Eds Junk

Arc Reactor Proposal

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:43:52 -0500

This is by far one of more more fun projects Ive ever done! A little background first, my girlfriend, now fiancé, has always loved projects I’ve made and really enjoys them. She has started calling me Tony Stark (which any guy will gladly accept that comparison) after I created a simple Arc Reactor prop replica to sit on display on my desk. So I had a idea after I decided to pop the question! How great would it be if my “Arc Reactor Heart” could give her the ring? So the idea was created!

So I went off and started redesigning the reactor. I made it smaller, and more detailed. I laser cut and cnc routed all of the parts and slowly starting building the basic shell. My idea was to use two servos controlled by and arduino. At first I was not sure how to light it up, but I had some of AdaFruit’s RGB LED Strip laying around from a pinball project. So I cut off enough to go around the reactor and used the arduino to control that as well! Also added a couple of bright white LEDs to hit the ring once it comes out. So here is the inside of the device.

The two halves screw together and hookup easily. I had to keep everything very compact so the servos would not hit each other. Also had to come up with a small bracket to hold the ring, but allowed it to easily be pulled off and put back on as you can see in the second picture. So needless to say, she said yes and loved the ring and the reactor! Hope you all enjoyed and it gave you ideas for your own projects!

XBOOK 360 Laptop

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:18:16 -0400

The all new XBOX Laptop... Id like to call it the XBOOK! All new design, slimmer with a bigger LED LCD screen, built in audio, built in power supply, truly a portable gaming experience! And its MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE! This is built out of stronger material, and is precision CNC Routed and Laser cut to make an awesome machine! Be the envy of all your buddies with this beauty!

!!!!ATTENTION!!!!

All orders NOW until JULY 1st, 2012 will be entered into a drawing to win a FREE XBOOK 360 Laptop! Order now to be entered in!

ALSO..

FREE SHIPPING ON FIRST WEEK OF ORDERS!

THE NEW AND IMPROVED XBOX LAPTOP! I call it the XBOOK!

The last XBOX Laptop I made was a great little machine. It sold well on here and I brought it to so many LAN parties and got tons of compliments on it. I not only sold them to people that just wanted a xbox laptop to brag about, but also went to soldiers that used them all over the world. But at $1700 it was a bit out of reach for alot of people.

I wasn’t trying to charge alot to make alot. Alot of people would email me and offering me as little as 200.00 for one! I had to turn down alot of people because of how long it took me to build. Took me about 3 weeks of time from the CNC Machining to all of the soldering I would do. So I set out to make a new Xbox laptop that was not only better quality, thinner and better screen... but one that I could sell for much cheaper and could build quicker. So the idea of the XBOOK was born!

Since my last xbox, I have acquired more machines to help me build this XBOOK. I got a bigger CNC Router as seen on my blog. This allowed me to make more parts at once and make it faster. I also purchased a Laser engraver/cutter. This has been extraordinary to use to cut acrylics. I also picked up a vinyl plotter that has been a life saver when it comes to the detail work and graphics on the XBOOK.

I took alot of time designing this xbox in cad drawings. It is made up of a total of 4 layers of black starboard plastic. Starboard is a marine grade polymer that hold up real well! Its VERY strong and comes in black so no paint that can chip off! Saves time and materials! Its of the same type of material that cutting boards are made out of. This stuff holds up WAY better than the older PVC material I used on the previous laptop. I then used Black acrylic for all of the outside covers and also the inside of the laptop. This allows for a nice glossy shine, but also gives something for the vinyl to stick too as its hard to apply anything to starboard with adhesive.

All of the silver detail work on this is vinyl. This is all cut on my plotter and fits PERFECTLY on this XBOOK. It gives it a real professional look that is superior to the older laptop. All of this is customizable. You can pick pretty much any color for the graphics and also on the screen in between the speakers I can put your gamer tag in! (Or any other word you'd like). I can not change the color of the black starboard. That is the only color it comes in (other than white) and you really cant paint it. But, that being said, all of the acrylic you can change the color of. That would be the Button panel, CD Tray, Ring of Light, side covers and the LCD bezel and inside of the XBOOK. I would have to special order the colors if you wanted something other than black for the acrylic, and would take a little longer to make and cost just a little more for materials. But I do have in stock like 30-40 colors of vinyl and will do any color you'd like! Just email me if you have any questions about that.

Now onto the screen! The old xbox laptop I made had a very nice 17” 720p HD monitor. This looked real good and made for a great display. But.. I wanted something better for this new one. I have upgraded this laptop to a 19” 720p HD LED Screen. This is very crisp and VERY bright. The LED Backlight is current technology and has a very even glow to it! It also makes the screen much thinner as well! The old 17” screen was nice but still felt a bit small. This 19” is perfect! You dont feel like you gotta sit real close to play!

Right below the screen is a pair of high powered speakers. It gets much louder than the previous version and also is positioned better. On the last one the speakers were on the bottom portion of the laptop and pointed up. On this, I placed them inside the screen bezel. This positions the speakers to point towards you. Gives a great stereo sound to them and even has good low end as well. This comes stock with a headphone jack as well so you can play in privacy if you'd like!

