The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
So, I went in a different direction. We’ve been playing with R/C helicopters in the office recently, which is what inspired this gift. Here you go, John: a fiberglass R/C helicopter kit from Titan. Isn’t it neat?
A clever idea, first reported by Gareth a couple years ago: Architects are trying to figure out how to use quadrotors to haul and place individual bricks. The above link is in French; here’s a Google translation. In 2011, Gramazio & Kohler and Raffaello D’Andrea launched a pioneering project around training dynamic and robotic procedures […]
OK, so, they only have five leaves each, and the actual stuff on the pages is not made of Lego elements, but c’mon: Among challenging subjects to model in Lego, surely a functional book is near the top of the list. But then, we’ve pretty much come to to expect that sort of thing from artist Guy Himber, whose masterful MOCs we’ve featured here many times before.
CD duplicators are a great way to make a small batch of CDs. Commercial units cost around $500, can be finicky, and usually come with some weird proprietary software. Maker Paul Rea wanted something a little less restrictive and cost conscious, so he built one out of LEGO and an Arduino. At least if it becomes temperamental, he’ll probably have a bucket of spare parts handy.
Marcus Olsson and Fredrik Leijon built a zeppelin that uses a Fio, Xbee, and TV-B-Gone added to a toy RC blimp, and is controlled by a Wiimote. My favorite detail, the Lego Technics gears they added.
Peter William Wagner bounces across the fairgrounds at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, delighting everyone whose path he crosses. The big purple eccentric-axled bike has two inflated all-terrain wheels that can also function as flotation for the aquatic parts of the annual Kinetic Grand Championship in and around Arcada, California, where this “whim-cycle” has appeared for the last six years. Even Peter’s baby granddaughter enjoys the ride.
My friend Karen Nazor send me a link to this video of animations being created, phenakistoscope/persistence of vision-style, on bicycle wheels, using paper cut-outs in the spokes. Really nifty.
