Roomba Controlled via Wiimote

Criss Hughes from The Internet Patrol has posted a hack that he did that allows him to control his Roomba. The wiimote sends signals to the computer which then sends codes to the Roomba via bluetooth. For the code he used and for more details visit his website.

RC Steam Powered Tank

Here are some of the specs of this steam rolling monster

Engine: Wilesco D49 Marine Double Piston Steam Engine
Boiler: Mamod SE3
Fuel: Alcohol or Solid Fuel Tablets
Chassis & Gearbox: Tamiya 1/16 (Clutch drive, aluminum chassis with metal tracks)
RC: 2 Channel Futaba
Running Time: 10-15 min per full tank of water, pressure at about .75 - 1.5 Bars



The gears all together look amazing. It sure is a piece of machinery. READ MORE

Flatbed Scanner Camera

"I started playing around with my flatbed scanner to see if I could capture images of stuff around it, by holding the scanner in my hand and rotating it as it scanned. This allowed the focusing lens in the scanner to pick up some of the light from the surroundings." Later on Wandel added a motor (see the picture) to move the camera for him which resulted in a much clearer picture. For pictures before and after the motor and for more details visit his site

DIY Rocket Engine

jetZILLA has mad a DIY rocket engine from some coffee mugs, a strainer, some scrap metal, and J-B Weld. The full set of instructions is too long to post so if you are interested just visit the link.

Build a 1/4 Mile Range FM Transmitter

If you've ever wanted to eavesdrop on a conversation from up to 1/4 mile away than you can build this simple and cheap FM transmitter. It is suprisingly high quility and defidently worth the little time and cost.

PARTS:
R1, R4, R6 10K resistor
R2 1Meg resistor
R3 100K resistor
R5 100 ohm resistor
R7 1K resistor
C1, C2 0.1uf capacitor
C3 0.01uf capacitor
C4 5 - 30pf variable capacitor
C5 4.7pf capacitor
Q1, Q2 2N3904 transistor
L1 9 turns of #22 gauge
Microphone Electret Mic
Circuit Board
Battery Clip

It is all easy to solder together and requires no programming!
See the electrical schematic below for more details and visit the original website.

Floating Light Bulb

While many people will think that this was Photoshoped or edited in some way, it wasn't. The lightbulb is held in the air by an electromagnet that keeps the magnets that are hidden inside of the lightbulb about 2.5 inches from the nearest object and is powered wirelessly by a wireless transmit coil. MORE

The Best Game Console Laptops

We've all seen some of the gaming system laptops and while some are just flat out ugly, some are actually pretty slick and cool. Below are just some pictures of some of the coolest looking gaming system laptops that we could find out there.



This one (above) is personally my favorite since it has the built in Blue-Ray player, a keyboard, and it just looks cool, plus the PS3 has insanely good graphics and games

The essential specs:

Original backwards compatible 60GB model
17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p
HDMI-DVI connection (same as last Xbox 360 laptop)
Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack
Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches
Weight: 16 pounds!

Check out this page about Ben Hecks laptop's and on information on how to build one of your own.



The Wii laptop looks great and is nice and compact, but is sort of pointless because the purpose of a laptop is to be able to use it while you are sitting down, or on a plane, ect. However, since this is a Wii laptop it requires you to move around. It just doesn't make too much sense to me.



This XBox laptop it the nicest that I have seen out there. There isn't too much to say about it, but look at the picture below to see another XBox laptop that was made and just use it as a comparison. It is put inside of a briefcase!

Power Generating Shoe

While this DIY water turbine shoe may not be going on sale in stores anytime soon, it is still pretty cool (and after all it is a homemade DIY project... what would you expect). Whenever you step down water is forced through a miniature water turbine which then goes through a tube that goes back into the sole of the shoe. This version of the shoe may not be practical for everyday usage, but if the hardware was all packed into the bottom it may actually be a good way to get "free energy".

The Geek Scooter

ThoughtLab has taken a new Vino scooter and decided to make it into the ultimate geek machine. "The end result was a rolling system capable of long distance war driving, GPS navigation, Skype calls on the road and the ability to record TV programs so you don’t miss Lost because you are lost."
Their website has some great instruction on how they did this project and many more pictures.

Giant DIY LED Clock

This giant clock from SparkFun looks expensive and hard to build however, it is made mostly of styrofoam, fiberboard and green LED strips. The whole thing is controlled by a simple circuit and didn't cost much to build. See the picture below for a better understanding of the basic design.

Homemade RC Airsoft Turret

Invent Geek has built their very own remote controlled airsoft turret that it made using parts salvaged from an old airsoft gun, some servos, plexiglass, and some hardware. It shoots 1500 rounds per minute and can hold tens of thousands of bb's. Their website has step-by-step instructions but don't plan on making one unless you have about $200.00 to burn. Below you can see the turret in action.

Guitar Hero LED Mod

Guitar Hero rocks, but it really needs some lights to liven up the virtual shredding.

What to do? Cram in some LEDs!

Maker Faire is Over

The third Maker Faire was a HUGE success! The estimated turnout was 100,000 people. People from all over the world came to show off and see projects. Watch the video below for some of the faires highlights.

Cell Phone Detector

Circuit Projects has made a sort of pointless yet cool gadget... a cellphone detector. It is a pretty basic project as long as you have some decent soldering skills. However, the detector can only pickup signals and not the actual conversation since the signals are encrypted. Below the picture is the complete list from the website

R1, R5 : 100K 1/4W Resistor
R2, R6 : 1k 1/4W Resistor
R3, R7 : 8.2M 1/4W Resistor
R4, R8 : 220 Ohm 1/4W Resistor
R9 : 2.2K 1/4W Resistor
D1, D2 : BAT43 Schottky Diode
C1, C2, C4 : 100nF Polyester Capacitor
C3 : 100uF 16V Electrolytic Capacitor
L1, L2 : See Text
U1 : LM358
J1 : 8 Pin Socket
J2 : Stereo Jack
1 x 9V Battery
1 x 9V Battery Socket
1 x LED
1 x On/Off Switch