As you can see there are PLENTY of vent holes. I used the stock cooling of the XBOX 360 Slim, so its quite and cools just perfectly. I have no had one overheating issue yet with this one or any previous model. Just dont leave it on if you close the lid! On the side you still have access to the slims internal hard drive. Just unscrew a couple screws and slide it into place and your good to go! (Also if you want, I left enough room inside the laptop to plug in a portable HDD into one of the stock USB ports... this can open up alot of possibilities for more HDD space!) The ring of light along with the CD Tray and Buttons are located on the front along with 2 USD ports. These buttons are the best I’ve ever made. They are extremely professional and look good! Starting left to right, you have Power, CD Open, Sync, and Volume up and down. (If you'd like to access the configuration menu of the LCD, there are more buttons inside the unit to change any settings you'd like of the LCD itself)

Onto the other side you have another vent and your ethernet port. This XBOOK comes with built in Wi-Fi so you can play xbox live without the worry of a cable. But hey, its there if you need it! If you'd like component video out, the second vent here is modular so I can add video out no problem. Currently the screen uses HDMI as the internal connection, but if you'd like video out, id have to switch the internal video to component. You will still get 720p High Def, but the internal screen wont be as great as HDMI. Thats all your choice!

On the back of the unit is a simple universal power supply cable. The XBOX’s main power brick is located inside of the XBOOK. So no longer do you need to carry around a power brick either! And the LCDs power is pulled off that same cable on the inside. So it only takes a single cable to get this thing running! Please note that this does NOT have a internal battery. xboxs are not made to run off batteries. They are very power hungry and would eat through batteries extremely quickly, plus is weigh alot more!

Total weight of this unit is 17.5 Lbs. Thats not really heavy considering what your carrying! A xbox, Power supply, LCD screen, cables and a case all in one! The dimensions closed are 18.25”x12.25”x 3.5”. This is bigger, but much thinner than the last one. Only reason its bigger is because of the the 19” LCD screen. But because of this same screen I was able to make it a 1” thinner! This really is a great machine that will be the envy of all your friends!

Now down to the real question... price.... Like I said, I wanted to make the most affordable XBOX laptop on the internet with my previous model, and I did. But with this one, I wanted it even cheaper! And I accomplished this goal as well! This XBOOK laptop starts at $995.00 USD. Thats right, UNDER $1,000.00!!! Thats for a brand spanking new XBOOK laptop with customizable options for you! You pick the vinyl color and free gamer tag personalization! If youd like it even cheaper, send me your XBOX 360 (must be the new style XBOX Slim) and ill knock off $200.00 dollars off the price!

So here is the Price info........

4GB XBOOK 360 Laptop $995.00
250GB XBOOK 360 Laptop $1,095.00 (extra cost of the xbox slim)
Gamertag Personalization FREE
Customized Vinyl Color FREE
Customized Acrylic Color $50.00
Optional Component Out $50.00
Supply your own XBOX -$200.00

Shipping is $50.00 in the continental US. Contact me if your outside of the US.

Heres how the ordering will work. Click the Paypal button on the bottom of this site and you will pay $500.00 upfront nonrefundable deposit. This gets your name put on the list (trust me, its gets full quick) and gets me working on your XBOOK. After its completed, you will pay the remainder and shipping and your XBOOK will be shipped out! Once I start on your unit, it will take 2-3 weeks to complete. There may be people in front of you, so be aware of that. If you have any questions at all, please go to my contact page HERE and send me a message! I will be in contact with you through the building process and will make it personalized for you!

Inside this unit is a Microsoft XBOX 360 Slim. The xbox has not been altered in any way that would be illegal on xbox live. It has no performance modification or enhancements. The XBOOK is simply just a plastic case that holds a XBOX inside with a LCD Screen. I am in no way affiliated with Microsoft or Xbox. It does not have a xbox warranty as you loose the warranty as soon as you take a xbox apart. I will guarantee it will not be DOA and will give you a 30 day warrantee on the XBOOK to fix any problems it may have that is not from user abuse. It is non returnable as these are custom made for each individual buyer.

Dedicated Mach3 Control Panel

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:58:38 -0500

Yet again, its been awhile since I’ve posted anything on here! A lot has happened since! First off, I got a couple new toys, I picked up a vinyl plotter. This has been great for labeling things and just having fun. My other toy was upgrading my CNC Router to a bigger and faster machine. I picked up a 2x4 Warthog router, it took some work to get it running on Mach3, but has been worth it. I always liked how the industrial units had dedicated systems that used there own software. Made them cooler and so much more convenient IMO. But Mach3 is such a great easy to use piece of software that I wanted that as well. So here is what my ingenuity came up with!

Its a pretty simple device really. All of the parts, except the “E-Stop” Button I had laying around. The Screen is just a 10” LCD I took out of kiosk system. All of the buttons and joysticks came from a box of old MAME parts I had laying around. I had a extra I-pac ( http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html ) laying around, which basically makes all the buttons keyboard commands which Mach3 can see as a “hotkey”. More details later.

This definitely not the cleanest device I’ve come up with, but it will be cleaned up soon. The screen in the panel simply hooks up to the VGA output of the PC (the first one in the pic), Then I have a powered USB Hub in the panel that breaksout many USBs, this is for the Keyboard, Mouse, I-Pac and whatever else I may need like a USB stick. All of the buttons you can find on ebay if you search for “MAME Buttons” along with joysticks. They all hook into this I-Pac (this one is a bit big, but its what I had around).

This nifty little device has screw terminals for all of your buttons. It even comes with a piece of software that allows you to program each button to each keyboard command if you’d like to be technical. This is a great way to add inputs to Mach3 without the need of a second parallel port. You simply need to download Mach3Screen ( LINK HERE ) and tell each onscreen button what “hotkey” (from the ipac) you want. Now you can add as many buttons as you can imagine for any function you want! The only hotkeys your going to want to actually program in the Mach3 app is your movement commands. Thats easy as going to System Hotkeys in Mach3. Mach3 will see all the inputs from the Ipac as keyboard commands, so it works FLAWLESSLY! You could even do limit and home switches if you’d want, but i wouldn’t recommend it.

