Category Archives: DIY

DIY small bench power supply

newtonn2 posted detailed instructions of how to make this DIY small bench power supply that can adjust with precision current or voltage: After making my Mini Adjustable Power Supply I was very happy with it, but I was missing a more accurate control of the voltage and current. So I decided to make this slightly […]

Frequency counter with PIC16F628A

xristost blogged about the frequency counter module he made: First of all, I wanted a PIC microcontroller to do the whole job without any additional ICs. Also, I wanted to use the familiar 16F628A, but because one of the portA pins (RA5) can be used only as input, I was short of outputs to do the job. […]

Motor controllers for cheap robots

An instructables on motor controllers for cheap robots  by JayWeeks Almost every robot needs to power a motor of some sort or another. Problem is that motors take quite a lot of power, compared to what most microcontrollers operate with. To solve this problem, robots use what is called a motor controller, which usually amounts […]

SpeakerGen – parametric 3d printed speaker enclosures

Rich Olson writes, “I just put together an OpenSCAD script that can generate optimized loudspeaker enclosures based on driver’s audio parameters. Intent of course is to 3d print speaker enclosures…” For more information visit Rich’s NothingLabs blog. Via the contact form.

USB microscope guided PCB drill

mlerman wrote this instructable detailing the build of his USB microscope guided PCB drill: Most of the printed circuit boards I make at home are simple single sided boards. Drilling requirements are minimal, mostly holes to mount the board and an occasional through-hole component or connector that is only soldered on one side. For these boards […]

Measure RPM – DIY portable digital tachometer

Electro18 posted a tutorial on how to make a portable digital optical tachometer using an Arduino Uno,  an instructable here: A tachometer is a device used to measure the RPM or Revolutions Per Minute of any rotating body. Tachometers can be contact based or non-contact ones. The non-contact or contact-less optical tachometers usually use laser or Infrared […]

Dot Matrix printer from a CD/DVD reader with Arduino

Robson Couto wrote this instructable detailing his Dot Matrix Printer made from parts of a CD reader, with Arduino and processing: Some time ago while going through the pages here in Instructables, something catch my attention, a printer made of a CD reader, and i was amazed. I thought: “This is incredible, I have to […]

Classic joystick to USB adaptor

MatthewH wrote this instructables describing how to use an Arduino Leonardo (or similar) card to make your classic console joystick look like a USB keyboard: If you grew up in the early 1980’s and were into video games, you probably had an Atari 2600, ColecoVision, or similar game console. The controllers or joysticks for each […]

Temperature controlled reflow oven build

Matt of SkyLabs has a nice build log about a temperature controlled reflow oven he built using an Arduino based PID controller and a standard toaster oven: We have successfully managed to build a temperature controlled reflow oven using an Arduino based PID controller and a standard toaster oven from Robert Dyas! This is a must […]

Hard disk drive clock with Arduino Uno

ACVoltage  wrote this instructable detailing his DIY POV clock using hard disk drive and Arduino Uno: This is a fun project that can be done easily and also cheaply. In this instructable we will explain step by step how to make this beautiful POV clock. Used material: -Arduino Uno, -Tiny RTC modul, -ULN 2003, -IR diode and IR transistor […]

Arduino ultrasonic range finder, with I²C lcd display

An Arduino rangefinder with an ultrasonic sensor and an I²C interface display by Jan Henrik. He wrote an instructables here: The maximum rated range is 500 cm, the range is measured 20 times per seccond. It is Displayed on a lcd screen which is 20×4 chars big, it has a custom start message, and it can […]

ytimer, visual feedback timer

Here’s Aon’s finished project the ytimer  a visual feedback timer. We wrote about it previously: A countdown timer with super bright 7-segment displays that flash when the time is up, instead (or in addition to) an audible alarm. The design is based on a PIC16F886 microcontroller which drives the displays using a TLC5916 LED driver and dual […]

$2 DIY compost thermometer build

afraser-kruck wrote this instructable detailing his DIY compost thermometer build: Here are some basic instructions on how to build a $2 compost thermometer using readily available supplies. It looks crappy (in a good rustic kind of way), but works great and uses few materials. You really don’t need to read this… I like this design because it’s […]