Schlagwort: mega
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Adding a turbo readout to a vintage PC case
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you are young, you may not remember the turbo buttons of the 1990s. These existed for backwards-compatibility with older games and software that wouldn’t run properly at the blazing-fast processor clock speeds of the time. The turbo button simply told the CPU to run at a slower clock speed that would…
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Can tripedal robots actually walk?
Reading Time: 2 minutesBuilding walking robots is difficult, because they either need a lot of legs or some ability to balance through their gait. There is a reason that the robots designed by companies like Boston Dynamics are so impressive. But lots of hobbyists have made bipedal and quadrupedal robots, while largely ignoring tripedal robots.…
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Amazon Echo becomes charming animatronic robot
Reading Time: 2 minutesThere is no shame in taking advantage of a voice assistant device, like an Amazon Echo with Alexa. Those devices are useful and can add real convenience to your life. But they lack personality and any feeling of a soul—not just because of the stilted voices, but also because of the boring…
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James Bruton builds a walking AT-AT robot
Reading Time: 2 minutesWas there anything more exciting than watching AT-ATs walk across Hoth towards the Rebel base for the first time? Those massive machines were iconic and helped to solidify The Empire Strikes Back as the best movie set in the Star Wars universe. After experiencing disappointment with AT-AT toys that couldn’t walk, James Bruton built his own…
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This Star Wars-inspired display shows volumetric objects in 3D space
Reading Time: 2 minutesA little over a year ago, Maker Mac70 set out to build an inexpensive DIY version of a volumetric display — a system which enables users to view objects in 3D, without the need for special glasses or extremely fancy components. But unlike in the Star Wars series, this system relies on a projector that…
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This DIY system monitors all of the doors in a senior care home
Reading Time: 2 minutesSenior care homes may get a bad rap in popular culture, but they serve a legitimate and important purpose. As people age, their requirements for care can exceed the capability of their families. When that becomes the case, professional care may be prudent. To help those professionals care for residents, Hayden designed…
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Emoband strokes and squeezes your wrist
Reading Time: 2 minutesModern consumer devices are fantastic at providing visual and auditory stimulation, but they fail to excite any of the other senses. At most, we get some tactile sensation in the form of haptic feedback. But those course vibrations do little more than provide an indication that something is happening, which is why…
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Build your own high-quality ARCTOS robot arm
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you want a robot arm, either for some practical job or just fun, you have a lot of options. There are many consumer and industrial robot arms on the market, but the models that aren’t glorified toys tend to be pricey. You can also build your own. If you go that…
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This mod tunes the guitar so you don’t have to
Reading Time: 2 minutesPlaying the guitar is a great way to impress people at beach parties, but learning to play the guitar isn’t easy. Even grasping the basic theory is a big task and that’s before you even start to practice finger positioning and movement. That’s why Tolgahan Çogulu and Selçuk Keser built this Automatic…
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Stewart platforms actuate Doc Ock tentacle
Reading Time: 2 minutesOctopus tentacles are, essentially, long continuous muscles — a bit like your tongue. That anatomy gives octopuses incredible dexterity, but it is very difficult to replicate in robots. Artificial “muscle” fiber isn’t very practical yet, which is why roboticists turn to more conventional means of actuation. Cable-driven tentacles are popular, but they…
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Bendy robotic tank steers by flexing
Reading Time: 2 minutesJames Bruton has become something of a YouTube sensation by experimenting with unusual drive mechanisms for his robots. While he does do other things, most of his projects seem to focus on designing, building, and evaluating drive types that are far outside of the norm. His newest project is no different. It…
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This machine uses cornstarch to fashion biodegradable pottery
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe art of making pottery has existed for tens of thousands of years, and the materials used have stayed relatively similar as nearly all items were made from clay which was left to harden either from the sun or via a kiln. But for those who wish to do only a little…
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A very nimble DIY hexapod robot
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhile robots can get around on two legs (or even none), it is difficult to get a smooth and efficient gait. Moving up to four legs improves the situation a bit, but each of those legs will still need multiple joints and careful balance for the robot to move in a stable…
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Portable bioprinter could help fight cancer
Reading Time: 2 minutesTo test experimental cancer-fighting therapies, researchers need cancerous tumors to treat. While lab animals, like mice, can provide those tumors, they come with many downsides. From ethical concerns to practical reasons, such as tumor isolation and repeatability, “natural” tumors come at a cost. Artificial tumors, made using real cells, can solve these…
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Build your own virtual camera operation hand wheels
Reading Time: 2 minutesMany tools, such as milling machines, use hand wheels for operation, because they allow for smooth and precise movement. For the same reason, some professional camera rigs also use hand wheels for panning and other moves. To mimic that in a simulated environment, you can build your own virtual camera operation hand…
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An experimental low-cost ultrasonic drone positioning system
Reading Time: 2 minutesDrone shows have become a big trend over the past few years, with some shows containing thousands of individual drones. Those shows are wildly expensive, because the drones can easily cost a couple thousand dollars each. A big part of the reason for their high cost is their onboard positioning systems, which…
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James Bruton’s robot centipede of many legs
Reading Time: 2 minutesStrangely, no centipede has exactly 100 legs. They can have either more or fewer than 100 legs, but not exactly 100 because they always have an odd number of pairs. Sadly, that means that James Bruton’s centipede robot is anatomically incorrect — though cool nonetheless. Bruton built this centipede robot as a scaled-down prototype,…
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This illuminated chessboard displays possible moves
Reading Time: 2 minutesChess is a tricky game to learn, even before you get into various strategies and tactics. The simple act of memorizing the different piece’s moves can be overwhelming to people new to the game. To make it easy to determine where pieces can go, Redditor Bakedbananas is building an illuminated chess board…
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Time Slider is an interesting spin on clock design
Reading Time: 1 minuteYou can build a simple and accurate clock with any Arduino board, an RTC (real-time clock) module, and a four-digit seven-segment display. But if you want to be inspired by a more unique design, check out Hans Andersson’s Time Slider. This clever clock features four sliders — one for each digit of…
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James Bruton improves his triangle-tracked tank
Reading Time: 2 minutesTanks are already quite maneuverable, because the tracks allow them to rotate in place. But what if they were even more maneuverable and could drive in any direction? About a year ago, James Bruton built a small robot tank that had that capability thanks to a triangle-shaped track system with omniwheel-style rollers.…
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A CNC pen plotter with very unusual kinematics
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe vast majority of automated, CNC-controlled machine tools utilize a kinematic motion system that is (not coincidentally) the easiest for people to wrap their heads around. This is your standard Cartesian layout, in which the tool head rides on linear rails along two or three axes. But there are many other kinematic…
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An awesome new open source long-range RC transmitter
Reading Time: 2 minutesDSM (digital spectrum modulation) is a relatively new radio control technology that is ideal for long-range applications. It uses two methods, FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) and DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum), to transmit data, with the latter being especially resilient to interference and therefore suitable for transmission over long distances. If…
