Engineers at Oxford University have come up with a new innovative concept for underwater turbines that use 60% less manufacturing and 40% less in maintenance costs.

This type of new underwater generator involves the THAWT device.  I believe these types of underwater turbines and ocean wind turbines combined will soon be everywhere in the ocean to generate over 90% of our electricity.

The THAWT is considered to be a “second generation” turbine as opposed to the first generation models that resembled windmills. It consists of a cylindrical rotor that rolls around its long axis with the flow of water, instead of turning at right angles. Promising to be more efficient and powerful than other underwater turbines, each THAWT is predicted to produce 12 megawatts of energy - enough to power 12,000 family homes and significantly more than other underwater turbines of today.

via inhabitat

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Wow, this is kinda nifty robot.  It’s an RC controlled tortoise(or turtle) that does absolutely nothing but go really slow.

R/C Tortoise is a very simple r/c tortoise “bot” with direct control, using a 4 channel radio system.
It uses 4 sub micro servos, and each axis of the transmitter stick controls a servo.

via techeblog - technabob

Bring a touch of the eighties to your hi tech home.

“Sealed Enclosure: 3 Cu. Feet
Driver Diameter: 15″, Aluminium Cone
Outer Enclosure: 3/4″ MDF Shell with 3/4″ MDF ’tiles’ overlaying it, forming the Rubik’s Squares
Reinforcement: 1 Y/Z-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow driver. 1 X/Y-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow driver and Plate Amp. 1 Z-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow Driver. 1 full piece of 1/2″ MDF at top. 1 Cut piece of 3/4″ MDF on bottom.
Total Box measurements: 20.75″ Wide, 20.75″ Tall, 20.75″ Long
Tile size: Face: 7.5″ X 7.5″, Cube: 7.5″ X 7.5″ X 7.5″
Total Measurements: 22.5″ Wide, 25.5″ Tall (w/ 3″ feet), 22.5″ Long
Total Weight w/o Speaker, wiring, Poly-fil, Amplifier: ~98 lbs.
Total Weight: ~144 lbs.

This is a pretty cool idea that looks really stylish.

Source [Project Cube]

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Here’s the video if you can’t see it.  (some kinda YouTube bug…yes blame it on the big company)

Cool, check out this awesome 3-Axis servo motor drawing “HackADay”. You can get the board for really cheap from this guy.

The preprogrammed AVR microcontroller must be purchased directly from Uli Huber. We do not carry the chips.

Please include $5 shipping and handling for destinations within the continental United States. For all other areas, please include $7 for shipping charges.

For those only interested in purchasing a single bare pcb board, shipping and handling can be avoided by sending us the cost of the pcb and include a self addressed stamped envelope with your order. Please attach three first class stamps to the envelope with your legible return address. We suggest using cardboard floppy disks envelopes that can be purchased at office supply stores. US only.

via HackADay

Wow, check out this cool Rubiks cube Subwoofer!  I wish I had one…  It seems like this guy has all the plans and everything so next time you need to hide your new sound system from your lover or somethin’…there’s ya go.

If you are wanting to add some bass to your home theater why build a Huge Rubik’s Cube Subwoofer! It isn’t as big as this gigantic subwoofer but it looks a lot more fun.

“Sealed Enclosure: 3 Cu. Feet
Driver Diameter: 15″, Aluminum Cone
Outer Enclosure: 3/4″ MDF Shell with 3/4″ MDF ’tiles’ overlaying it, forming the Rubik’s Squares
Reinforcement: 1 Y/Z-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow driver. 1 X/Y-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow driver and Plate Amp. 1 Z-Axis piece of 3/4″ MDF, cut to allow Driver. 1 full piece of 1/2″ MDF at top. 1 Cut piece of 3/4″ MDF on bottom.
Total Box measurements: 20.75″ Wide, 20.75″ Tall, 20.75″ Long
Tile size: Face: 7.5″ X 7.5″, Cube: 7.5″ X 7.5″ X 7.5″
Total Measurements: 22.5″ Wide, 25.5″ Tall (w/ 3″ feet), 22.5″ Long
Total Weight w/o Speaker, wiring, Poly-fil, Amplifier: ~98 lbs.
Total Weight: ~144 lbs.

It’s a beast, I must say, but before we begin how about some background information? My current system utilizes 2 Paradigm v3.0 Studio 100s (fronts), 1 CC-590 center, and 2 Studio 20s for 5.1 surrounds. Driving all that is an NAD T773, biamped with 2 NAD C272s for the fronts and discrete 7.1 inputs biamping the 20s - Long live the Canadian sound! Likewise, when I finally moved into my new apartment with space for a television (that’s a luxury in Boston) I wanted the extra kick for DVDs - what HT is complete without a sub? I’ll admit I’m a bit of a purest and can’t stomach the thought of attaching an external sub to my stereo so my search began for something that could rock the 60hz range in movies but neither force me to rewire every time I want to play a CD…

Being a huge fan of my Paradigms, I naturally went to the accompanying model for my Studio 100s - the Direct Servo 15. Despite making a great sub, I also played around with the option I eventually went with - making one. Reasons for this were two-fold - I hadn’t taken on any art pieces in a while and just having dropped first, last, security, etc for the new place I didn’t want to make a large purchase (insert your Alanis Joke here). Long story short, I chose to go with a Rythmik Audio Servo-15. One visit to Rythmik Audio’s website and you can see that these guys aren’t messing around.

via HackedGadgets

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Check out this cool wii hack that allows you to use wii controller as a Midi controller!

This is very similar to the Wii guitar but you could probably do more with midi.

Thanks crustea for the tip!

In addition to the traditional buttons, force feedback and the integrated mini-speaker, the true innovation is the presence of a gravity and acceleration sensor (the ADXL330, used in the army or automobile safety, for airbags systems) inside the Wiimote which collects the movements and acceleration of the Wiimote on each of the 3 axis, X, Y et Z.

The good news is that rather than using a proprietary protocol to transmit the infos from the Wiimote to the Wii, and then lock its hardware to keep an exclusive use of it, Nintendo has made the excellent decision (probably by commercial will) to use the Bluetooth protocol, standard of communication on PC and Mac for several years. This means that you can connect your Wiimote to your computer, and program it rather simply for any use you want.

Check out this cool etch CNC.  Actually we were thinking of making this too, but since it’s already
made, we can learn from it and make it quicker.  Awesome!

I am using a retrofit machine that fit within my budget. It’s a 2-axis machine with approximately 170×130mm travel.

The circuit board is my own design, using a ULN2803 per motor to supply approx. 0.3 amps per winding. The power supply is a standard AT hard-drive power connector, with the +12V used to power the motors. It’s a simple constant-voltage L/R drive. I made the circuit board using EAGLE, and milled it on Chris’s real CNC milling machine (which is powered by EMC and AXIS, of course).

Also check out:

Schematic of the driver circuit

Layout of the driver board

via

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So my friends waited 30 hours at the SF Sony Metreon to get this PS3. Well the good news is that we got our hands on one and checked it out. It seems like the new 6 Axis controller looks exactly like a PS2 controller, except it’s wireless. Well, let the party keep rollin’ ! We made some custom long island ice teas and relaxed while playing some Wii and PS3… Well, at the next party, we will let you know so you can reserve a seat.