Friday 7 December 2007

Superawesome funtime science

Ok folks, sit back, get comfy, get ready to LEARN.

Tonight, for a college project, I have made one of those steady hand games where you have to pass a hoop round a wire structure and not set off the buzzer, as a desk toy for all them corporate types that might want to employ me some day.

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Ace fun. Since I'm so nice (or dull) I thought I'd share the experience with you, so you can go off and make your own. Great joy.

First off, YOU WILL NEED:

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1: Some florists wire, thick enough to be sturdy but also flexible enough to bend
2: Coated wire, preferably thin
3: Pliers, wire-cutters and wire strippers
4: A 9-volt battery
5: A buzzer, that can easily be acquired from eBay, but this will also work with a torch bulb
6: Sellotape, and electrical wire (not pictured, but I found this to be useful after I started out)
7: A box to put it all in.
8: Tea (essential)

Step 1: Make your wire frame, in a shape or just a random assortment of bends, using the florists wire. Remember you've got to be able to pass a hoop round all this, so nothing too complex. I went for the bird shape since it's the SugarSpun bird. I might also make a robot later. Eeeee.

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Step 2: Using a little bit of the florists wire, make a hoop and twist it at the end.

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Step 3: Strip off the coating from the ends of a strip of the coated wire. This should be long enough to be guided round your wire structure. Wrap one of the ends round the hoop, as so:

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Step 4: Cut 3 holes in the box, two far apart enough to put the ends of your wire structure through, and another to the bottom right to put the wire-with-the-hoop -on-it through. As you can see, during this I am using VERY TECHNICAL LANGUAGE so it must be physics. Before placing any of the wires through these holes, first attach the hoop to the wire structure. This is very important as it saves lots of fiddling around later removing things because you were too much of a spazz to realise this in the first place. When that's done, then you can place the wires in their respective holes.

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Step 5: Tape down the wire of the sculpture on the right to the inside of the box lid. Make a little hoop on the end of the wire on the left, and attach one of the wires from the buzzer. You'll probably need to strip the plastic off the end of this. Secure it with sellotape. Then attach the other wire on the buzzer to one of the terminals on the battery.

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Step 6: Wrap the end of your wire sculpture (the bit before it goes into the box) in electrical tape, and make sure this is where the hoop is resting. This prevents the next bit from being noisy.

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Step 7: Attach the end of the hoop wire to the other terminal on the battery. Do a quick test by placing the hoop on the wire sculpture. If it makes a noise, then you win (this is the only time this rule applies). Now place all the gubbins into the box and close the lid.

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And YOU ARE DONE! Joy and glee, well done you, you win at everything. If you do decide to make one, then picz plz lolz, I'd LOVE to see the finished results.

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