Lasers are one of the coolest things that you can build yourself from a pure sci-fi fantasy standpoint. They're not easy though, but this video will help you somewhat by describing different types of laser diodes and how to connect them to a power supply. Part 1 of 2 - How to ...more
See how to increase the mW of a 5 mW Green Laser Pointer! If you overdue the tightening of the screw it may result in the laser diode breaking due to overpowering it! Perform at your own risk!
You can make a laser diode driver extremely inexpensively - the materials in this tutorial cost less than three dollars in total. Find out what to buy, and then this tutorial shows you how to assemble your purchases for a laser diode. Awesome!
Learn how to build a driver that can be used for Red laser diodes and Blu-ray laser diodes.
In this tutorial, we learn how to increase the power of a 5mw green laser pointer. First, you will need to gather the parts you will need, which include a vise, the laser, a soldering iron, and a block of wood. After this, cut the block of wood in half and then put your laser ...more
Solar panels are an amazing invention. Catching energy from the Sun before it even enters Earth's food chain, photovoltaics are like an all-natural nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the constituted parts of a solar panel are rare, valuable, and subject to the coercive forces ...more
You might already know a little bit about what the National Ignition Facility has been up to lately, or what they could possibly achieve. But last week, even the scientists at the Livermore, California station couldn't predict the awesome power that their humongous laser was c ...more
I'm back with the third part to my laser weapon series (see part one and two), and I'll be explaining the function, application, and potential of semiconductor lasers, aka laser diodes. Surely, most of you have used a laser pointer at some point. Whether purchased at a dollar ...more
In this series on weaponized lasers, I'll be exploring the function, operation, strength and building instructions for three basic laser weapons; CO2, Diode, and Flashlamp. These laser types are just a few of many, selected because of their simplicity and basic construction (d ...more
Who doesn't love Duck Hunt? It's arguably one of the most popular games ever created for the original NES system, even in spite of the mocking dog that everyone hates. I'm sure a lot of people still have their old controllers in the attic somewhere, so unless you're lucky enou ...more
Doorbells are a great idea. They let you know when someone who's not a burglar is trying to enter your house, apartment, or squat. They eliminate the need for lots of noisy yelling and startling door pounding. The one thing doorbells don't do is to let you know when someone f ...more
In my second article of the laser weapon series (see the first part here on CO2 lasers), I'll be expanding on the potential of pulsed lasers. I'm sure most everyone has seen those green and red laser pulses on Star Wars. Theoretically, those lasers could be built using a conc ...more
On Thursday, Mojo Vision, a startup comprised of former engineers from Apple, Amazon, Google, and other Silicon Valley mainstays, emerged from stealth backed by $50 million in funding for a hands-free augmented reality platform that runs without smartphones, tablets, or other ...more
You can construct your own burning red laser very easily and very cheaply. All you need are a soldering iron, Phillips head screwdriver, an LPC-815 laser diode, and a RKCSTR driver. Once you have everything together, follow this video to build a burning red laser.
Even basic electronics are pretty damn complicated. This video is near the end of Scotty's amazing series of electronics tutorials, and will teach you about adding a diode and a capacitor to a circuit, choosing a power supply, voltage states, and polarity.
If you've been making nice with NCR, or you know, making not so nice and lying about it to get in, you've probably found HELIOS One at some point during your travels in Fallout New Vegas. Not only is HELIOS One a power plant, but it also houses a Orbital Laser Strike weapon wi ...more
Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make a lithium thionyl chloride battery, which is capable of generating 2.8v with enough current to power a LED. Warning: Thionyl Chloride is EXTREMELY toxic and this experiment must be performed in a fumehood by an e ...more
Don't use a perfectly good DVD burner to get your laser that will pop balloons, light matches, and burn stuff. Just buy a laser diode at mfgcn.com and also a laser housing, and you won't be tearing a computer DVD player apart. This is the easy way to make a 200mW burning DVD l ...more
In this Electronics video tutorial you will learn how to make a laser pen from a DVD burner. Take a DVD burner, remove all the screws from the bottom panel and remove the panel. Then remove the rest of the body cover as shown in the video. After this the laser will be revealed ...more
In this video we learn how to fix the Xbox 360 open tray error. First, open the console up and find the laser power. There are two screws around this laser that need to be changed. The left one should be screwed up a slight amount until it's slightly lifted. Once it's lifted, ...more
A tutorial on the power levels of laser pointers and what lasers of different powers can do.
