DIY Vortex Light Of Terror

Step-by-step instruction on how to make your very own LED Vortex Light. A DIY light / lamp that will look super-cool on your desktop, living room or as a night light. I'm quite sure however, that it will not strike terror in anyone. This is a simple project that costs me RM 25, and a day to complete.

Caution: Image heavy page, may take time to fully load. Another thing, I'm currently stuck with a pathetically useless camera. So please don't scratch your eyes looking at (some of) the poor quality video (and photos).

Stills of how it will look like when we're done (click image to enlarge):

1. The Idea.

Similar to how a magnetic stirrer works, a motor will spin a permanent magnet on the Y-axis creating a spinning magnetic field. Placing a ferromagnetic metal within that field will cause it to spin as well, without making any physical contact with the magnet and motor. The spinning motion of the metal will stir the water in the glass, creating a twister/vortex. Once we have the vortex, it's just a matter of illuminating it.

After experimenting with several placements of the illumination source (top, bottom and all around). It turns out that narrow vertical illumination from the sides (90 degrees, perpendicular to the vortex) yield the best result. It accentuates the vortex and produces the most dramatic effect.

2. What We Need.

1) 80mm, 12V DC computer case fan.

Apart from it's voltage which match the voltage source I plan to use, there is no specific reason for choosing the 80mm fan. It's just something I have laying around the house. If you ought to buy it, any surplus computer store will have one for less than RM 5.

2) Universal AC-DC power adapter (1.5V-12V, 500mA).

You can get it any electrical store. I got mine a while back from my neighborhood store for (if I'm not mistaken) RM15.


3) Standard Red LED (voltage range 1.7V - 2.2V).

I just think red gives out a good "terror" vibe. No, really, you can use green, blue, yellow or whatever color you please. Just be sure to check their voltage and current rating if you're planning to them from an adapter like mine. If you're not into soldering and such, and have a lot of money to spare, a better choice would be those cold cathode lights, you can get a much brighter and more even illumination.

4) Neodymium Iron Boron (NIB) magnet.

Any kind of magnet won't do, especially those ferrite fridge magnets. It has be a neodymium magnet for it to work. Or at least the old school samarium cobalt magnet (if you can find one). I got mine from a dead hard drive. Other source of these magnets would be those magnet therapy bracelets (though the pricing is an utter rip-off). If not, you're going to have to shop online as neodymium can't really be purchased off the shelf (at least in this part of the world).

Please note that although it is tempting to purchase neodymium of the highest strength (i.e grade N50), the higher the grade the more susceptible it is to demagnetization by heat. The hard drive magnets are generally of medium strength which makes it perfect for operation in hot hard drive environment and in our case, hot motors.

5) Clear glass cylinder.

Yes, you can use a bong if you have one. I use a tall drinking glass. The thickness of the bottom of the glass is very important. If it's thick, then the magnetic field that reaches the stirrer will be too weak. If you're stuck with a thick bottomed glass, put a lid on it and use it upside down.

6) All the stuff below are optional.

They depends on the how you want your light to look like, what junk stuff you have around the house and how much money you're willing to spend for this project.

• Paper clips
• Black diamond CD-R - I like the black mirror surface. They will be used as the base.
• DVD Case - Will be used to make the fins. It's black, matte, easily cut and shaped.
• PTFE tape - To make the glass lid water tight.
• Cryanoacrylate adhesive - That's Super Glue (aka Gam Gajah). Get the less viscous type normally sold in eye-drop shaped bottles.
• Large cookie jar lid - To encase the fan (It's black and looks alright)
• Balsa - Cutout from 5mm thick sheet. Used as spacers.
• Clear transparencies - Layered with semi transparent double side tape for LED light diffusion.
• Double sided foam tape.
• Plasticine.

7) Tools

• Soldering iron
• Knife
• Pliers
• Hot glue gun - I'm proud of my trusty glue gun, which I bought for RM 2 (that's USD 0.62), thank god for China.
• Power drill.

