On Hacked Gadgets today, I came across an interactive climbing wall. This thing looks great for teaching new climbers where to put their hands. I can't tell you how many times I have had to keep yelling "No, your OTHER left hand!" while trying to belay. This would also be awesome for climbing competitions too where you have to use specific hold in a certain order.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Solar Charging and the Outdoors
Today I will show you some projects around the web for portable solar charging. First up is the Rain or Shine Solar Charger brought to you by Instructables.
This is a pretty decent charger in reality and I really like the pouch setup so you can put your cell phone inthere to keep it dry too. It uses a step-up/step down DC/DC convertor that helps you keep charging a cell phone, which need a pretty stable supply, which solar isn't. The total project would roughly cost $50-$80, but that is significantly cheaper than any off-the-shelf chargers that start at over $100 and are not waterproof.
Up next is a really crude, ugly, but really cheap charger titled Small Solar Charger.
It is an extremely simple solar charger that just puts a diode across the batteries so that they do not discharge back into the solar cells. This is a heavier and more fragile charger than the one listed above nor can it charge a cell phone directly. To add that feature, you would have to build the Minty-Boost, a USB charger that you use AA batteries to charge a USB device (cellphone, iPod, whatever...). The total cost should be around $10.
These are just a couple of the many DIY designs out there. I got both of these from Instructables.Com on of my favorite How-To sites. Solar chargers can get complex very quickly, but I like these two since the charge AA or AAAs. Many GPSs, cheaper MP3 players, small flashlights, etc. use these making these chargers fairly flexible.
Happy hacking!
This is a pretty decent charger in reality and I really like the pouch setup so you can put your cell phone inthere to keep it dry too. It uses a step-up/step down DC/DC convertor that helps you keep charging a cell phone, which need a pretty stable supply, which solar isn't. The total project would roughly cost $50-$80, but that is significantly cheaper than any off-the-shelf chargers that start at over $100 and are not waterproof.
Up next is a really crude, ugly, but really cheap charger titled Small Solar Charger.
It is an extremely simple solar charger that just puts a diode across the batteries so that they do not discharge back into the solar cells. This is a heavier and more fragile charger than the one listed above nor can it charge a cell phone directly. To add that feature, you would have to build the Minty-Boost, a USB charger that you use AA batteries to charge a USB device (cellphone, iPod, whatever...). The total cost should be around $10.
These are just a couple of the many DIY designs out there. I got both of these from Instructables.Com on of my favorite How-To sites. Solar chargers can get complex very quickly, but I like these two since the charge AA or AAAs. Many GPSs, cheaper MP3 players, small flashlights, etc. use these making these chargers fairly flexible.
Happy hacking!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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