WINDOWS 7 RELEASE CANDIDATE WHAT’S NEW IN MICROSOFT’S KILLER OS?

Issue 229 August 2009 £5.99 Outside UK & ROI £6.49

How toMaster

Sims 3

CALL OF JUAREZ 2 GUNSLINGING FUN

FUEL: 100,000 MILES OF ROAD

PERFORMANCE GEAR & GAMING

BOOT WINDOWS FASTER AND RUN YOUR RIG SMOOTHER

How to optimize services in Windows

Ultimate guide: Hit 3.7GHz with Intel’s stunning new budget CPU

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ISSUE 229

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THERE’S MORE…Upgrade your PSUKiller games from E3 Computex: Core i5 hands on

ISSUE 229 I PROMISE. I WILL NEVER DIE

MAKE A TRACKING WEBCAMPROTECT YOUR HOME WHILE YOU’RE AWAY

FREE DVD62 GAMES118 APP’SSEE PAGE 122 FOR DETAILS

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We all know robots are going to take over the world, and as if to quicken the coming of the Singularity and the

thumping march of our new metal overlords, we’ve got a Make that can bestow seeming intelligence to the most basic of USB peripherals. Using the guts of a toy missile launcher to provide the moving parts and any old webcam to act as the eye, then with the right software to guide the whole lot, we’ll soon have a fully motorised tracking webcam!

Clever old us hey? Well no, we’ll be leaning heavily on the shoulders of genius for this one. Just fi tting the webcam to the movement mechanism is handy enough but it’s the software that brings this Make alive.

At its heart is the novelty USB Launcher that can be picked up for as little as £15. PC World was fl ogging them for this over Christmas, so shop around on eBay rather than ThinkGeek.com or Iwantoneofthose.com where they’ll be more like £25. At its most basic we’re just attaching a webcam to the missile

Make: A tracking USB webcamKeep tabs on the neighbours with your own motorised webcam and a bit of help from PCFormat

launcher - if you want just a mechanical webcam you could happily remove the missile section and attach just the webcam. We’re using the software here as a basic controller, however it comes with intelligent tracking features. With a basic level of programming you could upgrade this to automatically target moving objects. ¤ Neil Mohr

What you will need¤ USB rocket launcher¤ USB webcam¤ Hot glue gun¤ RoboRealm Software

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Future Publishing Limited provides the information for this project in good faith and makes no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions in this project do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgment in determining the appropriateness of parts, equipment, sealants and other

adhesives for a particular use. (Yes, we know, but it’s what the lawyers tell us to print). Protective clothing, gloves and goggles/safety glasses should also be worn at all times, when using drills. Use of the tracking USB webcam may void a product’s warranty (like you really care, but, again, we have to say this for the stupid people). To the fullest extent

permitted by law, Future Publishing Limited takes no responsibility for any person relying on the information relating to this project and disclaims all liability for any errors, omissions, damage or injury to users or their equipment as a result of or relating to their making and use of the tracking USB webcam.

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Make a tracking USB webcam

How to make a tracking camLets turn this little into a webcam missile launcher (1). Every webcam is different, so you’ll need to decide what’s the best way to mount yours. You could hot-glue yours to a plastic plate or fi x the webcam directly (2). We’re going to use a bolt and then hot-glue that in place to minimise any damage/mess (3). Remember that hot glue makes a real mess, so cover your surfaces and remove any extra gunk by warming it with a hairdryer (4). To take control of (and even automate) your launcher head to www.roborealm.com/tutorial/usb_missile_launcher/slide040.php and grab the .robo and the second ‘Try this one’ fi les. You’ll also need RoboRealm software from the front page. Install and run RoboRealm with the camera and USB launcher plugged in. Drag and drop the Missile_keyboard.robo fi le onto the program (5). If you’ve get one of the new Dream launchers everything will work (6). If, like us you’re running the older grey launcher, you’ll need to select and delete the DC_Missile module. Click the Index tab and add the Striker_Missile module. Enter the term ‘move’ into the variable box (7). The script is set incorrectly so the launcher will move straight away. Double-click the Keyboard_Read module, change the [cursor left] action setting to ‘Or’ rather than ‘Set’ (8). Click the Camera button to activate it and away you go (9). Here we’ve modifi ed the software to recognise red objects and report back their coordinates (10).

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“We’ve got a Make that can bestow seeming intelligence to the most basic of USB peripherals”

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