3. Prepping The Fan

Cut-off all the fan blades with a knife leaving just the core.

The fan without it's blades. You can also use a pair of pliers to snap
the blades.

Do note that in the next picture, I used a hacked ATX bench power unit instead of the adapter for testing. In your case, you can cut off the the connectors from the adapter, strip the wires, tie them straight to the fan.

Using the double sided foam tape, stick your magnet firmly in the center (pictured below). Since a hard drive magnet is oddly shaped, this can be tricky. Turn the fan on. If it starts to vibrate violently, it means the magnet is off-center, peel it off and stick it again.

Repeat until you hit the sweet spot which yields no or the least vibration. Secure the magnet with hot glue. Dab it quickly because we don't want the heat to demagnetize the magnet.

The magnet, spray-painted black, in the center of the fan. Be on
the lookout for violent vibrations.

4. Getting The (Perfect) Vortex.

Cut the straight portion of a paper clip. Bend it into the shape below. Coat it with thin layer of rubber glue to prevent it from rusting.

The stirrer.

Drop it into the tall glass filled with clean water. Layer the glass opening with PTFE tape, close the lid and turn it upside down.

Set the rig similar to the image below:

Tuning the vortex. This will take several attempts.
Note the use of Plasticine as support. Of course the multi-purpose
paper box is not part of the rig.

There is no magic number in getting the perfect vortex. It simply takes a lot of tweaking. The depth and width of the vortex depends on these factor:

1. The length of the paperclip stirrer - experiment with shorter and longer stirrer.
2. Air gap - the gap between the magnet and stirrer. Reduce or increase the air gap as necessary.
3. The speed of the fan - of course with a constant voltage/current supply, the speed will be constant.
4. The diameter of the drinking glass - constant
5. The water level - adjustable.

Vortex width and sizes.

I'm pretty sure there's a mathematical formula in there somewhere, but the bottom-line is tweak (1), (2) and (5) until you to get the perfect vortex. Hence the use of Plasticine for support, so we can easily adjust the air gap.

Once you're happy with the vortex, save the stirrer, take the measurement of the air gap and the water level.

5. Noise Control.

Another reason why the vortex shouldn't be touching the bottom is it produces an unpleasant sound, similar to the slurping sound of a draining sink or bathtub. The spinning stirrer also produces some friction noise, so pick the lid material correctly.

A glass will produce almost no noise; a solid smooth plastic lid, minimal noise. I layer the lid with rubber electrical tape to reduce the noise further. the fan when finally enclosed will be very quite.

So, with proper layering and enclosing, the rig will produce an almost inaudible sound.

6. The Rest Of The Build.

The rest is pretty straightforward. The diagram below pretty much explains everything.

The full diagram of the Vortex Light.

The fins will house the LED, while limiting the light into a narrow vertical beam. The beam, being perpendicular to the vortex produces the best effect compared to other placements. That said, I was also going for a (somewhat) sinister look. Hence (if you recall) the resemblance to The Riddler's Mind-Reader thingamajig in Batman Forever.

7. The Fins.

Cut out the sheets from old DVD case. The dimension depends on your own creativity and the rest of the items you used in your rig.

The cut-outs.

Layer both side of the sheet with double sided foam tape. Stick the LED. Once your happy with the placement, solder all 6 of them together.

LED placements.

Add the spacers to hold the shape together when we sandwich the LED (not in picture). If you're using a 5mm sized LED, the spacer should be around 6mm thick.

Sandwich the LED between the two sheets (pictured below).

Front view of the fin.

Attach the the two sheet together, and test the it out.
Note where the wires are coming out of the fin.

Add the light diffuser on the fin's opening. It is made of clear transparency plastics layered with semi transparent tape. Secure it, and we're done here.

The fin with the light diffuser.

8. Housing The Fan.

Remember the the air gap measurement we took earlier when tuning the vortex? Create the spacer for the fan creating the same EXACT air gap. Secure the spacers to the floor with hot glue.

