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This DIY electric parade float chassis could be any vehicle you want it to be

Electrek

The motors, controllers, batteries, and everything else is usually built into a flat deck connected to the wheels, meaning the rest of the vehicle is basically just bolted on top. The engineer in me always thought it’d be fun to have just the bare skateboard, meaning you could go wild with your ideas of what to put on top.

DIY 84
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A DIY E-bike Conversion on the Cheap

Cars That Think

While it would have been nice to engineer some sort of spring-driven mechanism to control how forcefully the motor pushes against the tire, I kept things simple: I just deflated the tire somewhat, bolted the motor solidly in place, and reinflated the tire. So I bought an outrunner. In that position, it's hardly visible.

DIY 145
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A DIY E-bike Conversion on the Cheap

Cars That Think

While it would have been nice to engineer some sort of spring-driven mechanism to control how forcefully the motor pushes against the tire, I kept things simple: I just deflated the tire somewhat, bolted the motor solidly in place, and reinflated the tire. So I bought an outrunner. In that position, it's hardly visible.

DIY 98
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A DIY Calorie Counter More Accurate Than a Smartphone

Cars That Think

The road to the calorie counter began in our lab (the Human Performance Laboratory in the Stanford University School of Engineering ), where we study things like the metabolic cost of walking. The IMUs are connected to a Raspberry Pi using the I2C protocol. The counter uses two of them, one attached at midthigh, the other at midshank.

DIY 100
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Building the Future of Smart Home Security

Cars That Think

It’s nearly impossible to find a household today that doesn’t have at least one connected smart home device installed. It redefined the home security space by introducing wireless, DIY products and pioneered giving customers the ability to monitor their homes via a smartphone app. The potential solution?

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Can This DIY Rocket Program Send an Astronaut to Space?

Cars That Think

meter-tall Nexø II rocket was powered by a bipropellant engine designed and constructed by the Copenhagen Suborbitals team. The engine mixed ethanol and liquid oxygen together to produce a thrust of 5 kilonewtons, and the rocket soared to a height of 6,500 meters. Even more important, it came back down in one piece.

DIY 138
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Tech: How to Troubleshoot Electrical Issues

Clean Fleet Report

Although these problems can root in various reasons, such as a loose electrical connection, a blown fuse, or even parts that excessively drain your battery, getting your vehicle up and going again need not be overly complicated or painful. With the engine turned off, the multimeter should read 12 to 13 volts.