Here is a nice DIY Single-Ended Tube Amplifier design with a bit of Transformer inspired artwork made from some painted copper clad board.

Thanks Gio.

“For the circuit I used home made (hand etched) circuit boards, but the tube amplifier is so simple it can be easily connected with point-to-point wiring, especially if you choose to heat the tubes using AC. The LM338K is mounted (with electrical isolation) to an aluminum angle which is in turn attached to the aluminum chassis which makes for an adequate heat-sink. The OPT cover box is also built using the copper clad board and held together using solder and glue. By soldering small copper legs to the OPT cover the copper cladding is “grounded” and used to shield the output transformers. The finish on the OPT covers is a metalic-silver spray paint and then baked in hot sunlight. “

Anna Ceguerra has just completed work on Arkanoid which can be played on the uOLED-128-G1 display. If you want to have a look and give it a try all the code has been provided.

“The ball bounces off walls, rectangles and the platform. The code and images work on the uOLED-128-G1(GFX). This is not meant to be a faithful replication of the original game.”

Here is a cool Drumming Robot that can carry a tune. There is a long list of improvements that are slated to be added including voice control! We will have to keep our eyes on this one to stay on top of the build progress.

“Robot Info

• Actuators / output devices: 4 hacked servos for driving, 2 servos for head movement, 2 modified servos for drumsticks 1 doorbell for ticking sound
• Control method: both autonomous and controlled by 433Mhz transmitter/receiver
• CPU: 2x PIC 16f628A
• Power source: 7.2 volt rechargeable
• Programming language: Proton Picbasic
• Sensors / input devices: Tsop1738 infrared receiver and an infrared led
• Target environment: indoor“
  

If you have had your computer fall asleep at the worst possible time before you know how frustrating it can be. Todd Harrison from Toddfun.com has come up with a solution. He built a simple battery operated Keyboard Keep Alive Circuit that he stuffed in a cute candy tin shaped like a Wiimote. This circuit closes a relay contact every 25 seconds. Next he connected an interface jack to his keyboard to that the relay can “press” a key when the relay closes. He selected an arrow key but a shift key or something like that would have worked just as well. This circuit would be great to hide inside a keyboard and have it press the caps lock key every 5 or 10 minutes, that would be enough to drive someone mad! If you are looking to solve the same issue there is a device called the mouse jiggler that would do the trick, it is a USB device that slowly (or violently) jiggles the mouse, there is also a neat way to make a DIY jiggler using an optical mouse and a watch.

I have been putting the final touches on the Gear Clock kit which is made up of wooden gears. I have a new appreciation of the effort it takes to make something work well when it is constructed out of wood. MechanicalSculptor makes it look easy! This Parabola project us a true work of art, it’s so smooth and repeatable. His work is a real cut above.

This Autopilot for Aerial Photography slide show that was done for Barcamp Antwerp looks really interesting.

“The autopilot has a built in mixer. On first use you need to tell the autopilot what the channel and mixer arrangement of your transmitter/airplane combination is. To put the autopilot in calibration mode, switch on the transmitter, put all sticks in the center and switch channel 6 to “ON”. Now turn on the airplane.
At this point you can calibrate the autopilot by putting all sticks in the center and subsequently actuating the aileron stick from full left to full right and back to center, followed by elevator (fullup, then down, then center), rudder (left, right, center) and throttle (zero throttle, max throttle, center). The autopilot will confirm completion of the procedure by turning the rudder full left, then full right and then back to center.”

As promised the contest this week will be a bit harder. Also the previous winners of all outstanding contests including the Happy Holidays 2009 Contest will be determined and posted today. The prize this week is one of those popular micro helicopters. It uses IR from the controller to send control data to the small chopper. It’s sure to provide tons of cat tormenting fun. You don’t need to find the make and model of the item in the picture but you do need to determine what it is used for.

This contest will run for one week (February 6, 2010 – February 12, 2010) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it.

Please do not give the answer in the comments.

Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with “Name the Thing Contest” as the subject, and the message body consisting of:

• The name of the item in the above picture
• An example of what the item pictured above can be used for

The winner will be chosen at random from all of the correct entries.

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Added Mar 10, 2010

The item to guess was a Jockey Pump Controller

The winner is Nathan S. (there were 62 entries)

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Below are some pictures of the prize.

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