The spacer (in the yellow rectangle). Note that there are
4 spacers on four sides of the fan.

9. Putting It All Together (And Wiring Them Up).

Drill a hole on the base floor for the LED wires to run through (pictured below). You will also need to drill a hole for the power adapter wire (not in picture).

Attach the fin to the base with the wire running through the holes we have created. Of course we can't see the wires once the fins are attached. The picture below show where it supposed to be. Also note the adapter wire coming in through the back in to the base.

The fin attached to the base. The wires run through the inside.

The adapter supplies 12v 500mA, and the fan draws 140mA at 12V. The 12V is also within range to operate 6 Red LED (on each fin) in series safely at 2V each. So I wired the circuit as below.

The power source, 12V 500mA.

Secure the wiring, add the finishing touches, place the glass on the base. You can either permanently secure it on the base with glue or just simply placing it on the base. For me, I would want the option to change the water every once in a while. Plus the whole thing is a lot easier to carry around separately.

But, if you want to it to be permanently secured to the base, be sure to sterilize the water and the glass you're using, and seal it tightly. And remember also to coat the stirrer to (see step 4). You don't want the water to turn grey (or orange) after a few weeks.

I had mine for 3 weeks now, it works fine, and the water is still crystal clear.

10. Fire It Up!

Give yourself a pat on the back, have a smoke cookie, and impress your geek girlfriend/friends/neighbor with your Vortex Light / Lamp.


11. Bla Bla.

This is my first project since I started blogging about a month ago. There are quite a few completed projects that I previously never bothered to document, and a few more currently in the pipeline. I will try my best to document and publish them all here.

So stay tuned.

Subscribe.

The Life And Death Of The Rocket Powered X-Wing Fighter (With Decapitated R2 Unit)

A guy and his friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. It did fly, and some of you probably know how the saga ends.

Image by: Gizmodo

The X-Wing model is huge. At 21 feet long and with a wingspan of over 19 feet it is, in fact, big enough to fly a kid in.

20 people, 8000 man-hours and 6 month to build. It's powered by four Class M rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings (to go into attack position in flight).

Droid casualty.
Image by: Gizmodo

And the death of the Y-Wing
The force is (slightly) stronger with this one.

The full saga here:

Rocket-Powered 21-Foot-Long X-Wing Model Actually Flies

Video: The Rocket-Powered X-Wing's Flight...and Death

Y-Wing Beats X-Wing, Gold Squadron Finally Kicks Ass

Vista SP1 Is Out - With List Of Programs That Won't Work On SP1

Microsoft have finally released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Vista. Less than a year after the launch of the original Vista.

Microsoft Vista SP1 represents a significant first move toward a faster, more secure, and slightly more open Vista.

Higher degree of program compatibility than with the RTM version. Increased speed when copying large files and connecting to networked PCs. Overall speed improvement as well. Improvements in BitLocker encryption. Configurable Search option.

The rest of the Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 review on PCMag.

SP1 to a certain extend is great news. At the very least, anyone who have experienced the headache in getting a Vista to talk to a Win98 (yes, there are people who still use Windows 98) would appreciate the update.


Another great news

In keeping with their (newly established) tradition, Microsoft have also released a list of programs that WILL NOT work with SP1:


Programs that are blocked from starting after you install Windows Vista SP1

• BitDefender AV or Internet Security (Version 10)
• Fujitsu Shock Sensor (Version 2.1.0.0)
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus (Version 10)
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus (Version 2008)
• Trend Micro Internet Security (Version 2008)
• Zone Alarm Security Suite (Version 7.1.078)

Programs that do not run after you install Windows Vista SP1

• Iron Speed Designer
• Xheo Licensing
• Free Allegiance

Programs that have a loss of functionality after you install Windows Vista SP1

• NYT Reader
• Rising Personal Firewall
• Novell ZCM Agent

More information at Microsoft Support

The list will definitely grow as SP1 goes live for the public in March.

