Build Your Own ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE The finished project is a 1981 Kawasaki KZ440, converted to electric. It is powered by four Optima Yellow Top sealed (AGM) lead-acid batteries, that drive a Briggs & Stratton Etek electric motor. The speed of the motor is controlled by an Alltrax brand "AXE" programmable controller that can run at up to 48 volts and 300 amps. Contrary to popular belief, and electric motorcycle is NOT silent, but is CONSIDERABLY quieter than a typical gas cycle. The cycle is GEARED to 45 mph, has fairly good acceleration, no clutch or transmission. The cycle recharges from the wall, through a renewable energy program, and if there is a blackout, I can actually run my house off my electric motorcycle! In this Instructable, I'll walk you through the work required with the motor, batteries, controller, and mounting all components, including showing you some low-tech paper and cardboard "CAD" tricks. Your Project But what do you want? Give some thought to what cycle you would like to convert.
blog: Cooking & molding bioplastics at home: recipes, results & tips Inspired by Mendel Heit, Martin Bauer and Jay Cousins we've been doing a lot of playing around with bioplastics. Here you can see the original post with a video that shows you how they made bioplastic. Additionally this video is quite helpful. So why have I been spending every minute of my free time cooking bioplastic? Basically the idea is: make a biodegradable plastic in your own home. Theoretically home made bioplastics could be of great benefit to hobbyists and hardware hackers.
ReplicatorG is a simple, open source 3D printing program - ReplicatorG How to Build a Robot Tutorial - Society of Robots Introduction to Gears No good robot can ever be built without gears. As such, a good understanding of how gears affect parameters such as torque and velocity are very important. In this tutorial I will first talk about the basics of gears, how to use them properly along with simple equations, and then I will go into specific types of gears. Mechanical Advantage, Torque vs. Rotational Velocity Gears work on the principle of mechanical advantage. This means that by using different gear diameters, you can exchange between rotational (or translation) velocity and torque. As with all motors, by looking at the motor datasheet you can determine the output velocity and torque of your motor. With gears, you will exchange the high velocity with a better torque. Torque_Old * Velocity_Old = Torque_New * Velocity_New Torque_Old and Velocity_Old can be found simply by looking up the datasheet of your motor. 3 lb-in * 2000rps = Torque_New * 300rps 3 lb-in * 2000rps = 5 lb-in * Velocity_New
LIFT 2010 : Résumé d’une seconde journée de conférences Voici le résumé de cette deuxième journée de conférence de la LIFT 2010 à Marseille du 7 juillet 2010. Au programme du Hacking de people, les techniques pour développer son cerveau et tout un passage sur la gestion de liberté numérique. bref une journée intéressante encore bien remplit. Anab Jain, Superflux, nous présente un petit film qui commence avec la douce musique de Dallas pour nous expliquer comment on peut Hacker les gens. Elle nous exprime sa vision du futur dans notre société moderne avec l’utilisation de FabLabs pour créer notre environnement à l’instar des grands groupes industriels d’aujourd’hui. Elle nous explique que ce sont aussi les designers et les penseurs d’aujourd’hui qui vont créer le monde de demain, sans forcement concevoir réellement un objet, mais en développent juste un concept. François Taddéi, INSERM, nous explique que pour pouvoir développer son cerveau il faut d’abord s’ouvrir au monde nous environnant et le comprendre. Adriana Lukas, The Mine!
Build Your Own CNC Router, CNC Machine, or 3D Printer How to Extract DNA from Anything Living First, you need to find something that contains DNA. Since DNA is the blueprint for life, everything living contains DNA. For this experiment, we like to use green split peas. Spinach Chicken liver Strawberries Broccoli Certain sources of DNA should not be used, such as: Your family pet, Fido the dog Your little sister's big toe Bugs you caught in the yard Step 1: Blender Insanity! Put in a blender: 1/2 cup of split peas (100ml) 1/8 teaspoon table salt (less than 1ml) 1 cup cold water (200ml) Blend on high for 15 seconds. The blender separates the pea cells from each other, so you now have a really thin pea-cell soup. Step 2: Soapy Peas Pour your thin pea-cell soup through a strainer into another container (like a measuring cup). Add 2 tablespoons liquid detergent (about 30ml) and swirl to mix. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. Pour the mixture into test tubes or other small glass containers, each about 1/3 full. Why am I adding detergent? Step 3: Enzyme Power Use meat tenderizer for enzymes.
Design*Sponge Calls for Peace Between Pros and DIY-ers | Co.Design "Don't worry," Grace Bonney, founder of the blog design*sponge told a ballroom full of designers at IDSA's international conference in Portland, Oregon last night. "DIYers won't replace you. We're not trying to take your jobs." Why the defensiveness? The conference's topic might have something to do with it. As one of the most influential voices in the area deemed "threat," Bonney tried to walk a diplomatic line, assuring the audience that her community, while talented and eager, was in no position to swoop in and land the HP account. "We don't have your talent," she said. While acknowledging that the crafts movement has its faults -- too often, they copy other peoples' designs, there's frequently a lack of quality control, they can be lazy when it comes to innovation (her words, not mine!) "They've revived the love of creation at the simplest level," she said. Lindsay Adelman's chandelier, also available as a DIY kit An alarm clock by Natalie Duckett [Grace Bonney photo by Anna Wolf]
MicroSystems World CNC - PC Based CNC Controller - WinCNC CNC Software - CNC Controller Software - WinCNC - CNC Motion Control - "Home" Forget WiFi, Connect to the Internet Through Lightbulbs - Technology - GOOD Whether you’re using wireless internet in a coffee shop, stealing it from the guy next door, or competing for bandwidth at a conference, you’ve probably gotten frustrated at the slow speeds you face when more than one device is tapped into the network. As more and more people—and their many devices—access wireless internet, clogged airwaves are going to make it increasingly difficult to latch onto a reliable signal. But radio waves are just one part of the spectrum that can carry our data. One German physicist, Harald Haas, has come up with a solution he calls “data through illumination”—taking the fiber out of fiber optics by sending data through an LED lightbulb that varies in intensity faster than the human eye can follow. Haas says his invention, which he calls D-Light, can produce data rates faster than 10 megabits per second, which is speedier than your average broadband connection. Photo (cc) via otto-otto.com
Elliot Washor: Making Their Way: Creating a Generation of "Thinkerers" "Rise above oneself and grasp the world." -Archimedes (engraved on the Fields Medal) Making is making a comeback. A cornucopia of fabrication and tech labs public and private are sprouting throughout the country. Maker Faires -- sprawling outdoor extravaganzas that combine the atmosphere of a medieval fair with old low-tech and new high-tech garages -- are bringing makers of all ages together to share their work and their learning. These new expressions of "thinkering" bring the wizened tinkerer and the tech-savvy youth together in playful competitions that range from the serious and sublime to the deliberately frivolous and outrageous. Making provides opportunities for young people to use their hands and their minds together. Sadly, however, to observe these young "thinkerers" is to be at least temporarily deluded into believing that this is what many of our young people are all about. We reviewed disturbing data on how young people spend their time.