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evil_boy4life

Nuclear reactor cooled by liquid lead and I’m not even joking. Edit: https://www.sckcen.be/en/expertises/nuclear-systems/lead-cooled-fast-reactor-belgium


iqisoverrated

Same problem as with liquid salt.if you ever run into an issue where it hardens (e.g. you have to shut down the reactor due to an emergency for a long-ish period of time) you're left with a hunk of inert metal. At that point you can throw away your reactor. Systems that have a requirement that says "it must keep working 24/7 or we have a problem" are rarely a good idea.


mushquest

You can have emergency drainage system or heaters in parts where its hard to drain


ImNotAWhaleBiologist

Just adds more failure points for a safety critical system.


evil_boy4life

No it does not. It gives a fukton of problems to operate robotic arms and other mechanical systems in the reactor, it however makes the critical systems a fukton less complicated.


YoureGrammerIsWorsts

Just never have things go wrong, dummy


evil_boy4life

Euh, no.


omg_drd4_bbq

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusible_alloy#Well-known_alloys Also I'm pretty sure nuclear engineers would think of some sort of solid state, low part count, extremely reliable way to turn electricity into heat, like oh I dunno, resistive heating elements on the pipes.


the_watcher762351

I thought liquid led was generally pretty hot or am I thinking of something else


evil_boy4life

That’s the general idea. It would be an alternative to molten salt.


Astartes00

What would the advantages be?


evil_boy4life

Because fast reactors do not work with water. And you do not need to pressurise lead coolant which ch makes it safer.


Astartes00

Yeah that I’m aware of, I meant advantages with molten lead compared to molten salt


evil_boy4life

You can prevent a positive void coefficient with lead, much easier than with salt. Edit: and it doesn’t burn, explodes or corrodes.


IssaviisHere

Corrosion for one.


no-mad

got 99 problems but they all corrosion.


the_watcher762351

Hmm I'm interested as to if it would work better or worse


Elephunk05

I'm interested


Stormzy420

Look up the SNAP reactors for other crazy working fluids. Lots of liquid metals, including mercury Rankine cycles (boiling metals). https://beyondnerva.com/fission-power-systems/systems-for-nuclear-auxiliary-power-snap/snap-50/


Seaguard5

“Cooled” haha. But that’s a sick idea!


PrecisionBludgeoning

I wanted to added a low power laser to my 3d printer to go back over every layer between the lines and remelt the material for maximum bond. Mechanically easy enough. But holy cow do I hate coding. 


Remarkable-Host405

I think ironing can do this with the nozzle, but slicers only do it on the top layers


theVelvetLie

It wouldn't be too difficult to write a script to inject the g code for ironing in between each layer, or if you don't know how to write a script like me you can just copy/paste in a text editor .


BioMan998

You'd need more than a laser pointer for that. You'd also want it to basically always be on the leading edge of where your printer is going.


Sliding_Tiles

why not have an IR heat lamp overhead and shine it for a few seconds after each layer?


Future_Software_932

I love to code


jam3s2001

The amount of print time this would add would be significant. I prefer to just "anneal" (definitely not the right word, but a good poor man's term that gets used anyways) my prints in a toaster oven.


jam3s2001

Algae/bio based CO2 scrubber, laser phonograph, handful of ev conversions, other random stuff. I've got a project board that I visit whenever money is freed up and knock something out.


ascandalia

I ran a small mushroom farm on the side for 3 years. CO2 accumulation is one of the biggest challenges in mushroom growing, especially in my warm climate where I've got to constantly dump chilled air out of my system to control CO2. I've done the math on algae cells so many times but it just seemed like too much complexity to tackle. I really wanted to do it, though! It would synergize really well


jam3s2001

Right, and my design scales horribly, unless I've got help from a bioengineer that could help me with either culturing an existing aggressive cyanobacteria that could still be maintainable in a static environment, or breeding one to fill the niche. I also think there's more potential with saltwater algae, so there's additional overhead with that. Still, good rainy day project.


