Technabob » Hacks + Mods

Junkyard Robot PC Case Mod Dares You to Ask if It Can Play Crysis

Lambert Varias — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:00:55 +0000

Believe it or not, this sculpture of a robot actually houses a working computer in its body. While this doesn’t dethrone the weirdest or the prettiest case mods that I’ve seen, the man who made it says he finished the whole thing in just 2 days. I can’t even finish a bag of Lays in 2 days.

The case was made by bit-tech forum member WEHR-WOLF. He doesn’t have a name for his mod, nor did he talk about the specs or how exactly he went about making it or if he really is a werewolf. He only said that he made it from “parts of machines and tools” with a little help from “a liter of vodka.” Lucky bastard. A little help from vodka gives me vomit and regret, not a robot with a gatling gun for an arm.

Cover your PC’s eyes and head to bit-tech forums for more pictures.

[via Damn Geeky via Reddit]

LED Matrix Glasses: That Hack Cray

Lambert Varias — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:00:19 +0000

Someone call Kanye West. I know he’s a very busy man but he has to know that Garrett Mace has made the best pair of shutter shades of all time. Mace’s LED Matrix glasses have flashing lights just like Yeezy on Graduation.

Mace wowed crowds at the Maker Faire with his dope glasses, sick rhymes and tycoon showers. Perhaps the last two were exaggerated but these glasses really are cool. The 20 x 6 matrix of LEDs are “driven by SPI from an integrated Arduino-compatible” board mounted on the right temple and powered by a Lithium-polymer battery mounted on the left temple. Charging and code downloading are done via USB. Swag is attained by wearing the glasses.

You can see more pictures of the shades on Mace’s Lytro profile. Mace said he’s planning to sell a kit of the glasses on his website once he’s polished the device; he seems to be having trouble with the hinges. He also said that if he can’t find a low cost solution he might turn to Kickstarter. It would be funny if Mr. West backed and filled up the fundraiser on his own.

[via Hack A Day & Reddit via MAKE]

Mad Max Motorcycle Built from Car that Broke Down in the Desert

Conner Flynn — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:00:16 +0000

For most of us, if our car broke down in the desert, we would have no choice but to just walk or pray for rescue. Most of are not so technically inclined to take our cars and build something else out of the parts. Well, Emile Leray is far more resourceful. When his Citroën 2CV car broke down in the middle of the Sahara Desert, he supposedly converted the car into a Mad Max style motorcycle.

The desert he was in was somewhere in northwest Africa. He got stopped and was told to go any further due to some military conflicts in the area. He decided to go around, through the desert. It wasn’t long before he snapped a swing arm on his vehicle, leaving him stranded. He did what any manly man would do. He disassembled his vehicle and created a motorcycle from the parts.

This guy is officially the real world MacGyver. Unless this is some kind of a hoax, he did this totally un-prepared. It seems like he managed to drill holes by bending metal and sawing at it, then un-bending it to be flat again, which makes sense. It took him twelve days to construct this vehicle. Sure, it sounds fishy, but like Fox and Mulder, I want to believe.

[via Reddit via Hack A Day]

Iron Man Xbox 360 Case Mod: Blue Ring of Life

Lambert Varias — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:00:31 +0000

I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one. It’s just an Xbox 360 with a case expertly modded with an Iron Man theme. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to brace myself for the deluge of “Where do I get one?” comments. And by deluge I mean like 3 comments. Wait how exactly does one brace oneself? Should I hug myself? Or fix my teeth?

The mod was done by one Zachariah Perry Cruse. In case the old Xbox 360 model didn’t clue you in, Zach – can I call you Zach? – made this ages ago, 2010 A.D. to be exact. As you can see it has ~~Famicom~~ Iron Man’s colors, a 120GB hard drive marked ‘Stark Industries’ and its own light-up arc reactor. Because this is an old model let’s just imagine that the reactor is the only thing preventing the console from RROD’ing.

