisance; if you’re allergic to alien embryos, like I am, they can actually be quite dangerous. Plus there’s that whole chestbursting thing–inconvenient, embarrassing, and uncomfortable to say the least. I’ve gotten pretty good at removing them using the old spork-and-a-defibrillator trick, but it’s terribly slow and, no matter how careful I am, I always seem to end up burning myself with molecular acid and having to stick those little bits of toilet paper to my face. Fortunately, thanks to space medic Ronald Renne, now there’s a better way. [via Gizmodo]
Learn to make the Lemon Flashlight, reukpower’s electro-culinary dish.
The quintessentially Dutch, singularly functional, aesthetically innovative, and yet alluringly strange table in question is by designer Wouter Scheublin. “Walking Table,” as it is cleverly named, is human-powered, incorporating a mechanical linkage that converts gentle lifting and pushing of the top into oscillations of the legs that move the table across the floor with little effort. [via NOTCOT]
Respected automata builder, blogger, and long-time MAKE pal Dug North has started collating plans for whirligigs, mechanical toys, and other automata in a single page.
Italian maker “MadSimon” sent us info and a link to this video for his 3D freehand drawing rig. He explains: It is an experimental DIY peripheral that behaves like a “3D pen.” Just hold the tip of the robo-arm, and act like you’re drawing, pressing keyboard buttons to lay down points and lines. The advantage […]
Made almost entirely from machined aluminum by Kuba_T1000. It feeds plastic BBs from an electric ammo pack that holds 16,000 rounds. [via Hack a Day]
