One thing that kind of pissed me off in my hydroponic research early on was the number of people that are taking advantage of unaware growers and people just starting into the hydroponic world. go to bay or amazon.com and you will be amazed at the number of people selling a bucket and a cheap aquarium pump for crazy prices. this being said I took matters into my own hands and created this how to article demonstrating how to use high quality general hydroponics equipment to create a quality high performance low maintained drip style hydroponic system for the home experimenter and enthusiast View project
This project was a personal experiment that i did to learn about lighting options for the growing environment. And as it usually turns out, the results were better than I expected. So I decided to publish my findings here so others can use and experiment with them. Utilizing 4 CFL bulbs I was able to get results that were satisfactory for the vegetative phase of plant development for a fraction of the cost commercially available systems. View project
Every geek gardener loves the idea of simplicity in there apparatus and equipment. The DWC (Deep Water Culture or Direct Water Culture) system is the true embodiment of this desire. In this hydroponic method of growing we achieve our results by means of suspending the plant roots by a net pot in a solution of nutrient rich, oxygenated water. Consisting of the fewest number of parts in any hydroponic system there are very few things that can go wrong and it is a great way to experiment with hydroponics with a very low investment in infrastructure. View project
The server room environmental monitoring system is a low cost high performance device with the same onboard features as commercial devices costing hundreds of dollars more. In addition to a low cost platform we will provide low cost sensors for many important devices to insure your equipment stays safe and sound. View project
The sprout board is a high quality main board that is designed to allow you to simply plug in your Arduino to create a wide verity of high quality practical projects. Ultimately our design goal was for this board to be an experimentations platform that isn’t a lame shield with a difficult form factor. The project platform ready for real use as a step up from the breadboard spaghetti bowl. View project
This simple, low cost sensor module is designed to provide any Microcontroller platform data on temperature, humidity or both in a low cost and highly reliable package. to accomplish this we chose to use sensors from Honeywell and National Semiconductor due to their relative low cost and ease of use. this module is designed to operate from a 3-5V DC with 2 simple analog read pins for the respective sensors data. View project
This is mostly just a fun article that I wanted to write for the simple reason of accessible information for anyone. Basically this is a example project that demonstrates how extremely easy it is to use the Arduino based platform to control high voltage devices via a webpage. This type of concept has many practical applications from home automation to office pranks. While in this article we will demonstrate this concept with a single relay controlled outlet this can easily be scaled up to control up to 15 separate relays with minimal cost using the components used in the base project. View project
So this project has been lying around for a while and I finally found some time to write it up. I was inspired with several of the other popular microcontroller based laser instruments that have been floating around on the web over the last year. Ultimately I wanted to put together a project that was more compact and portable and this is the end result of my first attempt. While I had a lot of fun building this project I honestly learned more about how I would make it different in the future. There are many different ways to design the interface a musician would use and by far its more interesting to design new and experimental ways to expand this concept. View project
This project is the next in a series of DIY Photography Studio Equipment projects we are doing to improve the quality of the imagery on our site as well as in preparation for the launch of our new sister site dedicated to photography equipment projects. The next major component I needed was a few good quality reflective umbrellas. Commercially these umbrellas can range in cost from $35 - $80 USD for a 42” umbrella. In my opinion that is to high of a price tag for any self respecting DIY enthusiast. So after a little research and some trial and error we were able to do our umbrella with the same quality materials for only $13.00 with very simple construction techniques that any photogeek should be able to replicate. View project
For our first photography oriented project we are putting together a 40” silvered reflector. Reflectors are extremely handy for providing fine control over lighting in a wide variety of shots. And while most reflectors cost 25-50 USD to purchase we have been able to achieve the same quality (by use of the same common materials) for a mere 8.00. While most geeks other than the lilypad geeks may not be skilled with a sewing machine, this is both a great introduction to simple sewing as well as our photography project line. View project
So every so often I get the opportunity to do some creative or problems solving physical projects at my day job. Yep I have a day job… inventgeek is not my day job. But hey we try awful hard for about a week every month for you guys! So this month I thought I would publish a how to article for the infamous meeting light project I put together. At our office we had a little problem with meeting consistently and I have been rather interested in lean manufacturing for years. Basically what we produced is a Kanban or a visual indicator of a status that those around the area can see to act as a reminder for us. It acts as a great reminder for the team as well as blends into the funky environment we have. View project
