What do you call something that spins when exposed to sunlight or even indoor lighting? A solar spinner of course! While it looks nothing like the spinners that you see people playing with everywhere, as seen in the video below, the name is certainly accurate. It uses a tiny motor attached to a similarly tiny PCB to spin itself back and forth when suspended by a string.
The device is powered by a solar panel and there is no battery. You simply hang it in a sunlit room, or even outdoors where it’s mostly protected from the elements. It behaves as an oscillator, spinning in one direction for a bit before slowing and then spinning in the other. It’s the kind of geeky art piece that we here at Tindie fall in love with. Be sure to check it out in action in the video below!
For a more “traditional” take on spinner distractions, several can be found in this post. For something a bit more unusual, the SpinnerDrone, or this programmable RGB POV spinner are both worth a look.
If you’re often engrossed in making interesting projects for your own entertainment, it’s understandable if you forget holidays once in a while. So, to put the word out, Valentine’s day is coming up on February 14th, less than a month away.
For something that combines your love of technology with this special holiday, the Heart: Wearable Blinky-Board Soldering Skills Kit meshes the two into a fun badge that blinks two LEDs back and forth when the lights dim. It uses a CR2032 battery for power, and a pair of transistors and capacitors, along with few resistors and an LDR for control. It’s a great little blinky badge that makes for fun soldering practice with several different types of components that are spread out enough to keep things fun and not frustrating.
Check it out blinking away with several similar badges in the video below:
This would also be a great take on the homemade gift from kids to mom or dad, making something interesting, while learning a little bit about electronics at the same time! If you’d like one of the other shapes featured here, they’re available on the Kevin Wright – Makerbytes store.
While “Infrared Cannon” might evoke visions of airplanes being melted by some sort of futuristic anti-aircraft artillery, this device comes in peace. Unlike your traditional IR emitter, which scatters light in a very wide array, this small IR/lens apparatus instead uses a lens held in place by an anodized housing to focus the beam. This results in IR light concentrated in a 15 cm diameter circle at a distance of 10 meters.
The device was made for use in an IR-based shooting toy, and would be great if you wanted to have a game of laser tag with all DIY equipment. Or perhaps some sort of shooting gallery setup is more your style.
While it certainly has its recreational uses, a device like this could also be used to individually control IR devices. For example, if you had several TVs side-by-side, you could change the channel on one, while not affecting the other. This would be great for sports enthusiasts that need to watch several game simultaneously, or evil geniuses that have an array of TVs feeding them all the world’s information at one time to keep track of their nefarious plans! It’s an interesting part in search for just the right problem!
If you need to restrict access to a certain building or room, much of the time you turn to an RFID card system, but what if you wanted to integrate an ESP8266 into your setup? Since most RFID readers, as well as some other access systems, use a wiring standard called a Wiegand interface, Advanceiot has come up with a breakout board that is custom built to fit this arrangement.
This small breakout board can accept input power between 4 and 48V, and has pads for easy programming with pogo pins. You could use this to experiment with your existing card reader, or even use it on its own as an ESP development board. What really sets this listing apart, however, is that you can purchase it with a variety of RFID card readers, giving you everything (besides the actual card) that you need to get started with this tech!
We should note that the creator of this product pinged us to let us know about this device. If you’d like your creation featured—or something you created using a product from Tindie—be sure to let us know on Twitter @Tindie, or ping me personally @JeremySCook!
On a related note, this isn’t the first Wiegand/ESP8266 board featured here. Check out this post for another interface option.
Yes, you read that headline correctly, with this kit you can build a device that allows you to suspend particles in the air using only acoustic waves. You may have seen various versions of this device by researcher Asier Marzo pop up, including this one that looks sort of like a magic wand on Hackaday. The levitator available here uses two opposed arrays of transducers to control not one, but several particles at the same time, including liquids if you so desire.
While instructions on how to build one are available, making your own includes procuring a large number of ultrasonic transducers, as well as printing the assembly. If you’d rather skip these steps and go straight to assembly, now you can get an acoustic levitation kit! As for what all the fuss is about, check out this video with Physics Girl where she makes and tests her own.
It’s certainly an amazing device, and the fact that you can get all the parts for it in one place makes it much more accessible. The kit is produced by Makerfabs with Marzo’s permission.
The biggest part of selling your creation on Tindie is making sure people understand what you’ve built. Making a great video to go along with your excellent photos and in-depth details is really important. Many times you just need to see what’s going on to really appreciate an object’s beauty.
As engineers and hackers, we’re interested in how things work and enjoy seeing them in action. For that matter, a verbal explanation can be quite helpful, both of which can be expressed in a product video.
