Jean-Claude Wippler from Jee Labs is making a DIY RGB LED Strip Driver Board and has documented the results and build details in a few posts. Here is a video that shows what the end result looks like. This project is going to allow for fully adjustable lighting in the Jee Labs, with a typical RGB light strip you should be able to achieve any color you want!

“I wanted to simply control RGB. This is very easy to do with three MOSFETs. I used IRLZ34N’s N-channel, since the LED strips are common anode. The circuit is trivial: drain to ground, source to LED cathode, and gate to an I/O pin. Repeat and rinse three times. “

The prize this week is a loupe magnifier, this will let you get a close look at whatever you are working on. This contest will run for one week (June 12 – June 18, 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 June 26, 2010

The item to guess was the Point Ignition

The winner is Raleigh S. (there were 189 entries, this was a hard one!!)

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Below is a picture of the prize.

Daniel Davies has made an interesting Touch Sensitive Car Security Device called the G-Spot. With this device installed turning the key is not all that is required to start your car. You also need to know about the secret G-Spot location, while touching your grounded key you also need to touch the G-Spot location to successfully start your car. You could imagine that a metal screw on your dash could be the secret touch location that a crook would probably never know to touch. Daniel has provided full documentation so that you could build your own, he has also gone over some of the steps he took to get his system patented in New Zealand.

Thanks for sharing your design with us Daniel and good luck with getting it to market.

Youtube user NOBOX7 has been documenting some of his DIY Air Dart Gun build process. It is a work in progress but the power the dart gun can provide is quite impressive given its relatively small size. Watch the 3rd video to see the gun in action. Just like a spud gun, this is a dangerous project so if you decide to build your own be very careful.

There are some battery chargers that you can buy which have some built in smarts but the standard ones are basically a large transformer and some large rectifier diodes.  The main issue with the basic charger design is that if they are left connected to the battery for a long duration they will overcharge the battery. Instead of paying the big bucks have a look at the design that Razor made, he has also provided the full schematic so that you can easily build your own.

“Device consists of two main parts; power supply with current and voltage regulation (2 x LM317) and voltage monitoring circuit with switching relay. The charging procedure starts when voltage drops below 12.6V, and finishes when it gets to 13.8V. These values are not fixed and can be adjusted with trim-pots. The maximum charge current can also be adjusted with DIP switches.”

Mark Frauenfelder, Editor of Make Magazine and Adam Savage, who hosts Mythbusters will be be putting on an event that you need to put on your calendar if you are in the area. I am told that Fora will be filming the event so if you can’t make it there you will still be able to watch the event.

Thanks Michel.

“You know that guy or girl who can make or fix anything? Yes, the same MacGyver wannabe who repairs a flat tire with an empty water bottle and a pen. You can now compete with these handy heroes. Especially now, in times of financial hardship, people want to fix and create useful and awesome gadgets from scratch. Make Magazine leads this “yes I can” attitude with tips for new self-sufficiency. From fixing your cracked iPhone screen to make-shifting an aerial camera rig from Popsicle sticks, a drugstore kite and Play-Doh, Make has it all. Find out where technophile and editor-in-chief Frauenfelder plans to lead this DIY movement.

Maker Faire Update:
As if Mr. Make and Mr. Mythbuster aren’t interesting enough, we are securing a solid lineup of DIY creations to follow their ‘bot’ banter. Behold yourselves, INFORUMers, for the glove that plays Rock-Paper-Scissors, animated Luminas as morphing light sprites, and the sky — like you’ve never seen it before.

Location: SF Club Office
Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. networking reception/mini Maker Faire
Cost: MEMBERS FREE, $20 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Also know: Photo by Wes Agresta of Argonne National Laboratory (via Flickr)”

This Arduino Steampunk Analog Watch that Matthew Garten built looks fun to use. The video below shows the unit in action with the Biopunk Edition enclosure. I think that the Steampunk version (pictured above) looks much better myself though.  There is no shortage of functions either, you can play some games in your downtime.

Thanks for the tip Greg.

“The materials used in making the watch are

Electronics
1 Arduino Mini Pro 328 – 3.3V/8MHz available at SparkFun
1 FTDI Basic Breakout (if you don’t have one) available at SparkFun
1 4D Systems OLED Module 1.5″ (128×128 pixels) available at SparkFun
1 Blackberry Trackballer Breakout available at SparkFun (I’m sensing a theme of the supplier)
1 3.7V 1000mAh Li-Polymer battery available at SparkFun
1 LiPoly Fast Charger available at SparkFun
1 DS1307 Real-time clock available at Digi-Key
1 Crystal 32kHz available at SparkFun“