So where can you get one? From the guy who bought it. This kick-ass console was sold just a couple of days ago, which is as unbelievable as it is unfortunate for the rest of you who would’ve wanted to own one. I also saw a similar mod for the slim version of the Xbox 360 made by Major League Mods, but it seems that one’s been bought as well. I guess you’d be better off pulling a Tony Stark and make your own case mod. Or maybe not.

[via Zachariah Perry via GameTyrant]

gTar: The iGuitar You’ve Always Wanted

Range — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:45 +0000

I use my iPhone quite a bit, and I know that many people use it to also create tunes. Now you can have a guitar which integrates an iPhone dock, and it’s fully powered by the phone, making it the ultimate iGuitar. I’m not sure, but it’s definitely an interesting idea.

The gTar was launched as a Kickstarter project. It has actual strings, and uses sensors to relay what you are playing to a custom iPhone app, which is supposed to help people learn to play the guitar more easily. The array of integrated LEDs along the fretboard will light up to show you how to play. Each note is relayed to the iPhone, which then produces the sound. There’s even a feature called SmartPlay that mutes incorrect notes. (They could also call this “Cheat mode.”)

It’s more of a learning tool than a replacement for a real guitar, though it does offer a “free play” mode where you can play it once you’ve built up your confidence. In just a couple of days, the project raised the necessary $100,000 to be fully funded. There are still 34 days left. Will it do $10 million like the Pebble smartwatch? You’ll need to pledge at least $399(USD) to get yours (the introductory batch of 200 already sold out for $350.)

Turn an Old G4 iMac into an iPad Stand

Range — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:00:02 +0000

Have you got an old iMac G4 laying around? Well I don’t, but Reddit contributor cwtfozzy bought one and decided that it would make the perfect iPad stand. I have to say that it looks like a match made in heaven.

Cwtfozzy rescued this old iMac G4 from eBay for £50 (~$80 USD). He basically gutted the iMac G4 and then fiddled with it so that his iPad would fit into the screen area. It’s surprising how good this looks.

He didn’t spend too long customizing it and the results speak for themselves. If you want to try this for yourself, you can probably find a cheap, broken one on eBay, like cwtfozzy did.

[via Cult of Mac]

MaKey MaKey Turns Everyday Objects Into Keypads: Me LiKey LiKey

Lambert Varias — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:00:50 +0000

Several days ago we saw Disney’s plan for turning everyday objects – including humans – into touch-sensitive interfaces. The MaKey MaKey is a lot simpler than that, but what it does is still very impressive. Any object that can conduct “at least a tiny bit of electricity” – fruits, Play-Doh, humans, water, etc. – can be turned into a keypad using MaKey MaKey.

The “invention kit” comes with a circuit board, a bunch of alligator clips and a USB cable. All you have to do is connect the MaKey MaKey board to a computer, then attach the alligator clips to the object that you want to use as a keypad and you’re good to go. Your computer will just think that you have a USB keyboard connected. It’s like the Old Spice commercial made real: your bananas are now keyboards!

How awesome is that?! The rest of the world has already gone on record with a resounding “Hell, yeah that’s awesome!”, because as of this writing the MaKey MaKey Kickstarter fundraiser has gathered more than 6 times its original goal amount of $25,000 (USD). You can be one of the first to own a MaKey MaKey kit by pledging at least $35 (USD) to the fundraiser.

[via Engadget]

Tesla Gun Fires Lightning Bolts: Coil Your Mind Around This

Lambert Varias — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:00:49 +0000

Many works of fiction as well as videogames feature weapons that shoot bolts of lightning to devastating effect. The closest thing we have to these weapons is the Tesla coil, a device that produces high voltage, low current electricity. The thing is, Tesla coils are mostly in the form of large, stationary devices. Until now.

The Tesla Gun is the creation of mad scientist Rob Flickenger, who based it on a weapon used by none other than Nikola Tesla in the graphical novel The Five Fists of Science. You can see the fictional gun on page 14 of this pdf file. Flickenger admits that the gun that Tesla wields in the novel is far more advanced than what he made, but his gun has two advantages: it is battery-powered, and more importantly it exists.

So how does it work? “You pull the trigger, and lightning comes out the front.” It’s that simple.

