What can't you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe could be seen alongside most streets here and seems to be considered one of Thailand's most plentiful un-pure assets. A wide variety of different connectors are available and apart from carrying water additionally it is used as an affordable development materials that can be used to make every thing from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and shop signs. In fact on the internet you can also discover some other very cool and inventive issues made from (non-blue) PVC pipe including: Halloween costumes like Ben Hallert's Matrix APU and Aliens Exo-skeleton Power Loader, one other energy loader costume, single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below one can find, in chronological order, a few of my own (mostly unique) creations made from PVC water pipe together with: - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, Zap Zone Defender - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii Zapper, Official Zap Zone Defender - a Workbench, Real-Tron Controllers - a Music Stand Puzzle Bobble Coffee Grinder Controllers, - a Netbook Treadmill Hook, CD/DVD Holders, - a Nightstand/shelves, - Push Up Bar/Handles, Fake Legs, - a Hilbert Cube, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, Zap Zone Defender - a Tank-recreation (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the undertaking that started my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter while I was in Australia but the fittings have been prohibitively expensive (see the picture proper). Fortunately they are very inexpensive here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and 6 x elbows. Cricket (not to be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's nationwide sport performed with a bat, a ball, Zap Zone Defender and two wickets. 6 x T-pieces, and 12 x 45-degree elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation measurement piece of plywood that we discovered lying around and we used green duct tape for Zap Zone Defender the markings. Although the ring isn't sturdy sufficient to dangle off, the side helps make it sturdy sufficient for normal play. They also give it a really Star Trek feel and Zap Zone Defender USA I feel the ring appears to be like not in contrast to the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is maybe probably the most straight ahead use for PVC pipe on this web page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, 2 x customized motorbike hand-grips, Zap Zone Defender 4 x push-buttons, and insect elimination a mercury switch which are linked to a computer by way of a hacked USB joystick.
You will discover extra details about how I made the controller on this project web page and i've additionally prolonged the identical thought to play GL-Tron utilizing actual motorbikes. A college scholar who played with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, said "That's Ok but I wish to play driving games". It got me thinking and over the subsequent week I spent my evenings constructing a PVC racing automotive controller - basically a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart frame connected to the pc by way of a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai college college students who noticed the primary automobile wanted to understand how it all worked and 6 of them got here around one Saturday and we spent the entire day hacking joysticks and constructing a second automobile. By connecting them each to a laptop computer and a data projector we had been in a position to play split-display screen Daytona USA. You can find extra details in regards to the design and development of the cars on this undertaking web page. The white office table I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't excessive sufficient to be performed comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and 2 x elbows - partially to assist air move however largely to carry my display screen up as a result of the spring in the hinge has broken. As straightforward as this stand seems to be, the "L"-formed upright section is definitely a part of an air-conditioner mount for an information projector that I made for one of the virtual pinball desk installations. The T-piece isn't glued and so in a small means (a very, very small means) I like to think that if the air-conditioning mount had been ever needed again then the components could re-mix in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like approach. Of course if that happened my laptop screen would fall down. I do not own a Nintendo Wii but I did handle to get my arms on a Wiimote so that I could check out some of Johnny Chung Lee's cool tasks. This is a Wiimote mount I constructed using a size of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, three x T-pieces, and 4 x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been lower in order that it matches properly into the ridges down the facet of the Wiimote which holds it securely. This is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its top cut off. The joint between the 2 topmost elbows is just not glued so the angle of the top section can be adjusted. These sections are simply cable-tied onto the front of the motorbike handlebars and the players squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to show left or proper. A mercury change can be mounted on the appropriate handlebar so the accelerator can be used to offer enhance within the sport and up to 4 bikes might be linked to the pc by way of a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-spherical of bamboo is wedged beneath the again tires to stop them from rocking. This is a music stand made from three totally different sizes of pipe.