Electronics-Lab.com Blog

As Wago products are of a top quality, neither a “package” in a form of a cooling box can´t be a usual no-name product. It is the product of company Ezetil, type eco Cool Energy E32 12V/230V EEI with thermoelectric cooling (Peltier), microprocessor control and a quality PU insulation.

In comparison to common portable cooling boxes, it consumes up to 70% less energy and belongs to an energy class “A“. A big advantage is, that it can be supplied from a 12V DC socket of your automobile or form a 230V AC mains. 29l inner space allows to place inside common 2l Euro PET bottles. If you buy this Wago profi set, in the cooling box you´ll find in total 800 pcs of favourite installation push-wire terminal blocks 2273-xxx and 222-413 series. In detail – 50 pcs “222-413″, 400 pcs “2273-203″, 300 ks “2273-205″ and 50 pcs “2273-208″. In a price convenient set, you have a chance to gain terminal blocks, together with the quality modern cooling box with an ergonomic design, universally usable for example at installation or measuring outside, at servicing, company activities and other journeys in a summer time.

Exchange terminal blocks for cooled beverages! - [Link]

The MTM Snap was designed by Jonathan Ward of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. It costs about $500, runs off an Arduino, is CNCed out of HDPE, and can mill a 5″ x 3″ x 1.75″ area. Design files and BOM are available if you want to make your own. [via]

MTM Snap, a Snap-Together CNC - [Link]

If You’re Going To Kill It, Open Source It! @ MAKE… [via]

Another week, another company killing off a giant product after spending millions of dollars and years developing. Back in 2009 Cisco bought Pure Digital Technology’s Flip. Gadget fans and makers were puzzled by this; phones were just about good enough to start beating the Flip. Now, it’s heading for the landfill.

Some companies fail, some kill off product lines that are not profitable, but in the end, where does all the knowledge go? Nowhere, usually. In a world of disposable everything, is it time that we demand companies do what’s good for humankind in addition to the bottom line?

If companies are going to just kill something off, why not open source it? Some companies do just that, and others, like Nokia, will promise open source (Symbian, dead product) and then quickly reverse itself, locking it up. Pictured above, a Nokia coffin.

In this article I’m going to share my collection of products that no longer exist but should (or could) have been released as open source projects. Part of the goal is for you to post the ones you’d like to see “open sourced” as well. My list includes some familiar favorites, like the Sony humanoid robots, to some old timers like Ricochet wireless cards.

If You’re Going To Kill It, Open Source It! – [Link]

Follow this wiki to learn how to build your own CNC milling machine with cost less than 100$.

3-axis CNC milling machine for 100$ – [Link]

In this website ”Frank Pirz” documented the build of his CNC machine which is based on these plans. He used 80/20 Aluminum to build the frame and the result appears to be solid. Check construction details on the link below. [via]

CNC Build using 80/20 Aluminum - [Link]

This project shows how to build a star-tracker. A star-tracker is a device used to help amateur astronomers to take clear pictures of the sky by following the earth rotation. Using a tracker, sky appears steady. Check construction details on the link below. [via]

Build a star-tracker for your camera - [Link]

David Carr build a 3-axis CNC milling machine on the cheap. His machine is build on wood, costs around 90$ and can mill wood, steel or even small PCBs. Project schematics and drawing can be found on his website below. [via]

Build a 3 axis milling machine for under $100 - [Link]

Prepare your drawing on your favorite software -> Upload your files -> laser does the job -> get your package. That’s how easy you can obtain your own acrylic parts.

MiniCuts: low cost acrylic laser cutting service for small size jobs - [Link]

After finishing a project you may need to add it to an enclosure and drill holes to make external connections or install any control buttons and screens. This proccess can be difficult without any special tools and the result may not look as expected. If you like a profesional result FrontPanelExpert.com offers a complete solution to build your own custom front panel in 3 easy steps. You download Centina CAD free software and install it on your pc. Design front panel layout, calculate cost and finally submit your design for proccessing. You are able to choose front panel material from a range of common ones, like aluminum and plastic and order from prototype to mass production.

BoxMaker is a little Java application that can generate the outlines for a box to be out of some material with a cutting device (ideally using wood/acrylic on a lasercutter!). You tell it the dimensions of the box (width, height, depth, material width), and it generates a PostScript file with the outlines for the 6 sides of the box. The dimensions are the outside lengths of the box. [via]

BoxMaker makes any size box template - [Link]