Musical Tesla Coil Of Doom - Sings The Super Mario Tune

Who could forget the sight of Soviet's Tesla Coil zapping Allied Paratroopers in the old Command and Conquer.

And apparently, you can make a Tesla Coil sing too. What better song to pick than the Super Mario tune!

Basically, a Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer, named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla. The same guy who kicked Edison's butt in AC vs DC War Of Current.

And to make it sing, you will need large valve tubes to resonate the coil and amplitude modulate it. Modulating the high-voltage sparks is downright difficult, which makes the rig in the video simply awesome.

Since it involves fiddling with extremely high-voltage, people could die. Therefore, your neighbors and TNB won't be happy if you build one of these in your backyard. Which makes it even more cooler.

Rinspeed Squba - World's First Submersible Car

A Swiss company unveiled the world's first submersible car. Yes, you heard me right.

Image made available by Swiss car maker Rinspeed
shows its new model, the sQuba, which the company
claims is the world's first submersible car.

Unlike military vehicles, which can only drive slowly on a lakebed, Rinspeed says its car can provide a stable "flight" at a depth of 30 feet.

Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.

But they will get wet.

It's a zero emission vehicle that runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. I wonder what is it's top speed underwater? Guess we'll have to wait until the official unveiling next month. Full article here.


Just to prove their point, Rinspeed have come up with a cheesy video, with corny background musics. But it sure shows the car "flying" underwater.

By the way, if you're thinking of getting one, just take some precautions.
While taking your girlfriend on a romantic drive underwater might seems like a good idea if you're living in the Bahamas, I don't think it's fun having the car break down because the propeller's stuck on diapers, and getting a week long diarrhea after a dive in the Klang River.

Homemade 38 Million Candlepower Flashlight.

Image by PopSci

So what does a bored Optics Engineer do in his free time? Build a handheld flashlight so bright it can toast a cat, of course.

The 45-year-old Dutch optics engineer has been building his own lights since he was eight, but his recent 38-million-candlepower creation, the Maxablaster, is more like a miniature star. To start, Ottow stripped out the innards of a powerful commercial flashlight and switched in a mercury arc bulb, which generates light by creating an ultra-hot plasma between two closely spaced electrodes inside the gas-filled central chamber of the lamp. That results in a brighter, more focused beam but also kicks out more ultraviolet light (hence the sunburn, a product of early testing). So he added a specially coated reflector and designed, ground, and coated a new glass window that would trap UV rays while still pumping out light.

At 38 million cp's, it creates a spot on clouds up to 4 miles high with ease.

Some numbers:
Runs on 54 NiMh 3300mAh cells.
Cost around USD1800 to make.

The mercury arc bulb

Check out the full article @ PopSci

As to why it is measured in candlepower instead of candela or lumen even though we're now in 2008? Beats me, maybe it's a western "thing".

Whatever it is, honestly, I want one. Given the right angle, it can probably blind those MAS / Air Asia pilots in flight. Sadism aside, this is definitely a piece of engineering genius.


Other stuff

More details on the rig and praises by the candlepower community.

Replicating Criss Angel's Matrix Muscle Suspension / Levitation.

Learn how to replicate one of Criss Angel's most famous illusion / magic trick, the Matrix /Muscle Levitation (aka Muscle / Matrix Suspension). In particular, the illusion he did at a park, where he leaned backward with just one leg on the ground. He's suspended as though by magic.

If you miss that one, here's the video:

First of all, I'm not out to debunk anything. I'm just hoping to replicate the illusion (at least theoretically). So, this is more of a how I would do it, rather than how Criss Angel did it.


1) First, lets get the basics out of the way.

There are only 3 ways something can be suspended / levitated (humans included):

• Suspended from above.
• Supported / repelled from bottom.
• Supported from the sides.

As for this particular illusion, it can be viewed as an basic lever system at work. Which is shown in the simplified diagram below.

click image to enlarge

From the diagram, the body weight will be subjected to the force of gravity pulling it downward. The heel is acting as the fulcrum. In order to keep the system balanced, a downward force need to be applied on the other side of the lever, in a form of a counter weight.