Actually it’s not that simple. Flickenger went to great lengths to create the gun, including making an aluminum housing molded from a Nerf gun, a porcelain high voltage switch and a power supply that steps up the voltage from a drill battery from 18V to 20,000V. There’s more to it than that, but I think most of you just want to see it in action. Here you go.

Like most Tesla coils, Flickenger built his gun for entertainment and science, not as a weapon or a mere toy. If you’re as mad, talented and responsible as Flickenger, you can try building your own Tesla Gun using the information that he posted on his website.

[via I Heart Chaos]

2012 Wall-E Toy Controlled by a 1983 Portable Computer

Conner Flynn — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:31 +0000

Old technology meets new technology here, and in this case they can actually interface very well despite their age difference. YouTuber Aliencurv modified an old 1983 TRS-80 portable computer with 20kb of memory to control a 2012 Wall-E robot. I hear ya. That’s crazy and pointless you say. I agree. And it’s still awesome.
With the easy addition of a Bluetooth module, it can intercept the TRS-80′s keyboard input and beam it somewhere else. After that, it just took a terminal program and some extra code to turn the keystrokes into information that Wall-E can use. With that in place, you have yourself a remote controlled robot.

That computer is almost 30 years old. If not for this mod, it would be a useless paperweight. It is proof that by thinking out of the box, we can use some of our old gadgets and rescue them from obsolescence, while doing some cool things.

[via Hack A Day via Geekosystem]

Arduino WiFly Mini: Real Virtual Racing

Lambert Varias — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:16 +0000

A couple of years ago we heard about Racer, an analog take on arcade racing games: instead of just controlling a virtual car, the game had you control an R/C car using the traditional arcade setup. Blair Kelly has an updated take on that concept, which he calls the Arduino WiFly Mini.

Using an Arduino UNO, a WiFly Shield, a GoPro Hero 2, a three-axis accelerometer and lots of other bits and bobs that do important stuff, Kelly was able to turn a Tamiya Mini M05 R/C car into an analog arcade racer. The toy car connects to its base station via Wi-Fi, allowing it to be controlled wirelessly via a variety of controllers (including a steering wheel) and in return send a live first-person – first-toy car? – view as well as force feedback. He can even set it so that the camera pans in sync with the steering.

Want to know how to make your own Arduino WiFly Mini? You’re in luck: Kelly has a staggeringly comprehensive how-to on his website that is longer than the entire Harry Potter series. It was a compelling read. I couldn’t put it down. I like the part where Kelly realized he should be putting a series of instructions into one packet instead of sending packets with each instruction so the method more greatly resembles a PPM stream.

[via Make:]

Man Implants Magnets on Wrist to Hold iPod Nano, Must Have Not Heard of Straps

Lambert Varias — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:00:55 +0000

…then again, that’s like saying people who like permanent tattoos must have not heard of marker pens. Whatever the case, no, you are not on The Onion. Body piercer Dave Hurban really did install four magnets on his wrist, and yes, mounting an iPod Nano on that wrist is one of the reasons (if not the only reason) that led him to do it.

The proof is in the video below. There’s a bit of blood and drilling through skin and flesh involved (you have been warned,) but even if you don’t have the stomach for it, the image above shows the end result, so you’re not missing much.

And so now Hurban is much cooler or less cool or not cool at all depending on which YouTube commenter you ask. The only thing we can say with certainty is that he’d better be careful around MRI machines.

[via You Bent My Wookie]

R2-D2 Coffee Maker: The Best Part of Waking Up is R2 in Your Cup

Technabob — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:06:48 +0000

As a maintenance droid, R2-D2 is pretty versatile, but I’ve never actually seen him fix a cup of coffee – until now. That’s right, what you’re looking at is what I believe to be the world’s first and only R2-D2 coffee maker.

Instructables contributor iminthebathroom posted this video of his wife filling up the R2-D2 “Dark Roast Edition” coffee maker to prove to us that it really works.

