Tag: Diy

What if I told you that you could have a fully functional BB-8 droid for just $120(USD)? 17-year-old Angelo Casimiro wanted a BB-8 droid, but the diminutive $140 Sphero version just wasn’t enough. So he invested his time and hard-earned cash to make his own.

I’m looking forward to the day when exoskeletons will give me super powers. I want to be able to jump up on the roof without needing a ladder, and carry hundreds of pounds without getting a sore back.

Last year, we saw an angle-grinder chucking compact discs at high speed. La Fabrique DIY came up with a similar but less life-threatening contraption by repurposing a drill to launch frisbees. The crude but effective launcher uses the drill to turn a bicycle wheel, which in turn flings the frisbees with the help of a wooden feeder. Unfortunately, La Fabrique DIY didn’t provide a detailed guide for the launcher, so you might lose a frisbee or 10 while you’re perfecting your own build.

Bitplay’s BANG! lamp adds a cool twist to remote control, but in my opinion its gimmick is not worth $400 (USD). If you have the tools, you might be better off copying Instructables member Austin aka austiwawa. 

Remember that kid that solved a Rubik’s Cube in 5.25-seconds? He’s a sloth compared to the robot that Jay Flatland and his pal Paul Rose created. The motorized ‘bot has a 3D-printed frame, and is controlled by an Arduino and custom software running on a Linux PC. A quartet of webcams lets the software on the computer to see what state the cube is in.

Thanks to Simone Fontana, you don’t have to risk irradiation and death at the hands of a super behemoth to get the legendary Furious Power Fist. Simone designed a 3D model of the unique Fallout 4 weapon and is sharing it for free. Simone’s design is not a detailed replica, but it does have the concrete knuckle with rebar sticking out of it.

It may no longer be the cheapest chip on the block, but Next Thing Co.’s C.H.I.P. is still a pretty good computer. But in this case, it’s been used for a very bad mod. Next Thing Co.’s

Instructables employee DJ aka Aleator777 – the genius behind the Apple II and retro phone watches – recently promoted the Intel Edison by creating the Miniature Autonomous Blimp. This brainy balloon can stay afloat and avoid obstacles on its own. It may not look like much, but this blimp is a high tech toy.

YouTuber, Rubik’s Cube enthusiast and masochist corenpuzzler designed and 3D printed what he claims is the world’s highest order Rubik’s Cube, one with 484 cubelets on each face. Corenpuzzler said it he printed it on a Prusa i3 over the span of 8 months.

Redditor mz4250 has been playing Dungeons & Dragons for 17 years. Recently, he decided it was time to give back to the community. He ended up making 3D models of most of the D&D monsters, with a couple of bonuses thrown in.

I’ve seen some crazy LEGO stuff over the years, from artists creating portraits using nothing but bricks, to epic life-size builds. I lack any of the skills needed to make anything resembling a self-portrait in LEGO.

It took a really long time before R2-D2 got an accurate LEGO model. I wouldn’t be surprised if BB-8 gets fast tracked, but until then you might want to inspect this model made by Redditor hendrikdejager. Hendrikdejager’s fellow Redditors have been prodding him for instructions or at the very least the parts list, and he was kind enough to release a detailed video explaining the build.

Mechanical engineering student Daniel Olson helps the Empire rise again with his design for a miniature motorized AT-AT. You’ll need an electric motor and a 9V battery to make it move, but the rest of its parts are 3D printable, even the gears that connect the legs to the motor. It’s going to take you a bit of sanding and trial and error to get the gears right, and it also lacks many of the vehicles’ surface details.

I really liked the new Star Wars flick. I’m not going to give it away, but you need to go see it soon because it won’t be long before I start working little tidbits into my stories.

Nearly all sundials tell the time by using a gnomon’s shadow as the hour hand. But this very cool sundial by Thingiverse member Mojoptix displays the time like a digital timepiece. Mojoptix used OpenSCAD to design a gnomon with many tiny holes.

Action cameras let us see through the eyes of athletes, daredevils, and professionals, including human cannonballs. If you’d like to record that unique point of view without risking your life, check out Eclectical Engineering’s debut project. Eclectical Engineering is a new website where tinkerers David and Ryan showcase their bizarre contraptions.