Fiber optic chandelier with wireless controls

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

After seeing a cool fiberoptic chandelier on Ebay for over $1,000, [Apex Logic] figured he could build one himself that would not only be cheaper, but have more features. Some of the features he was after were for it to be wirelessly controlled, have the ability for full RGB control, and of course to have a custom look. He pulled it off quite nicely as you can see in the video below. He has a wireless controller with 3 sliders representing RGB that you can catch a glimpse of in the second video below.

His page with the build details and the code seems to have suffered some ill fate this morning. Here it is, for when it returns.

[via Adafruit]

[Read more…]

Filed Under: home hacks Tagged With: , ,

Using incandescent bulbs to compensate for a slow start cfl

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

[Dick], like most of us, likes some pretty strong light in his workshop. He’s using CFL flood lamps to save a little energy. Unfortunately, he found that they gradually become brighter instead of that instant light he was accustomed to with his previous incandescent bulbs.

Not wanting to wait around for the lights to reach full power, but still wanting to save electricity, he devised a plan . He would install an incandescent bulb along side the others and fade it out slowly as the others became brighter. He acknowledges that he could have just put a 5 minute timer on it, but the transition would be abrupt and unpleasant. Instead, he built a circuit to get the exact result he wanted.

Just so you don’t miss it, the actual build is available to download at a link toward the bottom of the page.

[via HackedGadgets]

Filed Under: classic hacks, home hacks Tagged With: ,

Hackerspace Intro: HeatSync Labs in Mesa Arizona

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Following along with our request for hackerspace tours [Will] sent in this fantastic tour of HeatSync Labs in Mesa Arizona. This is exactly what we love to see. A quick tour, showing us who you are, where you are, what is going on, and what people have done. This place looks like a really well run hackerspace too. Lots of equipment ranging from soldering stations to wood shop, welding booth, laser cutter, 3d printing, 3d scanning, and hopefully (eventually) a fully functional electron microscope! Great job folks, if we’re ever in the area, we’ll be sure to stop by and see what you’ve got going on.

Check out the video tour after the break.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hackerspaces Tagged With: ,

Giant pink hexacopter is slightly safer than the rest

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Check out this giant pink hexacopter.  We see tons of quad copters here, but their bigger brothers/sisters the hexacopters don’t visit very often. When they do though, they get all dressed up as you can see in the picture above. This prototype frame is meant to protect both the props, and the innocent bystanders as you inevitably veer into something you shouldn’t.  The frame is constructed mainly from carbon fiber and adds a total of about 1 Kg of weight to the copter. While it does fly, [AirvewLive] is looking for guidance on what prop/motor combo would yield more endurance. Anyone have some recommendations?

We know some of you will notice pretty quickly that he refers to this as a “ducted fan”. We realize it isn’t and we’ll forgive him this once because his build is so cool.

[thanks for the tip Mike]

Filed Under: toy hacks Tagged With: ,

7 foot long flying dragon breathes fire

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What do you have to do to win best of show at an R/C event in Toledo? Build a 7 foot long fire breathing radio controlled dragon of course! [Rick Hamel] stuffed his electronics, a turbine engine, a kerosene tank, and a stun gun into a home built body shaped like a dragon. You can see a few construction pics that show how he is able to steer. It looks like it flies just like any r/c airplane. This one, however could burn down a village and keep going. Check out the videos after the break to see it flying and testing out its fire breathing mechanism.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: toy hacks Tagged With: , ,

Build a rig to make orbs in your light paintings

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We’ve covered plenty of light painting projects here. People are always finding new ways to create interesting things in this fairly new medium. This project covers a method of creating orbs or spheres in your light paintings. The author points out that many people do this currently by putting the light source at the end of a string, swinging it in front of them like a propeller, and turning slowly in a circle. He wanted to automate the process a bit, so he combined his motorized telescope tripod, a power drill, a strip of RGB LEDs, and a few scraps of wood. He now has an automated system to make perfect orbs. Some of the examples he shows are quite stunning.

Filed Under: led hacks Tagged With: ,
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