What can't you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe could be seen alongside most streets right here and appears to be certainly one of Thailand's most plentiful un-natural resources. All kinds of various connectors are available and other than carrying water it is usually used as an affordable development materials that can be used to make all the pieces from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and shop indicators. After all on the internet you can also discover 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, Zap Zone Defender Device another energy loader costume, Zap Zone Defender System single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you can find, in chronological order, a few of my own (mostly unique) creations made from PVC water pipe including: Defender by Zap Zone - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, Zap Zone Defender System - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Zap Zone Defender Device Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii Zapper, - a Workbench, Real-Tron Controllers - a Music Stand Puzzle Bobble Coffee Grinder Controllers, - a Netbook Treadmill Hook, CD/DVD Holders, - a Nightstand/shelves, Zap Zone Defender Device - Push Up Bar/Handles, Fake Legs, - a Hilbert Cube, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-sport (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and - a Trident.
This was the challenge that began my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter while I was in Australia however the fittings had been prohibitively expensive (see the picture right). Fortunately they're very reasonably priced right here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and Zap Zone Defender Device 6 x elbows. Cricket (to not be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's nationwide sport performed with a bat, a ball, and Official Zap Zone Defender two wickets. 6 x T-items, and 12 x 45-degree elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation dimension piece of plywood that we discovered mendacity around and we used inexperienced duct tape for the markings. Although the ring isn't strong sufficient to hold off, the aspect supports make it sturdy sufficient for regular play. Additionally they give it a really Star Trek feel and I believe the ring seems not unlike the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is perhaps 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, four x push-buttons, and a mercury switch which are linked to a computer by way of a hacked USB joystick.
You could find extra particulars about how I made the controller on this project page and i've also prolonged the identical thought to play GL-Tron using real motorbikes. A university scholar who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, mentioned "That's Ok however I wish to play driving games". It got me pondering and over the subsequent week I spent my evenings building a PVC racing automobile controller - basically a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart body connected to the pc via a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai university students who saw the first automotive needed to know the way all of it labored and 6 of them came around one Saturday and we spent the whole day hacking joysticks and constructing a second automobile. By connecting them both to a laptop and a knowledge projector we had been able to play split-display screen Daytona USA. You can find extra details concerning the design and construction of the cars on this venture page. The white office desk I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't high enough to be performed comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and 2 x elbows - partially to help air move however largely to hold my display up because the spring within the hinge has damaged. As straightforward as this stand Zap Zone Defender Device appears, the "L"-formed upright section is definitely part of an air-conditioner mount for a knowledge projector that I made for insect zapper one of the virtual pinball desk installations. The T-piece is not glued and so in a small manner (a really, very small means) I prefer to think that if the air-conditioning mount have been ever needed once more then the elements might re-combine in a Voltron or Captain Planet and Zap Zone Defender Device the Planeteers or Power Rangers MegaZord-like manner. Of course if that happened my laptop computer display screen would fall down. I don't personal a Nintendo Wii however I did handle to get my fingers on a Wiimote in order that I may check out a few of Johnny Chung Lee's cool projects. This is a Wiimote mount I constructed utilizing 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 reduce in order that it suits nicely into the ridges down the facet of the Wiimote which holds it securely. That is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its high reduce off. The joint between the 2 topmost elbows will not be glued so the angle of the highest part can be adjusted. These sections are merely cable-tied onto the front of the motorbike handlebars and the players squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to turn left or right. A mercury switch can be mounted on the suitable handlebar so the accelerator can be used to supply boost inside the game and up to four bikes will be connected to the computer via a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-round of bamboo is wedged beneath the again tires to cease them from rocking. This is a music stand made from three totally different sizes of pipe.