Hot Hacks, Mods & Circuitry Posts
How To: Make an electrophorus and use it to create electricity from your cat
An electrophorus is a type of capacitor that generates electrostatic energy. Most of you probably know this force as static electricity, the domain of door handles and polyester shirts. It can be used for all sorts of other fun science experiments though, and this video will show you how an old hard drive, some plastic, Styrofoam, foil, a cat, and other simple materials can be used to make a a simple functioning electrophorus.
How To: Use various methods to detect greenhouse gasses
In this informative video series, Jeri Ellsworth explores several methods that can be used to detect greenhouse gases, including building a homemade mass spectrometer and mid-Infrared absorption. Jeri provides a comprehensive overview of the science behind IR absorption, the mass spectrum and ion filtration.
How To: Make an EMF detector out of an Arduino
An EMF detector lets you pick up on electromagnetic fields, a useful tool if you're into amateur ghosthunting. To make this, you will need some wire, a resistor, and an LED. You will also need an Arduino to use as a controller.
How To: Make a Ticklebox as a gag gift for holidays or birthdays
This gift will give the recipient a nice little zap when they open it! All you'll need is some basic electronics that you can find at any retailer like Radio Shack, and a soldering iron for a little bit of detail work.
How To: Make the ultimate LED glowsticks in any color you want
This is an easy and fun project that will add a little light to any night time celebration. Take a few LEDs in any color you want, some basic electronics gear and a hot glue gun. This will be more vibrant than any glowstick you can find in the store, and will last much longer
HowTo: See Yourself In the Third Person (No Drugs Necessary)
Ever wonder what you look like to someone else as you walk, talk? How it looks from above, behind, or to the side? Seeing yourself in a video flattens the experience into two dimensions, but this wireless camera rig experiment from Instructables member BigRedRocket brings it into the third dimension:
Play Me (re: Electrocute Me) Like a Human Drum Kit
All hail artist, programmer and human electrocution music-machine, Daito Manabe. He's back, and better than ever: Read more about his process.
How To: Make a 'Dizzy Robot' out of a battery, tin, and a pager motor
When you think of robots, you probably think of things that have more than three parts. Not this robot! If you want a robotics project to try that doesn't require an MIT degree, watch this video for instructions on how to build a 'Dizzy Robot' out of only some thin tin, a pager motor, a button cell battery, and this template.
How To: Work with diodes, capacitors, potentiometers, photo cells, and power supplies
For most people, learning how to work with electronics is far from intuitive. Getting the diodes in your hands and working with them is the best way to go about it, and this video will teach you a great lab for learning about diodes, potentiometers, capacitors, photo cells, and power supplies.
How To: Learn about capacitors, diodes, voltage states, and potentiometers
Even basic electronics are pretty damn complicated. This video is near the end of Scotty's amazing series of electronics tutorials, and will teach you about adding a diode and a capacitor to a circuit, choosing a power supply, voltage states, and polarity.
How To: Build a basic circuit with LED lights and resistors
If you want an electrical circuit to send power to an object, like a light, you're going to need resistors. This video, part of an excellent series on basic electronics by Scotty, will teach you how to make a circuit with resistors and an LED light, a real function piece of electronics.
How To: Test a breadboard using a multimeter
If you want to start making a basic electronics project by placing power sources and such on a breadboard, you should make sure that the breadboard will work first. You can do this by using a multimeter to perform a continuity test on your breadboard, which this video will teach you how to do.
How To: Connect different laser diodes to a power supply
Lasers are one of the coolest things that you can build yourself from a pure sci-fi fantasy standpoint. They're not easy though, but this video will help you somewhat by describing different types of laser diodes and how to connect them to a power supply.
How To: Learn about resistance and Ohm's Law and how they help you work on electronics
Math scares a lot of would-be electronics lovers away from the field, and if you really hate math this is probably the video in this series where you stop. It will teach you how to use Ohm's Law to calculate resistance and how that applies to a basic circuit.
How to Learn basic electronics: electricity, a basic circuit, and breadboard
Welcome to part 2 of robotics teacher Scotty's introduction to electronics! the first video taught about the basic tools and components we need to start working with electronics. This one will cover the basics of electronics, from a primer on electricity and how it works to making a basic circuit and working with breadboard, the canvas of circuitry.