Just pour the water in his head, and out drips the coffee through that funky looking orb/filter basket in front of him and into the carafe. R2 started out as a Bunn industrial coffee maker, along with a bunch of custom parts including aluminum, brass, copper and steel. While you could follow the Instructable for building your own, we can only hope that Mr. Coffee and Lucasfilm see this thing and decide to produce their own R2 coffee maker for the rest of us.

[via R2D2Central]

Text-Enabled Espresso Machine Prints Your Number on Foam

Range — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:04 +0000

This definitely isn’t your average texting setup, because it allows you to send a text message to remotely tell a coffee machine to start making your coffee. This espresso machine also prints the last three digits of your phone number on the foam, ensuring that no one will steal your fresh cup of java in the morning.

The text-enabled espresso machine was dubbed Textspresso and it was put together using Zipwhip software. It was made to showcase the cloud texting technology of Zipwhip. It was built using 3 Arduino microcontrollers, a couple of servos, an IKEA cupboard and 100 other pieces to work its magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx9D74t7GD8

If you’re interested in building your own, Zipwhip plans on making their source code available freely soon so that you can get to hacking your own.

[via Make:]

Minecraft in Minecraft: The Inevitable Has Occurred

Lambert Varias — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:00:44 +0000

The last time I posted about a Minecraft map that recreates another videogame I said I couldn’t wait for Minecraft: Minecraft. And now it’s here, albeit with a different name: Mineception. It’s also more primitive than I expected, although in hindsight I didn’t really have an idea of what Minecraft in Minecraft would look like. Man this post is so search engine optimized.

Made by codecrafted, Mineception has two major parts: a virtual map where you see the tiny version of Minecraft and a control interface for selecting blocks, building and jumping. From what I can tell every action save for moving needs to be done by pressing a button on the control interface, then looking down on the virtual map to see the action take place. Sounds tedious? The zoomed out view of the control interface redefines tedious.

I feel like a caveman that just stumbled upon a space station. What the hell was that. Head to Planet Minecraft to download the map. Try and figure out how many Minecrafts within Minecraft you can build.

[via Waxy]

Touché Turns Everyday Objects Touch Sensitive, My Mind to a Puddle

Lambert Varias — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:40 +0000

Disney’s Research Hub recently presented a new technology that can make a variety of materials touch-sensitive. I wasn’t even aware that Disney had a network of research labs, but after seeing what their team of nerds are capable of I’m never going to forget about them. Unless Hasbro makes real Transformers.

The technology is called Touché, and is nothing short of revolutionary. Unlike the Microsoft, Corning and Samsung future, where every wall, window and surface is actually a touchscreen, the Disney future is one where objects still look a lot like the ones we have today, except they’re wired and can recognize different gestures, positions and even our presence. Touché has two main differences from capacitive conventional touchscreen technology. First of all, it doesn’t just have an on or off state (i.e. touch or no touch), and second, as I said, it works on a variety of materials, even on human skin and liquids.

That’s awesome. Pair this with Kinect and you can truly have a smart environment where the artificial surroundings – offices, houses, furniture and electronics – respond to us in more intuitive ways without us having to deal with buttons, switches, knobs or even touchscreen devices. Combine this with biomechatronics and paralyzed people will be able to “feel” again and be more independent. Mate this with life-size dolls and… No. Let’s not go there.

[via Disney Research via Hack A Day]

AT-AT PC Casemod is Cooler Than Hoth

Technabob — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:00:26 +0000

I was just watching that Family Guy episode where they referred to Imperial Walkers as “robot camels,” and they are so right. Not that it makes AT-ATs any less cool – especially when the AT-AT in question is actually a computer.

Modder Asphiax has put together this Imperial Walker PC using one of those giant Hasbro AT-ATs as the starting point. Instead of Imperial troops, the AT-AT PC has a Zotax Z68 Mini ITX mobo inside with an Intel Core i7-2600K CPU, a Sapphire 6870 GPU and 8GB of RAM.

The system is cooled by Koolance 370 CPU and mosfet waterblocks along with a Heatkiller NB/SB waterblock, and XSPC pump, 2 x 240 radiators, 4 x 120mm Enermax Fans, and controlled by a Scythe Mediabay. Boy, that sounds more complex than the insides of an actual AT-AT. Then again, they probably didn’t need much cooling on Hoth.

