Navarre Bartz – Page 14 – WindowsTechs.com

Daisugi – Growing Straight Lumber without Killing the Tree

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A large, short set of tree stumps supports many smaller, straight trees atop them. They are on a picturesque mountain with a orange deciduous tree behind them.

In 14th Century Japan, there was a shortage of straight lumber for building and flat land on which to grow it. Arborists there developed a technique that looks like growing …read more Continue reading Daisugi – Growing Straight Lumber without Killing the Tree→

Deadblow Axe Splits Wood with Minimal Rebound

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A white man with red hair in pigtails under a brown cap holds an axe with a black head and wooden handle. The axe has a rectangular box welded onto the back side of its trapezoidal head.

Dead-blow hammers are well-known in the construction industry for minimizing rebound. [Jacob Fischer] is on a mission to bring this concept to splitting axes. Over the course of several months, …read more Continue reading Deadblow Axe Splits Wood with Minimal Rebound→

Melodio Self Mate

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

While the proliferation of the smartphone has caused the personal music player (PMP) market to mostly evaporate, there are still those who prefer a standalone device for their music. The …read more Continue reading Melodio Self Mate→

Droplet Watch Keeps Time Via Electrowetting

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

Hackers just can’t help but turn their sights on timepieces, and [Armin Bindzus] has designed an electrowetting-based watch. Electrowetting is a way of changing the contact angle of droplets on …read more Continue reading Droplet Watch Keeps Time Via Electrowetting→

Synthetic Spider Silk

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A line-art diagram of the microfluidic device. On the left, in red text, it says "Fibrillization trigger (CPB pH 5.0). There is a rectangular outline of the chip in grey, with a sideways trapezoid on the left side narrowing until it becomes an arrow on the right. At the right is an inset picture of the semi-transparent microfluidic chip and the text "Negative Pressure (Pultrusion)." Above the trapezoid is the green text "MaSp2 solution" and below is "LLPS trigger (CPB pH 7.0)" in purple. The green, purple, and red text correspond with inlets labeld 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Three regions along the arrow-like channel from left to right are labeled "LLPS region," "pH drop," and in a much longer final section "Fiber assembly region."

While spider silk proteins are something you can make in your garage, making useful drag line fibers has proved a daunting challenge. Now, a team of scientists from Japan and …read more Continue reading Synthetic Spider Silk→

Popup Playground Roams Around

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A child in a red shirt and blue pants balances on a board suspended across two small, green sawhorses. An astroturf hill and blue elephant-esque cart are in the background.

Going to the park is a time-honored pastime for kids around the world, but what if there isn’t one nearby? COMPA Teatro Trono and the International Design Clinic have designed …read more Continue reading Popup Playground Roams Around→

A Wiper Motor 101

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A white male in a green shirt sitting next to a tall rectangular robot made of green and black components with an aluminum frame. In front of him are a variety of components from several windshield wiper motor assemblies. Casings, gearboxes, and the like are strewn across the wooden table.

Need a powerful electric motor on the cheap? [Daniel Simu] and his friend [Werner] show us the ins and outs of using windshield wiper motors. Through many examples and disassembled …read more Continue reading A Wiper Motor 101→

Open Vehicle Monitoring System is the Window to Your EV’s Soul

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

A black PCB with a cellular modem board piggy backed on top. It has a micro-USB and DB-type connector on the end facing the camera.

Electric cars have more widgets than ever, but manufacturers would rather you don’t have direct access to them. The Open Vehicle Monitoring System intends to change that for the user. …read more Continue reading Open Vehicle Monitoring System is the Window to Your EV’s Soul→

FairBerry Brings the PKB Back to Your Smartphone

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

An image of a smarphone sitting on a lightly-colored wooden table. It has a tan case surrounding it on the top 2/3, and a copper case holding a BlackBerry Q10 keyboard jutting out over the bottom of the phone.

Missing the feel of physical keys on your phone, but not ready to give up your fancy new touchscreen phone? [Dakkaron] has attached a BlackBerry keyboard to a slightly more …read more Continue reading FairBerry Brings the PKB Back to Your Smartphone→

AI on the Hunt for Better Batteries

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Navarre Bartz

Two researchers, a white woman and dark-skinned man look at a large monitor with a crystal structure displayed in red and white blocks.

While certain dystopian visions of the future have humans power the grid for AIs, Microsoft and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) set a machine learning system on the path of …read more Continue reading AI on the Hunt for Better Batteries→