How To: Learn about the tools and components used in basic electronics
Electronics are the most important new thing people have created in the last hundred years, and learning how to use them will make you much more able to function in modern society. If you want to learn about electronics without going to a class or anything so formal, this excellent video series will teach you everything you need to know to get started. This video, the first in the series, will teach you about the basic tools and components you'll need to work on electronics projects, includin...
How To: Build a simple one-string electric guitar called a Diddley Bow
If you've ever seen It Might Get Loud, you probably remember the part where Jack White makes a one-string guitar out of household scraps. This type of guitar is called a Diddley Bow, after Bo Diddley, and is about the simplest and easiest electric guitar you can make. Watch this video to learn how.
How To: Build a blue laser ray gun that will burn things magnificently
If you've ever seen Goldfinger you've probably wondered when we're going to get access to lasers that could cut a man in half. This might be it. Watch on to learn how you can, with some electrical engineering skills, make a DIY blue death ray laser gun that will cut through all kinds of stuff. No word on whether it works on British secret agents.
How To: Make a high speed photography trigger with an Arduino
High speed photos are very artistic and look awesome, but taking them without special equipment is nearly impossible. Without this hack and an Arduino, that is. This video will teach you how to use an Arduino and other electronic components to make a DIY high speed photo trigger and take more awesome shots.
How To: Use an Arduino to make a proximity-sensing Jack-o'-Lantern with LED lights
The Arduino Ethernet Shield is a wonderful device for DIY electronics projects, and this project is really creative and awesome. In this video you will learn how to use an Arduino, a promixity sensor, and some LED lights to make a proximity-sensing, LED-lit, evil Jack-o'-Lantern that will terrorize your neighborhood and probably get stolen if you don't watch it like a hawk.
How To: Build an analog internet meter out of an Arduino Ethernet Shield
The internet has created amazing new standards for how closely information can be followed. If you want a portable analog unit that will monitor one important piece of online info continuously and have some DIY electrical knowhow, watch this video. It will show you how to use an Arduino Ethernet Shield to make an internet meter to monitor email, stocks, and other online info on a simple analog display. You will need to know some PHP to make this work.
HowTo: Make Your Own Tron Costume With Electroluminescent Wire
Want to make your own sexy (or not) Tron costume like designer Syuzi's? All you need is a black body suit and some electroluminescent wire. The bodysuit is easy, but as for the electroluminescent wire, you'll need Adafruit for that:
How To: Hack USB devices into parts for your electronics projects
USB devices are ubiquitous and cheap nowadays, which means they make great raw materials for hacking and electronics projects. This video will show you how you use a USB host shield to hack USB devices and use them with MIDI controllers, game controllers, and other devices.
How To: Build a simple analog self-balancing robot with basic electronics
Analog robots might seem a little backwards conceptually, but they are still really fun to make if you're into robotics and electronics. This video will teach you how to make a simple self-balancing analog robot. It's basically a small, robotic, analog Segway.
How To: Build a DIY Segway-like self-balancing scooter
The Segway is one of the oddest inventions of the last decade, but they've captured the imaginations of many. If you don't have $5000 to spend on one, but have $4000 and some heavy robotics skills, watch this video. It will teach you how to build your own DIY self-balancing Segway-style scooter, in either steampunk wooden barstool form or a more modern bicycle-handled model.
How To: Build a perfect replica of a lightsaber for cheap or expensive
The lightsaber is one of the coolest weapons in the history of cinema, and the original props came from a junkyard. Funny how that works right? If you want a lightsaber for your own film, costume, or just because they're awesome, watch this video for a guide to making three types of lightsabers: a cheap one, a medium one, and very expensive professional-quality one.
How To: Hack a radio-controlled car into a secret computer hard drive
What if you could have a secret hard drive connected to your computer that only you could activate? You can! Samimy shows you how to hack a remote controlled toy car and make a super secret hard disk drive in your computer, accessed via a secret activation key. This hidden emergency HDD can only be controlled by your key, regardless of how many people use your computer.
HowTo: Hack Together Your Own TSA Scanner
TSA agents are having a little too much fun, it's time for the rest of us to join in. More complicated (and more promising) than the see-thru video trick, Jeri Elsworth gives instructions for building your own hand-held TSA see-thru scanner with a $3 feed horn and some (admittedly hefty) technical know-how.
