Over the next few months, I'll be focusing on building a fully functional, long range UAV. This series will consist of several in-depth articles on my progress and the steps involved, so you can follow along and build your own unmanned aerial vehicle!
In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of ...
Cars require maintenance no doubt, but it needs pampering even with the change of weather. Like in summer rainy and winter your vehicle is suppose to be looked after differently. It’s always wise to take measures before the onset of the winter season, to save you from the perils. Car owners can follow regular maintenance schedule to have a perfect care of car and it will help them to have hassle free car drive in all sort of weather circumstances even in mercury boiling temperature or spine c...
Time-lapse photography used to require expensive and dedicated equipment, but in today's futuristic world, we now have easy access to universal machines like the iPhone, which are pretty much tricorders.
Mobile devices can do just about anything these days, thanks to third-party developers. iPhones and Android devices have been known to do some pretty wild things. Need a dupe key made? Scan and order one with your iPhone. Want to know if you're hotter than Justin Bieber? Compare your facial features. Are you a policeman who needs to ID a suspect? Scan their fingerprints and irides. Want to control your Canon DSLR remotely? Use your Android phone.
Remember the good ol' days when you actually had to swipe your credit or debit card to make a payment at the store? Now all it takes is a flick of the wrist to purchase goods with your card, thanks to RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology from Chase (blink), Visa (payWave) and MasterCard (PayPass). But soon "contactless" payments will be made by an entirely different beast—NFC, which stands for near field communication.
Lady Gaga and Polaroid's upcoming Grey Label Camera Glasses can record video and snap pictures, but who really wants to show the world what they're up too on those mini LCD screens? It's nothing more than a fancy gimmick between a pop star and a failing company. Isn't the intention of camera glasses to capture things around you as they are? Drawing attention to yourself with clunky video-displaying eyewear kind of defeats the purpose, but that's why they're "fashion" glasses and not practical...
With give or take 250 million cars in America, odds are most city dwellers waste time hunting for parking spots. And while a smartphone app can't make free parking spots magically appear, it can aid in the searching process.
If you ever want to try rebooting your car batteries before calling a towing service, make a solution out of 1 ounce of epsom salt dissolved in warm water, and apply the solution to the battery cell before starting your car.
With the release date of its round-faced smartwatch drawing near, Motorola is calling on the public to help design clock faces for its new Android Wear device.
A few days ago, we got word that Verizon's KitKat update to the Samsung Galaxy S4 was scheduled for release on May 2nd, 2014. However, this morning the OTA update was popping up on devices all over the states, ready for download and installation. Galaxy S4 owners on various other carriers have reported a myriad of problems with the new update, such as increased battery drain, missing apps, and the inability to write to their SD cards—most of which we've been able to find workarounds for. Pres...
Many Samsung Galaxy S4 users, specifically for Sprint, are reporting that the latest KitKat upgrade to Android 4.4.2 is causing some strange behavior.
Amazon's newest addition to the Kindle family, the Kindle Paperwhite, has a built-in light and much better resolution than its predecessors. Amazon boasts that the battery can last up to eight weeks (based on 30 minutes of reading per day with Wi-Fi turned off) and weighs less than half a pound.
Capstone's CMT-380 stealth looking prototype can hit 150mph, compared to Tesla's 125. Tesla better step it up.
Remember the magical LED graffiti video "paint"? Here's another cool LED graffiti design by Aissa Logerot.
Wu Yulu's life story belongs in a Disney movie. The 46-year-old Chinese farmer has built 26 robots over the past 30 years, with no education beyond high school. He says he loves his robots more dearly than his own sons and rides around his village in a robot powered rickshaw.
Arachnophilia and technosexuals rejoice. This whimsical, skittering robot takes only 5 minutes of tinkering.
Pranks are fun, but finding a way to maximize the affect of a prank can be tricky. Toilet papering the whole campus or repainting all of the parking spaces slightly smaller can take a long time and a lot of resources. A better plan of attack is to booby trap the choke points where your victims are forced to pass through. Think like a guerrilla. A dorm doorway is a good idea.
In this article, I'll show you how to make a high-powered, long-range, air-powered rocket gun. This launcher is based on a sprinkler valve, a modified propane tank, and a few other components. Though not hard to make, this device is VERY dangerous! The rocket can seriously harm, if not kill any living thing it's shot at. Here's a video of it in action, quite an accurate shot by my friend Chris... Parts
The HP Touchpad 64 GB is out in action with a robust processor and additional applications in the market. Using the best technology on earth, it is looking forward to give a tough fight to the Apple’s iPad 2. The 64 GB HP TouchPad sound more promising to its predecessors. The experts feel that the two device, HP TouchPad 64 and Apple’s iPad-2 is more or less the same. Let’s have a glance over the device by discussing the various features it encompasses.
