Cool USB Gadget That You Can Build Yourself

Original Post: 3 Cool Gadgets That You Can Build Yourself

---

In the spirit of taking a hands-on approach to technology, I’ve decided to scour the popular tutorial site Instructables in search of cool hardware hacks to upgrade the gadgets you have to something more fun and decidedly more geeky.

I looked for beginner-friendly tutorials for cool gadgets you can build yourself, that don’t involve too much dangerous or difficult work, to help ease us into being confident enough to work on harder projects.

Beware: this article contains solder, wires, and all sorts of adventurous things. If you’re not willing to bust a couple of flash drives or glue a few fingers together, you might be better off simply marveling, and leaving the tools for another, luckier day.

The Lego USB Stick

This is, hands down, my favorite hardware hack of all time, because not only is it whimsical and nostalgic (for me, at least, who loved building Lego landscapes as a child), but it is incredibly useful as well.

Materials:

• USB stick. Preferably one that can easily be cracked open.


• Lego. The tutorial writer used 2×4, 2×2, 1×4 and 1×2 sticks to make his USB. Use whatever combination of bricks to create a case that fits your USB stick snugly.


• Clear silicone. The writer used this to set the USB stick in the lego brick and make sure it wouldn’t wobble around, but in the comments there seems to be commenters who tried hot glue with equal success. Just make sure the glue isn’t so hot that it melts the circuit board!


• Metal Polish. This is used mostly for aesthetic effect, to make the block smooth and shiny, so you can easily do without it, if you’d like.  Someone in the comments suggested using a paste (not gel) toothpaste to rub out imperfections in the brick.


• Super Glue. Like I said, be ready to glue your fingers together.


• Tools: A knife to cut through the Lego. A soldering iron works too, but beware of burning your fingers! Pliers to rip out the inside parts of the Lego.

Projected Cost (given that you already have a USB stick): around $15. Silicone is almost $10 by itself, but if you’d rather use hot glue, there are plenty of places that sell glue guns for under $5.

Variations: Instructibles also has an eraser USB, but if you use some silicone or hot glue to protect the PCB (Printed circuit board), you could theoretically make a USB Drive out of anything. The commenters tried toy cars, NES controllers, and Altoid tins, among other things.

I myself someday want to put one in a small stuffed animal, so the USB connector is sticking out of its head or its butt (or… I could rip the head off and use it as a cap), so there’s plenty of ways you can innovate.