Do-It-Yourself Projects That Deliver Hours of Play
Sure, you can buy fun things. But if you make them, you get the fun of construction plus the fun of use, with a dash of satisfaction and an anecdote to tell anyone who uses your creation. These three projects--a sledding winch to get you up a hill, a giant version of the board game Operation, and an Angry-Birds-playing robot--are all homemade. SLEDDING WINCH Two years ago, Web developer Josh Smith and telecom engineer Brian Freed took their families sledding at an old ski resort in Pennsylvania but found that the 45-minute walk to the top of the 1,200-foot hill limited their runs. By the next winter, they had a solution to the problem: a homemade sledding lift. Built from a go-kart motor, the winch can pull three adults, or two adults with two children. The sleds are tethered to a rope that moves in a continuous loop over pulleys at both ends of the hill, pulling sledders 1,050 feet up. Riders can now make it to the summit in just three minutes. This year, the duo modified the winch so they can use it in the water during the summer for “winch boarding,” a sport in which a surfer is towed speedily across the surface by the device. Cost: $1,400 Time: One month OVERSIZED OPERATION Joshua Zimmerman built a giant version of the classic game using parts he had around his house. 1. Paint a wide, flat box white. 2. Draw the outline of a body, and holes for the “organs.” Cut out the holes. 3. Wire a buzzer, five red LEDs for the nose, and a tin oven tray for each hole to a pack of three AA batteries. 4. Cut an opening into the box’s back. Tape the electronics and trays in place. 5. Attach a wire from a pair of metal tongs to the circuit, and test that they set off the buzzer when they contact the trays. 6. Paint the body. Cost: $10 Time: Three hours For details, check out Instructables. VIDEOGAME ROBOT Those green pigs have a new mortal enemy: an Angry Birds–playing robot. Jason Huggins, a software developer at Chicago’s Sauce Labs, originally built a motorized finger for another project, but when he realiz...
Source: PopSci.com - DIY - Monday, 6 February
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