Tag Archives: Ben Heck

Ben Heck mods midi controller into guitar enclosure, scores pinball soundtrack in return

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Ben Heck mods midi controller into guitar enclosure, scores pinball soundtrack in return

Love pinball? So does professional modder Ben Heck -- he's building a ghost hunt-themed pinball machine, and needs it to sound just right. Luckily, a local musician is happy to help, provided Heck can rejigger his midi controller into a guitar. Challenge accepted. With the help of his musician friend, Heck spends the first episode of a two-part Ben Heck Show disassembling the instrument, desoldering its components and reassembling them in the desired pattern -- stitching together a few undersized circuit boards along the way. Ben lays out the key pattern too, which will dictate how large the axe's case will need to be. It's classic hardware modding, and a darn fine break to the deluge of CES news. Check out the first episode in the series after the break.

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Source: The Ben Heck Show

Ben Heck’s Naughty or Nice Meter Helps Keep Kids in Line. If They Still Believe in Santa.

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Master modder Ben Heck recently finished a Holiday hack that could help the young ones stay behaved. I say could because as we all know how utterly wild these creatures known as “children” can be. But if your little loved ones are still spellbound by the concept of Santa, they could be controlled with Ben Heck’s Naughty or Nice Meter.

naughty nice meter by ben heck and jesse robinson

In keeping with the Holiday theme, the gadget is officially named Self-Aware Niceness Tester, Analog or S.A.N.T.A. for short. The idea is to have a meter that can magically update in real time to show kids how naughty or nice they’re being. Even though the meter itself is fairly large, the box only contains a TI Launchpad microcontroller, a Bluetooth module and a servo that moves the needle.

naughty nice meter by ben heck and jesse robinson 2

The magic happens in the companion mobile app, which was made by Ben Heck’s buddy Jesse Robinson. The app’s interface looks exactly like the dial of the meter; touch a spot on the app and the meter moves accordingly. You can see it in action over on episode 39 of The Engadget Show, which also contains a bit of trivia about and lots of useful tips from Ben Heck.

It’s a naughty way of keeping the peace at home, although knowing how savvy kids are with gadgets, I’m pretty sure this won’t work for long.

[via Engadget]

Ben Heck Analog WASD Keyboard Mod: Because You Can’t Type With a Joystick

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Modder Ben Heck has removed one of the few remaining advantages of videogame consoles over the PC master race: the analog stick. Heck sacrificed an Xbox 360 controller to make the W, A, S and D keys on his keyboard behave like the left stick on the controller, i.e. the harder he presses the keys, the faster his character moves in game. Or whatever “-er” is supposed to happen.

ben heck analog keyboard wasd mod

Aside from an Xbox 360 controller, Ben Heck also used magnets, Hall effect sensors and a microcontroller to complete the mod. He ends up with WASD keys that are much more useful in PC games that support gamepads. You can skip to about 10:00 in the video to see Heck test his modded keyboard:

If you already had your soldering spellbook and modding whatzits close at hand, head to Ben Heck’s website to grab the files and code you’ll need for the mod.


The Ben Heck Show kicks off season 3 by clamping down on texting while driving (video)

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The Ben Heck Show kicks off season 3 by clamping down on texting while driving video

Gadget modder extraordinaire, Benjamin Heckendorn, has returned with season 3 of The Ben Heck Show. Along with new segments such as news, viewer questions and rants, you'll find that Ben has whipped up a creative solution to the problem of texting while driving. Using the ShopBot CNC router, Ben carves out a chastity belt of sorts -- his words, not ours -- to form the casing of a system that will sound an alarm whenever one's car is running and their phone isn't in the protective dock. The anti-texting system also logs its status to an SD card, which can then be reviewed at a later time. It won't be until next week's episode that we get to see the final product, but all the geeky bits that make this project possible can be found in the season opener, which you'll find right after the break.

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The Ben Heck Show kicks off season 3 by clamping down on texting while driving (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ben Heck Shows You How to Build an Xbox 360 Laptop

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I lack any of the skills you need to make cool mods and DIY projects of just about any type. That is certainly not true when it comes to modder Ben Heck. This geek took his hobby of building modded consoles and other items and turned it into his own web series. On the latest episode of his show, Heck returns to his console-modding roots showing us how to build one of his portable Xbox 360s.

xboxultra

Heck’s latest Xbox 360 Slim laptop has a 16-inch LED backlit display and a custom-routed and 3D printed enclosure housing the electronics from the gaming console. I’m not sure how easy something like this would be to pull off for your average DIY person with nothing but everyday tools. The fancy custom enclosure that Heck made required a computer-controlled router and a 3D printer, so unless you have ready access to those tools, you might be a little behind the curve. You can decide how difficult it might be by checking out the entire episode below:

I guess you could build something out of plywood to put your own portable console mod together. Still, even if you can’t pull off such a mod on your own, it’s very cool to see an Xbox 360 that can be played anywhere you happen to be – assuming an electrical outlet is nearby.