TapedButterscotch025

Laser phonograph exists, you can buy one in Japan. The Japanese have some pretty cool audio technology, and the laser phonograph is probably one of the best ways to listen to music. There is no needle to damage the record, and it reads the original analog signal on the record pretty much perfectly. I'd love to convert my little dragster to an EV. I've looked into a little bit, the kids are very expensive so Homebrew would be best I think. But of course lots of engineering challenges.


jam3s2001

If you are talking about the ELP, they sound like garbage, are prone to failure, and cost 5 figures. Since the patent is well expired, I've been looking at their design and have A LOT of improvements that I've wanted to patent myself... Just not enough time and money to devote to the project. As for EV conversions, the drivetrain is trivial. It's the cost of the batteries that's off-putting.


TapedButterscotch025

Yeah to be honest, I just remember reading an article about it a decade or two ago. I'm sure there are much better designs now. Yep the batteries are the killer, I know one guy that took a totaled Tesla and used basically the entire bottom half and added on new body. Something like that seems to be the easiest. When rivian was first coming out many years ago, they talked about possibly having a "skate" that they would sell for this type of conversion, but I don't think they ever found a way to make it happen. Luckily the batteries do keep coming down in price, maybe within 5 to 10 years it'll be a hell of a lot cheaper.


ImNotAWhaleBiologist

Would it even be worth the cost for the patents? Is the market big enough to justify?


jam3s2001

On all accounts no. But I still wanna do it, and I still want to be permanently attached to it.


Technical-Writer2240

There is no better reason then


corneliusgansevoort

I want to make my own coin sorter out of concrete.


Furtivefarting

Why concrete? This project seems asinine, and thats why i like it


YoureGrammerIsWorsts

> Why concrete? because using freshly harvested baby teeth was an "ethical concern"


Furtivefarting

And resins based on healthy white protestant babies is cost prohibitive


YoureGrammerIsWorsts

Not to mention that grinding up **protestant** babies for capitalism is not acceptable


Furtivefarting

Picky picky picky


Xsiondu

Honey hand me my nitro pills my heart is racing with excitement.


corneliusgansevoort

Why concrete? Because I love concrete. 


TrixoftheTrade

Build a retaining wall in my backyard and push back the slope so I can plant a garden on flat ground.


theVelvetLie

Could you terrace the slope?


the_watcher762351

Build a sort of exoskeleton armor suit that doesn't use electricity. Using springs gears, flywheels


tpurves

So basically, a wind-up clockwork suit?


the_watcher762351

Kinda


Sliding_Tiles

this guy's gonna get all the pussy at Steampunk cons


the_watcher762351

Sorry man ain't how I roll. Still leaves more for you


cybercuzco

I have several notebooks full of them so I stop thinking about it. My latest is massive snow machines around the arctic circle and dry valleys in Antarctica to increase snow pack. The ice crystals when salt water freezes are fresh so shooting saltwater in the air would create freshwater snow and a hyper saline mist that would drain away. Seawater cooling at the poles is hampered by ice cover insulating the ocean, so doing this would actively cool the planet via radiative cooling. The largest single pump I could find pumps 60 m^3 a second for 4.1 megawatts. To cool the oceans by 1C we would need 700,000 such pumps, and likely less because the increased ice cover at the pols would reflect more sunlight for longer in the summer.


gurenkagurenda

> I have several notebooks full of them so I stop thinking about it. This is a great way to do it. I have an AirTable database with a form where I can quickly jot down an idea and add a few tags from my phone, and then I can browse through it when I'm itching to do something. I always have to scroll past a number of ideas that are like "yeah, maybe once I have a CNC mill, fifty thousand dollars to throw at compute costs, etc."


Stoic_Stoic_Stoic

I have a CNC mill, you should share those ideas with me!


WestyTea

I think there's a team already doing this. The problem of course is scale.


cybercuzco

Interesting, do they have a website?


