Make Your Own Spin-Activated LED Yo-Yo

Range — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:16:11 +0000

I used to love yo-yos. I played with them all of the time and got pretty good at it. When I saw this little project over at Make:, I thought about buying a yo-yo and completing it. The build looks really easy and the end product is a yo-yo that has spin-activated LEDs, meaning that the yo-yo lights up like a Christmas tree when it spins.

You’ll need some magnetic wiring, hot glue, 4 LEDs, 2 3 volt lithium batteries, and some clear CD cases. All in all, it’s pretty straightforward. You can head over to Make: to see how Eric Chu did his, or just check out Kipkay’s video below.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Of course, you could just spend $5 and buy a cheapo one made in China. However, I think that there’s a lot of satisfaction to be had from making your own.

Iyo Induction Charger Powers Your iPhone With Yo-Yo Magic

Karen M. — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:30:59 +0000

The iYo is a yoyo-powered induction charger for your iPhone. This is a concept charger by Swedish designer Peter Thuvander and is definitely the first yo-yo-based charging mechanism I have seen this week. This month, even.

As the inventor helpfully points out, “since solarchargers don´t work at night or in Sweden half the year, this should be a smash hit.” Way to corner a niche market! The picture looks cool, but the video really highlights the yo-yo action and does some good ‘splaining about how it works.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re more highly technological and less color-blind than me, perhaps this schematic will make some sense to you. As for me, all I know thus far about this product is along the lines of “yo-yo! iPhone! Oooooh!”

[via DesignBoom]

Technabob » yo-yo

Make Your Own Spin-Activated LED Yo-Yo

Iyo Induction Charger Powers Your iPhone With Yo-Yo Magic