Lathe Outfitted With Electronic Gearbox

Running a metal lathe is not for the faint of heart. Without proper knowledge and preparation, these machines can quickly cause injury or destroy expensive stock, tools, or parts. The other major p…

Electronic Etch-A-Sketch, No Microcontroller Required

In a lot of ways, Etch-A-Sketch is the perfect toy; simple, easy to use, creative, endlessly engaging, and as a bonus, it’s completely mechanical. We find that last attribute to be a big part…

Pimp My Pot Redux, Now Cheaper And Even Better

If there’s one thing we like around here more than seeing an improved version of a project we’ve already covered, it’s when the improvements make the original project cheaper. In …

Roll Your Own Servo

Usually, when you want a servo motor, you simply buy one already made. But if you need something unusual, you can turn any DC motor into a custom servo you can control just like [Dejan] did. You ca…

Kino Wheels Gives You A Hand Learning Camera Operation

Have you ever watched a movie or a video and really noticed the quality of the camera work? If you have, chances are the camera operator wasn’t very skilled, since the whole point of the job …

Not A Pot, Not An Encoder: Exploring Synchros For Rotational Sensing

We’re all familiar with getting feedback from a rotating shaft, for which we usually employ a potentiometer or encoder. But there’s another device that, while less well-known, has some …

Make Your Own Pot And Encoder Knobs, Without Reinventing Them

Rotary potentiometers, switches, and encoders all share a basic design: adjustment is done via a shaft onto which a knob is attached, and knobs are sold separately. That doesn’t mean one knob…

Odd Inputs And Peculiar Peripherals: RoenDi Smart Knob Thinks Outside The Box

When it comes to design decisions, we’re often advised to “think outside the box.” It’s generally good advice, if a bit abstract — it could really mean anything. But i…

Abacus Synthesizer Really Adds Up

The abacus has been around since antiquity, and takes similar forms over the hundreds of cultures that have embraced it. It may be one of the first devices to be considered as having a “user …

Absolute Encoder Teardown

According to [Lee Teschler], the classic representation of encoders showing code rings is out of date. His post says that most industrial absolute encoders use a special magnetic sensor known as a …

A Rotary Encoder: How Hard Can It Be?

As you may have noticed, I’ve been working with an STM32 ARM CPU using Mbed. There was a time when Mbed was pretty simple, but a lot has changed since it has morphed into Mbed OS. Unfortunate…

Electronic Lead Screws – Not Just For Threading Anymore

An electronic leadscrew is an increasingly popular project for small and mid-sized lathes. They do away with the need to swap gears in and out to achieve the proper ratio between spindle speed and …

Slick Keyboard Built With PCB Magic

Sometimes a chance conversation leads you to discover something cool you’ve not seen before, and before you know it, you’re ordering parts for yet another hardware build. That’s w…