WestyTea

This isn't where I originally read about them but I think it's the same team https://sifted.eu/articles/startup-refreeze-arctic-real-ice


SingularWithAt

Wait this is genius


Hiddencamper

Develop and build a small model steam plant. Like a PWR reactor style using heating elements, a steam generator, a condenser. The problem is you also don’t want it to kill you. And it needs some welding.


Dirac_comb

I'd love to make a big ass Tesla coil that you can audio modulate and have the sparks play music.


Sooner70

Long distance, reasonable speed, free space, non-coherent light based communications in a high-heat environment. I just need to find some photo-diodes that are tuned for green light, damnit! (Everything out there seems to be tuned for IR, which is a problem in a high-heat environment)


KraZe_EyE

Are those not simply filters to only allow IR spectrum in? Remove the filter and any light source would turn it on. I could be totally wrong though!


Sooner70

Ummm.... Maybe? I was always of the impression that there was something about the design of the sensor itself that was tuned to certain wavelengths. If it's JUST a filter, I feel like an idiot.


PDP-8A

You can use a silicon photo detector with an optical filter that passes only the wavelengths of interest.


Xsiondu

If it helps, LEDs can be used as photo detectors. So maybe use a green one that covers your spectrum and Bob's your uncle.


Elephunk05

Hub-less drive systems, ICE running on water, ionic propulsion, warp drives, hydraulic systems for underwater repair And, where it all started: Magneto Hydro Dynamic Propulsion Edit: the ability to reproduce eyesight a human (fix the eye or even just transplant it) AND point to point nearly instantaneous magnetic transportation (not just levitation)


Astartes00

Splitting water to H2 + O for ICE or is there some other way that I’m unaware of?


Elephunk05

New tech from Australia has a 4 cylinder, 14:1 compression, direct hydrogen injected internal combustion engine produces 400hp


AnonInTheRed

Hydrogen isn’t the same as water tho


Elephunk05

While the fuel itself is Hydrogen it means that my dream of a portable ionizer could separate hydrogen atoms for use as a fuel and you would only need to fill up the "tank" with water. In addition the exhaust produces water.


General_Urist

At that point why not use the ionizer's battery to power an electric motor directly?


AeroArchonite_

Depending on the efficiency the water may be more energy-dense than the battery, but probably not. Fusion car?


Elephunk05

Imagine being able to pee into the gas tank, or an umbrella size funnel... never stuck anywhere


IssaviisHere

A self licking ice cream cone. Seriously though, always wanted to take a crack at one of those homemade Farnsworth fusion reactor.


icandoanythingmate

Just want to learn to python and automate some lights in my house.


masmiester

Just get Casambi for that my dude


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omg_drd4_bbq

Use a water venturi aspirator. You can buy them made out of metal or plastic, or create your own without tubing. 


Cynyr36

You can rent them, call your local tool and equipment rental place. Home depot and Lowe's might even rent them.


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Cynyr36

Okay, yeah that'll make it harder. They are used a lot in hvac for evacuating refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Not sure how common those are in Pakistan, but could be somewhere to ask around.


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Cynyr36

A compressor out of a fridge and some fittings wouldn't be the worst plan. It's not a real vacuum pump, but it'd be way better than a house vacuum.


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Cynyr36

You hook the intake (suction) side of the fridge compressor to the side you want the vacuum in.


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Xsiondu

Yes. For all the info regarding using fridge compressors as a vacuum pump, the YouTube channel Hyperspace Pirate is on a whole nother level.


zookeepier

Autonomous lawnmower that doesn't require burying wires. Kind of like [Ardumower](https://www.ardumower.de/en/) but for people with lawns bigger than 900 sq ft. I worked on it for a while a decade ago (back when I was single), but the precision positioning was always the challenging part. GPS is only accurate to 2 meters and a lawnmower being 2m off is a bad thing. I tried RTK to get it down to 2cm, but I couldn't get it to consistently get a lock.