This project has become one of my all time favorite projects. I have had a love for Long Exposure photography for a long time and I deeply enjoy engaging in the art. But for me Long Exposure photography can start to feel very static and I felt like I wanted to build my own dynamic sculptures to shoot. After thinking about what I wanted to build for an afternoon I put myself to work building a simple device that would produce interesting and engaging designs. I hope that from the image above you can see my effort was a success! View project
With the launch of the new inventgeek.com site at long last we are pleased to announce the availability of the paintball turret plans for download. We have meticulously put these plans together for the version 1 paintball turret as well as several videos of how to assayable the project. To wrap this project up there is also some video of the test firing of the turret. Thanks to all our fans out there and your support and interest in this project. Version 2 is in the works with a refined drive system and an improved design! View project
Tiz the season for burning projects. With this in mind I wanted to build my personal variant of the popular propane based fire popper. The problem with propane is it always burns with a very bright orange fireball. I love pyro chemistry, and specifically coloring agents. So the natural progression would be to make giant brilliantly colored fireballs. To accomplish this I designed an air cannon that is alcohol based so that you have a neutral base that can be augmented in very much the same way a poi spinner can color there poi. The end result is giant fireballs of red, blue, green and purple! View project
So this is kind of a fun project overall. The real star of the project is the control box that is a small elegant control system with easy to use plug outlet type connections. We have 12 isolated outlets on this control box for all sorts of fun larger future projects we are doing, but this can be scaled to any number of outlets you may need with ease. So we wanted to demonstrate simply the projects ease of use with a project that has a little eye candy. And so the giant vu meter project was born. View project
Through the last two years of research this paintball turret has evolved through many different versions to arrive at the refined version it is today. This paintball turret system has the ability to be configured as a wired or wireless platform and we have even built it in a way to be portable for rapid backpack style deployments controlled with heads up displays up to a half mile away with a firing rate of up to 34 balls per second. This project will include full plans and material lists for project building and we will continually add information to this project in the form of how to videos. View project
For some reason I felt like taking a lot of risks this summer and I was spending a lot of time in dried up lake beds. So I started fooling around with building my own kite karts. Basically a kite cart is a strange cross between a go cart and a large parafoil kite. With a wide stance and being low to the ground it’s really a rush to get this thing moving. Now this design I did with a couple purposes in mind so that it can also double easily as a sail kart as well. With no angle cuts or pipe bends this is the simplest design I could come up with. View project
This project is the second version of the basic photo bio reactor array that I started with. While it may look similar to the previous version is dramatically different overall. This design has many improvements that make it far more sustainable and practical for long-term use. I really focused on making it highly modular and insuring it was rugged for prolonged outdoor use that is easier to fill and harvest from. While the array is smaller for this project it can be scaled to any size or requirement. View project
So there is no hiding the fact that I have been interested in ultraviolet light lately. I also have a few dead LCD monitors laying around I have been experimenting with. It was only natural that I would combine the two to help show off my fluorescing rock collection. This is a really easy build and cheap as well if you have a dead monitor laying around. The best part is the older the monitor the worse the viewing angle, and that works out real well for us making the light highly directional. View project
Anybody who is a true computer hardware enthusiast these days knows that keeping your CPU from overheating while pushing it to its limits is one of the most important concerns. Thermal compounds like arctic silver are the front line of that defense, conducting the heat directly from the CPU to the heat sink. Without the compound, small imperfections in the surface of the heat sink can render the heat sink almost useless and lesser compounds can actually insulate your processor. Thermal compounds that are available for purchase have remained unchanged for some time. So I descided it was time to reinvent my thermal compound needs with some diamond dust! View project
I have wanted to do this a project for a long time and with earth day this year it kinda just fit timing wise. Its really a simple and quick build, yet getting the level up in bio-friendly-geek makes this all the more fun. Now I admit that I have a lacking of unquenchable aspirations to being a hugger of trees or a crusader of tofu and hemp. But I do believe in making changes so that the poor saps that come along after me might have the world a little less badly off for them. Let’s face it, we kind of effed up the whole earth thing... but watching the rhythmic bubbling in 12 clear pipes with happy green microalgae floating in them makes me forget it all. View project