With portable devices being a necessity in modern everyday life, they may be subject to overuse, improper charging, or normal wear and tear. For those people who carry around their smartphone or iPod with them all of the time, how many times have you been out and about just to ...more
This mod will run you about $130, but you'll have your own laser torch at the end of it. You'll need a high end flashlight, a Aixiz module, an AR coated lens and a blue diode. Then assemble according to the instructions, and get a laser at the end of it!
To take apart a PS3, you will need the following tools: Phillips-head screwdriverPliersTiny Phillips-head screwdriversTiny flat-head screwdrivers On the bottom, there is a sticker that says "if you remove this sticker, you will void the warranty". Take the sticker off.Undernea ...more
Graffiti is a great way of getting your message out to the masses. The earliest known graffiti dates back to 30,000 years ago and used the traditional apply-paint-to-wall technique. Though our paint now comes in cans and not from scavenged berries, the actual graffiti process ...more
Tim Higgins brings Halo's warthog vehicles to reality with a live action game created with laser tag weaponry, game controllers, and kid-sized jeeps. Feeling ambitious? Tim posted a full rundown of the build over at Microsoft's Coding4Fun blog. Check out the interview below ...more
Halloween just isn't Halloween without Jack O'Lanterns. Below, anything and everything you need to know on the art of pumpkin carving. 1. Prepare a Pumpkin for Carving Serious Eats' video demonstration is for true novices: "This video is for you unlucky souls who never got t ...more
Welcome to Microwave Energy—the next part of my Making Electromagnetic Weapons series. For the Electromagnetic Pulse Generator, check out the last three articles (One, Two and Three). I'm sure almost all of you have used a microwave at some point in your lives. As a child, I ...more
Laser can refresh your air by kill the bad bacteria and fungus in the air.You can make a cool lamp too. All with the usb power.
Sometimes it's more than just inconvenient when your electronics lose power. Sometimes, losing power could be dangerous. Never worry about a dead cell phone again! Charge your portable electronics by harnessing the power of the sun. You Will Need *Solar-powered garden lights ...more
What happens when you use a laser cutter on your fingernails at low power? Bad smell.
It's been proven over and over that you can make batteries out of fruits and vegetables such as lemons, potatoes, and even apples. Turns out, passion fruit is also acidic enough to power a battery, but Maui Makers member Ryan K decided to take it a step further by adding a las ...more
You can do a lot with water guns. Have trouble waking up? Make a water gun alarm clock that (almost) no one could sleep through. Prefer real ammo? Turn your water gun into an airsoft BB gun. And if you don't have one, you can even make your own. One of the best things about w ...more
Looking to transmit some super-secret audio communications to your other spy buddies? A laser is the perfect tool for getting your sounds heard from a small distance—without anyone intercepting them— even if it's just a cover of your favorite pop song. A laser audio transmitte ...more
What's the first thing you would do once you realized you were lost in, say, a desert? If you're like me, you would immediately pull out your cell phone and start dialing every number. But what if you have no service? What if your battery is dead? If you make this survival so ...more
There's a lot that goes into making a nice crystal radio set, so this is going to have to be broken down into two parts. The first part is the actual making of a functional radio, and the second part is making the whole arrangement look nice. In this part, I'm actually going t ...more
The Moto G7 Power is a phone that screams battery life. From its display resolution to the massive battery, it was designed for those who hate to recharge each night. But unlike other battery-focused smartphones, it comes at a price almost anyone can afford. Lenovo, Motorola' ...more
First off, let me say this—using real steam power is dangerous, and heavy, and just generally not worth it when you have modern alternatives. Except, you know, if you're a Steampunk. Or this guy: Video: . The guy in the above video makes some awesome gadgets, which are unfortu ...more
Proud new papa Gjoci wanted to make sure he never had to worry about whether or not his baby girl was breathing, so he built this amazing breath-detecting baby monitor using a Wii remote, a printed circuit, and a laser. First, he opened up the Wiimote and took out the camera, ...more
Eavesdropping from a distance can be tricky because it usually requires some sort of bug or transmitter. It's easy to transmit audio through lasers, but you can also use lasers to build a microphone that picks up audio from a distance. LucidScience built the Laser Spy System f ...more
For most people, learning how to work with electronics is far from intuitive. Getting the diodes in your hands and working with them is the best way to go about it, and this video will teach you a great lab for learning about diodes, potentiometers, capacitors, photo cells, an ...more
It's not just for annoying cats, anymore. You can upgrade your laser pointers and turn them into an actual burning laser! This tutorial by Kip Kay shows you how to mod a basic laser pointer into a higher powered laser.
