About a year ago [Wyman’s Workshop] needed a fan. But not just a regular-old fan, no sir. A ducted fan. You know, those fancy fan designs where the stationary shroud is so close to the moving fan blades that there’s essentially no gap, and a huge gain in aerodynamic efficiency? At least in theory? Well, … Read more
We humans are in something of a pickle, as we’ve put too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and caused climate change that might even wipe us out. There may still be people to whom that’s a controversial statement, but knowing something needs to be done about it should be a position for which you … Read more
Finishing off 3D prints is a labor-intensive process, and getting a good looking, smooth surface suitable for painting takes a lot of time and plenty of practice. Deeper printing layer lines or minor surface defects can be smoother over with a variety of materials, from putties to resins, but the deeper the defect, the thicker … Read more
If you wonder how it’s possible to fit a fitness tracker into a ring, well, you’re not alone. [Becky Stern] sent one off to get CT scanned, went at it with a rotary tool, and then she made a video about it with [David Cranor]. (Video embedded below.) While it’s super cool that you can … Read more
Across the web, there are countless designs for shock/vibration sensors for automobile antitheft alarms, door/window break detector alarms, and almost any other security alarm you can think of. Many are very crude, using nothing more elaborate than a cheap vibration sensor and a circuit for notification, while others are very expensive. A while ago, I … Read more
What’s the killer app for FPGAs? For some people, the allure is the ultra-high data throughput for parallelizable tasks, which can enable some pretty gnarly projects. But what if you’re just starting out? How about 1980s style video games? The MiSTer FPGA project created a bit of FPGA hardware that makes it easy to build … Read more
Since I’m starting to use more 9V rechargeable batteries, I thought it would be a good idea to build a simple 9V rechargeable battery for my friendly guitarist instead of having to urge him to look for and gather bunch of expensive 9V batteries day-to -day. The simplest way would be to make it with … Read more
Ultraviolet (UV) stain finder flashlights come in all shapes and sizes. They are useful in a variety of ways. Black lights can help you spot urine stains, fake currency, or even deadly scorpions. Today you can buy inexpensive commercial UV stain spotter flashlights, but in this post, you can find some thoughts on making your … Read more
I have been playing with power LEDs for a while. I bought a bunch of power LED chips and strips and used homemade LED dimmers to drive them which worked well. Although I already have a great collection of DC LED Dimmers, I was intrigued by an Amazon notification, and ended up buying a “DC12V-24V … Read more
For a long time, I have been wanting to make a better temperature sensor module with an I2C interface, and although I have a few issues to take care of, the main thing holding me back is my monetary fund. A while back, I came across some cheap I2C temperature sensor modules from China and … Read more