Searching for some new new in Augmented Reality Apps I came across Augmented GeoTravel. I would have loved to have this app when I went to Europe. Being able to travel and hold up the camera & get more information on cool places I was seeing would have been awesome. It is like an ultimate travel guide and so much more. Check out some of the things it can do below.
General Tips for Exercising in the Heat -Schedule workouts for the cooler times of the day.
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.
Microcontrollers are great. You can do anything from water your garden to catch wildlife trash diggers in the act—and on the cheap. I prefer to use the Arduino microcontroller because of the large and helpful community built around the website. Though it is my favorite, there are some drawbacks to using an Arduino board in every project. It gets expensive, the board can take up too much space, and the rat's nest of breadboard wires are a pain to repair.
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.
Yes it’s the 21st century and yes, everyone’s busy, everyone’s connected. Accept it. Move on. Be happy.
In this series, I'll be exploring electromagnetic weapons, how to build them, their function and application to the future, and the amazing possibilities electromagnetism has to offer. First, the electromagnetic pulse generator, or EMP. You've probably heard of these before, and their devastating effects on electronics. A simple EMP consists of a capacitor, transformer, trigger, and coil of copper wire. This, when triggered, would produce an intense magnetic field for a brief period, similar ...
Snapseed is a highly regarded and award-winning photo-editing app for iOS devices. Originating out of image manipulation specialist Nik Software in San Diego, Snapseed is Apple’s iPad App of the Year and, after using it for the purposes of this review, I believe it points to the future of image editing.
Sounds like a false promise à la infomercial or typical spammy web headline—how can a 4.8 ounce gadget aid in weight loss? But, in truth, "who" better to act as a dedicated personal trainer and nutritionalist than the iPhone? The smartphone is completely and utterly tethered to the daily life of the average middle to upper class American. It's reliable and exact. All it needs is a charged battery, the right app, and of course, as with every diet and fitness regime, a user with unwavering self...
The days of trundling hoops, hopscotch and painted wooden rocking horses are long since past. The latest trend in toys? Biofeedback. Electroencephalography. A decade into the 21st century, the toy market is awash in products that incorporate functional neural sensors.
Creating any object you want is as simple as point and click if you have a 3D printer at home. If you don't have one handy, there are a few companies that offer printing services online. But to help services realize your design in extruded plastic, you have to make a 3D computer model for the printing machine. For beginners, the free Google SketchUp application is the best choice of software. Using only a few tool bar buttons and a scroll wheel computer mouse, you can model literally any obje...
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects.
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects.
As sheltering at home orders ease up, we still have to remain respectful of social distancing. Camping is one of your best options. You'll avoid the crowded beaches and trails while still soaking up nature. Right now we can all use some fresh air and sunshine.
Having your phone's display suddenly dim and black out while reading is an annoyance we've all had to live with. If you have a Samsung Galaxy like the Note 10, however, there's a simple setting you can enable to take care of this problem once and for all.
Since iOS 7, your iPhone automatically updates all of your apps, which is a wonderful thing ... until it's not. Not only does this feature drain the battery quicker when enabled, it can also bring changes to features, settings, and user interfaces in the apps that you already know and love. That's why you can easily disable the feature and stop apps from automatically updating.
Just as we started running through the features packed into the Android Oreo beta for the Galaxy S8, Samsung has started pushing out the second beta to eligible devices. According to DroidVendor, the update is rolling out as build G955USQU1ZQK1 for the Galaxy S8 Plus. The rollout should arrive as an OTA for anyone that is currently running the first beta.
Facebook's 'Safety Check' is a useful social media function — it provides users a comfort that in the event of an emergency, they can let friends and family know they are safe. While certainly not perfect, the service is now essential during disasters and tragedies. That service is finally getting some improvements, as Facebook rolls out new features and updates.
Samsung will begin preorders for the upcoming Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on February 21st, the same day the company plans to unveil its handsets ahead of the Mobile World Congress, according to Dutch site Android World (via Droid Life). Customers who preorder a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge will also receive a free Gear VR.
A slide shown during a China Mobile conference indicates that Samsung's Galaxy S7 handsets should be hitting the market next March. If this chart is to be believed, it strongly suggests that Samsung will unveil its flagships at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Feb. 22-25, 2016). For reference, the public got its first look at the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge on March 1st at last year's MWC; the handsets were released a little over a month later on April 10th.