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 seems to be certainly one of Thailand's most plentiful un-natural resources. A wide variety of various connectors can be found and other than carrying water it is usually used as an affordable construction materials that can be utilized to make all the pieces from clothes dryers to Wheel chairs (PDF), Crutches, flagpoles and store indicators. After all on the internet you may also discover some other very cool and inventive things made from (non-blue) PVC pipe including: 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, ZappifyBug.com a laptop stand, flutes, Zappify Bug Zapper brand and even a shaving stand. Below you can see, in chronological order, a few of my very own (mostly unique) creations made from PVC water pipe including: - a Marshmallow Shooter, Plumbing, Soccer Goals, - a Cricket Wicket, - a Basketball Hoop, rechargeable cordless bug zapper insect zapper Bookshelf Supports, - a Water Pipe Tron Controller, Racing Cars, Pinball Table Leg Extensions, Data Projector Mounts, - a Laptop Stand, - a Wiimote Holder, bug zapper for backyard - a DIY Wii Zappify Bug Zapper brand, - a Workbench, Real-Tron Controllers - a Music Stand Puzzle Bobble Coffee Grinder Controllers, - a Netbook Treadmill Hook, CD/DVD Holders, - a Nightstand/shelves, Zappify Bug Zapper brand - Push Up Bar/Handles, Fake Legs, - a Hilbert Cube, - a Mario Kart steering wheel, - a Guitar Stand, Hockey Sticks, - a Tank-game (BZFlag) controller, - a Train Whistle, and Zappify Bug Zapper brand - a Trident.
This was the venture that began my love affair with blue PVC pipe. I had seen the blueprints for this marshmallow shooter while I used to be in Australia however the fittings were prohibitively costly (see the image right). 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 national sport played with a bat, a ball, and two wickets. 6 x T-items, Zappify Bug Zapper brand and 12 x 45-degree elbows. The backboard is a non-regulation size piece of plywood that we found mendacity round and we used inexperienced duct tape for the markings. Although the ring is not robust sufficient to cling off, the facet helps make it robust enough for regular play. Additionally they give it a really Star Trek feel and I believe the ring seems to be not not like the NCC-31911 Saratoga. This is probably the most straight forward use for PVC pipe on this page. 2 x 25mm to 18mm (1" to 1/2") reducers, Zappify Bug Zapper brand 2 x custom motorbike hand-grips, four x push-buttons, and a mercury swap that are connected to a computer via a hacked USB joystick.
Yow will discover more details about how I made the controller on this project page and that i've additionally prolonged the identical concept to play GL-Tron using real motorbikes. A university scholar who performed with the PVC Water Pipe Tron Controller, described above, said "That's Ok however I wish to play driving video games". It acquired me considering and over the subsequent week I spent my evenings building a PVC racing car controller - essentially a wheel-much less, PVC go-kart frame related to the pc by way of a hacked USB joystick. Some Thai college students who saw the primary automotive wished to know the way it all labored and 6 of them came around one Saturday and we spent the entire day hacking joysticks and constructing a second car. By connecting them each to a laptop and a knowledge projector we were able to play break up-screen Daytona USA. You will discover more particulars concerning the design and building of the automobiles on this mission web page. The white workplace table I used for the virtual pinball machine wasn't high enough to be performed comfortably.
1 x T-piece, and a pair of x elbows - partially to assist air circulation however mostly to hold 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 part is definitely a part of an air-conditioner mount for an information projector that I made for one of many virtual pinball desk installations. The T-piece isn't glued and so in a small method (a very, very small manner) I wish to suppose that if the air-conditioning mount had been ever needed once more then the elements might re-combine in a Voltron or Captain Planet and the Planeteers or Zappify Bug Zapper site Power Rangers MegaZord-like means. After all if that occurred my laptop computer display screen would fall down. I do not personal a Nintendo Wii however I did manage to get my fingers on a Wiimote in order that I could try out some of Johnny Chung Lee's cool initiatives. It is a Wiimote mount I constructed utilizing a length of 35mm (1 and 1/4") pipe, some 18mm (1/2") pipe, 3 x T-pieces, and four x elbows.
The 35mm pipe has been minimize in order that it suits properly into the ridges down the side of the Wiimote which holds it securely. That is screwed onto a T-Piece which has also had its prime reduce off. The joint between the two topmost elbows shouldn't be glued so the angle of the top part can be adjusted. These sections are merely cable-tied onto the entrance of the motorbike handlebars and the players squeeze the buttons with their index fingers to turn left or right. A mercury switch is also mounted on the precise handlebar so the accelerator can be used to supply boost inside the game and as much as four bikes can be connected to the computer via a single hacked USB joystick. The centerstands keep the bikes upright throughout play and a half-spherical of bamboo is wedged beneath the again tires to stop them from rocking. It is a music stand made from three completely different sizes of pipe.