Tinkerbrick

Lego ® iPod LCD Projector

tbrick — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:01:46 +0000

This project idea shows how you can make an LCD projector using your iDevice, a TinkerBrick™ case, an old magnifying glass and some LEGO. While it doesn’t work as well as one you’d buy from the store, that’s not the point, is it? Have some fun, experiment with light and bring some new life to the LEGO you have lying around the house.

30 Second LEGO ® iPod Mount

tbrick — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 01:49:11 +0000

Here’s a real simple way to mount your device for easy attachment and removal, using only two pieces of LEGO ® and some instant glue.

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Step 1: Snap a couple LEGO ® pieces into place on the back of your TinkerBrick™ case. 2 x 6 plates work well.

Step 2: Put instant glue on the bottom of the two plates. Do not glue these plates to your case! Then quickly press your whole device onto the surface where you’d like to mount it.

Step 3: Hold it for about 30 seconds (check your glue’s instructions) in the place where you’d like it mounted.

Now you can use your device to view videos, listen to music, chat, etc.

Lego iPod Case and Pocket Guitar App

tbrick — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 13:22:54 +0000

What can happen when you combine a $ 0.99 app with the LEGO you have lying around? Well, a lot. In this example, the Pocket Guitar App is used to create a customized guitar. There is not much to it. Just design whatever you want as your guitar, leave some space for your TinkerBrick case and iDevice and soon you’ve created your own musical instrument.

The Pocket Guitar App offers a lot. From the settings, you can choose a variety of stringed instruments like an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a muted guitar, even a ukulele. Design your LEGO around the type of stringed instrument you’ll be playing most often. If you’re left-handed, don’t worry. The app allows you to change the preference for that too. The App also has effects like chorus and delay, among others, depending on the instrument you’ve selected. There are some really nice pedal style effects on the electric guitar. In settings, you can also adjust the fret-board in a variety of ways. If you’re using an instrument like the electric guitar, you’ll be able to select a Tilt Effect which can raise or lower the pitch on your guitar. As a bonus, you can control the sensitivity of this setting.

While this app is not going to replace your Fender or Stratocaster any time soon, for 99 cents and some spare LEGO, you can create the cheapest, fully-customized guitar you’ll ever own.

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Crush it with the Pocket Guitar App

Steady-cam Project

tbrick — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:06:48 +0000

In this project, you will see how you can create a steady-cam using your spare LEGO parts, your TinkerBrick™ Case and a counterweight. “What’s a steady-cam?”, you ask. It’s an ingenious device that uses a gimbal, an arm and a counter-weight to steady a camera while the camera operator moves around. Of course, your iDevice has a great video camera. Why not use it to its fullest? The LEGO steady-cam will allow you to move your camera, following the action, unlike a tripod which pretty much has to stay put.

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Check out the video and picture below to learn how to make your steady-cam.

Basic Parts

Attaching your TinkerBrick Case to the gimbal:

One more view:

Makego App

tbrick — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:25:38 +0000

For the younger set, there is a really nice app called Makego. (Available on iTunes) Together with the TinkerBrick case, it allows for all kinds of inventive play, extending the functionality of Lego as well as the iPod.

Makego app and TinkerBrick Case. Photo Credit: appcessories.info

From the iTunes description:

What is it?

Makego turns your iPhone / iPod Touch into a toy vehicle.

It encourages fun, open ended collaborative play between parent and child. Combining creativity and imagination with the virtual world on screen.

Select your vehicle within Makego, then interact with the drivers and their world through animations and sound. This release has 3 vehicles to play with: a race car, ice-cream truck, and river boat. More vehicles are coming soon.

RACE CAR
- Motion activated engine noises & turbo boost selector
- Change the car’s paint colour
- Working speedometer and petrol gauge
- Refuel the petrol tank when you’ve raced it dry

ICE-CREAM TRUCK
- Serve the correct ice-creams to customers
- Collect the money and put it in the till
- Toggle the musical jingle to tell everyone you’ve arrived

RIVER BOAT
- Start and stop the engine for a leisurely trip along the waterways
- Feed bread to the hungry ducks along the way
- Sprung a leak?! Fix holes in the boat using a hammer from your toolbox

Zio App

tbrick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:58:44 +0000

Zio is a nice little app ($.99 on iTunes) that produces some great visualizations. It comes with several loaded presets which can be reconfigured to your liking. This app allows you to change many settings, producing a huge array of visualizations. A really nice feature is the ability to make your visualizations sound-reactive. The quality of the visualizations is quite good. One thing however that is bothersome about this paid app is the banner ad that shows up when you first start using it. Fortunately, it turns off after about two minutes of use.

Android FX Sound Generating App

tbrick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:52:34 +0000

Android FX (AFX) is a nice little free app for iOS that generates a whole range of sound effects whose pitch can be changed with your screen’s XY controller.

It generates great sounds for motors, engines of all types, spaceships, robots, etc. App Link

Tilting Pictures

tbrick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:45:48 +0000

Free Tilt PDF is a great little app that has a lot of potential uses. In the video below, you can see how, by adding images instead of text (the usual kind of PDF file) a lot of interesting interactivity can be added into a creation. You might need to get the image size just right by cropping it. (Try GIMP (free) if you don’t want to buy photo editing software.) Get images from Google, Flickr, your camera, your photo roll, etc.

The rocks image in the video below can be found here. (Right click to save.)

Get the rock image used in the above video here. It’s a pdf file. Then put it into Free Tilt Pdf. (Right click and “Save Target As…” to download.)

Adjustable Stand

tbrick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:37:08 +0000

Here is an idea for a simple angle adjuster for your device. It uses few pieces and goes together fast. It also allows for an infinite number of viewing angles. Use it for your alarm clock or to watch YouTube directions at your workbench.

Simple Game Controller

tbrick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:30:59 +0000

Here’s an idea for a simple game controller made with few parts that looks good and works well. Substitute your own parts as needed. Keep reading for instructions.