Gadget Master
Motor controllers

DIY customisable electric skateboard

The LaGrange L1 Kit is an “electric longboard” for motorising your skateboard. It’s an initiative that’s still seeking funding but the idea is that you can fully customise the DIY kit as an alternative to buying a fully-made version. “You can choose your own deck, chuck and…

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MIT student races self-built Mario-Kart

A bit of fun for a Friday afternoon… Ever found time passing heavy at work? Fancy spicing things up a gear? Maybe, racing round the corridors on your castor-based chairs? (No chance the boss will see you, he’s away on a golfing trip…)

Well, it seems one MIT…

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Boating, with a magnetohydrodynamic thruster

Following on from the simple homopolar motor  – See The simplest motor…a wire, a magnet and a battery – how about another exotic power system built from odds and sods? EvilMadScientist has made a magnetohydrodynamic-thruster from a battery and a magnet, and used it to drive a boat. In an…

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The simplest motor...a wire, a magnet and a battery

Here’s a challenge. Could you design a simpler motor than this?

Thanks to our own Steve B for this one, and he highlights a couple of alternatives…

Neat – a wire, a magnet and an AAA battery… And here’s the spiral version…

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Build your own electric kids' go-kart

One of the most popular posts on Gadget Master, over the years, has been Neuroti-Kart: Home-made electric go-kart”An exciting way for electrical engineers the world over to annoy their neighbours on a quiet Sunday morning,” we said. Well, here’s a great resource in a similar…

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Gadget Master takes his own submarine for a swim

Would you ever consider building your own submarine? And then take the homemade vehicle for a spin in a lake? Credit to one Tao Xiangli who has done just this with his submarine in a lake on the outskirts of Beijing. China Daily writes: Amateur inventor Tao, 34, made a…

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Video: MCU turns the gears of time

Check out this inventive use of an MCU and stepper motor by one Alan Parekh. This great looking gear clock tells the time in a unique way. A PIC 16F628A microcontroller with an external 20MHz crystal oscillator times a stepper gear, which drives a minute display, which also drives an…

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Stargate modding ingenuity

We celebrate ingenuity on Gadget Master, and we never underestimate the ingenuity of PC modders in particular. Here is an excellent example, by one multimodder Gup. (Note: Many CD drives were demolished in the making of this super structure.) Inspired by the science fiction franchise Stargate, it is a pyramid…

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