Your weekends don’t have to be boring because there are several DIY projects you can try at home. The nine DIY tasks discussed below are either centered on hardware or software. However, everything is straightforward, and each project can be completed in a few hours.
Read on as we delve into the details.
1. Roominate
Roominate is the perfect weekend DIY project if you've got a few hours on your hands and want to explore your creative side. The exercise is all about creating what inspires you in the engineering world. If you've ever thought of creating your own motorized helicopter with just a basic circuit and plastic models, this project lets you do that.
You may also consider creating a miniature air-conditioned dollhouse with a motor acting as the fan. What’s more, if you have access to a 3D printer, you can modify the project by adding models that represent furniture or other fixtures.
2. Makey Makey Classic
Some DIY projects are meant to enhance your productivity, while others such as the Makey Makey Classic are done for fun and amusement. With a basic circuit board and a few cables, you'll turn any object around you into a keyboard. That's right, it could be a book, a banana, old books, a pair of socks, or random sticks.
The completed project will have the greatest wow factor you've seen in a long time, especially if you show it to friend who's unfamiliar with the hack. An excellent application of this project is reusing household items that you don’t need such as old utensils to create unique keyboards and computer input gadgets.
If you have extra time to spare on a weekend for another project, here are interesting projects to reuse old computer monitors.
3. Magic Crystal Mood Ball
This magic crystal mood ball is an easy and interesting project. It lets you transform typical objects using Arduino and a few electrical output devices. For example, the mood ball changes the color based on the temperature. As you may have guessed, you'll also need a light-sensor as part of the setup.
The crystal ball is just one of the many objects that you can use for the project. Other interesting items you may want to play around with include a chandelier, RGB strips, and old fluorescent tubes. For now, you can use the mood ball as a decorative accessory in your balcony or living room.
4. Netvibes
Netvibes is a software hack that allows you to create a dashboard of things you need to do on the computer. Think about it, there are many times you wish that some routine computer tasks were automated. It’d make your work easier and fun. The project is similar to the IF-THIS-THEN-THAT protocol, which has already been implemented in smartphone apps.
With the Netvibes project, you get to choose triggers and actions that should be launched. As an example, you can create a module which sends an alert to turn off your phone whenever you shut down the computer at night to sleep.
5. Framebridge
If you take lots of photos on your smartphone, or download others from the internet, you may have considered framing some of the most beautiful ones. The Framebridge platform lets you accomplish this goal by providing the necessary parts that you need like the background canvas and the frame. The company can do the assembly for you if you want.
Framebridge will make your photos livelier since you can hang them in any room around your house. If you have hundreds of framed photos, you may invest in a shoebox where you stack them and only hang them on occasion.
If you’re looking for something else to do on a weekend, you’ll also like this DIY air conditioner project.
6. Gamkedo
With almost every teenager and adult having a smartphone today, more people are thinking about creating their own video games. If you fall into this category, then Gamkedo is a great project to tackle. The coolest thing about Gamkedo is that it takes the technical aspect out of the creative side leaving you to fully explore your potential.
Once you set up the platform, all you’ll need to do is determine the features you’d like to see in the video game. With Gamkedo, you can create both simple and complicated games.
7. GoodBarber
You may not be interested in making a video game app but still looking for a good non-coding platform. Goodbarber works similar to Gamkedo but helps you work on apps that are more geared toward productivity. With this platform, you'll be able to add popular plugins to make your app more robust such as embedding YouTube, WordPress, Disqus, or Facebook.
Some of the most useful productivity software used on computers are developed with the needs of multiple users in mind. Goodbarber allows you to create exactly what you need, and that helps debloat your computer by getting rid of unnecessary programs.
8. Leviton
If you enjoy using high quality centralized electrical accessories around the house, you'll love the Leviton. A good exercise to get you started is a USB wall outlet. The outlet will allow you to charge your phones and tablets without having a power brick. Setting this project up requires some basic home electrics knowledge, however, so be sure to take the necessary precautions.
Once the project is complete, you can get a USB bulb for use on a desk. Other accessories that will perfectly work with the setup include a stereo, charging a Bluetooth speaker, or powering a robot mop.
9. Airtable
If you are tired of buying off-the-shelf software for your daily tasks due to limitations injected by the developers, it's time to consider your own product. With Airtable, you get to create exactly what you need for your tasks. What this means is that you can skip the less useful software features that the developers add to their products while substituting them with more useful ones.
Airtable is a great platform if you work on desk and have to use several similar applications for a single task since none gets everything quite right on its own. In such a case, the platform lets you cherry-pick the features you want in a single package.
Creating Has Never Been Easier
The nine hacks discussed above require a few tools, basic electronic components, and a weekend spent indoors. However, by completing them, they’ll save you lots of money. With patience and a handy guide, you’ll also improve your engineering skills by tackling these handy projects.
