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DIY Mini-Segway Shows Dean Kamen Isn't All That Clever
Posted by Kit Eaton at 7:15 PM on October 2, 2008
OK, OK... so Dean Kamen actually dreamed up the Segway in the first place and other amazing things, so he's pretty clever. But then so is the guy who's put together this Arduway out of an Arduino controller board and some Lego Mindstorms motors. It senses its position with a gyro, and balances pretty much like the real thing, only smaller. Maybe good for giving your pet mouse some 21st Century transport? If you're impressed and want to try it out then there's a DIY guide and the software available. Clever stuff. [Project page via Hackaday]
Hackaday's running a cute little electronics project at the mo (well, if you think electronics can be cute) which shows you how to build a fully working web server on a circuit board no bigger than a business card, in plan at least. It's capable of serving up web pages and files and instead of using tricky-to-access EEPROMs it runs from code stored on a FAT-formatted SD card—easily accessible by PC. Check it out: it's pretty fascinating, and is a project you can follow...assuming you're darn good at delicate soldering work, and are into DIY electronics. Just don't go sewing the board to 
High voltage electrics plus risk of sparky, smoky death plus humorous engineer equals excellent warning sign. I'd keep well away, after reading that. Though I do remember an old girlfriend's dad once pinned a freakishly similar note (substituting the odd "I will" into the text) to his daughter's bedroom door, and pointedly drew my attention to it. [
Here we see ol' Mercator, if country sizes were drawn according to the amount of discretionary income spent on electronics by its citizens. As the world's largest economy, the US being the biggest blob here at US$162 billion for 2007 is not that surprising. But what might be surprising is Japan, who spends more on recreation than clothing, household items and electronics combined--pretty interesting for such a style- and gadget-conscious nation. Also note central Europe's electronics spending, which is clearly becoming a force to be reckoned with if 
From Samuel Rhoads-Clarke, KitRadio is part DIY radio, part mini-artwork diorama. It's designed to teach you about the inner workings of a gizmo that we take for granted as a "black box" item nowadays, or "become familiar with the technology behind the product" as Samuel puts it. To that end, the wooden box and components with brass images attached are self-assembly, and create a tiny urban- or farm-scene diorama when they're completed. Sounds totally bizarre, and slightly cute at the same time... just the right thing to get techy kids interested. No word on whether it'll become a product rather than a prototype. [
For those of you who're into a little bit of creative electronics as well as fancying yourself as a bit of a mean DJ, this DIY laser light show may be just the thing to spice up your parties. Not only will the project spray laser light around (and who doesn't like laser light shows?) but it also reacts to music, so you'll have your own laser visualiser. Check out the video to see it in action.
A team at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal have produced the world's first field-effect transistor based on paper. The paper layer acts as an "interstrate", with the actual FET components being fabricated onto both sides: so the paper holds the transistor together and acts as an insulator. Amazingly in tests the paper transistor performed better than amorphous silicon transistors and even approaches the performance of state-of-the-art oxide thin-film transistors. Why is this interesting news? Mainly since paper is a lower-cost substrate than silicon, so this invention opens the way for cheap, or even disposable, paper displays, smart labels, RFID technology... basically expect more ubiquitous technology integration in future products. [
Which sounds like a better way to make the roads safer: rescind drivers licenses from people who are very old and have failing vision, or create a fancy system with lasers to allow them to keep driving. If you answered the latter, you're in the same camp as General Motors. They're hard at work on a fancy new windshield that uses lasers, infrared sensors and a camera to make it easier for your decrepit old granddad to see just where the hell he's going.
