Okay, your 3-D printed record might sound really bad, but it's still awesome!
Try to spin these 3-D printed vinyl analogs at your next party, and the dance floor will likely grind to a halt. But the technique created by Instructables assistant tech editor Amanda Ghassaei for converting digital audio files into printable, playable 33 rpm records is actually pretty amazing, and as 3-D printer resolution continues ticking upward, the sound quality can only get better and better.Printed on an Objet Connex500 printer capable of 600 dpi in the x and y axes, the vinyl analogs are reproduced using a custom-built program that essentially converts audio files into the CAD data necessary to reproduce the analog audio in the
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Create a light system to keep houseplants thriving during winter's short days.
Setting up specialized grow lights that mimic the sun’s rays is a good solution, but you can get similar results with LEDs. We connected three inside a clear plastic tube to make a “light spike” that you can stick into a pot for direct exposure, and added a controller that adjusts the brightness.MATERIALS
Project box
Drill
2.1-mm power-connector jack
10-position header
100k-ohm slide potentiometer
Soldering iron and solder
Electrical wire
10k-ohm resistor
Wire strippers
White LED design kit
Five clear plastic tubes with endcaps
Five two-position connectors
15-volt 1A wall-mount power supply
STEP 1
Drill
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Now the masses can finally hear your brilliant air drumming.
This very cool DIY drumming setup uses an Arduino and a MIDI—that’s short for “musical instrument digital interface”—device to create a drum kit sound without the drum kit price tag. Move the drumsticks to hit the snare or cymbal; tap your feet to hear the bass or hi-hat.MATERIALS
Two 1 1⁄2-inch (3.75-cm) wooden dowels, about 1 foot (30 cm) in length
Drill
Eight USB female type A connectors
Three ADXL335 accelerometers
Electrical wire
Wire strippers
Soldering iron and solder
Two 11⁄2-inch (3.75-cm) vinyl end caps
Rubber-soled shoes you don’t mind donating to the cause
Photocell
47k-ohm resistor
Four USB male-to-male type A
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Behold this deluxe homemade microbrewery: an elaborate device that boils, ferments, chills, and pours home-crafted ale.
What if there were a machine—a beautiful, shiny machine—and all it did, with almost no work from you, was make you beer? Such was the dream that drove former PopSci photographer John Carnett to build what he calls “the Device”: a stainless-steel, two-cart brewing system that starts by boiling extract (concentrated wort, or pre-fermented beer) and ends with a chilled pint.In most home-brewing setups, each step in the process requires moving the beer to a new container by hand, which increases the chance of contamination and requires lifting. Carnett’s machine keeps everything in the carts’ closed system—he only has to swap a few CO2-pressurized
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On the lam without your car charger? Splice some wires and be on your way.
MATERIALSUSB cable for your device
Any 5-volt car cigarette lighter adapter
Knife
Tape
STEP 1
Cut the USB end off the cable for your device and strip the insulation. You’ll use the black and red wires to connect to the adapter. Twist together the other two wires.
STEP 2
Cut off the end of the cigarette lighter adapter that does not plug into the cigarette lighter. Use the knife to strip the insulation to reveal the black and red wires.
STEP 3
Twist the two red wires together and the two black wires together. Wrap tape around the joints to insulate them.
STEP 4
Plug it in and charge up your phone in the car.
This project was
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The better, stronger, faster, 15th-anniversary edition robotics kit
Fifteen CESes ago, Lego unveiled the Robotics Invention Kit, the system that would become Mindstorms. Since then, DIyers have machined 'bots to do everything from flush the toilet to solve a Rubik's cube -- faster than a human being, no less. Today, the Danish company announced a near-gut refresh of the line, the Mindstorms EV3. The 594-piece kit will be the first Mindstorms system with app support, as well as a sensor suite that allows creations to navigate and react autonomously.Central to the EV3 puzzle is the central Intelligent Brick. The new model runs on a Linux OS and an ARM9 processor, both of which make the Brick faster and more-easily-hackable than its predecessors. Processor aside, the biggest
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Legos come to life with this classic animation trick.