Ben Heck’s Bionic Sunglasses Automatically Make You Look Cool When It’s Bright

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If you watch Ben Heck’s online show you’ll notice that the master modder has branched out beyond the gaming mods that made him famous. For his latest episode, Heck shows us how to make a very practical gadget: sunglasses that automatically raise or lower a pair of polarized clip-on shades depending on the ambient light.

ben heck bionic sunglasses

Heck used an ATtiny board, a photo cell and a servo to modify his own sunglasses. Lesser mortals not versed in tinkering and programming will most likely zone out within two minutes of the clip; you can skip to about 11:55 in the video below if you’d just like to see the finished product.

I guess now we know what Dwayne Wayne could look like… in a different world. YEEEAAHHHHH


Ben Heck builds Arduino-based automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch (video)

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Ben Heck builds Arduinobased automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch

CSI: Miami might be out of production, but that doesn't mean we'll be deprived of casual eyewear flipping. Not if Ben Heck has a say in the matter, at least. His latest DIY project automatically swings a pair of clip-on sunglasses into view whenever it's too sunny outside: a photocell attached to an AT Tiny microcontroller checks the light levels and, through an Arduino-based AVR MKII language, tells a rotor to spin the glasses into place. No one will be labeled a fashionista with the requisite battery pack strapped to their heads, but the construction doesn't require CNC milling and won't destroy a favorite frame. We're only disappointed that the sunglasses won't play The Who on command... yet.

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Ben Heck builds Arduino-based automatic sunglasses, beats David Caruso to the punch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ben Heck’s BASIC Pocket PC: The Franken-Computer

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Ben Heck is well known as a modder extraordinaire, and this time he doesn’t let anyone down by cobbling together a pocket PC from an array of harvested parts, including a chatpad from an Xbox 360 controller.

ben heck pocket pc hack

The BASIC pocket PC uses the aforementioned chatpad, an Arduino Uno and a Hitachi LCD display. The handheld computer runs an appropriately tiny version of the BASIC programming language called TinyBASIC. Thanks to its built-in interface, this Franken-computer allows Ben to control real-world objects – for example, Heck uses it to control a servo-operated ghost on a pinball playing field.

Check out the full show where Heck shows you how he built the device and to see what it can do.

The whole thing is pretty neat, but you’ll need to brush up on your electronics skills if you want to be able to make one of these for yourself.

[via Ubergizmo]


Ben Heck fashions a pocket computer with an Xbox Chatpad and Arduino Uno

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Ben Heck fashions a pocket computer using an Xbox 360 Chatpad and an Arduino Uno

It's great to see Ben Heck focus his efforts of do-gooder projects like that foot-controlled wheelchair, but we'll always have a soft spot for the modfather's more nostalgic undertakings, like this BASIC pocket computer. Heck created the device for the latest episode of his web show, and if you're following along at home, you'll need the Chatpad from an Xbox 360 controller, an Arduino Uno and a LCD display -- a Hitachi HD 44780, in this case. The modder-turned-host is quick to point out that the project's purpose isn't solely nostalgic -- you can also use it to control real world objects, which in the Heck's case means a ghost on a pinball playfield. Check out a video of the invention in action after the break.

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Ben Heck fashions a pocket computer with an Xbox Chatpad and Arduino Uno originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ben Heck creates hands-free wheelchair attachment for expectant father

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Ben Heck may have cut his teeth on hacked gaming consoles, but these days, the modder-turned-show-host has turned a good deal of his focus to projects aimed at improving accessibility and mobility for the disabled. The latest episode of the Ben Heck Show offers up the perfect example of this noble pursuit, built when an expectant father came to him requesting a wheelchair that could be controlled while caring for his newborn. Heck designed a motor assembly add-on for Josh Benhart's chair with a foot-controlled joystick that lives under a 3D printed dome. Given a short amount of lead, Heck, sadly, wasn't able to complete the project in time, though you can check out his progress in the video embedded after the break.

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Ben Heck creates hands-free wheelchair attachment for expectant father originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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