Projects

Playing with nixies: Yet another Nixie Clock

Nixie tubes are electronic devices for displaying numerals or other information, such symbols or letters. They work under the  principle called Glow Discharge. Basically, they are tubes filled with a low-pressure mix of gasses and two (or more) metal electrodes. When a voltage is applied to two of this electrodes, and such voltage exceeds a certain value called the striking voltage, the gas in the tube ionizes, becoming a plasma, and begins conducting electricity, causing it to glow with a colored light (depending on the gas filling the tube, for tubes with neon this color is red-orange).

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By David Lobato, ago

Logic Pirate 3D Printed Case

We recently got our hands on the Dangerous Prototypes Logic Pirate, which is an inexpensive open source logic analyzer. While it’s cool to see the PCB and the entire circuitry, this is the kind of thing that you’re gonna end up carrying it with you a lot, since it’s a useful tool, therefore our first thought was that it needed a proper enclosure to protect it from the rough environment that is the tool kit! And, since we have a LulzBot 3D printer, why not design a cool looking case that we can use.

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By João Duarte, ago

Ion Thruster

An ion thruster is a type of electrical propulsion system used for spacecraft propulsion capable of creating thrust by accelerating ions.  Back in June 2015, I remember seeing this demonstration for the first time on Makezine, by . I thought it was amazing for its scientific value and at the same time quite easy to build, so me and Hugo thought we could make our own version of it, using 3D printed parts.

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By João Duarte, ago