DIY & Hobby Projects: Parts, Components & Tools Must Have’s
Most people who visit to this site are either DIY'ers, Makers, Hackers, or Robotics / RC enthusiast. For the most part, we all do the same thing - we build or mod stuff for our projects or hobbies. Over the years, experience and repetition has given we wisdom as to what works, what doesn't, and key components that I want to have on hand. I wanted to share a list of parts/components I have found useful for…
LulzBot Mini: WebCam & LED Mount
Given that I can't leave well enough alone, along comes my latest project. I was trying to both have good lighting on the build platform as well as a stable platform for the web camera. My first run at a camera mount used a series of flex hose pieces I printed. However, getting them to snap together required warming them up and press fitting them to each other. After they cooled down however, the fit…
LulzBot Mini: LED Lighting Controller
Update: Check out the more recent mod - camera mount and better lighting. So, I just got my LulzBot Mini this week and have to say I love this thing. It's my 2nd 3D printer (I Kickstarted the M3D - but it was not a reliable machine). Anyway, like any guy with a new toy, I had to do something to make it my own! ..and why not print some parts for it! The…
Micro MinimOSD – D4R-II RSSI using RC Filter
I'm running a Flip32+ using a D4R-II receiver and wanted to get RSSI into the Micro MinimOSD. Googling yielded other results that did not work for me. After digging deeper, I found this worked for my set-up. The solution is an analog RC filter consisting of a cap and few resistors. The idea is to convert the PWM signal to an analog signal so it can be interpreted correctly. Analog will provide an analog…
10 Minute Project – Glowy Pumpkin
Here's a quick project to get some funky flashing / colour changing LEDs into your pumpkin. Just grab a set of addressable WS2812's and some Arduino code and your're done. The 2812's are pretty easy to wire up. Essentially, +5v, GND and data signal get daisy changed through the set of LEDs. Each LED has 3 pins for IN and 3 pins out. Wire from the Arduino to the first IN set, then from…
Solder SmokeBGone – A DIY Fume Extractor
This is one of those DIY projects I should have done a long time ago. I solder a fair bit and mostly use lead-free solder, but sometimes there are those projects where you need to use the bad stuff. I cringe each time I do it and pop the gas mask on and bear through it. I finally decided to do something about it . 10 minutes of DIY hacking and I…
CubCadet CC500 Electric Mower – LiPo Battery Conversion
I decide to go the electric mower route about 5 years ago. I was hesitant as the 12V lead-acid batteries most electric mowers come with suck - and they are heavy. At that time, the only better technology was Lithium Ion battery-based mowers, but they were very expensive. I decided on the CubCadet CC500, which was a good balance of quality and price. It was a 48 Volt lead-acid unit. (more…)
Quads: Why you need Failsafe and a LOMA
I finally got my 250-sized quad ready to fly. The last 2 things I did were to add a LMOA (Lost Model Alarm) and configure failsafe in Cleanflight. Luck was on my side yesterday as Murphy's Law kicked in when I took the quad out for it's first full flight test in a nearby field. Admittedly, I still consider myself a noob with much to That said, I was flying FPV and decided…
IoT Garage Door Monitor/Opener with Finger Print Scanner
I've got a lot of stuff in my garage, and having 3 kids (one of them being me!) with forgetful minds, the garage door is sometimes left open over night. I don't really like that sinking feeling after waking up the next day to find the door was left open. Between loosing valuables and critters that make a mess of garbage, I finally decided it's time to take a stance! I have an IP Cam mounted inside the…
DIY Speaker Build
The ShapeOko has been sitting idle for a while, so I decided to take a stab at making my own speakers. I wanted to do something small that I bring outside and hang on my pergola when entertaining guests on our new patio. After perusing the web and checking out some speakers and online enclosure calculators, I landed on a set of HiVi B3N's (3") and tweeters. Given that they won't be permanently mounted outside,…