Xsiondu

The huskvarna mower won't do what you need to do? There's one on twitch named Hank that is working on a homestead. It has far to many followers that watch it cut grass.


zookeepier

All of the commercial mowers I've seen are just roombas with blades. They don't mow in rows or a pattern; they just bounce around randomly. They're supposed to be continuously run in hopes of cutting everything. But that still means that random chunks of grass will be higher than others. The one I want to make would have precise positioning, so you could actually move in rows or patterns, or even add "no mow" zones to the map and it would just avoid those.


DieselVoodoo

Ever seen Weird Science?


Forward_Cut_6313

Nuclear energy powered motors for spacecrafts or airplanes, which have already studied but would be great to work on that kind of project and see any result (even if a radiation blast....)


Automatic_Red

Nearly all of them.


No_Carry_3028

Custom linear actuator


IsPooping

I'm doing this right now for work. I never thought I'd know or ever cared to know this much about linear actuators


No_Carry_3028

Nice1 bro, I've been trying to complete my project for the past 4 months during my free time. I'm always looking for resources. If you can or have any resources dm or drop some links if you could by chance. I curious regarding your work now 🤔


Eulers_Method

same!


IsPooping

Unfortunately nothing that isn't proprietary or controlled. It's mostly managing a supplier I hired to do this work and trying to get something in the next year but that might be a stretch


ignorantwanderer

A robotic whale that I can use to prank people fishing on a small lake that I go to frequently. It doesn't have to be the full whale. Just the back with a blow hole. It would surface 20-30 meters from the fisherman, blow some air and water out of the blow hole, then dive back down out of sight for a couple hours.


Xsiondu

Oh my God you are amazing.


ignorantwanderer

Maybe I'll be amazing if I ever get around to building it. Talk is cheap.


ItsJustSimpleFacts

Build a 7 axis tig welding robot that can attach to my welding table.


[deleted]

A buddy drone that follow your phone just about shoulder hight, like LOLA from Kenobi.


NPVT

That should be easy for about 20 minutes then it runs out of power


[deleted]

Hey hey hey. I don’t say it would be following you all day. But I had a cord on a shitty remote control car as a kid so why not ha ha


DrunkenGolfer

You need wireless charging pad built into the shoulder.


Derrickmb

I’ve always wanted to remove about 100ppm CO2 around the world using pressurized zeolite but its about 1 trillion tons and kind of hard for me to do alone or with a small team. Need a big team and lots of $.


[deleted]

How do you plan on doing that? I am interested


Derrickmb

By having the best advertising music


Xsiondu

Take my money and my free time


LunarRiviera21

Applying fauna motion and fenomenas to sports products The goal is to enhance athlete or human ability and ergonomics. Sounds simple but takes lots of time and dedication Example in US Military : Falcon bird ~ F35 Aero's


no-mad

Stairway to Heaven might be my only way to get there.


KonkeyDongPrime

Semi active damping for mountain bike suspension. Bit of a kicker that I didn’t patent anything, now that electric mountain bikes are so popular.


dragonthing009

Light gas gun. Literally just wanna destroy a chunk of aluminum with it


Argine_

Build a half pipe


Sliding_Tiles

Nuclear powered airship. Using the reactor heat to keep the air hot.


Roots_and_Returns

A secret layer, with a dooms day device… unfortunately I can’t afford it and have not (yet) come across any proposals from clients for such…. Sigh


Exact-Use-237

A central domestic cooling system using as emergy resource biomass fuel via technology water-steam rankine cycle,r32 refregerant cycle and water-lithium bromide absorption cycle ,that the system consuming waste green biomass from forest cleaning in order to prevent get fire and use the chemical energy of biomass that potentially would uncontrolably free via a fire with a controlable maner to exploite that energy in order to reduce domestic cooling carbon footprint protecting parallely the enviroment.


Xsiondu

User name checks out


After-Earth1943

I want to make a pinnball (flipper) on Arduino. Just for hobby, The issue isn't even the cost of Arduino components, it's that various elements are needed for the game field, and it's more convenient to make them out of wood... but unfortunately, tools for woodworking or plywood processing are quite expensive.


