The 3DConnexion Space mouse is an interesting device but heavily patent-protected, of course. This seems to just egg people on to reproduce it using other technologies than the optical pickup system the original device uses. [John Crombie] had a crack at building one using linear Hall effect sensors and magnets as the detection mechanism to […]
In the early days of 3D printers, most builds used smooth rods and bearings that rode on them. But these days, printers are shipping with either V-slot extrusions with Delrin wheels or linear rails. Which is best? Everyone seems to have an opinion, but [Spencer] decided to compare them using some well-defined experiments, and he […]
Children can be a great source of daily inspiration, especially when they are just beginning to speak in full sentences and starting to let their little personalities show. [Franklinstein] has the cutest toddler, and she loves her toy espresso machine, especially the little milk carton that came with it. Well, one day, Daddy made a […]
You’ve probably heard that a 3D printer is capable of producing its own replacement parts. Sometimes, that even includes upgraded or improved versions of the parts it was originally built with. But sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what improved really means. Think about air ducts that cool the part after printing. In theory, it […]
Lunar Module pilot Charles Duke saluting the US flag during Apollo 16. (Credit: NASA) Imagine: you spent years training for a sojourn to the Moon, flew there on top of a Saturn V rocket as part of Apollo 16, to ultimately land on the lunar surface. You then spend the next few days on the […]
[Chuck Hellebuyck] wanted to clone some model car raceway track and realised that by scanning the profile section of the track with a flatbed scanner and post-processing in Tinkercad, a useable cross-section model could be created. This was then extruded into 3D to make a pretty accurate-looking clone of the original part. Of course, using […]
The history of consumer technology is littered with things that came and went. For whatever reason, consumers never really adopted the tech, and it eventually dies. Some of those concepts seem to persistently hang on, however, such as augmented reality (AR). Most recently, Apple launched its Vision Pro ‘mixed reality’ headset at an absolutely astounding […]
The fake AliExpress-sourced IRFP460 MOSFETs (Credit: Learn Electronics Repair, YouTube) These days, it’s super-easy to jump onto the World Wide Web to find purported replacement parts using nothing but the part identifier, whether it’s from a reputable source like Digikey or Mouser or from more general digital fleamarkets like eBay and AliExpress. It’s hardly a […]