An emergency battery charger for your mobile phone comes in handy, but it's not the ultimate solution; once it's dead it's useless (what a waste). If you want to really get off the metaphorical grid, you can follow the steps in this video to construct a more robust circuit tha ...more
Systm is the Do It Yourself show designed for the common geek who wants to quickly and easily learn how to dive into the latest and hottest tech projects. We will help you avoid pitfalls and get your project up and running fast. Search Systm on WonderHowTo for more DIY episode ...more
No matter if you've used one or not, you've got to admit that 3D printers are pretty darn awesome, especially the self-replicating ones that extrude molten plastic and the shoebox-sized versions that use mesmerizing stereolithography to build tiny objects layer by layer. But w ...more
You can actually build a burning red laster by assembling a few spare parts taken from old computers! This tutorial shows you what you'll need to look out for, and then how to build it. You'll probably need a diode, but that's likely the only thing to purchase!
This video tutorial from Shooting Eggs demonstrates a hack that will allow you to convert a cheap 5 mW green laser pen into a 100 mW monster. Watch out, don't burn your carpet! Check out this hacking how-to and learn how to build your own high-powered laser on the cheap.
This is a tutorial on Halloween costumes prop construction. Follow these easy Star Trek Phaser construction directions. Spocks costume needs a phaser. The phaser laser beam is simulated by a pen flashlight.
In this article, I'll show you how to make an awesome "Death Ray" using the large magnifying lens from an old projection TV. The lens is called a Fresnel lens; a device that employs several ridges to focus light, rather than a complete curve. When sunlight passes through the ...more
Thanks to Apple's awesome user interface, it is extraordinarily easy to set your default printer. Instead of guessing which printer your document printed to, be certain of where it is every time. Stop chasing that printed document around your home or office and set your Mac t ...more
In this article, I'll show you how to built a Wireless Transfer of Energy Transmitter. Simply put, this device will send electricity to a florescent light bulb and light it up, from up to three feet. The idea originally (at least, prominently) came from Nikola Tesla (read more ...more
Building a DIY Alarm System: The Concept So, you want to protect your property, or maybe a room, car, or even your backyard. The concept of an alarm system is to notify the "alarm administrator" that there is an intruder entering the previously designated boundaries. The trig ...more
Hak5 isn't your ordinary tech show. It's hacking in the old-school sense, covering everything from network security, open source and forensics, to DIY modding and the homebrew scene. Damn the warranties, it's time to Trust your Technolust. In this episode, see how to defend yo ...more
Save that last slice of pizza! You can reheat it in its own container, using the sun's power. Turn a pizza box into a solar oven. You Will Need * A large pizza box * A ruler * A black marker * A box cutter or utility knife * Heavy-duty aluminum foil * All-purpose glue * Sciss ...more
How is it possible that Iron Man is not yet a reality? DVICE reports that super-powered exoskeletons are indeed within our grasp (if not quite as flashy as Hollywood SFX just yet). Real life exoskeletons fall into the realm of not-too-distant futuristic warfare. Below, five e ...more
Whether you're in an airport, restaurant or waiting room, the insidious grip of televisions on human life is omnipresent. Sometimes it's nice to talk to other human beings while looking at them directly—actually hearing what they have to say. Thankfully, there's a DIY device ...more
Warning Don't torrent things that you do not have the rights to torrent. Everything I torrent, I have a physical copy of, and just want a copy on my computer without causing wear-and-tear on my DVD drive's laser. Piracy is naughty. I used to get extremely frustrated with Bit ...more
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been widely used by the military for surveillance and reconnaissance missions—even armed combat. But there are other beneficial applications of an unmanned aircraft, such as search and rescue operations, scientific exploration, lo ...more
Flying orbs. At first, you might think of the Tall Man and his army of flying sentinel spheres, equipped with zombie brains and a mini-arsenal of saw blades, drill bits and shooting lasers. But these flying orbs weren't conceived from the evil mind of a superhuman mortician—th ...more
Introducing the National Ignition Facility. Not only is the name curiously amazing (a facility designated for the act of … combustion?), but it also happens to house the largest, most high energy laser in the world. Why would they create such a thing? To create a miniature sta ...more