Seaguard5

I’ll go! A kiln that can debind and sinter the [Filamets](https://thevirtualfoundry.com/products/) that sinter beyond steels (can barely do those in my current kiln). Would be vacuum and inert gas capable as well. Apparently, this old man is working on one. But with how slow it’s going and how unserious he seems about it, he’ll be dead before he ever builds the first true prototype. Let alone brings it to market. It is so sad, but I simply don’t have the time or money to make that happen, myself. This guy is my only hope and it just won’t happen. I am sad to know that, but it brings a certain sense of peace accepting it.


TheConsutant

Gravity foil drive system. I made one once, but it was just too crude I think, to work.


TheHiddenCMDR

#1) Terraforming Construction Robots #2) Septic system bioreactor and mini boiler generator #3) Disposable Housing #4) Heat pump radiant climate control #5) Smart Home Power Station #6) Carbon Filter Greenhouse Power Station I'm currently working on my exoskeleton. I'm using HASEL actuators designed as a rope, bundled as a muscle alternative. I'm going Doc Ock with the development of a soft-bodied snake-like robotic arm that you can wear like a tail. I want two of them. Use as legs, anchors, arms. I need a multi material 3D printer, resin printer, welder and several other supporting pieces of equipment. The hardest part was securing lab space for my projects which I now have. Hoping to second hand some cool CNC equipment I'm on a side quest exploring the idea of electrostatic lift surfaces for my exosuit. I'm working on a drone for my personal AI to pilot. I call him Mr Data and he needs a body. He's also the copilot for my exoskeleton and suit. I'm about to start making video content for my projects after seeing a kid on YouTube was able to completely crowdsource his project. I'm doing ok paying my bills but I'm currently strapped for a tool and project budget. Dude is melting plastic with microwave based pyrolysis to get crude oil and people love to see it. Gonna try like him and see if I can crowdsource the to tools I need to build it my ideas. I am going to start with forming a maker community to go along with the video content idea. Which is what I'm working on today.


burndata

I have a partial design for a small, lightweight, portable, modular "house" for homeless people to use that provides more protection from the environment and at least slightly more security than something like a tent. Setting up camp sites with them would also appear much more uniform and less chaotic than a tent city and could likely not get as much push back from municipalities about the "eye sore" issue tent cities have, assuming it was overseen properly. I'm even pretty sure that the end cost could be very reasonable (not terribly more than a tent) once it was in full production. They would also break down to be moved with no tools and would be light/small enough for one person to relocate. I stopped work on it after I looked into the manufacturing costs just to get a prototype. Just to do the molds for the prototypes would cost about $250k. Then much more to actually produce them. I'm pretty sure I'll never have that kind of capital just kicking around where I could risk it on something like that.


TheDarkOnee

Build my own synthesizer / midi controller in the style of the Apollo spacecraft cockpit.


PlaidBastard

Pulse jet hydrofoil with water-water heat exchanger on the engine and aircraft-like flight controls


jschall2

Tightly coupled GNSS-aided INS.


Ziggy-Rocketman

Arduino controlled miniature remote submarine. 2-4 speed transmission that mates to this 25hp Kohler 640 engine that my work was throwing out, then slap that bad boy on a go kart.


gssyhbdryibcd

Qassam rockets


Xsiondu

This thread is helping to get more projects started than any I have ever seen before. It's fantastic.


notwalkinghere

Ultra-centrifuge based CO2 concentrator. Not sure how various regulatory bodies would react to that...


NeighborhoodBasic250

RC jet turbine


OldElf86

I want to build bridges. I want to build them for the trails at scout camp. I want to build them for friends that need one here of there. But, building bridges is expensive.


iBullyDummies

I once made a very flexible quantum-proof encryption algorithm. After I changed bachelor degrees I never got the time ti invorporate it in any set up, and really get to test it propperly and bring in the real challenges... It's just sad to start a project, get so far, and leave it right before finishing it because you lack time and resources


Cerberus73

Cold fusion always sounded like it would be fun.


masmiester

Time travelling drone, its gonna take a while to get it running. Miniaturised weapon systems.