Instructable: Parallel Lasers Using Line Level
I made a box that is able to convert a single laser beam into several that are parallel for the demonstration of refraction and convergence of light through glass/ acrylic blocks. This can be used in science, and physics lessons to show the direction light takes through blocks designed like a cross section of a lens, and clearly shows the differences in focal points between ‘lenses’ of different thicknesses.
My Instructcable: Make shift camera stabiliser
My brother and I have been wanting to make a camera stabiliser. There are many different types on the internet, particular one that we would base it on was found here. After discussing it a bit I remembered that there was a spare piece of metal from a shelf that I couldn’t use. I decided to attempt to make a crude prototype of the stabiliser. I had bent the piece the wrong way at first; I didn’t think the two metal rods would be much help to me, but I soon realised that if I bent it the other way, not only would I get a handle, the weight would no longer need a grip to stop it from slipping off.
I was both pleased and surprised with what I had made, enough so that I decided to make an instructable about it. Click the title of the post to have a look at it.
My instructable: Wire coat hanger hands free phone mount
Click the title of this post to get to the instructable.
Why make this?
I have an app on my phone that caches videos to it for data-less access to it later on. As I’m subscribed to many cool science channels on youtube I usually have a massive list of video’s that I want to watch. At the same time I don’t want the videos stopping me from doing other things I want or need to do. Often I can watch TV with the laptop on my lap, glancing up occasionally and my brain filling in the rest. However, the content on TV sometimes is a bit lacking in comparison to that I can reach on my phone. To save me from balancing my phone on the corner of my laptop, or on the table on the other side of the room, I needed to find a way to keep the phone in a small region in my visual field, yet leaving both hands free so I can type away on the computer. This is the solution I came up with. It does more or less what I wanted and it cost me nothing.
Engineering this solution came from a bit of trial and error, it sort of evolve into what it is now, and it definitely no way perfect, there’s probably something I haven’t seen yet that can improve it further. I started by thinking it would be good on the shoulder, tried it and found it liked to slip off and if around the neck would rotate. I briefly thought it could go on my head, it drooped a lot. Thinking back at the head mount now, it could work if you counter balance it. Adding strings in tension to the wire helped support the weight of the phone an distribute it to the chest.
I knew there would be uses to it that were not immediately apparent. I wanted it to watch videos but you could use it to make videos, ones which required you to have both hands free, to demonstrate something (rubiks cubes?). The video can be pointed outward, making it feel like a first-person point of view cam, or you could have it facing you, making a cool looking video blog.
Go over and have a look, click the title.
Mental Adventures of nanoBorg88 