After constructing a solar panel and battery system to power a Raspberry Pi, I wanted to find a way to monitor how the battery and charger was performing. There are several ways to accomplish this task, usually involving a voltage […]
While browsing one of our favorite electronic supplier’s web sites, we found that Ladyada sells a really interesting looking clock that uses a vacuum florescent display with eight glowing digits. This clock proved to be an excellent soldering instruction project […]
One of my interests involves robotics, especially autonomous self-charging robotics. However, I realize most of my skills center around microprocessors, wood construction techniques, electronics, and some limited computer software skills. I knew I was missing the ability to make custom, […]
A few of the regular readers of this blog will know that I enjoy using a Web Energy Logger to track information about my home. Not only does this device track temperatures, but I also use it to interface with […]
When I first heard about the Raspberry Pi, a $35 computer that can run Linux, I was mildly impressed. My first problem was that I did not understand Linux, and my second problem was that I couldn’t figure out a […]
About a year ago, a friend mentioned how she made yogurt in a Crock-Pot slow cooker. It sounded impressive, and a good way to save on the cost of yogurt. We also figured that we could customize our yogurt recipe […]
The motivating factor for the construction of this robotic arm originally came from a tour of the Volvo factory in Göteborg, Sweden. It was during this factory tour that I first saw the massive robotic arms used to pick up […]
Our PongSat ping pong ball was successfully flown on JP Aerospace flight “Away 47” on April 9, 2011 (it is the experiment on the far left above). It reached a height of 85,549 feet before the balloon carrying the ping […]
Today, our first PongSat experiment will be launched to the edge of space! JP Aerospace, a group located in California, offers to fly student experiments that fit inside of a ping pong ball to the edge of space, often over […]
Every once in a while, I find something that I haven’t used in a while and it suddenly catches my interest. In this case, it was an automatic bread maker (machine) which had been sitting in a cupboard unused for […]
