What can't you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe can be seen along most streets right here and appears to be one in all Thailand's most considerable un-pure assets. All kinds of various connectors can be found and apart from carrying water additionally it is used as a cheap construction material that can be used to make all the things from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and store indicators. Of course on the web it's also possible to find some other very cool and artistic things made from (non-blue) PVC pipe together with: Halloween costumes like Ben Hallert's Matrix APU and Aliens Exo-skeleton Power Loader, one other power loader costume, single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you can see, in chronological order, a few of my own (principally unique) creations made from PVC water pipe including: - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Zap Zone Defender USA Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Zap Zone Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii Zapper, 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, Zap Zone Defender USA - a Hilbert Cube, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-recreation (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the project that started my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter whereas I used to be in Australia however the fittings had been prohibitively costly (see the image right). Fortunately they are very reasonably priced right here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and Zap Zone Defender USA 6 x elbows. Cricket (not to be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's national sport performed with a bat, Zap Zone Defender USA a ball, and two wickets. 6 x T-pieces, and 12 x 45-degree elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation dimension piece of plywood that we found lying around and we used green duct tape for the markings. Although the ring is not strong enough to cling off, the facet helps make it robust enough for normal play. In addition they give it a really Star Trek feel and I think the ring seems not not like the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is probably essentially the most straight forward use for PVC pipe on this web page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, Zap Zone Defender USA 2 x customized motorbike hand-grips, 4 x push-buttons, and a mercury swap that are linked to a computer via a hacked USB joystick.
You could find more details about how I made the controller on this undertaking page and i've additionally extended the identical thought to play GL-Tron using real motorbikes. A college scholar who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, stated "That's Ok but I like to play driving video games". It got me thinking and over the subsequent week I spent my evenings building a PVC racing automobile controller - primarily a wheel-less, PVC go-kart body connected to the computer by way of a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai college students who noticed the primary car wished to know the way all of it worked and 6 of them came round one Saturday and we spent the entire day hacking joysticks and building a second automotive. By connecting them both to a laptop and an information projector we have been in a position to play split-display Daytona Zap Zone Defender USA. You will discover extra particulars in regards to the design and construction of the vehicles on this challenge web page. The white workplace desk I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't excessive enough to be played comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and a couple of x elbows - partially to aid air flow however mostly to hold my screen up because the spring within the hinge has damaged. As easy as this stand appears to be like, the "L"-shaped upright section is actually part of an air-conditioner mount for a data projector that I made for one of the digital pinball desk installations. The T-piece is not glued and so in a small way (a really, very small way) I prefer to assume that if the air-conditioning mount have been ever needed once more then the components may re-combine in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like manner. In fact if that happened my laptop display screen would fall down. I don't personal a Nintendo Wii but I did handle to get my fingers on a Wiimote so that I might check out a few of Johnny Chung Lee's cool projects. This can be a Wiimote mount I constructed utilizing a length of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, three x T-pieces, and four x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been cut so that it fits properly into the ridges down the aspect of the Wiimote which holds it securely. This is screwed onto a T-Piece which has also had its prime lower off. The joint between the two topmost elbows is not glued so the angle of the top section could be adjusted. These sections are merely cable-tied onto the entrance of the motorbike handlebars and the gamers squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to turn left or proper. A mercury change is also mounted on the proper handlebar so the accelerator can be used to supply increase within the sport and as much as four bikes might be connected to the pc through a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright throughout play and a half-round of bamboo is wedged underneath the back tires to stop them from rocking. This is a music stand made from three completely different sizes of pipe.