What cannot you do with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipe? The ubiquitous blue PVC water pipe will be seen along most streets here and seems to be one in all Thailand's most abundant un-natural sources. A wide variety of different connectors are available and aside from carrying water it is usually used as an affordable development material that can be used to make every part from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and shop signs. After all on the internet it's also possible to discover some other very cool and inventive issues made from (non-blue) PVC pipe together with: Halloween costumes like Ben Hallert's Matrix APU and Aliens Exo-skeleton Power Loader, another energy loader costume, single and multi-guitar Guitar Hero stands, a laptop computer stand, flutes, and even a shaving stand. Below you will see, in chronological order, Zap Zone Defender a few of my own (largely 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, Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, Defender by Zap Zone - a Wiimote Holder, - a DIY Wii patio insect zapper, - 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, - a Tank-recreation (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, patio insect zapper and patio insect zapper - a Trident.
This was the mission that started my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter whereas I was in Australia however the fittings had been prohibitively costly (see the picture proper). Fortunately they're very inexpensive here in Thailand. 2 x T-Pieces and 6 x elbows. Cricket (to not be confused with Brockian Ultra-Cricket) is Australia's national sport played with a bat, Official Zap Zone Defender a ball, and two wickets. 6 x T-items, and patio insect zapper 12 x 45-diploma elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation size piece of plywood that we discovered lying around and we used green duct tape for the markings. Although the ring is not strong enough to cling off, the aspect helps make it robust sufficient for regular play. In addition they give it a very Star Trek feel and patio insect zapper I feel the ring looks not not like the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is maybe probably the most straight ahead use for PVC pipe on this page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, 2 x customized motorbike hand-grips, 4 x push-buttons, and a mercury swap that are linked to a pc through a hacked USB joystick.
You will discover more details about how I made the controller on this mission web page and i've also extended the identical idea to play GL-Tron utilizing real motorbikes. A university scholar who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, mentioned "That's Ok but I prefer to play driving video games". It got me pondering and Official Zap Zone Defender over the following week I spent my evenings constructing a PVC racing automobile controller - essentially a wheel-less, PVC go-kart frame related to the pc via a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai college college students who saw the first automotive needed to understand how all of it labored and 6 of them got here around one Saturday and we spent the whole day hacking joysticks and building a second car. By connecting them each to a laptop computer and a data projector we have been able to play cut up-display screen Daytona USA. You can find extra details concerning the design and building of the vehicles on this mission page. The white workplace desk I used for Official Zap Zone Defender the virtual pinball machine wasn't high enough to be played comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and a pair of x elbows - partially to help air circulate but mostly to hold my display up because the spring in the hinge has damaged. As straightforward as this stand appears, the "L"-formed upright part is definitely part of an air-conditioner mount for a data projector that I made for one of many virtual pinball table installations. The T-piece is not glued and so in a small means (a very, very small manner) I like to assume that if the air-conditioning mount were ever wanted again then the elements may re-combine in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or patio insect zapper Power Rangers MegaZord-like manner. In fact if that happened my laptop display screen would fall down. I do not personal a Nintendo Wii but I did handle to get my fingers on a Wiimote in order that I could try out some of Johnny Chung Lee's cool projects. This can be a Wiimote mount I built utilizing a length of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, 3 x T-items, and four x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been reduce so that it matches nicely into the ridges down the side of the Wiimote which holds it securely. That is screwed onto a T-Piece which has additionally had its prime minimize off. The joint between the 2 topmost elbows shouldn't be glued so the angle of the top part could 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 also be mounted on the right handlebar so the accelerator can be used to offer boost within the sport and as much as 4 bikes can be connected to the computer through a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright during play and a half-spherical of bamboo is wedged underneath the back tires to cease them from rocking. This can be a music stand made from three completely different sizes of pipe.