2) The setup above raises two issues:

• The human body is not rigid. We have joints that permit certain degree (range of) movements.
• I'm not an Olympic gymnast, therefore even with the counter weight on my foot, there is no way I'm strong enough to hold my entire body in that position. Considering also the extreme stress it will put on my muscles and joints. The diagram below highlighted my problems (in red).

click image to enlarge

3) Calling for support.

Rightfully, I will need some kind of contraption to alleviate the stress off my muscles, and provide additional support for my body weight. I will also need to limit the bending of my knee.
Getting the idea from the design of medieval knights armor, but with a different twist, I will be needing a custom rigged leg braces.

I will need to rig something similar to this:

click image to enlarge

Into something that looks somewhat like this (the brown part is supposed to be the leg, the ugly shoe is removed) :

click image to enlarge

I've highlighted the key part in the rig. The braces will help me with 3 things.

• Limit the bending of my knee so it won't go more than 90 degrees.
• Support my hip, thigh so that I can rest some of my body weight on just the braces.
• Padded against my calf and provide the counter leverage.

Worn underneath a baggy jeans, the braces will be completely inconspicuous.

4) More support.

Of course that alone won't be enough, I will still need to provide support and limit the bending of my ankle. So I will need a custom boot, attached to the above braces.

click image to enlarge

The boot will have a metal spine running through it's sole. I will need some amount of free play at the braces-spine joint (as highlighted) in order for me to walk. Tying the laces tightly will add additional support. The metal toe-cap has it's use which will be shown later.

5) The counter weight.

Obviously I can't really place a boulder on my foot. So the only way is to go underground. With the help with the help of a buried anchor:

click image to enlarge

And one more modification to my custom boot:

click image to enlarge

For the anchor, all I need is a long nail, with a cement filled milk can. While the nail only needs to protrude by just a few millimeters above ground. The grass will help keep the protruding nail hidden. Locating the anchor will be trickier in a wide open area, so I will need to memorize the ground features and use them as visual markers. I can then pinpoint the nail by feeling it with my feet, the trick is by gently stepping and dragging around the area.


6) Performing the illusion.

This is the hardest part. It will need great balance and strong muscles, particularly the abs. And above all, some great acting skills.

Leaning backward is very tricky, especially doing so while trying to keep my balance. Thus, I will need someone to hold my hand and lower me. Once I get into the suspended position, my braces will start to do it's job of supporting some of my weight while keeping my leg at 90 degree. The other portion of my body weight will be supported by my abs.

click image to enlarge

My custom boot anchored to the ground will provide my counter weight. The toe-cap will help provide additional leverage from within the boot. Once I've stabilized myself, I can start to lift my other leg, slowly while keeping my balance.

Of course I can't hold myself in the suspended position for very long, it will be too tiring. Thus I can only be in that position for a few seconds, enough to be convincing.

As for Criss Angel, he is also good at misdirecting.

One example of misdirection in the video is at 1:15-1:20 where the camera zooms to his legs. He's showing that theres nothing underneath it, next to his left foot is something that looks like a small pile of dirt. And as as the camera zooms out, there's a dead tree and in the backdrop, with a motor-home in the parking lot. Then, a cut scene.

However, soon after the cut scene at 1:22, magically pile of dirt disappear, no dead tree in the backdrop, no motor-home. That's a good misdirection. He actually moved to a spot a few meters from where he previously stood, where (I presumed) the anchor was buried.


7) Conclusion

I will need to find me a decent machine shop to fabricate my rig, learn some acting, quote some spiritual new-age terminologies, update my wardrobe, work on my abs, practice my balance, memorize my visual markers, and I'm set! =P

If any of you ever try this trick, be sure to share the video!

MIT OpenCourseWare

Every geek's dream is either to become a Jedi, or to gain entry into MIT. Sadly, I've achieved neither. But thanks to the good people at MIT who came up with MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW for short), we muggles can now take a peek into the world previously reserved for the best and brightest.

