Really great suggestion of repairing electronics. There needs to be more awareness of recycling and proper disposal of electronics. Not for monetary gain but to reduce humanity's impact on the environment. Repairing an electronic device rather than discarding it is a very green idea.
It would be interesting to mod a guitar hero into an electric guitar with speaker. There was a guitar hero for Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, and other gaming consoles. It would be cheap to purchase one of the older versions for hacking. The buttons could trigger midi tones as a musical instrument or play directly from a small speaker and amp inside the guitar. There is a company by the name of " Gakken " that manufactures a Mini Electric Guitar Kit. It would be awesome to put it in a Guitar Hero. Any of the Rock Band stuff would be cool to hack.
I am currently working on replacing a faulty power switch on my second Coca Cola mini vending machine. I had to return the first one back to manufacturer for same reason so there is likely some issue in the design or faulty power switch. Now I have lost the receipt for this one so it is on workbench in my shop.
When electronics fail or become obsolete, I do not throw them away. If the device cannot be repaired then it will be broken down for recycling. I have saved many components from trash pile. Electronics are expensive. Switches, buttons, PIR sensors, LEDs, and other parts can be recovered from broken, used, and obsolete devices.
I think we could do something to help the disabled. People with disability could benefit from this competition to get a wearable or portable assistant. There a numerous examples out there like the ultrasonic walking cane for the blind or sound to visual indicators for the hearing impaired. I already have a wireless visual alert system at my house for my mother. It lights up when someone knocks at the door or rings the bell.
My mom is not deaf or anything but rather has the habit of keeping the tele at full blast in her room.
Here's a theme suggestion: (simple) electronic repairs
Repair a device that is malfunctioning instead of throwing it away or buying a replacement. Could be as simple as repairing a faulty switch, and could help people realise repairs don't need to be that complicated and get insights in some troubleshooting techniques!
For example:
We have a guitar for the XBox, but one of the buttons would only allow movement up instead of up and down. I opened up the guitar, measured and found that a reed switch is used for each position, and that one of them was constantly "ON", even in idle position, due to the magnet and switch being too close to each other. I gently bent the legs of the reed switch a bit further away, et voila, there was enough distance to be in "OFF" position in idle, and "ON" when pushed.
Great idea for a project. Here are a few images of the predicted path
These and other images are available at the following links. There are also very detailed high resolution maps and other resources available for download from https://www.nasa.gov/ .
Just been reading through all the ideas, and thought of one to combine some of the ideas I like. Might need some remote help though. I hear the eclipse is going to be over Oregon, so that would probably be the place to set up. Then set up an RPi with infrared camera and a tracking stand (can be controlled by the Pi as well) and make a time lapse video of the eclipse. Not sure of what the record rate should be.
Jack
...wish my brain would slow down a bit sometimes, so my typing can catch up. Time lapse idea got me thinking about special effects and the great stop action sequence in The Matrix, when Neo does the leap, and using a bunch of cameras with some splicing, panned the room while the scene remained motionless. $10 pi zero and $30 for the camera module, times however many frames to shoot, makes the venture much more affordable.
How about a solar powered Yard/Beach Gnome or object that comes to life after dark? Perhaps follows the Moon if visible. Heck, it could even double as a Watch Gnome if accessorized with a camera.
Top Comments