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Students program Human Tetris into 8-bit microcontroller, give away schematics for free (video)
Sure, Project Natal is the hotness and a little bird tells us PlayStation Move is pretty bodacious, but you don't have to buy a fancy game console to sooth your motion-tracking blues. When students at Cornell University wanted to play Human Tetris (and ace a final project to boot), they taught a 20Mhz, 8-bit microcontroller how to follow their moves. Combined with an NTSC camera, the resulting system can display a 39 x 60 pixel space at 24 frames per second, apparently enough to slot your body into some grooves -- and as you'll see in videos after the break, it plays a mean game of Breakout, too. Full codebase and plans to build your own at the source link. Eat your heart out, geeks.
Auto-dimming electrochromic panels reduce glare when driving (video)
It's rush hour, and you're headed due West on your evening commute -- the sun burning holes in your eyes. You could flip down a window visor, trading your field of view for visibility. Or, with a prototype shown off at Intel's 2010 International Science and Engineering Fair, you could simply let the windshield darken on its own. Two San Diego students (both accustomed to copious amounts of sunshine) rigged a Toyota Prius to do just that by stringing up electrochromic panels, which dim when voltage is applied. The trick is figuring out when and where to apply it, because when the sun is shining the panels themselves all receive the same amount of light. So instead of gauging it at the glass, Aaron Schild and Rafael Cosman found that an ultrasonic range finder could track the driver's position while a VGA webcam measured the light coming through, and darken the sections liable to cause the most eyestrain. We saw a prototype in person, and it most certainly works... albeit slowly. If you're rearing to roll your own, it seems raw materials are reasonably affordable -- Schild told us electrochromic segments cost $0.25 per square inch -- but you may not need to DIY. Having won $4,000 in prize money at the Fair, the teens say they intend to commercialize the technology, and envision it natively embedded in window glass in the not-too-distant future. Here's hoping GM gives them a call. See pics of the Prius below, or check out a video demo of their prototype right after the break. %Gallery-93034%
Student moves quadriplegics with Wiimote wheelchair control (video)
There were certainly a couple whiz kids at Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair this year, but high school senior John Hinckel's a regular MacGyver: he built a wheelchair remote control out of a couple sheets of transparent plastic, four sliding furniture rails and some string. A Nintendo Wiimote goes in your hat and tells the whole system what to do -- simply tilt your head in any direction, and accelerometer readings are sent over Bluetooth. The receiving laptop activates microcontrollers, directing servo motors to pull the strings, and acrylic gates push the joystick accordingly to steer your vehicle. We tried on the headset for ourselves and came away fairly impressed -- it's no mind control, but for $534 in parts, it just might do. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought so, as patents are pending, and a manufacturer of wheelchair control systems has already expressed interest in commercializing the idea. See the young inventor show it off after the break.
Cellbots get Nexus One upgrade, ad-hoc motion control (video)
Sprint and Verizon may have shunned the Nexus One, but that doesn't mean the handsets can't be put to good use: these Android-controlled, Arduino-powered Cellbots now feature the one true Googlephone as the CPU. At Intel's 2010 International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, we got our hot little hands on the DIY truckbots for the first time, and found to our surprise they'd been imbued with accelerometer-based motion control. Grabbing a Nexus One off a nearby table, we simply tilted the handset forward, back, left and right to make the Cellbot wheel about accordingly, bumping playfully into neighbors and streaming live video the whole time. We were told the first handset wirelessly relayed instructions to the second using Google Chat, after which point a Python script determined the bot's compass facing and activated Arduino-rigged motors via Bluetooth, but the real takeaway here is that robots never fail to amuse. Watch our phone-skewing, bot-driving antics in a video after the break, and see what we mean.
