I love the look of the old fashioned Box Simpson Meters. Have a look at this project that turns three meters into a functional clock! If that wasn’t enough it even synchronizes its time using NTP.

 "Each meter driver is a single opamp used to sum two signals, scale them and output the result to the meter. One signal is a voltage set between -12V and +12V (actually less because of the resistors on the high and low side of the adjustment potentiometer), and the other signal is an integrated voltage of one of the PWM outputs of the Arduino board. By loading a value between 0 and 255 in the Arduino’s PWM register for that channel, you output a DC voltage between 0V and 5V. The opamp sums these two voltages together and presents the voltage to the analog panel meter.

Using three PWM outputs from a microcontroller isn’t the ‘normal’ way to do a multichannel sample and hold. Normally, it would be built with a single sample and hold circuit, multiplexed with a computer controlled analog switch (like a 4066) to the proper meter. This way you would only need one PWM channel and two digital bits to control up to 4 meters, but since I was committing an entire Arduino to this project, it was just easier to build 3 sample and hold circuits using a single quad opamp, and a few passive components."

This Turbine Jet-Boat is one fast ride. Looks like 1370 horse power is just enough for a wild water ski ride that you won’t forget.

"The T58-GE-8F turbine that is going in Squirt 2. It weighs 350 lbs and produces 1,370 hp @ 6000 rpm. That’s about 1,200lbs-ft of torque! The hull shown in the photos below is a 21ft aluminum white water race boat built by Eagle Power Boats. We have ordered a 23ft step V version of this boat for our project.

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Ahmad Masri has used an inexpensive ethernet chip called the WIZ5100 to create a simple but flexible ethernet based security system. The low cost of the ethernet chip makes connecting projects to computers or other microcontroller based devices very appealing.

"I have constructed a TCP based security system using the Ethernet module offered within the contest , an ATmega16L microcontroller , a PIR as a sensor and few other peripheral devices , which is specially targeted for homes and small business owners. I have used through for my final design a combination of the WIZ810MJ module , an ATmega16L microcontroller , a 7.3728 MHz crystal (compatible with my bootloader programmer), a DS1302 timekeeper , a PIR to sense the human movement through the body heat , a keypad for initial configuration and a 2×16 LCD for display. The design also include regulators to power up the circuits."

This Montegiro Lusso Turntable is something else! I love the style, I think this recreating this concept would make for a great DIY project.

"This creation from Germany exemplifies that vinyl is still alive. Targeting audio excellence, it features three height adaptable connected cones developed via alternate layers of aluminum and black acrylic. Whilst its one cone is supported by a lately developed ultra precise synchronous motor, the other one rests upon standard 10″ Da Vinci Nobile carbon fiber arm and Montegiro MG1 titanium cartridge. If you want a little more uniqueness then free feel to eye Lusso’s special edition, which comes equipped with a fourth cone sustaining a second 9″ SME 5009 tonearm."

Via: Elite Choice

I have been thinking about some green ways of depending on the grid as much as I do. There are so many things that can be done but most are very expensive unless you use some build some of it yourself. Have a look at this solar and wind system that uses some home made sun tracking units.

"The systems tracks the Sun using a controller from Red Rock Energy and a Satellite Jack Arm. The tracking device is custom made. The accuracy is very good and the arrays are very synchronous throughout the day. They begin parking movement (East) exactly when the Sun dips below the horizon to get ready for the next day. The Photovoltaic panels are consisting of 24 Uni-solar 64′s. On the day the picture above was taken the system was producing 2200 watts, both PV and Wind at 1:30 pm in Sept."

This project may not be needed for your everyday life but it turns a PIC Microcontroller  into a DTMF Phone Dialer and there is code provided so next time you need to make some DTMF magic you can use this project as a starting point.

" The dialer is operated this way:

• Storing a number. The device can store up to 12 numbers, identified by a bank ID. The ID is one of the buttons 0-9, SEQ, or RST. To store a number, press ENT, followed by the bank ID button. After pressing the bank ID, the green LED will light up, showing you that the device is expecting the number. Enter the number sequence (up to 15 digits); the SEQ button corresponds to the *-key on a phone; the RST number is #. You can use the DEL or TKO buttons to insert a pause. When you finish press ENT to store the number, or ABT to discard the changes and leave the old number stored in this bank unchanged. The green LED will turn off at this point. Example: To store the number 555-1234 in bank 0, press ENT-0-5-5-5-1-2-3-4-ENT.
• Dialing a stored number. Just press one of the 12 bank ID keys (0-9, SEQ, or RST). If there is a number stored in that bank the device will dial the number, otherwise nothing will happen. Example: To dial the 555-1234 stored number (see "Storing number" above) simply press the 0 button.
• Copying a stored number from one bank to another. Moving stored numbers around is a useful feature that I have not seen in any off-the-shelf dialer. To copy a number, first press ABT. The LED will light prompting you for source bank ID. Press the source bank button. The LED will remain on, waiting for a target bank ID. Press the target bank button. The number stored in the source bank will be copied to the target bank. You could cancel the operation at any time by pressing ABT. Example: To copy the 555-1234 number stored in bank 0 to bank 3, press ABT-0-3. After this, pressing the 3 button will dial 555-1234.
• Manually dialing a number. Press the DEL button. The LED will turn on. Now you can use the keypad to dial any number. The SEQ button corresponds to the *-key on a phone; the RST number is #. To exit manual dial mode, press the DEL button again (pressing ENT, TKO, or ABT button will exit manual dial mode too). The LED will turn off at this point. Example: To manually dial 555-9999 press DEL-5-5-5-9-9-9-9-DEL.
• Changing the dial speed. The maximum reliable dial speed depends on the system that you are dialing into and the noise on the line. To change the dial speed press TKO. The green LED will light up, indicating that the dialer is waiting for you to select dial speed. Press a number button between 0 and 7. The new dial speed will be set, 0 being the lowest speed, and 7 – the highest. The green LED will turn off after the speed is selected. Example: To switch to the highest dialing speed press TKO-7."

 Via: Hacked Gadgets Forum

Looking for an inexpensive home automation system that can be controlled remotely? Look no further than Twitter and iLink INSTEON.

"Using Twitter, a new social networking site, you can set up your laptop and connect it to your light switches (or any other electrical device) and control the device by sending text messages to your twitter account. It’s a fairly simple setup using this software which controls this hightech lightswitch"

Via: HacknMod