I went ahead and used my vinyl plotter to make all of the labeling for the machine to give it that professional look. I think it came out pretty darn good!

Now, the actual electronics for running a CNC (like my warthog) is a whole other project and is not going to be explained right now in detail, but i want to show you the inside of my motor control box just so you can see the relays and power outlets.

There are a few relays in the back which control the main power, the spindle and vacuum. These get there commands directly from the switches on the panel threw a normal 9 pin serial cable. I do this for a personal preference as I dont really want the computer controlling the spindle just yet. I was a bit worried about noise at first, but I haven’t had any problems.

The panel also got the keyboard added to it, which is a very nice keyboard, its all dust and water sealed and has the mouse built in. Also includes another 12 F keys which is excellent for giving commands in Mach3. Soon I will add a MPG Pendant to go next to the keyboard and make complete. Its all mounted to a steel bar that can easily swivel around.

This really is perfect for anyone with a CNC Machine that wants to have it controlled very conveniently and not have to worry about dust and such getting into your keyboard and mouse.

XBOX 360 Laptop

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:31:39 -0400

XBOX 360 Laptop (my version!)

NEW VERSION HERE! THE XBOOK!

Many of these have been floating around the Internet the last couple of years, and usually they seem to have an astronomical price tag attached. It never looked that difficult to make, and I have always wanted to give it a go. So after I finally got around to obtaining a CNC Router (small one, but great for learning!) I came up with this!

I have never done ANY cad design/drafting or any CNCing at all in my life. But have always been interested, so what better way to start then buying your own and start cutting stuff! I started with some small logos on particleboard, then thought I should have a good project that has a good goal at the end, and this is where the XBOX laptop was born, at least for me.
I started originally looking after other peoples design features and the way they organized the inside of the laptop. I spent about an hour arranging the boards on a make shift case trying to find the best way I thought to have them laid out. I ended on the XBOX pretty much being in its stock layout, along with the LCD being in its stock layout.
After getting a feel for where things were going to sit, I measured everything and went on to try to conquer the design. The only piece of software I had that could produce dxf was adobe illustrator, so I gave it a shot. Here is the top of the inside of the laptop.

I knew I needed excessive vent holes, but I wanted them to look sharp and classy. So that is what I came up with. I liked the look! (and If you want one, we can work something out to put any word in there!).
So off to the world of routing all of this! I can’t say how many plastic particles ended up in my garage, but it was crazy, took a whole day vacuuming after I was done! I learned a lot from doing this first laptop, from what not to do, to some tricks to make it better. I was proud of the first one, yet it showed me areas of improvement for my future one (as this one is already sold to a friend, I miss it already).

The router worked great, and I am sure I will post something later about my new CNC, but I do want to talk about it a bit here. It was interesting learning the different bits, and how much manual work is still involved, like sanding and positioning the materials, and a lot of trial and error! The machine worked rather well, although I did run into some problems. All is good now, and I feel very confident in my CNCing abilities! Great first project! Check out the video here of the router in action.

(yes, the DVD opening is not correct here, I fixed that after I took the pic)
Now I went onto placing the parts inside of the case. Still, even with the DVD drive here, the FAN on the CPU is the highest point. I left the metal casing, only because it helps with heat problems, and keeps everything aligned quite well. Plus a big positive with this way is you don’t need to extend near as many cables, most stock lengths work (except for obvious things, like ring of light and USB ports).
After getting all of the pieces together, soldering all my connections on the board, and hooking it all up…. Of course it didn’t work! What would a project be without trial and error….. and more trial and error.. and more…. But after many days of playing with things, discovering what works and what doesn’t, I took it all apart and painted it.

I went with a dark green on this one, which I think is pretty sharp, I then went and etched it again with my router, which gave me nice white pinstripes. And then I also added some LEDs to the inside the give it a nice glow and backlit the buttons (not perfectly backlit buttons, but I like it)

The ring of light is extended nicely, and all of the XBOX functions, audio controls and the LCD controls are all on the bottom portion of the laptop, and in the picture above, are all backlit. The speakers sound great, and as an added bonus there is a headphone jack that mutes the speakers automatically whenever a pair of headphones is plugged in. There is also the component on the side with a switch that chooses either the built in LCD or external component (sorry, impossible to display both at the same time). There is stereo audio out that is always enabled and is not amplified (so your stereo can amplify without any damage!). There are 4 USB ports on the side also that extend from the board along with the Ethernet port. Sorry, no kinect port is extended. The Hard Drive is accessible by only removing the cover with 4 screws. You can pull it in and out like stock. Also, the “power brick” is internal. So the only cable you need is the black “universal power cable”. Makes hauling this around a breeze! There are no batteries in this unit, although I have not tried to put any in, but both of these devices (LCD and XBOX) are not made with any power saving features, so the batteries would not last long and would only make it heavier.
The screen is a 17” LCD that is very bright and very crisp. It has a native 720p Resolution and is a perfect size for this laptop.

I’m sure I could have made it thinner, but the work involved to save maybe a total of an inch was not worth it in my opinion, It would have made the price jump up a lot higher as well to you! So this is better for both parties involved! It’s approx 16.5x10.5x4.5. It has a 17” LCD HD 720p Internal display along with Internal Amplified Speakers, Component out, 4 USB, Ethernet, and a headphone jack. And since this is the XBOX 360 Slim, it has built in Wi-Fi as well. Which is great! No external antennas! I can promise it’s not a pain to carry around; it feels sturdy and makes for quite the bragging conversation and LAN parties!