Homemade 16TB NAS dwarfs the competition with insane build quality (video)
From the man that brought you the OS Xbox Pro and the Cinematograph HD comes... a cockpit canopy filled with hard drives? Not quite. Meet the Black Dwarf, a custom network-attached-storage device from the mind of video editor Will Urbina, packing 16TB of RAID 5 magnetic media and a 1.66GHz Atom N270 CPU into a completely hand-built Lexan, aluminum and steel enclosure. Urbina says the Dwarf writes at 88MB per second and reads at a fantastic 266MB per second, making the shuttlecraft-shaped 12.7TB array nearly as speedy as an SSD but with massive capacity and some redundancy to boot. As usual, the DIY guru shot a professional time-lapse video of his entire build process, and this one's not to be missed -- it showcases some pretty spiffy camerawork as well as the man's welding skills. See sparks fly after the break.
iPad merges with kitchen cabinet, sacrificing portability for utility
From the moment we saw the so-called "magical device," we knew the lucrative digital cookbook market would never be quite the same, but it's one thing to imagine an iPad as the centerpiece of one's kitchen, and something else entirely to see to see it in the flesh. TUAW reader Alan Daly built his directly into the side of a kitchen cabinet, and set it to work doling out Epicurious recipes, streaming Jamie Oliver, and surfing some of the world's best websites (in our oh-so-humble opinion) well out of the way of troublesome meat splatter. In lieu of flying toasters, his screen displays a virtual aquarium when it's not in use, and the whole assembly seems to be a simple matter of cutting a hole and affixing a pair of wooden strips for support. It's not clear, however, how he keeps it charged. Maybe that's the magic Steve keeps talking about. Video after the break.
Bacteria's back with portable Nintendo 64, complete how-to guide
The quest to build the perfect portable Nintendo 64 continues, but we imagine we'll stop seeing so many disparate designs soon. That's not because Bacteria's latest bulbous handheld has achieved perfection -- far from it -- but rather because he's provided a 2.5-hour, step-by-step video guide to help you build it from the ground up. And hey, the system isn't too shabby, either. The "iNto64" portable features integrated Controller, Rumble and Expansion Paks for complete N64 functionality, built-in speakers and a headphone jack, rechargeable batteries for up to three hours of play, even a video-out port if you get tired of staring at the ubiquitous 5-inch Sony PSone LCD. The only obvious oversight is controller ports for more inputs -- seems our buddy Bacteria wasn't a big fan of GoldenEye. See it play some of N64's other best games after the break, while we dust off our gamebit screwdriver. Obvious though it may seem, know what you're getting into before you do likewise; ripping up classic cart-based consoles isn't for the faint of heart.
Winscape virtual window features Wiimote headtracking, absolutely made of win
We have not modified the above picture in any way -- Scout's Honor. That's a real baby, wearing a real IR necklace that interacts with a real Wiimote. What's not real, of course, is the view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. That is generated by Ryan Hoagland's DIY virtual window, a brilliant pastiche of interior design, RED ONE footage and Johnny Chung Lee-style headtracking, all directed to your eyes by a Mac Pro feeding a pair of plasma screens. As the viewer moves around, dual 1080p images move the opposite direction, providing the convincing illusion of looking out a real pane of glass at the incredibly detailed scenery beyond. Exciting? Then you'll be giggling like Jr. when you hear it's for sale. After spending a year figuring out how to mount, drive and cool the whole shebang, Hoagland would like you to have one too; he plans to have basic kits ready by July for under $3000. Watch baby-powered plasma in motion after the break, as well as a sweet time-lapse video of the build process. [Thanks, Andy, ArjanD]
DIY smartphone car dock: 10 minutes, $2, and worthy of a MacGyver sense of accomplishment
The problem: you need a hands-free option for safely espying your smartphone while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Your equipment: Adhesive-backed craft foam, heavy duty plastic coated wiring, assorted PVC tubes and pieces. (Total value: approximately $2.) A "goofy vacant space" in the car dash for placement. Target time is 10 minutes or less. Hit up the Instructables source link for your solution!