How To: Use the liquid from a compressed air can as a solvent for cleaning
If you own a vintage pinball machine or other old cranky piece of electronics you know the pain of cleaning it's many hard-to-reach parts. Fortunately, there's a cheap solvent you can use to clean them that come from an unusual source: the compressed air can. This video will show you how it works.
How To: Build a handheld version of the TSA's microwave-based body scanner
With the TSA's full-body scanners occupying a great deal of airports nationwide, the debate remains as to whether air travelers should continue to be subject to immoral security techniques and possible health risks due to the x-ray scanning devices. The "advanced imaging technology" may help keep obvious weapons out of major airports, but scanning naked bodies seems more voyeuristic than crucial to national security. But while the argument continues, one woman is taking a stand… well, not rea...
How To: Make DIY conductive glass with Stannous Fluoride and toothpaste
Glass normally doesn't conduct electricity, but there are all sorts of cosmetic and industrial applications for conductive glass. There are easy and hard ways to make it. This video will show you one so easy you can do it at home with only four ingredients: glass, Stannous Chloride, toothpaste, and alcohol.
How To: Make an OLED demonstration cell with blue glow stick juice
Glow sticks are one of the few things used commonly by ravers and military personnel, but their uses extend far beyond dancing and illuminating. The juice contained in blue glow sticks can be used to make an organic LED (OLED) test board, and this video will show you how to do it.
How To: Build a radar from cheap satellite dish parts or a toy radar gun
Radar has made much of modern life possible, and if you're into building your own electronics building one is a fun and useful project. Watch this video for instructions on how to build your own simple radar out of cheap spare parts from a satellite dish or a toy radar gun.
Friday Fresh: Make Your Own Electroluminescent Ink & More
Turkey's been consumed, you've awakened from the food coma, and you've escaped the madness of Black Friday. Isn't it about time you tackle a new project? We've got some great new projects for you to help illuminate the darkness of winter.
How To: Make a digital color organ with high-powered LEDs
Collin of MAKE is back with another inspiring project. You may remember his analog light organ. Well, he's decided to upgrade and make his light organ a digital one. One thing to watch out for is the amount of heat emitted by high-powered LEDs, but as long as you find a way to dissipate the heat, this will work out just fine. Watch, and don't forget to read the thorough instructions before building this!
How To: Build an organic LED (OLED) light
Organic LEDs (OLED) are even more efficient than their standard LED cousins, but does that mean they're harder to make? Perhaps somewhat, but no excessively. Watch this video to learn how to make a DIY OLED at home, allowing you to make really cool light-up displays.
How To: Make a heavy duty aluminum laser-guided slingshot
In today's day of mobile devices and improved technology, anything of yesterday can be considered retro— even a freakin' slingshot! Yes, that's right— forget fallen down tree branches. A rubber band and tree limb ain't going to cut it anymore. These days, kids need accuracy, and Kipkay has the knowhow.
News: Touchscreen Made With Blocks of Ice
Far away in Finland, where the ice is plentiful and the temperature is bitter cold, the Finnish Nokia team have created the world's first touchscreen display made entirely of ice. Constructed with massive slabs of river ice, the display was first shaped into neat square slabs with a chainsaw, and then smoothed into a watchable surface with a powerful heat gun.
News: Touchpad Made with Paper and Pencil Scribbles
Who says nothing productive ever came out of doodling? Certainly not the hacker responsible for this fun (and at least somewhat functional) paper-and-pencil touchpad, which takes advantage of the natural conductivity of graphite: There isn’t much to explain here. It just uses pencil graphite on paper as a kind of two dimensional potentiometer. Four voltage dividers between 5v, 2M ohm resistors, the paper, and my grounded finger feeds signals from each corner into an Arduino. The Arduino does ...
How To: Recycle old DVDs into cool light spinning disc with an electric motor
Are your DVDs piling up? Want to get rid of a few, but don't think you can sell them to anyone? No problem— recycle them! If your desktop is in need of some zest, this hack will show you how to light things up— in style! It's an electric rotating disc that's powered by a motor and has LEDs that create a cool lighting effect.