• Running List of Ideas

    11/05/2023 at 04:09 • 0 comments

    Note: Not all of these ideas are original, they are just things I'm interested in building. 

    Areas of Interest: 

    -Free Open-Source Software and Hardware

    -Low Cost

    -Low Power

    -Solar and Wind Power

    -Microcontrollers - ESP32, Arduino, Very Low Cost (Under $1)

    - LoRa and other similar communication mechanisms

    -3D Printing and CNC

    -Green materials

    -Novel, practical, or just fun

    Ideas

    1. Wi-Fi enabled Air Rocket Launcher. Launch Air Rocket/Candy Mortar from a phone app over Wi-Fi.
    2. Vibrating Toothbrush. Open Source, low-cost design.
    3. Pool Ph level tester. Floating sensor that measures a Pool Ph and possibly other measurements and sends them via wi-fi or other medium to the user.
    4. Coffee Cup PCR - Project has not been revisited in quite a while.
    5. System that can paint a large roadside advertising billboard using a cable driven parallel robot (CDPR).
    6. Robotic system that can strip the paint off of a poll such as one used to hold up a basketball net. 
    7. Robotic system that can paint a poll such as one used to hold up a basketball net. Tethered for power.
    8. Robot that can play cornhole. 
    9. Guitar chord accuracy system - Monitor how well a guitar player plays chords by monitoring continuity between each guitar string and the fret wires on the guitar as chords are played.
    10. Slow moving mini lawn mower robot - Battery powered, returns to docking station to charge when done. Weed Wacker string. Small, slow, and not as wide as a traditional push mower. Maybe 12" or 8" wide. Autonomous
    11. Weed picking Robot. Similar to lawn mower robot idea above. Picks weeds mechanically.
    12. Robot lawn aerator.
    13. Wall climbing, paint striping robot - Stays attached to wall using a fan. Tethered for power.
    14. Boat Painting Robot - Sanding and painting boat. Stays attached to boat using a fan that keeps it stuck to the side. Tethered for power.
    15. Wall climbing, shower cleaning robot. - Stays attached to wall using a fan. Tethered for power maybe.
    16. Slow Pitch Softball Umpire - Camera, OpenCV solution that calls balls and strikes.
    17. IoT Sensor using LoRa for monitoring various Pine Barrens environmental data. Long battery life possibly with Solar. Unmanned for long periods. Occasionally reports stats over LoRa or other wireless means.
    18. Pothole detector - Used to report potholes or create a website of their location and posted on Google Maps or similar. Crowd source pothole detection. Camera mounted on a car.
    19. Mentos/Diet Coke geyser automatic launcher over Wi-Fi using ESP32. 3D Printed design for a mechanical valve with a servo.
    20. Dog Bowl Water Monitor - Level, Quality, Temp. Wi-Fi to alert user.
    21. Dog Bowl Food Monitor - Same as above
    22. Mailbox delivery Checker - Wi-Fi, LoRa to alert user.
    23. Salt Level Checker - Home well water salt reservoir check - Wi-Fi or LoRa to alert user.
    24. Pinewood derby gate, timer, software for logging start and end time, tracking winner.
    25. Simple toothbrush 2min timer
    26. Physical therapy reps, intervals counter. Simple LCD, timer, easy to program. Like a kitchen timer.
    27. Water the Lawn sensor - Monitor moister in the soil and send to user via LoRa or Wi-Fi. Low power, solar power.
    28. Washing machine and dryer sensors - Wi-F- to alert user when was they are finished, queued by machine buzzer. Low Power, solar.
    29. Low cost, open centrifuge
    30. Guitar pickup winder
    31. Mars Rover Rocker Bogey Robot
    32. Outdoor RC Track modeling a NASCAR track and to scale consistent with the cars used. First Person Camera view racing. 
    33. Lego Sorting Machine.
    34. Nails, Nuts and bolts sorting machine.
    35. Haptic Sensors on back that provide directions to walk without having to look at phone app. Could provide other info if user was trained on how to interpret haptic sensations. Grid of haptic sensors maybe 16x16.
    36. Phone cursor or HUD glasses controlled by toes. Hands free.
    37. Golf ball tracker. Camera placed behind tee tracks ball and sends to golfers' phone after ball is hit. Or golfer could scan QR code on E-Paper display after its hit. Or go to a web page.

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