DIY Lady Gaga 'Pop Music' shades: so magical, you'd be so fantastical
Next time you're out at a Lady Gaga tribute concert, leave the crowd speechless with your very own "Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow" glasses. All it takes to give off that "Creative Director of Polaroid" vibe is just the touch of your hand, two keychain digital picture frames, and some garage glamorous sunglasses you don't mind seeing destroyed. Love the shades, baby? You won't be able to see straight anymore -- the frames aren't transparent, so keep that in mind when choreographing. DIY instructions via the source link, video example after the break. Spandex one-piece recommended, but we'd advise against Heartbeats earphones.
DIY cat feeder now enabled by a Cisco switch, streams food and video
You know, there are times when you have to part ways with your adorable kitties at home, and you might not be so keen on getting a cat sitter in case he or she touches your precious game consoles (even if it's an old granny). We've seen the lazy man's solution before, but Britain's Mathew Newton has brought us a new DIY internet-enabled cat feeder just in time for a new decade. Rather than using a CD-ROM tray to push-release unknown quantities of cat food, Mathew's version has a motor-driven cereal dispenser controlled by signal from port status LEDs on a Cisco switch -- an ingenious way to avoid expensive Ethernet relay units. When it's feeding time the user logs onto a web interface to choose the dispensing quantity, or you can also have an automatic feed schedule set up if you trust the system -- Mathew said he "can rely on it 100%," and his cats do appear to be healthy. Fortunately, you can always check the live video stream just in case you have doubts. All is explained in the video after the break.
Apple posts DIY info for new iMac memory installation
If you're looking to do a DIY memory upgrade on your brand-spanking new iMac, Apple's more than happy to tell you how. The Cupertino company has posted info in the Support section of its website telling people who aren't afraid to pop the hood on the new 21.5" and 27" iMacs what kind of memory modules the new machines use and how to install or replace memory modules themselves. While it's not the public's first look inside the machines, Apple lets the world know that the iMac (Late 2009) has four SDRAM slots, where to find them, and what types of modules will and won't fit happily inside. Would-be do it yourselfers can search Apple's site for support document HT3918. Godspeed – and Godcaution – to you. [via Softpedia]
DIY Eee Keyboard is big, beautiful, and highly coveted
The ASUS Eee Keyboard is thin, sleek, and has a touchscreen pad. This do-it-yourself is bulky, uses a green backlight, and has instead a wireless mouse and numpad. Still, there's something magical and all kinds of wonderful about this home project, essentially an Eee PC 900 shoved into a Sven Multimedia EL 4002 keyboard. All you need is a VGA cable hooked up to a monitor and you're officially good to go. Itching to recreate this beaut for yourself? Hit up the read link for a plethora of in-process screenshots and some commentary from its maker. [Via Liliputing]
DIY HD projector hits the right note, sub-€500 price range
It's really hard to say how much of a value this DIY HD projector is, given we're missing some crucial specs like resolution (gotta be at least 720p, right?), contrast ratio, and luminosity. Still, at €500 (about $708 US) for the whole kit, it's not a bad deal if you planned on spending your weekend doing projects anyway. All the pieces come in four separate bundles -- HD optic, light, housing, and electronics -- and if you need some handholding (it's okay, so do we), there's a German-language instruction manual that's thankfully full of pictures and diagrams, and even more entertaining, we've got a video / picture slideshow of the process done to a playful techno ditty. Check it out after the break.Update: Yup, it's 1280x768.[Via Slashgear, thanks Gary K.]Read - DIY HD projector kitRead - Instruction manual
FLOW is like the Ikea bookshelf of Android phones
"You know, I could build a better phone than this." We've probably all uttered something to that effect in our past in a fit of frustrated rage -- some more than others -- but are you ready to put your money where your mouth is? If so, you can now part with some cash and cobble together a bunch of modules to create a do-it-yourself Android phone called FLOW -- just be aware that it's probably not going to solve your troubles. At nearly $500 for the bare minimum hardware, you're not saving any money over a phone expertly manufactured by an Asian OEM, and no offense, sport, but something tells us the OEM's craftsmanship is in a different league. Putting away the practical concerns for a moment, the project seems like it'd be a blast -- so the only trick is finding someone willing to use a phone that looks this clunky and geeky day in and day out. G1 owners, care to step forward?