Video of XBOX Laptop in Action!

Now for the fun part, how much it will cost!

I purposely built this unit to be easier to put together than other ones I have seen to keep cost low for both of us. A lot of time is involved still and especially in all of my initial startup times. I am not looking to take advantage of people and charge too much. But I cant give it away either. I can promise it is a fraction of the cost of others I have seen for sale. I can also do discounts if you can provide an XBOX (must be a 360 slim) and/or if you don’t want some of the features, like LED and Component/Audio out ext.

So for the whole setup you see (4gb)
$1600.00

If you provide your own XBOX (360 Slim)
-$200.00

No LEDs (Vent lights and Backlit Buttons)
-$50.00

No Component Out
-$50.00

No Paint
-$100.00

Extras

250 GB HDD XBOX Slim (Extra Cost of unit)
+$100.00

Custom Logo engraving (see below)
FREE

1 Wireless Controller (if I provide XBOX)
FREE

Shipping

In the United States (exc. Hawaii and Alaska)
$50.00
Outside of the United States (inc. Hawaii and Alaska)
Email for quote

If you decide to purchase one, I can guarantee the process to be personal and will try to custom engrave any logos you would like (NO COPYWRITED LOGOS). If you have a clan tag, or your name ext, As long as you can provide a detailed picture or vector, I can etch it into the laptop (like the XBOX logo) If you would like other words on the air vents, talk to me, we can see what we can come up with. You can choose the paint color, button colors, vent colors and LED Colors (to an extent) as well. Ill admit the paint is not perfect, it is honestly spray paint with high gloss. It is not horrible, but I am not a professional painter. It does not look bad white at all! But please note, if you don’t paint it, the logos that are etched white, with be “white on white” Still looks cool, but not as noticeable.
I will work closely with you and do my best to make sure you get exactly what you would like. But please email me with ANY questions you may have and then you can decide if you’d like one!
Depending on how many orders I have lined up and supplies available will depend on how fast you can receive yours. To just be safe, count on two weeks after I start yours (could be sooner, but like to estimate longer). But if you want to be put on the list, you must send me half of the cost, which is non refundable, to pay for supplies and time, after it is finished, the other half will be expected along with shipping. Once all is received, it will be shipped out UPS and should get to you within 3-5 days.

I DO NOT HAVE ANY PS3 LAPTOP PLANS RIGHT NOW. Maybe in the future, or if you want to pay more (significantly more) to have one made specifically email me.

Hangtime Pinball backglass - COMPLETE!

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:51:46 -0500

Well.. The Home Made Hangtime Pinball project is coming farther! Today, I finished the back glass and scoreboard system. The whole scoreboard system was made from scratch with 10mm and 5mm LEDs with Shift Registers and Transistors. Its running really nice and thought to share it all with you! It really is a treat seeing this project come to life! Here is the video!

NBA Hangtime Pinball LED Screen Test

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:05:19 -0500

Next update on the NBA Hangtime Pinball is the LED screen. I have been wanting to make this for quite sometime. I am using 4 Sure 2416 LED Matrix boards and they are using an arduino Uno for communication at the time (It will get a standalone Mega after I finish the programming). The code for these boards are available all over the web, and I will post mine once I finish it becuase it is a mess right now. I am using the Arduino Mega as my master cpu and it is sending commands via I2C to this screen (check my blog on the sound boards for more information). So as you can see in the video below, it is running the LED screen and all the sound at the same time! I am getting closer! It can display small, large and graphic fonts and is running smooth as of now. Now I just need to work hard on making it look better and run smoother, which always seems to be the hard part..........

Multi-Tasking Arduino Audio Board for Pinball

Wed, 9 Feb 2011 13:58:41 -0500

Well, another project has already consumed some of my time. I have decided to do a large project that will take up alot of time and would be a great learning experience. I have decided to make a pinball machine! And what a great theme, NBA Hangtime! I use to play this game growing up and still do, I even have a MAME machine sitting inside a Hangtime Cabinet. What makes the game excellent are many things, like the dunks, the minimal rules, 2 on 2, and who can forget the audio??? “Ooohhhhhhhhhh... BOOM Shaka Laka!”. Well I thought that the audio board would be the first thing to do, since it would make or break this machine. I am very pleased with the outcome!

Parts I used:
3 - Arduino WaveShields
3 - ATMega328 with Arduino Bootloader
3 - SD Cards
- Misc parts for the ATMegas (Read this for standalone ATMegas)
- Arduino Mega 2560 (Any will work, it sends the commands)

I recommend reading up on the I2C protocol if you do not understand it, it is VERY useful! (HERE)

So, one of the main problems people have with ATMegas are the fact you can not do multiprocessing, so in this example, if your playing a sound, you can not play another suond till that first sound is over. This is pretty much unacceptable for pinball machines. You have background music, and other effects happening all at once. So this is where the amazing I2C protocol comes in to help. It allows you to hook up many ATMegas taht can talk to each other. This allows you to have a Master sending commands to other arduinos so that they do the processing while the master goes onto other things... Soo.. Multiprocessing! (some micro-controllers can do this themselves, like the Parallax Propeller, it has 8 cogs, which are separate processors, but I wanted to do everything with Megas, since I understand the code, and its a challenge!)

