MAKE HOMEMADE SCIENCE TOYS AND PROJECTS Control real world devices with your PC Parts list: Picaxe 08M chip available from many sources including Rev Ed (UK), PH Anderson (USA) and Microzed (Australia) Protoboard, servo, microswitch, 9V battery, 4xAA batteries and holder, tag strip, 10k resistor, 22k resistor, 33uF 16V capacitor, 0.1uF capacitor, 7805L low power 5V regulator, 10k pot, wires (solid core telephone/data wire eg Cat5/6), 6V lightbulb, D9 female socket and cover, 2 metres of 3 (or 4) core data wire, battery clips The above companies also sell USB to serial devices which are useful for laptops which don't have a serial port. It is worth noting that some USB to serial devices don't work as well as others and it is worth getting one from one of the above suppliers as they have been tested for use with picaxe chips.
Microcontroller Project and Electronic Circuits Projects: AtomicShrimp.com Other Projects I Have In Mind To Tackle: I want to make a machine that paints pictures - either a big paint plotter, or something that works as (some kind of) robotic analogue of the human arm. Wind turbine - I want to see if it can be done on next to no budget. Parabolic mirror array (or some kind of mirror suitable for solar experiments, including cooking) Rudder autopilot for the boat - I think I actually have all the parts for this; I've got microcontrollers, servo motors, an electronic compass module... Something that makes use of the glue lamination techniques I learned when I made the boat - maybe a rocking chair, maybe a sledge... A MAME arcade cabinet Something that makes use of wooden gears Some kind of musical automaton - maybe an automatic xylophone A Backpack Tubulum - that is, a musical instrument as used by the Blue Man Group - one of these: An underwater webcam, or maybe a remote-controlled underwater vehicle, with a camera built in. A lobster/crab pot - how hard can it be?
Michael Davis Publishing - Mike's World. How to build electronic devices on your own Building electrical devices is probably the most inexpensive engineering you can do because most electronic components are very cheap, like less than $1. How to actually build devices on your own isn't taught enough in engineering courses, so here's a quick summary of how to get started making devices like I have on my site. In this page, I kind of assume you're an engineer/scientist of some sort (or studying to be one) and that you've already had a few electrical engineering classes. If you don't know any electrical engineering, you'll obviously need to learn the basics before you can start inventing. , which teaches you theory and practical knowledge of components at the same time. First, get an idea To get an idea for something cool to make, it helps to go to online stores for electronic components (Jameco.com is a good one) and look at the components they have. Also, I really recommend getting a microcontroller, like the Arduino. Buy parts Here are a few typical parts that I use a lot:
Electronics Lab Building a DIY microscope This is a story of what happens when a foolish scientist screws stuff up. It’s the story of a DIY microscope, and how it all went terribly wrong. I tried. Last week I came across the instructions to make a do-it-yourself microscope. I went out and got all the parts I would need. Here’s the idea for the microscope, invented by Kenji Yoshino, a Science Learning Center post-baccalaureate fellow at Grinnell College. Figure 2. But mine came out looking very different indeed. We started by trying to drill the wood and the Plexiglas to fit the screws in and make a base and a stage for the microscope. Bad choice. But even if you use masking tape or heat, you have to start with a very small drill bit, and then use larger and larger bits until you get a hole that is the right size. Despite the cracks, in the end we got the holes! And here’s where I made a BIG mistake. So I put the lens in the smaller piece. The real issue was the laser pointer and the lens itself. Finally, we put in the light.
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