Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

The Bamboo and Carbon Fiber Bike Frame

I got a comment on my post about bike frames made of bamboo today and figured it was worth of a new post

The bike is made from Bamboo that has been smoked and heat treated to prevent splitting. Lugs are available in carbon fiber or hemp fiber, for the all-natural look. The chainstays are available in carbon fiber for extra stiffness in the drivetrain.

As Sean says they are working on the paper and epoxy versions. I’m sure he is joking but hey, he knows his Gibson! If I were in the market for a bike and I wanted something that was light weight and strong but I didn’t want full carbon fiber I’d choose bamboo hands down. The stuff is strong as hell and looks great.

CalfeeDesign

Steampunk Keyboard Mod

This is an impressive modification of a standard PC keyboard into a work of steampunk art.
I expect to see everyone in the class with one of these on Monday morning, you have your assignment now get cracking!

[via brass goggles]
Steampunk Keyboard Mod

R/C Helecopter With Rockets!

One of the captions on the page says it all:

Unmanned Attack Helicopter, Ver. 2, 2004
Gas Powered Radio Control Helicopter modified to carry and remotely fire model rockets

Oh yeah… This would liven up the company picnic don’t you think? I wonder how he managed to ignite the rocket without throwing the chopper into a nasty spin? Any one else have something like this? BB gun mounted on a glider maybe?

The artist also has some very impressive sculptures listed in his online portfolio. I like the ‘Bronze Skull’ ones myself.

[via jaf project]
The Sculpture of Christopher Conte
Bronze Skull prototype

An AVR-based Analog Plotbot with an E-Paper Display

This is just perfect! Using a Magna Doodle as an output device for a computer is just brilliant.

What do you get when you mix a 1970′s style analog chart recorder, an 8-bit microcontroller, and a Fisher-Price Doodle Pro? A truly 21st century toy: An analog PlotBot with e-paper display technology!
Our machine is based around a vintage analog X-Y data recorder. Its original purpose in life was to perform basic laboratory data collection, plotting two voltages against each other, and was one of the primary tools for that purpose right up until computers took over that job in the 1980′s. Because they were once so common and are now generally obsolete, it’s quite easy to get one of your own. There are usually several under $50 on eBay at any given time, and that’s where we got ours. …
The other major modification that we’ve made is that we’ve replaced the pen and paper with what seems like out of reach technology: an inexpensive and readily available e-paper display: the panel from a Doodle Pro. …
The Doodle Pro is a descendent of the Magna Doodle, a classic children’s toy dating to 1974. (I’m not sure what makes this a “Pro” anything, however.) It uses a simple magnetophoretic display, where ferromagnetic particles are suspended with near-neutral buoyancy in an opaque, viscous white liquid. Using a magnetic stylus, you can attract the black particles to the top surface, or with a magnetic “eraser” on the bottom side, pull the particles away, leaving only the white liquid visible.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories – An AVR-based Analog Plotbot with an E-Paper Display

Best DIY 747 Flight Simulator Ever

Woooow! This is sooooo cool! Ok, I feel better now. I was scanning Neat-o-ramma tonight and saw this. This is the best DIY flight sim I have ever seen, even has multi axis movement simulation.

Australian amateur pilot and flight sim enthusiast Matthew Sheil spent 10 years and $230,000 to create a homemade flight simulator that precisely mimics the 747 cockpit down to the last dial, knob, and switch!
Link | Matthew’s website (tons more photos, but I can only see ‘em in IE, not Firefox)

[via neat-o-rama]
Matthew Sheil’s 747 Simulator

DIY Valentines

Over on Cool Hunting there’s a lovely list of do it yourself Valentines Day projects.

Often considered a marketing invention to help boost sales in an otherwise slow economic period for retailers, Valentine’s Day needn’t be another excuse to express love through our capalitistic, consumeristic ways. There are plenty of options to give without hitting the mall, so this year CH decided to put together a list of homemade Valentines gifts (and kits).

I’m partial to the naughty ice cream sandwich myself but the sun jar would be cool to give as a gift.

Cool Hunting: DIY Valentines

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