Making a Make Magazine Box

OK,

I have all 4 first year Make magazines, and Make provided pdfs of the box art for the box set. So I (and I'm sure all Make magazine subscribers) set out to make my own box. Here's the pictorial. First I printed out the art on 11x17 paper.

Then I cut out card stock (thank you Natalie) and glued it to the back of the art with 3M Spray 77 adhesive. Then I folded over the remaining paper and glued it with a glue stick . I then glued the corners with CA. I then glued the back onto the folded bits with glue stick and let it set.

Finally, I trimmed it and installed the books.

Repurposing an old laptop

Here's the latest project (or mess on the desk). Converting an old P75 laptop into a picture frame (or a cool looking multi function display for a flight simulator - like the one shown at top my by Barco). Both projects start out the same way - by tearing the laptop down to its constituent parts.

Actually, once the drives and keyboard and such are removed from the laptop, the main board and display are quite small.

Still to go - remove the power supply, plug it back together, and see if DSL will boot. Hmm, maybe I should have tried that first.

Kyle

TC-10 10" LCD Touchpanel, Thin Client Computer

Here's a recent project. Everyone needs a touch panel computer mounted on the wall of their kitchen, right?

Well - it's not on the wall yet, but soon, this Geode powered 10" lcd touchpanel monster ($299US from EarthLCD) will be hanging in the kitchen. Ideally, it'll be running Damn Small Linux, and give us net access, Skype access, and web interface for all the home monitoring/home automation projects yet to come.

Right now it boots from an external CD live image of DSL. I haven't managed to get it to boot from the Compact Flash yet. That's been frustrating, So I'm thinking i'll just attach a 2.5" hard drive from a laptop. That should solve all the problems because the CF card can't be hda - it's always hdc. The hard drive will be able to be hda, so it shouldn't be a problem to do a frugal install to it.

And if you have any idea what I just said - cool. Drop me a line.

Kyle

Electric Ducted Fan R/C Jet

There are a lot of airplanes in the Schmidt household, and Jacob certainly seems to have taken to them. I'm sure Dylan will be wanting to fly them soon too. Just after Christmas 2004, I went out (eager to spend a gift certificate) and bought a Golden Hawks R/C jet at Radio Shack (just before the changed their names to The Source). While it's a nice looking airplane, out of the box it did nothing but crash.

This particular jet is made by Estes-Cox of EPP foam, so it's reasonable durable. But after 5 to 10 nosefirst, full power dives into the ground, it was clear the single channel rudder only control was a no-go. Without any elevator control, the airplane was super sensitive to balance - put the battery pack a little too far forward and it would crash, too far back and it would crash. Once, and only once, did we have a nice flight. Balanced perfectly, Jacob fly it around the park before flying it into the swingset. Every landing - good or bad, would jar the battery pack and necessitate rebalancing. So what to do?

Well - convert to full blown R/C control was the only way to go. I dusted off my old 6 channel Futaba radio, invested in a Electrifly receiver with integrated speed control, installed two NARO servos, and rewired for the speed control. Of course, there were other issues too - build an elevator, beef up the rudder. Also an aborted attempt to go for aileron control too.

Since the conversion, it's been flown on two days (both with hurricane force winds - well, at least it always seems that way). Both days have ended with damage - but relatively minor compared to previous outings. The end result though is that the plane has plenty of power, it's nice and controllable, and the throttle means when it does land (crash), at least the power isn't on.

Now we're just waiting for spring/summer/fall and some calm days to fly it. The sort of day where Jacob can take the controls without having to fight the wind. Maybe we'll get some video of it in flight too.

Kyle

Zoopercar Caper

Jacob's a big fan of George Shrinks. Come to think of it, so am I. And I'm sure that Dylan will be a fan too. We've got all 40 episodes available on tap through our media centre/server. I suppose that should be the subject of another post.

George Shrinks (a lad of diminuitive stature) gets around using a delightful vehicle that he and his Dad made - the Zoopercar. There is no commercially available Zoopercar toy, so fittingly, Jacob and I set out to build on. We've become a little bogged down in the details, and other things are pressing, but here is the outline of what we're doing.

It all started with some interesting wheel motors that were in the surplus section of Princess Auto. They're great except that they are direct drive. So the Zoopercar will be super fast - if it can ever get started. We've got to lick that one problem before we move onto the control system.

Basically the Zoopercar platform is a lightweight model aircraft plywood base with the two wheel motors arranged for driving, and a castoring tailwheel at the back. Batteries and control electronics will be placed in the centre, and a fairing will be built to cover the whole thing.

Right now the control strategy will be Basic Stamp II controller connected to two Motor Mind B units to perform PWM control of the motors. A Linx radio unit will pickup the transmisions from a multi button keyfob remote that will be used to drive it. Ultimately, some sensors and intelligence should be built into the controller to allow semi-autonomous motion. We've got a Voice Direct 364 setup that we can integrate onto it as well, for all that voice activated goodness.

Unfortunately, I figure no matter how well it ultimately works, or how good it looks, Jacob will likely be dissapointed that it doesn't fly like a plane, hover like a helicopter, change into a dune buggy, snowmobile, submarine, or any of a number of other things that are so simple to do in animation, yet so diffiult in real life.

Frisbee Hovercraft

Here's a neat quick project that Jacob really likes. It's something I tried as a kid, and reproduced now. It's simply a frisbee with a hole cut in the centre. The motor and fan from a defunct hairdryer is hot glued in the middle, and a skirt is provided to help the hovercraft navigate uneven surfaces.

Originally we ran with no skirt. It works, but only over smooth surfaces like linoleum or harwood. It didn't run very well over carpet. So we tried a variety of different skirt materials taped onto the hovercraft. A stiff vinyl from an ESD safe bag worked nicely to raise the hovercraft up high, but wasn't flexible enough to go over bumps. Since it had minimal contact with the ground though, it was virtually frictionless. The latest skirt is a ripstop nylon that's been tape around. We don't inflate the skirt, so it isn't as efficient as it could be. In the last photo, you can see it hovering. A slight touch is all that's needed to send it skittering around.

The power supply is 12VDC provided by 8 AA batteries.

Things to do: self contained power with a 3 cell Li-Po pack (light and good energy density), an optimum skirt, and some means of directional control.

For now it gets tugged about the floor by its leash. As a side note - I initially tried the fan unit from a CPU cooler - a 5VDC brushless DC unit. It was pretty wimpy. Thankfully one of Natalie's hairdryers had recently fried a heating element, so it's fan unit was ripe for the picking.

Kyle

First Post

Hello,

I started this blog to document all the stuff I make - or more accurately, start to make. It'll be a project blog - like my brother's blog, except with more electronics and less welding. Also, he finishes his projects. I just start new ones.

Anyways, I'll soon be adding some toys that Jacob and I are building or have built, some computer projects, maybe some things from around the house. Stay tuned.

Kyle