DIY spring reverb from cassette player brings noise, nostalgia
Back when we were growing up, we had three cassette players all our own (one in the bedroom, one in the playroom for dancing, and one kept by the back door for travelling) which were tiny, pink, and had the audio quality of of a GBV record cranked thorough a baseball park sound system -- but still, many of us have at least one cassette player laying around the house, sad and disused. Make has posted a project by Leadtowill which puts an old cassette radio player's parts to use by removing the motor, adding an input to the amp part of the circuit, and adding a spring to convert the speaker to a driver. The end result is a spring reverb, which he plans on augmenting further by repurposing the radio as a white noise generator. Us? Well, we still use our tape player for the occasional outdoor rollerskating / baton routine so we'll leave this one to the pros. Hit the read link to check out the very cool photo set.[Via Make]
Cat Faucet solves elusive cat drinking from sink issue, we sigh in relief
Cats like to drink from everywhere but the places they're supposed to drink from, and for that they offer no excuses, reasons, and just walk away, tails in the air. This independent spirit, though, means that we're often stuck turning faucets on and off for thirsty felines because heaven forbid they drink from a dish. One crafty soul has solved this gripping conundrum with an IR detector, valves, some plastic tubing, and a whole lot of moxie. The detector can even suss out if the subject is human or feline in order to keep the faucet from triggering every time someone walks by. Our test subjects won't comment on the new tech, but they've stopped complaining and have become extremely athletic and hydrated super-cats of doom. Still reading? Peep the video after the break of hot kitty drinking action. [Via Make]
DIY musical gear: just add talent
While browsing the 'net recently, we came across three separate DIY / mod articles (all stemming from our friends at Make) related to musical instruments, and realized that if combined... it's almost a band (or at least the White Stripes). The first is a step-by-step guide to making your own Rock Band-esque drum triggers that can interface with your PC, allowing you to perform freestyle -- though you can still bang away at games with them. The second experiment lets you add USB to a standard electric guitar, thus enabling you to record directly out of your Firebird (or other axe) straight to disk, reducing your time in the studio and freeing up your schedule for rehab. Finally, if you've got a USB guitar, you'll probably want some effects as well -- we suggest making them yourself using the handy kits in the link below. Okay, so it's not technically a band quite yet, but with a little elbow grease, questionable hairstyles, and a cash-embezzling manager, you'll be on your way to a Behind the Music (or passing reference on Pitchfork) in no time.[Via Make, Make, and Make]Read - Electronic Drum Set with ControllerRead - How to Build a USB GuitarRead - Build your own effects pedal
Make your own sprite coasters
Crafty gamers -- or gamey crafters -- take note of these homemade NES coasters. The Wiicast used iron-on Perler beads and a pegboard to build these sprightly squares. The simple process yields strong results, scoring high -- eight rings -- on our just-made-up phone-it-in scale. Of course, the project works best on retro sprites that end up being about the same size as a typical glass. Go too old-school, and the coasters will be suited only for shot glasses. Or adapt the technique to a modern screenshot to craft the coolest doormat in your apartment building.
Flickr Find: DIY iCurve with Legos
DIYer Extensor posted pics of a self-built iCurve replacement over at flickr. Created to support his (or her, the page doesn't say) 15-inch Powerbook, the do-it-yourself-Curve is made from spare legos and a $7 Container Store wire shelf. The shelf is colorfully made, surprisingly attractive and looks sturdy enough to handle the weight of the Powerbook. We at TUAW love to see this kind of initiative and welcome your DIY Mac submissions. Drop us a line at our Tips form.