The world saw its first modern zoetrope in 1833, and since its invention the device has paved the way to cinema as we know it. This playful update uses a strobe light to interrupt your view of a series of still objects as they go around and around on a record player—causing your eye to perceive them as if they were in motion. It’s not 1833 anymore, but the effect is still pretty mind-boggling.MATERIALS
Protractor
A record to sacrifice
18 LEGO miniature figures
Superglue
Record player
Strobe light
Cost: $$
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
STEP 1
Using the protractor, measure and draw lines every 20 degrees on the sacrificial record. Space out the Lego figures around the
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An Arduino is a popular open-source single-board microcontroller. Learn how to program one and let the possibilities take shape.
STEP 1Arduino microcontrollers come in a variety of types. The most common is the Arduino UNO, but there are specialized variations. Before you begin building, do a little research to figure out which version will be the most appropriate for your project.
STEP 2
To begin, you’ll need to install the Arduino Programmer, aka the integrated development environment (IDE).
STEP 3
Connect your Arduino to the USB port of your computer. This may require a specific USB cable. Every Arduino has a different virtual serial-port
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Combine simple household items to make a rocket propulsion system.
MATERIALSPaper
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Alka-Seltzer tablets
Water
Empty film canister
STEP 1
Design your rocket, drawing it on paper. A simple cylinder, nose cone, and a pair of fins will suffice. It should stand around 6 inches (15 cm) tall and be approximately 1½ inches (3.75 cm) in diameter.
STEP 2
Cut out your rocket components (cylinder, nose cone, and fins) and glue them together.
STEP 3
Open the film canister and drop one-half of an Alka-Seltzer tablet into it.
STEP 4
Fill the canister half full of water and snap the canister cap into place. Slide the rocket over the cap, place the assembly cap-down, and get back. Watch
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Go anywhere Google Street View goes.
MATERIALSSafety goggles
Large piece of cardboard
Pencil
Craft knife
Tape
Smartphone
STEP 1
Lay the safety goggles on the cardboard so that they’re facing forward. Trace around the shape, adding at least 2 inches (5 cm) in front.
STEP 2
Roll the goggles up so that they’re resting on an end. Trace around that side, adding extra space again.
STEP 3
Using the craft knife, cut out your tracing as one piece, then fold it so you have a four-sided rectangular tube that fits perfectly around your goggles. Secure it with tape and slide the goggles just inside.
STEP 4
On a separate piece of cardboard, trace the cardboard box’s front, leaving 1-inch (2.5-cm) tabs on
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A motorized stroller that accelerates to 53 mph.
News of impending fatherhood affects men in different ways. Some guys pump their fists. Others light cigars. A few flee. When 33-year-old Colin Furze learned that his girlfriend was pregnant, he channeled his paternal excitement into building the world’s fastest baby stroller. The twin-exhaust, 10-horsepower, gasoline-fueled pram can accelerate to speeds nearly fast enough for the highway in less than 30 seconds.Furze, a plumber in Stamford, England, rode BMX bikes as a kid and missed the adrenaline rush as an adult. So in his twenties, he sought new thrills. “For some reason, I thought building a nice big fire was the answer,” he says of his first project. Furze’s 50,000-square-foot inferno, which he lit by launching a
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Shuffle data at twice the speed for one tenth the cost.
When moving terabytes of data from one computer to another, cut out the external drive—an expensive, sluggish middle man—by cutting up an Ethernet cable. Rearranging the small internal wires on one end allows near-instant data transfer between computers via their network cards. Here’s how to do it.Time: 10 minutes
Cost: About $10
1) Cut off one end of an Ethernet cable, strip an inch of its outer sheath, and untwist the four pairs of colored wires inside.
2) Rearrange the wires in this order: green-striped/green, orange-striped/blue, blue-striped/orange, brown-striped/brown. (This links one computer’s outputs to the other computer’s inputs, and vice-versa.)
3) Evenly insert the wires
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