Here are a few tips to help tell an interesting story with good quality audio and video.
Camera Equipment: In an era where the latest smartphones can take 4k video, there’s no excuse for not filming your project in a decent resolution. While “only” HD is fine for most applications, if you do film at a higher resolution than you need, this helps with your final quality if you need to crop video later. Likely you have equipment that’s good enough, but if you’re using anything less than 720p resolution it’s OK to upgrade or even borrow a smartphone from a friend. Better yet, ask your friend to help with the video shoot! Whether it’s a smartphone, a GoPro, or a prosumer video rig, make sure you frame the shot well and that your recording is in focus. These last points are far more important than what type of equipment you use.
Use a Tripod (or a Hack): Unsteady video is the realm of the “found footage” horror movie genre. Set your camera up on a tripod when filming. If you don’t have one, clamp your camera or smart phone to a leg of a ladder. Whatever you need to do, placing your camera on steady ground will help ensure proper focus and produce a much better product than going the handheld route.
Lighting: When shooting indoors—very likely if you’re showing off electronics projects—pay attention to lighting. A few clamp lights with a white bulb (4000°K or so) inside can transform projects in your shop from drab to wow. A bench-mounted desk lamp can also help you illuminate tabletop projects. Look at where light is coming from and watch for hard shadows and shining reflections that will disrupt the quality of the recording.
Narration: If you can verbally explain things during your videos—or edit your voice in later—this really helps personalize things, leading the viewer/listener to connect with you and your product. Practice beforehand and use a script if you need it. Keep your tone conversational, like you’re doing the demo for a close friend, and don’t let the script get in the way of this. A good microphone and office/studio setup can help with your quality, but don’t get too hung up on this at first.
Video Editing
Cut, Cut, Cut: While it might seem like a good idea to go over every little detail of your project, consider how you watch YouTube videos. Do you have 20 minutes or an hour to dedicate to watching a product get assembled and used while just browsing for interesting items? Probably not. Keep product overview videos short using fast-forward techniques as appropriate. You should consider doing an extended cut if you feel there is more that needs to be seen.
Audio Levels: Make sure the overall audio level is on par with other online videos so that playback doesn’t begin too soft or too loud for the viewer’s volume settings. If you’re adding narration, music, and perhaps sound effects from your products, be sure to mix them together at appropriate volumes. You’ll want to make sure you can hear everything clearly, and be sure to not have a sudden increase in volume—perhaps in an intro or outro—that causes listeners to be uncomfortable. Most multi-track video editing software has the ability to adjust levels of each audio track. You can do this throughout, not just at one level for the entire clip.
Music: Background music can be extremely helpful to keep viewers engaged. If you’re doing verbal narration it even helps disguise unwanted noises like breathing or static and hides “dead air” when you are not speaking. The Free Music Archive is a good source of background music that you can use on your videos—their advanced search has an option for tracks that are licensed for commercial use as long as you attribute the composer.
Give Your Video More Reach
Title/Thumbnail/Description: Make sure people actually watch your video: give it a compelling, well-lit, color balanced, and nicely cropped thumbnail image. Spend time refining a good title that quickly tells the story of what will be found in the video. This will appear in YouTube feeds and can help to reach customers who haven’t yet heard of your product. Make sure to include a well-written description that links to your Tindie product page, so that anyone interested can find where to get more info and make a purchase. If you used music that needs attribution, do so in the video description.
Outsource: If people have purchased your product, there’s a chance that they’ll produce a review video or clips of it in action. If their video allows it, by all means embed it in your Tindie listing. They’ll appreciate the views, and you’ll potentially get more sales—great for everyone involved. Beyond that, there’s no shame in paying someone to make a video for you, though you’d obviously need to look at the costs closely before making that leap.
Get Better
Watch Others: When you’re watching videos, take note of what people do well and poorly and attempt to integrate their techniques into your own clips. Others make videos specifically about improving your YouTube technique, such as Roberto Blake, who notes that one should “always be creating.” This would be a good motto for Tindie sellers, even those that choose not to post videos.
Practice: In the end, the first product videos that you make won’t be your best work. You’ll stumble over your words, and your angle/lighting/production will likely leave something to be desired. These types of videos can still add immensely to the appeal of a product, but as you make more videos, your technique will gradually improve.
As for what not to do, here’s one of my early videos, filmed with a handheld webcam under poor lighting conditions, with inconsistent background sound volume. As of this writing, the title of the video is “rev1_robot_for_youtube_0001.wmv.” Not exactly search friendly. I had to start from somewhere, and so does everyone else!
