Driving E-ink display

Project started on 23.3.2013.

E-ink displays, such as the ED060SC4-V2, are easily available off eBay. They are sold as spare parts for e-book readers, but there is nothing to stop you from using them in your own hobby projects. Or is there?

Juice decanting pipe

Project from 16.3.2013 to 16.3.2013.

Homemade juices tend to accumulate some dregs at the bottom of the bottle. When pouring out the juice, one always hopes that the sediment wouldn't follow.. but as air bubbles through the neck of the bottle, it stirs the liquid and lifts the solids from the bottom. My mother wished for a pipe that would let the air flow freely to avoid this.

Duck plate with OpenSCAD

Project from 18.11.2012 to 8.12.2012.

Inspired by the ceramic materials on Shapeways, I really wanted to make something with them. Actual ideas were more difficult to come up with, though.

Remote controlled sphere

Project from 9.4.2012 to 3.10.2012.

This is a remote controlled sphere, not unlike the sphero and several DIY variants. It served as a great opportunity to test out inertial sensors & RF control, as well as being a birthday present for my nephew.

Wire-suspended "delta robot"

Project from 2.7.2012 to 3.8.2012.

My summer job this year involved the selection of 3D coordinates by mouse from a stereo image pair. To demonstrate the results, I built a cheap robot that picks up the selected object.

Flowers that open with Flexinol wire

Project from 27.4.2012 to 4.5.2012.

For our Demola project, we needed a tree with flowers that open by electronic control. The purpose was just to illustrate the concept of a physical tree that would react to energy saving and other good deeds.

DSO Quad

Project started on 24.10.2011.

My DSO Quad arrived last week and I'm absolutely in love with this little device. While the analog bandwidth is a bit limiting, it is an amazing deal for the price, and best of all, it is fully open source!

Broken thermometer = window paintings

Project from 18.7.2011 to 18.7.2011.

Our thermometer broke. Surprisingly, they still contain liquid metal even though it is not toxic mercury anymore. I forgot about the whole incident, until I spotted a little drop of the metal clung to the back of a chair.

Big wheels

Project from 1.9.2010 to 12.4.2011.

I did my civil service at a local museum. As a side project, I was assigned to "create something that demonstrates how mechanical power transfer works" for the steam engine room. This is what I came up with.

GPRS Boat

Project started on 5.1.2011.

This is my latest project, which may one day become a remotely operated robot boat. It will have STM32 processor, GPRS link, GPS and solar panels. Length will be 50 cm.

Make a faux product description sheet

Project from 22.12.2010 to 22.12.2010.

Add a little bit of obscurity to your self-made christmas present. A fake Chinese setup guide sheet might have your friend confused for a moment, not knowing if the present actually is self-made or just of really crappy (or excellent!) Chinese quality.

Plywood gears

Project from 18.11.2010 to 20.12.2010.

This is a technical gift to my nephew: plywood planetary gears. I had the opportunity to order some water jet cut parts for a work project, and after seeing the results I tried it in a hobby project also.

Headphone attenuator

Project from 27.11.2010 to 28.11.2010.

My new Nokia 2710 has a radio. However, the sound is way too loud, even with the headphones that came with the phone. It's also not the only device with this problem: often the volume control doesn't go low enough so that you can listen comfortably in a silent room.

A juicebox holder

Project from 25.9.2010 to 26.9.2010.

Small juiceboxes have one flaw: squeeze too hard and the juice shoots out. That very much annoys my sister (and does not annoy my 2-year-old nephew nearly as much), but my father thought about a simple solution: plastic box that is strong enough to stand a firm grip.

DIY Garmin GPS bike mount

Project from 24.9.2010 to 25.9.2010.

I recently bought a GPS-receiver, Garmin eTrex Legend HCx, mostly for bicycle trips and for improving OpenStreetMap. However, from what I've heard, Garmin's own bike mounts are not only expensive but also weak. Therefore I decided to make my own.

SMD probe for multimeter

Project from 7.8.2010 to 8.8.2010.

While fixing my laptop, I needed to probe several pins on a surface mounted chip while the system was running. Obviously I didn't want to short-circuit anything by accident.

How to fix a matrix keyboard

Project from 28.6.2010 to 12.7.2010.

My workplace had a Brother label printer with broken keyboard. This isn't an ordinary consumer model; instead, it prints on 30 mm high tape and costs several hundred EUR. Therefore it was actually worth fixing, unlike some cheaper models.

Toy car for my nephew

Project from 27.4.2010 to 13.6.2010.

A robotic car may be a bit advanced for a two-year-old, but it is what I did anyway. This car can drive forward and backward, steer and detect obstacles and has working lights.

Tiny brass figures

Project from 23.10.2009 to 14.2.2010.

These tiny figures are carved from 4 mm brass, the same material I used in the toy car. The tools required are just Dremel (or any other miniature drill and bits), an utility knife, some files, and a hacksaw.

4 pictures in a cube

Project from 29.11.2009 to 19.12.2009.

This cube is supposed to be cute. When shaken, it randomly displays one of four pictures, which are carved on pieces of polycarbonate.