In this last picture you can see the horrible ammount of wiring I had to do to get it all to work. But what i want you to look at is those Blue and Green wires coming from that molex connector. These are the I2C lines. They are just daisy chained from one mega to the other. If you look at my code, i send them commands based on what is happening. Each Mega has a separate address, in this case, they are 1, 2 and 3. So I send this command from the master...

sendcom(11, 27);

void sendcom (byte x, byte y) {

Wire.beginTransmission(2); // transmit to device #2

Wire.send(1); //sends a command to tell it is “On”
Wire.send(x); // sends directory number
Wire.send(y); //sends file number, or “random number”
Wire.endTransmission(); // stop transmitting

}

Then the slave arduino #2 gets 3 bytes. It recieves..

(1, 11, 27)

So it takes those and plays a file off the card (check the waveshield website for more info on that)

1 means its on, then it looks at the 11 (which on the SD card is the files in the 1100s, like 1101, 1125, 1131) and then it sees the 27 which is file 27.... in the 1100s.... so file “1127.wav”. The reason for this is I have some math that allows me to do random plays. It is constantly adding the int “randomnumber” by 1 till it hits 51, then tells it to go back to 0. That way when I use “randomnumber” like...

sendcom(11, randomnumber);

it will tell the slave to play a random file in the 1100s. This works great when playing pinball to keep things fresh. There is ALOT of possible combinations with this!

Getting all of the audio was very very time consuming. I used a program called M1. It dissects the game rom file and I could extract all the tracks. This took a very long time and I ended up with hundreds of sounds, commentator sayings and music. Now I have all of that organized and can make my own audio on the fly. Way Way Way better than trying to record the audio in game, it would have horrible background sounds and whatnot. I probably wouldve given up on the idea if I didnt find that M1 program and got all the sounds by themselves.

HERE is the M1 Program.

Source Codes:

master.txt
slave.txt

I am still working on the code and the way it will all work. This is going to be a LONG project, and im sure ill have other projects in the middle of it, but it will get done eventually. If you have ANY ideas for the machine, please email me, let me know what you got! Represent NBA HANGTIME LOVE!

Arduino Powered JEEP Wrangler

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:14:49 -0500

This has been a long process in the making. I started with this idea awhile ago and tried out different ways to program microcontrollers. I first started with one of the “NerdKits”. Now this was a good kit, but when you were done with there tutorials, there wasn’t much more to do. I then went with the Arduino and I wish I would’ve started there! It is excellent for the beginner and pro. So this is my first arduino project and my first time really programming anything except HTML. So check out the video, then read on.

Before I used an arduino to control everything, I used actually switches as you can see in this picture.
But this was definitely not good enough as I wanted to add more things and its just to easy. So the challenge was to make the JEEPuter. I first started out making it on a breadboard (i dont have pics of this) But after I had the basic idea in my head with a somewhat working prototype, I started building the housing for it. I used sheet metal and plexi for the faceplate. Along with using some label paper to make the art work (if you could call it that)

I used some basic Radio Shack momentary buttons and a 20x4 LCD display. It looks really good behind the plexiglass front of the faceplate. All of the connections hook up threw molex connectors to make it easy to work on. The random cuts in the plate are to make it fit in the tuffy overhead mount easier. It doesnt looks as ugly when installed as you can see here.

I used a Arduino Uno and left the whole board in there instead of making a standalone board so I could program it easier. The arduino is outputting all of the “outs” to 3 shift registers. One register is inside of the JEEPuter box, the other two are on there own board that is installed inside the relay box. Here in this picture you can see the Arduino with a screw shield above it with 3 relays. Two control the garage door opener and RF Garage Lights. The other is actually turnign power on to the shift registers. Reason for this is when the arduino boots up, the registers all go high. This is an issue when you have a starter hooked up to them.

Then the other two registers are on this board. This board I made specifically as the control board for the relays. It has two 595 Shift Registers along with 16 LEDs. Each LED represents an output coming from the registers. THis made it easy to program without hooking up all the relays and helps to troubleshoot. This board has a 25 pin connection on it that outputs to each and every relay.
And then I had a breakout cable go from the 25 pin output to all of the relays. I only used 20 pins, 16 outputs, 2 grounds, 2 5v+. These go to each relay on theses relay boards I purchased on ebay. I could have made my own, but this was easier and better to have printed PCB for this.

The relays were then put inside a project box from radioshack. This helped insulate them from shorting out on the jeep and kept it all in one place. I used plexi and screw terminals to make hooking up easier. This was a bit difficult to get it all to fit as you can see in these next shots.

I then installed the shift registers board inside and added a fan to keep it cool.

There are also a couple of sensors hooked up that you can see in action in the top video. There is a Light sensor, Temp sensor and a RTC. (I may add a carbon monoxide sensor). the Light sensor value is brought into the arduino and divided by 20, then that number is used to turn off and on lights depending if its dark outside. (this is also selectable per light). You can change the sensitivity in the diagnostics mode. It allows you to tell when to turn lights on and light off. This gives you a dead zone so the lights don't flicker when you get close to dark but still light out. These numbers will be saved in the EEPROM of the arduino. The Temp sensor just outputs F and C on the display. The RTC provides the time and date and you can change if its either Daylight savings time or not in the diagnostics. This helps so you don't have to set the clock twice a year.

I also added another arduino (standalone) that had a keypad attached to it with a couple relays that control turning on the power to the jeep and ignition if you type the code in it. So this gives you the ability to not need a key to use your jeep, only a code.