MIT OpenCourseWare is an initiative geared towards making the materials for nearly all MIT courses freely available on the Internet.

And the list of courses are mighty impressive, 1800 courses in all, from departments such as Nuclear Science and Engineering to Women's and Gender Studies. Some even come with downloadable audio and video lectures. Another cool thing is you also have the option to download the entire course ( with lecture notes, assignments, exams, etc).

An abstracted aircraft wing, illustrating the connections
between the disciplines of Unified Engineering. (Image by MIT OCW.)
16.01 / 16.02 / 16.03 / 16.04 Unified Engineering I, II, III, & IV
Aeronautics and Astronautics Department.

My personal favorites?
Lectures from the star of OCW. Professor Walter Lewin from MIT's Physics Department (he somehow reminds me of Doc Emmet Brown).

Professor Lewin puts his life on the line by demonstrating
his faith in the Conservation of Mechanical Energy.

Get your hands dirty with some physics.

MIT Course 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics - Walter Lewin - 35 lecture videos

MIT Course 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism - Walter Lewin - 37 lecture videos


Other stuff

Checkout the complete MIT playlist on Youtube.

Living With Windows Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD)

Image Credit: Taringa!

I was about to get some cash at an ATM machine a couple days back, and an all too familiar sight greeted me. The windows stop error screen affectionately known to most us as the Blue Screen Of Death (a.k.a BSOD). Unfortunately, no camera handy at that moment.

Nonetheless, ever since Windows XP made it's way into ATMs, I've personally encountered several incidences of windows related errors, but that day was my first encounter with the dreaded BSOD. That very moment, my thought started to dwell on that poor soul before me, whomever he or she may be (perhaps an old lady, for good effect), whom probably wanted to transfer some cash to help pay the medical bills of her ailing grandson. And just about the time she confirmed the transaction, the machine went poof, five thousand bucks end up in the account of the Finance Minister of Nigeria.

That probably didn't happen though (I hope). But, avid imagination aside, we all have at one point or another encounter the dreaded BSOD. My very first encounter was back in the nineties on my old man's Pentium 100MHz beast. On early version of windows (ie 95,98,Me) they were mainly caused by incompatible versions of Dynamic Link Libraries (a.k.a DLL Hell), errornious device drivers, and premature removal of removable drives. They were common. On Windows NT (ie NT, XP, Vista), they are less frequent, but when they do appear, to put it simply, that means something is really really wrong. So be afraid, be very afraid.

For those who love to dip their nose in technicalities, here's a great article from Brien Posey: Demistifying the 'Blue Screen of Death'.

Going back to ATM machines, I personally don't see the need for an ATM to be running on Windows XP, apart for maybe the shiny GUI. ATMs have traditionally been running on OS/2 and UNIX without major issues, so why need to change them? It's not like users everywhere are demanding to play Solitaire while withdrawing cash. Having a 1.5 GB operating system to run an ATM is seriously an overkill. What next? Perhaps an XP enabled a calculator? Furthermore, it's an OS that have been throughly dissected by crackers and hackers everywhere, which raises other concerns.

Confucius puts it rather nicely,

Don't try to kill a mosquito with a canon (the projectile weapon, not the camera).

Nonetheless, as Microsoft make more and more money, windows are appearing in territories where previously other OSes dominate, and with it comes our garden variety BSOD.

The good people at Taringa! have compiled a great list, here are some of my favorites:

Other Stuff

• Youtube video of Bill Gates getting the BSOD. A classic.

• So what else can I do on a windows-based ATM machine?
  Use MS Paint, apparently. Windows-based ATM machine hacked, gets Painted.

• To be fair, Linux's Black Screen Of Death, well not really, Linux Crash Top 10 Images.

• Someone actually came with a site dedicated to tallying the amount of time wasted looking at Mac OS X's Mable Of Doom (a.k.a Spinning Beach Ball Of Death).