Top 10 Universal Projects Every Engineer Dreams Up EE Times

Top 10 Universal Projects Every Engineer Dreams Up EE Times

Before engineering projects (DIY or professional) were celebrated on the Internet, before exciting new ideas could go "viral," an engineer could dream—in isolation. Exceptional makers building exceptional projects have always been the norm. But even in isolation, certain universal themes—certain common problems—captured the imagination of engineers everywhere.

In this slideshow, I focus on the problems that every engineer thinks about solving, the projects we've all dreamed of making. Projects like these have often sat on engineers' DIY backburners. Quite honestly, I have never met an engineer that hasn�t mentioned something in this list, so much so that they qualify as clich� projects.

They've even become clich� to the maker scene and DIY crowds, too. Simply type �DIY tech projects� into any search engine and these ten entries can be found everywhere and have populated almost every top ten list produced in the last four years or more. Retro gaming platforms, robots, home automation, security systems, smart appliances are just a few of projects that have been done by the maker community on a mass scale.

Here is the sad part� these clich� projects are now being mass-produced. In other words, some engineer finally got around to realizing, �hey, these are worth selling.�

Make no mistake however, as these projects are still worth building and still have a place in the maker community. In fact, these could be considered a great starting point for those looking to build their first DIY project, as most of the entries don�t require a steep learning curve to master and provide a solid foundation for future endeavors. Flash back 10 or 15 years ago, most of these would be near impossible� now they�re easy builds.

Self-mowing mower

Andreas Haeuser's Ardumower is a robotic 3D printed lawnmower powered by an Arduino Uno.(Source/Pic: http://www.reprap-windturbine.com/index.php?id=20&L=1)Andreas Haeuser�s Ardumower is a robotic 3D printed lawnmower powered by an Arduino Uno.
(Source/Pic: http://www.reprap-windturbine.com/index.php?id=20&L=1)

The first entry in this slideshow comes from German engineer Andreas Haeuser with his Ardumower—a 3D printed robotic lawnmower. While there may be an influx of robotic lawnmower projects, this one looks to be the easiest to build. Think of it like a Roomba for grass as it functions similar to the vacuumbot, however instead of using walls as a boundary, the Ardumower relies on boundary wired fence (BWM) in order to navigate. The hardware driving the mower are simple and pretty straightforward—a pair of 12v geared motors act as the drivetrain while a 12v DC motor powers the 3D printed razorblade cutter. All of which is controlled by an Arduino Uno and motherboard that uses open-source software. The Ardumower is juiced by an onboard rechargeable 12v NiMH battery and can cut a lawn size of roughly 500m2 before requiring a recharge.

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