When you type in the code, it turns the Jeep on as if you turned your key to the "On" position. This then turns on all the accessories as well. There Starting of the engine is done threw the arduino JEEPuter uptop. The original key still works perfectly fine. To turn the Jeep off, you just hit the <-- button on the keypad, and it shuts down. Check out the pictures to see the arduino setup for the keypad.

Download Source Code <---- Its not pretty, its my first!

My Garage!

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 23:34:24 -0500

So I love garages and work benches and tools.. hell, what guys don’t? I always enjoyed watching videos or looking at pictures of other peoples work places, so I thought I would share mine! I have plenty of tools that are necessary, and some that are not (can have fun tools too!) Everything isnt shown, but alot is. Some of the basics are your wrenches and such, but having a Dremel, Soldering Irons, wire spools, power tools, power supply, drill press, band saw, a stool (most important!), misc screwdrivers, ext.. and a automatic wire stripper is EXCELLENT!

This one is great for stripping wires quick. It auto adjusts, and strips, and gets read for the next wire all the the squeeze of your hand! Anything from 26 Gauge to 8 Gauge! Its GREAT!

Now another thing I love and do NOT regret purchasing is ALOT of wire on spools of different colors! I always thought when working on arcades and pinballs, how great having the color coded wire system! I even love to reuse old wire harnesses because of this very reason! So I went out looking to get a bunch of same sized wire in different colors and make a easy way to dispense them! Well this is what I came up with!

There is approx 5,000 ft total wire, 500 ft of each color! I picked up all 10 spools for around 130 dollars total. NOT BAD! All the wiring I have been doing lately has been so easy and nice! Plus having the wire fed up to my bench makes it nice to not see the spools and you cna practically take as much as you need without working. Im sure Ill go threw red and black the fastest, but thats ok! Much better than stripping wires from old arcades (even though I still do!).

Here is a quick video of my place!

Call of duty Lan party

Tue, 4 Jan 2011 23:10:03 -0500

Ok, so its not as crazy as this picture, but I still think its a bit overkill for just a couple hours..... but doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it again! Was great and was non stop for hours. I don’t play videos games to much, but sit me down in front of a 52” LCD with 10 other people playing COD, and you got me hooked! Check out the video!

Mini Mame Cab from NetBook

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:15:37 -0500

Well this time I have done something that has done before, but I believe I have a improved version! A Mame table top cabinet running off of a netbook pc (Which is also battery powered!). This is a Christmas Gift to my Aunt, Uncle and there Kids. I have produced MAME Machines before, but this one was completely from scratch. My others I have taken original Cabs and stripped them empty and added all of the components (NBA Hangtime Cab). This one I used 1/2 MDF board and built this off the top of my head. I already had the netbook, so I based some of my measurements from that.

Supplies Needed-
-1/2 MDF (3/4 could work as well)
-Plexiglass
-Netbook (I used a eeepc 901)
-iPac 2 Player ( Link here to Ultimarc.com )
-Buttons and Joystick (Link here to Happ Controls)
-Label Paper (Full page @ local Office Supply Stores)
-Assorted Tools, Wire and Screws
-1 1/8” hole saw

First I started off tearing apart the screen on the netbook. This allowed me to get some exact screen measurements so I could be sure I would have the clearance. Sorry I do no have any pictures of this, and since every netbook is different, yours probably will be. Just take a quick google search if you not comfortable doing this yourself.

After determining the dimensions, I cut out my pieces with my MDF board. I made all of the pieces and predrilled the holes so it would not split. Then, using a router, I cut out the plexiglass using the MDF as my stencil. Plexi is hard to cut, so go slowly.

I left the back to swing open so it would allow me to work on it, but also to be able to access the body of the netbook. This gave me a mouse and keyboard always on inside of the machine. I also went ahead and predrilled the holes in the wood for the controls and joystick. (not all are done at the time of the picture). Also as a side not. Dont try to cut the plexi with a holesaw, doesnt work as well as you would like. I applied the plexi to the machine, then use d a dremel with a cutting bit. This acted like a mini router, and cut the plexi perfectly. I then removed the plexi and painted it black.

And then had to add artwork. I am giving this as a gift to my uncle and his kids, so I went with a Galaga theme. He has always said he wants a Galaga Arcade cab :-). The graphics I used are HERE (Arcade Art Gallery). But you can obviously use any art work you would like! I then reapplied the plexi over top of the graphics to give it a glossy look, but also protects the artwork from wear.

Then I added all of the buttons and wired them up. This is an easy process. Once you get the Ipac, youll see that they make it very user friendly. I went ahead and added molex connectors to make it easy to disconnect things if I ever had to. After adding the controls, I went ahead and wired up and mounted the LCD from the netbook. This was actually easy. I just took a piece of MDF, cut it to fit where the screen would go, then i set it back the same as the screen is deep. This allowed the screen to be flush. I used the stock mounting hardware and screwed it right to the wood.

I also cut a hole in the MDF right behind the connector of the LCD so I could easily run it right to the computer. I mounted the computer directly to the back of the cab that is hinged for access. There I also mounted the ipac and a wiring diagram. As you can see in the picture below, there is no room to plug a USB cable into the computer. So I soldered it directly to the board. Very similar to my LCD Apple Logo project. (link HERE). I also added a power button to the top of the cab and soldered it directly to the board. Makes it easy to turn off and on.

That is pretty much all that is needed! I am using Maximus Arcade (link HERE) to run the machine, which I highly recommend. Makes having multiple emulators and easy task! Now just enjoy! have any questions, send me an email!

Home Soda Fountain!