I did this as a fun project for a friend for the element 11 festival in Utah this spring. They turned out so wonderful that I had to write them up for all of you. This really makes a great Halloween costume and if you have little ones it makes it really easy to see where they are. EL Wire rocks! View project
With the maker faire this month I decided to make some bling to bring. Having made 80 of these necklaces in august that I brought with me to burning man this year, the process is now super refined and easy. The cost to make one of these is very cheap, bordering on about 1.50 each. But the coolness factor is off the charts. At burning man I had a box of several colors of LED’s as well as some color fading ones. The color fading ones were by far the most popular. Anyway here is the how to… View project
While working for my current employer I had the opportunity to use my 20th level geek skills to produce an extremely high density mobile computing platform in a scooter for a promotional campaign we created for a client. The end result was a rolling system capable of long distance war driving, GPS navigation, Skype calls on the road, an internet hot spot, a low power pir8 radio station, as well as recording your favorite TV program so you don’t miss Lost because you are lost. If that’s not over the top enough you can actually drive your scooter to say the Grand Canyon, plug in your electric guitar and perform live over the web at a whim! View project
It is quite an experience to be cruising in your J33p (that's Jeep in L33t for the uninitiated out there) with the windows down (car windows not the OS) knowing two things with absolute confidence. First, you have a car that James Bond would be envious of, ok well maybe not James Bond but Frank Drebin from Naked Gun for sure. Second, the song that you happen to be blasting (White and Nerdy by Weird All) let's all the homeys know that you are truly l33t. View project
I have wanted to do some extreme cooling projects for a while now. We have been swamped by a few huge new projects that we are extremely excited for. But I thought this would be a good time for a project of a smaller scale. After surfing the internet finding parts, experiencing the difficulties of getting a keg in Utah, and sweet talking some ebayers I was able to get the parts I needed for a quick build. If you’re experienced with system building or water cooling this will be old hat. If you’re experienced with kegerators and not necessarily computers… Get someone to help you. View project
Just when I thought I didn’t have another ionic wind cooling project left in me I was more or less overwhelmed with emails from our last version that really let me know there is strong interest in this type of system cooling. So I decided to put one more idea together that would provide far better performance than the 2.0 project and still fall well enough in affordable bracket that it’s still practical for everyday use. After tinkering around one afternoon I came up with the concept for this little project.. View project
This project has really taken a lot of time to finally get published. It has kind of taken a back burner to our other projects just due to its sheer scale. At the time of this article being written we have over 150 images and the article takes more pages than any other article we have ever produced. It’s just HUGE! So why is it getting finished now? Hardcore Gamer Magazine wanted to feature our older version of our dance pad. This new version is so far and above superior that I had to give them this. View project
As promised here is version 2.0 of the airsoft turret project. Based on an overwhelming amount of fan feedback from the first project we decided to make the platform a little more flexible by supporting both USB and Radio Controlled interfaces so more people with different interests will be able to tinker with it. So for this project we will be detailing the construction of the turret and building the base as more of an experimental platform so you can choose what method you want to use. View project
We will be modifying a simple USB based foam missile launcher base and an 350 rounds per minute airsoft gun then blending them into a USB airsoft turret. This project is perfect for shooting the local office mullard, century turret for your home, or even pidgin control. These airsoft guns shoot a plastic BB at up to 250 FPS and is powerful enough to leave some healthy welts on unsuspecting targets. View project
Due to popular request we have built this miniaturized ion cooler as a second step in its evaluation. We chose to use an external design for several reasons, all of which mitigate concerns from people on our initial prototype. One of the biggest concerns was with regards to the air moving through the computer possibly having a imbalanced electrical charge or alternately producing to much ozone and possibly damaging components in the system. By mounting the unit at the rear of the case with it sucking air out of the case we are able to still achieve beneficial results and address these issues. View project
I have wanted to do this project for a few years now. While its was a relatively quick build, the time from the photo shoot to publish has been an extremely long and rocky road. Regardless in the end we have produced the first ionic cooling system for your high end gaming system. This system produces absolutely no noise and in fact has no moving parts at all. While this is a proof of concept it proves that you can get the CFM you need to cool a system efficiently with no moving parts and no increase in power consumption. View project