It also has a USB powered Arduino which controls a pair of red lasers installed in its head-cannons. Cool.

You can check out more photos of the AT-AT PC build, and many other sci-fi inspired mods over on Asphiax’ website or his SCIFI OCD Facebook group.

KegDroid: The Beer Serving Robot!

Conner Flynn — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:00:24 +0000

Life doesn’t get any better than having a robot that serves up some beer. It’s even sweeter when that robot is shaped like Google’s Android mascot. KegDroid dispenses beer through the use of a Xoom tablet running Android ICS as its main input/control system.

Perfect for your neighborhood geek bar, which I’m sure would also serve up some ice cream sandwiches just to keep with the theme. This guy created the robot because he was bored with regular beer. Not anymore. The Kegdroid makes it fun again.

Just use your NFC badge on the card reader, which is attached to an Arduino and this little guy will reward you with beer. It’s pretty awesome, and I wish I had thought of that. You can check out the Kegdroid in action over on YouTube.

[via HardOCP via Geeks Are Sexy]

Motion Sensing Ammunition Dispenser Doles out Bullets Like Bubblegum

Conner Flynn — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:33 +0000

Candy machines are great. They give out candy. Motion sensing candy machines are even better. But when the zombie apocalypse comes one day soon, there are far greater needs than candy. That’s when you will want to fill The Sharper Image’s motion sensing candy machine with ammunition, so you will always be ready.

That’s what blogger North did here, filling the thing up with .22 LR rounds instead of candies or gumballs. He probably did it just for fun, but it sure would come in handy against the zombie horde. You would always be ready to reload for those all important headshots.

It’s a pretty neat idea. I can see gun clubs everywhere with ammo machines like this. Charging money of course. It could probably be made to work with larger ammo as well.

[via ENDO via Neatorama]

Goliathon Steampunk Nerf Gun Seems to be as Heavy as a Locomotive

Lambert Varias — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:00:29 +0000

Built by Professor T. Lemetry, the Goliathon is the result of weaponizing “all the horsepower of a full-size steam locomotive”, resulting in a gun so powerful it can “level a building, down an airship, or turn a man inside out.” Aside from being an excellent modder, the good professor also has a colorful imagination. The truth is that the Goliathon is nothing but a toy.

The Goliathon is a heavily modified Nerf Vulcan Blaster. To the professor’s credit it does look like it a weapon from another time, or at the very least something that can be used as a bludgeon. It has various metal embellishments, including copper piping, 4 gauges, a valve wheel and other brass trinkets.

Punkers of steam should head to Prof. T. Lemetry’s Etsy shop Steampunk 101, where the Goliathon is being peddled for $350 (USD).

[via Dude I Want That]

PIP-Boy Prototype Has Practical Functions, Sadly V.A.T.S. Not One of Them

Lambert Varias — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:35 +0000

As crude as Fallout‘s post-apocalyptic technology seems, it’s proven quite hard to replicate the game’s PIP-Boy in real life. We’ve seen one prototype that looks exactly like the PIP-Boy 3000, but it appears to have no real world application. Meanwhile here’s another prototype that does have practical features but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of appearance.

As you can see this prototype looks nothing like any of the PIP-Boys from the Fallout games. Except for its user interface that is, which is the most important part of the gadget anyway. Made by Instructables vault dweller Aleator777, this prototype has a GPS navigation system, an RFID reader (with which it can track tagged items, thus mimicking an inventory), a flashlight (i.e. the screen with its brightness turned up) and most appropriate of all, a Geiger counter. Almost all of these functions are rudimentary, but nonetheless they are there.

Those of you with high stats in Repair and Science should check out Aleator777′s guide on Instructables to see how you can make your own PIP-Boy prototype. Perhaps Aleator777 and MyMagicPudding – the dude who’s working on the other prototype – should combine their skills to come up with a better device. We might need it soon; it is 2012 after all.

[via The Verge]