Like actually listing your products on Tindie, don’t be afraid to put your video out there. Things can only improve, and you’ll certainly learn something! On a related note, check out my thoughts on taking great product photographs here.
These tips are pulled from my own experience, and have helped me push what I can produce video-wise from quite poor to what I consider decent quality. On the other hand, I hope that a year from now I’ll look at the videos I produce and marvel at how comparatively bad they were. All that being said, while my production might vie for a “most improved” award, I don’t claim to be an expert. If you have tips on how to make your production better, especially in the context of showing off your products, please let me know on Twitter @JeremySCook. I’d love to do a followup with tips from other Tindarians!
Are you tired of lugging around huge portable retro gaming systems that you can’t even fit on a Post-it note? If that’s the case, then the TinyPi looks like the device for you, as it claims to be “the world’s smallest Raspberry Pi-based gaming device.” While this may seem like a bold claim, you might note that the Tiny Pi PCB fits flush with the Raspberry Pi Zero, which measures just 65mm x 30mm—defining how small a Pi-based device can be.
Interestingly, the project started out as something of a joke, but judging by the fact that they’re sold out as of this writing, there’s certainly a market for really tiny gaming devices. Get on the waiting list if you’re interested!
While the graphics and controls are illustrated quite nicely in the video below, as with the Pi Zero itself, it would seem difficult to grasp just how small it is until you physically pick one up! That means some advanced soldering techniques are needed, like soldering the board flat to the Pi Zero (cool!) which is shown in the assembly guide. There are also some early tests toward 3D printing a case for this over on the Hackaday.io project.
On the subject of tiny gaming devices, be sure to check out this writeup on the Tiny Arcade Kit. These devices are entire arcade cabinets that can be held between a thumb and index finger made out of clear acrylic.
When you think of Nixie tubes, you likely picture a retro-style clock that uses shaped metal cathodes to display numbers. What you may not know, however, is that there is a different type of Nixie tube that doesn’t display numbers (or characters), but can be used as a bar graph by controlling the amount of current entering the device.
Like their numerical cousins, controlling these tubes isn’t as simple as turning on an LED, and requires some extra electronics to get things working correctly. If you would like to experiment with these exotic displays, then this driver board kit includes everything you need to get started, including a pair of IN-9 Nixie bar graph tubes.
All you need to supply is a PWM signal any type of microcontroller, or you could even use analog for control if you so desire. While not connected with this driver, you can see a similar setup in the video below. The kit is from a now-closed (and successful) Kickstarter campaign, which can be viewed here and includes a product video.
The very small and inexpensive Raspberry Pi, and its minuscule and even cheaper cousin the Pi Zero have many interesting uses, not the least of which is as the heart of a retro arcade setup. While we’ve accepted this as the new normal, those of us that grew up in the 1980s can marvel at the fact that the technology to run NES games originally cost around $200 in today’s dollars, and took up a respectable amount of space on one’s entertainment shelf.
Even more amazingly, people have fit a Raspberry Pi Zero, along with a micro SD card containing 2400 retro games, inside an original NES cartridge. With this setup, however, you do need to hook up external controllers.
For a more all-in-one solution, the Score:Zero pHAT for Raspberry Pi turns the Pi into a controller. It is a solder kit that connects directly to a Raspberry Pi’s GPIO ports, and has the button arrangement of a traditional NES gamepad.
Importantly, the device has also been tested with a Raspberry Pi Zero, which would provide even more compact use. A great project to extend the adventure is to build your own 3D-printed or wooden controller housing around it.
At your work or school, there’s a good chance that you need to swipe an RFID badge for access to certain rooms or buildings. We normally don’t consider the mechanics behind it, expecting the doors to “magically” open for us.
If, however, you’re in the business of programming these devices, you may want a way to see who’s swiped in and out via WiFi. This clever upgrade package makes this possible, using an ESP8266 module to log and transmit this data, and can be inserted into a reader unit to upgrade its performance. Conveniently, the device draws power from the reader unit itself, meaning it doesn’t need its own battery.
While this could be used in security assessments, simply checking to see if a reader is programmed properly at your bench would be quite useful as well. In addition to RFID readers, this board can interface with nearly any device featuring a standard Wiegand interface, including pin pads, mag stripe devices, and biometric readers.
It’s also capable of transmitting data to the reader, but this is an experimental feature, and is currently unsupported. If you’re wondering what using this device actually looks like in practice, be sure to check out the video below:
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If you need to restrict access to a certain building or room, much of the time you turn to an RFID card system, but what if you wanted to integrate an ESP8266 into your setup? Since most RFID readers, as well as some other access systems, use a wiring standard called a Wiegand interface, Advanceiot has 