This project came from a challenge I was given by a fan of InventGeek. Basically they chose the most common place and mundane item they could think of and challenged me to improve it in a practical way. So how do you improve a bread box? Well for starters I how about making it more useful than just a nice place to put your bread and we are not talking about putting a computer in it. After modding out our bread box I think we have come up with something terribly practical. Worst case then we have come up with a really clever science fair project for you your kid to do. View project
I started this project with more of an idea of creating a system that would visualize Cherenkov radiation via webcam utilizing a Gamma radiation source and heavy water in some heavy lead shielding to produce the tell tell bursts of blue light. Maybe hook it up to the LCD window kit system we did and display it on the widowed screen. Deciding to ramp up to my project and also experimenting with other types and sources of radiation for the project I stumbled across a myriad of new ideas for possible systems with some far reaching and profound results. View project
I never really understood the mentality of someone that overclocked there computer for actual every day use. Sure, I have overclocked the hell out of computers and had a lot of fun doing it. It can give you a great edge in the gamming circles. But this group of overclockers using refrigerants and liquid cooling on an ongoing basis…. Well it seems a little unnatural to me to save 50.00 on a CPU to get a lesser one to overclock and make up the difference at the risk of the whole system… but some where in there is that self destructive geeky tendency we celebrate screaming to the surface. So with all the focus on making a cold computer case, I decided to make a case into a drink dispensing refrigerator just in honor of the hard core overclockers. View project
After a few hours of gaming with our normal high-end mouse pads you get a build up of sweat. The mouse and mouse pad becomes slippery and you start to loose your competitive advantage due to the loss of precision. While there are a couple mice on the market that have small fans in them to dry out your palm, they all have major failings in precision and accuracy. So after some thought and discussion we chose to build out our own custom mouse pad with a blower in it to suck the air down through the pad and away from the gamer’s hand. View project
It is in one of the ethically murky recesses of humanity that I have felt like delving into with this project. Any type of project that effects perception of security and stability of life is never popular. While lock picking is nothing new, for those who know nothing about it, it often shocks and scares people with its ease and sharp reality. View project
I had this dead ups lying around and didn't know what to do with it. So we threw some ideas back and forth and the one that stuck was a hidden rogue server. This could be used for both good and awesome. Just think of the possibilities. A hidden file archive, hook it up to your hacked tivo, mess with the RIAA when the come search your house..... (#$))_%$)*@ ^( )%^@ (NO CARRIER) View project
For some time I have been rather interested in the whole immersive simulator world. Finally I decided that I should try to make my own finally! So using readily available parts I did. Now this isn't a super cheep project to do, but I have gotten the price point down to an affordable level for you racing enthusiasts out there. View project
Those of us that have used LCD monitors for a while know that over time the backlight starts to dim and will eventually completely fail. Leaving you with some electronic scrap that you could sell on eBay for 35 bucks or so. Well for less than $20.00 and about a half hour of your time you can replace the backlight and rejuvenate that monitor to as good as new condition. View project
Time for another flaming monstrosity.. How about nice Xerox laser printer converted to a high volume automatic paper shredder? This project was featured on 8/3/05 on toms hardware's "how to" section. Now, here it is, un-cut and un-molested by the Toms Hardware "editors" in all its sarcastic glory! View project
There are so many differing ideas, and guides out there in regard to how to do home theater projection on a budget that it can make the average variety of geeks head spin! So after some thinking, tinkering and 3 or 4 attempts to take over the world. we decided that we write up this guide. View project
What could be cooler than a terabyte of raid 5 storage space? maybe building it entirely out of surplus and cheap hardware! View project
Window kits are a dime a dozen nowadays, but there once was a time it was just for the elite. well the good old days are back! With this mod you can have a window kit like no other! View project
Back in the day when the G3 series came out they were the first computer with any thought of style. But the glory days have passed and the G3 is almost useless for anything more than a paper weight. So why not convert it to a P4 and piss off a lot of mac enthusiasts at the same time? View project
This project is an easy to use platform for one technique that is broadly being used with to trick the algae into reproducing. Each algae species reacts differently in many ways to its environment and a light frequency that affects one algae may have no effect at all on another. The LEDS can be swapped out to experiment with different colors and even UV for some hydrogen producing species. While you may not be an algae fan like I am there is tremendous potential in this simple organism and inventgeek applauds researchers worldwide in their efforts and research. View project
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