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:39:43 -0400

As seen on Hacknmod.com

Wow, It has been a long time since I have posted anything up, I havent been doing many mods lately as I have been moving into a house and being busy with work. But I have found time to do something I have always wanted! A Soda fountain in my house! I really dont even drink that much soda, but the cool factor is threw the rood in my opinion. With this along side of my Pinball machine and Mame Arcade, this is the ultimate bachelor pad!

So I purchased a 8 Head Soda Fountain / Ice Dispensor on craigslist locally. These units are alot bigger than you would think! I wanted it to look like it belonged in my house, and not a huge fountain sitting on my countertop. So I came up with the idea to build the unit into the wall. So the Main fountain is in the pantry with only the front showing. I built a counter top right under the unit and trimmed it in. This makes for a very clean look. The soda lines run threw the wall into my garage where the bag-in-box soda syrups are hooked up to the pumps and the carbonator runs soda water back to the unit. The unit itself actually does the mixing of the syrup/soda water (post-mix system). I built a stand for the syrup as well.

Keeping the system cool is the difficult part and is usually what keeps people away from having a system like this setup in there home. The machine will go threw about 200 lbs of ice in a week. That adds up alot over time! Especially not fun trying to get all those bags home from walmart. So I got a ice maker. I was going to install it on the top of the unit, but decided against it so I could use the Ice for other things as well, like filling coolers!

It all came out very well and I was very pleased! I am enjoying some Dr. Pepper as we speak!

Great Kitchen Addition!

Rest of the unit inside the pantry.

All of the Soda Syrups/Pumps/C02/Carbonator in the Garage being pumped inside.

LCD Macbook logo mod

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:26:53 -0400

As seen on:
Engadget.com
Gizmodo.com
So here is the Tutorial for the Mod to turn your Apple logo into a LCD Secondary Monitor to display anything you want!  Again, this MacBook is on eBay for only 850.00. (HERE) My high bidder did not follow through and pay, so it is on eBay one last time. I will keep it if it doesn’t sell this time.  List of Materials
1. MacBook (either Black or White, not sure if the new uni-body macs will work) 2. Century Japan 4.3” USB LCD (LCD-4300U) I have some on ebay HERE (LOWERED TO 135.00 from 200.00!)
3. USB LCD Mac Drivers by Display Link (HERE) 3. Clear Apple Logo from ibook or powerbook (Get them on ebay or HERE) 4. Solder and iron 5. Misc Tools
Guide
First off you need to get the drivers installed on your computer that you will be using and make sure you get the LCD working first. This is very simple, just download and install them and then plug in the USB LCD and it should act as a secondary monitor. Ok first off you need to go ahead and disassemble your MacBook. Yes.. this WILL void the warranty. Use the guides at iFixit to remove your Logic Board and Screen (HERE). You are going to need to remove the screen from the bottom half of the computer.        It does seem thick, but there is a lot of unused space in there! Go ahead and take the LCD and Video card out of the case. You will not need the case anymore after this. Here is the two pieces.    Top-Video Card, Bottom-LCD Now take the provided USB Cable, Cut the larger end off and you are going to need to strip it all the way down to the 4 wires (green, white, red and black). You will even need to strip down the plastic that covers the plug on the end of the cable.     Now after you get all this stripped down, go ahead and plug it everything together. Plug in the LCD to the Video Card with the ribbon cable. Then connect the newly stripped USB into the video card and splice it back together real quick with the end you cut off. This is going to be just a test to make sure the wiring is still all good after stripping since you will be soldering it onto your Logic Board later. You should see a picture on the LCD.   (ignore the MacBook nano, its just a MSI Wind). You should get a picture. If not, make sure your cables are all the same length. I had some issues with it not working if one was shorter than the other. Ok now you need to go ahead and disassemble your MacBook. Yes.. this WILL void the warranty. Use the guides at iFixit to remove your Logic Board and Screen (HERE). You are going to need to remove the screen from the bottom half of the computer.  Get down to the Lid of the macbook. Remove that white material and that like cushion stuff and get rid of it and get down to the logo. You need to pop off the Apple Logo. You will notice it is painted white on the inside. You have a couple options. One you can wetsand and buff out the paint or you can replace it with a logo from a ibook or powerbook. It works out really well since back then apple left the logos clear. Super glue this logo down and let it sit for a few minutes.   Now time to put in the LCD. Arrange it how youd like, but I recommend doing it like this. Make sure you get the screen centered with the Apple logo.    As you can see I just used tape to keep it down. This works really well because you an adjust it if you didn’t get it right the first time and also it helps to keep the board shielded from any contact you wouldn’t want. Go ahead and plug the usb cable in and run it threw the hinge on the left if your looking at the computer normally when you use it. Leave some slack inside of the screen and go ahead and screw your main LCD back down. Be aware, this is where you are going to notice the flexing of both the LCD and Lid. You are cramming another screen in a area not made for a screen. Mine is fine, it bulges out a bit (as seen in this picture) and you can see some minor flex to the LCD when it displays a black screen. But you cant notice ANYTHING when its showing a picture.    There is a way around this by dismantling the 4.3 USB LCD even more by removing the USB plug and soldering directly onto the video card and also by removing the board on the 4.3 LCD itself. This is the way I believe this can be done on a MacBook Pro. It will just take a little more work and some patience.  Now run the wires out to the logic board. You are going to want the wires to be under the logic board when it is installed back into the mac. So Just have it laying next to the mac, upside down, so you can solder onto it and just flip it back into the macbook. Solder in this order a shown in the next picture.   Make sure you cut all the extra slack off and make sure they are kept the exact same length. Now, yes you will lose this USB port. Whenever you plug something into it itll power off the back screen and not power your device. (at least that’s what’s happened to me). If you can find another source of 5v power on the board that should do fine! But im not that good . Now go ahead and put the macbook back together and go show off your new project! Im sure it will get peoples attention!      You can purchase the LCDs and this MacBook on ebay. This will be the third time Its on eBay. This first time ebay cancelled the auction due to a Policy issue on links, second time my high bidder bailed out. So now I am going to try once more, if it doesn’t sell, im just going to keep it! The LCDs I am selling are the right ones, if all of mine sell, there are others on ebay for a little bit more from China. Just search LCD-4300U. Mine are in the US and will be shipped quick! Email me on this websites contact page if you have any questions or concerns!

