Lego Minifig Volt and Ohm Meter
This Lego meter uses a microcontroller inside the case to check resistors and batteries. A PC running a .NET application displays the value and uses text to speech to say the number aloud. [Via Dangerous Prototypes]
Fun & Games
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
The Cyclotrope: Amazing Bike Wheel Animation
Who would have ever thought that there were so many ways to combine cycling and persistence of vision? Here’s another cool one to add to the list: much like a zoetrope, Tim Wheatley’s Cyclotrope is a bike wheel that gives the illusion of animation when it’s being spun on camera. [via Neatorama] More: Embroidered Animation […]
Gaming Minis From Twist-Ties
Shown above is only the most recent work, using this technique, of Photobucket user ionustron, for whom it has been a lifelong hobby. Here’s another:
Real Life “Up” House Lifted by Balloons
It took this crew the short span of two weeks to “fly the house” in this National Geographic project to create a real life version of the house in Pixar’s Up— lifted into the sky by balloons. “The real Up! Scientists recreate floating house from Pixar movie… and prove it really CAN fly” at dailymail: […]
Kinect + Open Drivers + Physics Engine = Piles of Kickable Corpses
The net result is a system that recognizes your movements and allows you to interact with virtual objects using the sophisticated physics of Valve’s engine, as the embedded video demonstrates. Don’t miss the bit at 0:30 where John, in the person of a giant robomechanical avatar, kicks a pile of virtual bodies across the screen.
In the Maker Shed: XGS AVR 8-Bit Development System
The XGS AVR 8-Bit is the ultimate fusion of art and science. Developed to be a very competitive entry/midrange development kit for the Atmel MEGA AVR 644 processor with 64K FLASH, 4K SRAM, and running at 28+ MIPs.
Mindstorms NXT Tank Packs All The Optional Extras
We posted pix of Martijn “Dino_Martino” Hellemans’ Mindstorms ‘fully functional battle tank‘ last month, and here is a video. To recap, it has caterpillar treads with independent suspension, cruise control, LED headlights, semi-automatic brick flinger with laser sighting, and the whole shebang can be run by a Playstation 3 controller.
