Want a fun project to build this summer? Check out EclairM0, a pocket-sized notepad device, roughly the size of a Tic Tac container, designed by Mateusz Nowak. It’s powered by a SAMD21 microcontroller, which gives it enough brains to handle tasks like acting as a keyboard, mouse, or other USB peripherals. This device is super light at just 15 grams, so it’s an easy addition to what you carry daily.
Two automotive enthusiasts have been seeing airless tires for years, but only in concept form. So, they decided to take things into their own hands by making their own using PVC drainpipes and tire treads. More specifically, they used a 14-inch steel wheel sourced from an old Mondeo before placing 15 pieces of PVC pipe all around it. Several smaller pipes were then installed to reduce vibrations before everything was assembled using 300 nuts and bolts.
Inventor Matthew Perks of DIYPerks is back at it again, and this time, he’s managed to build a sleek USB-C microphone from scratch that rivals far more expensive models.
How so? The most important part was finding the same microphone capsule used in the CAD E100S, a $600 USD microphone. Next, he had to build a basic pre-amplifier that boosts its output up to line-level.
Inventor Matthew Perks is back at it again, and this time, he’s successfully built a working submarine with full buoyancy control. Now before you get too excited, this isn’t something a person can dive in, but rather a smaller model that comes equipped with large syringe-like devices in the fore and aft to compress or decompress water.
Let’s face it, even the most secure locks can be picked by professionals, but is there such a thing as an unpickable lock? Shane from Stuff Made Here just might have built one. Standard pin tumbler locks can be picked by lifting or bumping the pins while placing tension on the cylinder pins. This innovative design prevents the pins from being set in an unlocked position individually, by locking them in the position they are set, thus preventing someone from bumping them. Read more for a video showing the build and additional information.
Many people were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, but one Disneyland fan from Napa, California, decided to make the best of it. Since most theme parks have not yet reopened, graduate student Sean LaRochelle decided to create a miniature version of the Matterhorn roller coaster in his backyard, complete with a yeti. The two-story coaster project began at the end of March, and was finished in July.
Photo credit: Rich Rebuilds
For those who haven’t been keeping up to date with Tesla, the Cyberquad is basically an all-electric quad bike unveiled in November 2019 at the Cybertruck press event in Hawthorne, California. There are no power numbers, but Elon Musk did say that it will come at first as an option for the Cybertruck. Inventors Rich Benoit and Steven Salowsky didn’t want to wait the 1+ years for the official release, so they built their own. Read more for a video and additional information.
Many have been forced to work from home due to the pandemic, and let’s face it, sitting in your living room isn’t the ideal place for productivity. So, Panasonic came up with the Komoru. Put simply, it’s a basic desk and partition that can be assembled at home to create a mini cubicle that can be placed in the corner of a living room without taking much space at all.
If the thought of building your own laptop has ever crossed your mind, the CrowPi2 should do the trick. Featuring an 11.6″ 1920×1080 resolution IPS screen and a removable computing unit, which includes a wireless keyboard, trackpad, sensors, widgets and other parts for you to complete projects with. The main body houses a 2MP camera, microphone, stereo speakers, and the Raspberry Pi unit that is installed upside down in the base, plugged into the 40-pin connector.
Photo credit: Steve Jones
Former aerospace mechanic for the Royal Air Force and now a stay-at-home dad Steve Jones managed to transform hollowed-out jet engine shell from a Vickers VC10 into a functional camper trailer for his family in Lancashire, England. In all, he spent around 1,000-hours between January and mid-March to complete the build.