Hackintosh glowing apple (no wiring!)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:17:23 -0500

Appeared on :
-Wired.com

ok so here is a tutorial on how to pull this off. It is relativly simple, but does take some patience and time... it took me approx 4 hours to complete.

First of all here are the supplies that I used, you may have alternatives but this is just a guideline.

-a clear Apple logo that they use on there laptops (I bought a old ibook lid off ebay and got it from that)

-a diffusion type material (some of the apple logos have this already on the back of them, i think all the macbook apple logos do)

-dremel tool and or files.

-masking tape

-spray paint

-800-1000 grit wetsand paper (make sure its the wet sand paper)

-superglue

-misc tools to remove lid

here is the clear apple logo im talking about..

ok.. first remove the lid. To do this, remove the 4 rubber pieces on the screen bezel, beneath them are screws.. remove them. and carefully pry up the bezel. Now remove the final two screws that hold the screen to the hinges. After these are removed the LCD and lid will be separated. Go ahead and take up the clear yellow tape from the LCD connection and unplug it and put your LCD to the side. Now carefully remove the camera, mic and two antennas from the top of the lid and carefully remove all of the wiring.

Now that you have that seperated the lid, you need to cut out the center of the foil/black padding. I took out probably a 4" by 4" square, but take out what you need. Now put some masking tape on the INSIDE of the lid and trace the apple logo on it. (Make sure its centered!)To do this, I used my ibook lid i purchased and used the hole on that to trace my logo (MAKE SURE YOU DO IT MIRRORED! that way it will show up right on the outside of the cover). Now you need to cut it out. This is the most time involved process. I used a drill out of the center and dremmelled out the logo and used files to get the smaller and more precise parts of the logo. TAKE YOUR TIME HERE! This is whats going to make or break this whole project! Keep putting the clear logo up to it to make sure your filing out the right parts. I personally messed up a few times and had very small gaps in some places after i installed the clear logo. But there is a easy fix to that by simply using a sharpie to paint the clear logo black on the lip that is used to glue it onto the lid... you really cant tell there are gaps if you do that becuase the light wont shine threw!

After you get the logo cut out and your clear logo fits in there, remove the clear logo and wetsand the whole top to remove the clear coat and MSI logo. You will notice if you centered your apple logo that it WILL NOT cover the "MSI" logo. So you gotta sand it out. This will also take some time, but has to be done! Make sure all the clear coat comes off and your down to the plastic.

Now simply paint the lid and glue your logo on! WOW! looks good! Also, go ahead and apply the diffusion material over the back of the clear logo. This will cause you not to see shadows or the LCD wiring. You can even threw colored plastic in there to get a different color apple!

Now your only half done.. next comes to part thatll make you sweat.... Cutting away the plastic and foil that keeps the back light from shinning threw the back of the LCD. So grab that LCD screen..and make sure you are careful! there is going to b some tape foil towards the bottom covering up the circuitry. Cut away all that you dont need, just leave enough to cover the circuit board. go ahead and tape off any openings and the connection because you dont want any dust getting in there. Now you gotta cut out a good portion of that white plastic cover. I first started doing it with a exacto knife, but took forever, so i used a dremel with a cut off disk. :-/ Towards the top of the LCD the white palstic cover kinda clips onto the metal frame. Carefully unclip the two, you will notice you dont get much play room. I got enough room just to lift the white plastic cover up a little bit so i wouldnt cut threw my screen. Now carefully cut about a 4" x 4" square out of the plastic. You will gete alot of dust if your dremel. but as long as you mask everything off, itll b fine.

Now you still will not have light shine threw, because as you will notice there is more silver foil blocking it. you gotta remove a square of foil and you will get light. but be EXTREMELY CAREFUL here. This foil is directly adhered to the material used to distribute and even amount of light to your screen! It comes off easily.. but it will take some time. I learned the hard way and cut threw the white material under the foil and it left very dark spots on my screen. I fixed it, but was not fun! Simply just take your time and carefully peel away enough foil. (removing just the foil does NOT affect your screen at all). After the foil is removed.. you will have light! Its a beautiful thing! and its BRIGHT!

Now go ahead and put all of your antennas, camera and mic back on the bezel, route the wires and screw it all back together. Remember that the screen goes onto the lid then the hinges ontop of that. Make sure you have no pinch points of cables by the hinges. reinstall the bezel and then clip the hinge covers back on. Now you got your very own glowing apple!

Benefit over doing this than using some LEDs is you will have a even amount of light over your logo, not hot and dark spots. It will also save on battery life because your not running the extra LEDs, just your screen backlight. It will turn off and on whenever your screen is on or off.. just like a Apple. Also, no wiring is involved in this process! Hope it all works out and post any questions here! I love this mod!