Repurposing Old Tech for Educational Projects Building Robots from Discarded Electronics
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Earth Day is just around the corner, so isn't it high time you planned a DIY project to support environmental protection and raise conservation awareness? This year, why not handle some earth-friendly crafts to honor this special day?
If you already have plenty of old electronics in your house that you no longer use, you only need some creativity to make something awesome thats functional as well.
Read on for some beginner-friendly DIY electronics recycling ideas thatll help you enjoy extra mileage out of your old devices.
1. Old Blender Into a Lamp
If you have a dead blender, why not give it an honorable afterlife and turn it into a stunning lamp? Youll need to re-wire the blender such that the original switch controls the new lights.
You can choose to paint or leave the blender jar in its original condition. The latter means a glossy, transparent glass. A frosted look is a great choice as it helps diffuse the light to eliminate bright and harsh lighting.
2. Computer Parts Into Jewelry
The final destination for dead computer parts doesnt have to the scrapheap. Breathe new life into dead computer hardware with cool, unique jewelry made from resistors, wires, circuit boards, and more. From rings and necklaces full of resistors to bracelets made from circuit boards, the options are limitless.
3. Recycled Materials Into a Robotic Arm
Everyone is lazy to some degree. Wouldn't it be great to have a tool or gadget that can make life easier?
This robotic arm wont fully serve as your own private butler, but itll still make things simpler for youand it'll be really fun. Its also affordable because you can use recyclable items such as screws, strings, wires, and bolts.
If you have extra waste materials remaining, a DIY air conditioner project will be worth your time as well.
4. Old Computer Into an Aquarium
If you were thinking about buying an aquarium to add an exclusive touch to your home, dont rush out and spend your cashbecause you might already have one sitting around.
You only need to spend some time transforming an old computer into a home for fish. In no time, youll have a mind-blowing aquarium thatll fascinate everyone who comes over.
5. Old Computer Into a Home Theater
Your old workhorse may not be the best choice to keep up with your current daily needs, but it can be an excellent dedicated video hub. Your old computer may have a DVD player, and still run a web browser that you can use to stream media from YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix, among other sources.
Before you invest in other equipment for this project, its advisable to test your old Mac or PC to ensure it can handle the type of video playback of your choice. Some worthy upgrades for your old machine are extra RAM and a faster video card.
6. Old Computer Into a Jukebox
If your old PC isnt quite reliable at handling video playback, you can still use it a dedicated audio server. The conversion can be as little or much as you want, from a simple listening station to a full-fledged jukebox.
Based on whats available and your aspirations, adding USB external drives will not only expand the storage but also enable steaming of your music collection. On the other hand, you can use the Mac or PC as a satellite station that brings music from your local network into a different room in the house.
7. Old Computer Into a Pet Bed
Heres some nostalgia for you: Do you remember the colored iMac computers that came in green, red, orange, and blue? Well, you can repurpose those iconic computers into cool pet beds for cats and small dogs.
The screen and inside components of the computer are replaced with removable, washable cushion that creates a comfy spot for small animals.
8. Old iPod Into a Portable Drive
Maybe you upgraded to the latest iPhone or iPod model, but your old iPod could still serve as an extra backup drive. Some of the old iPods have over 80GB of hard drive space that you could put into better use.
Not just Apple-branded devices, other media players from Samsung, Creative, and Archos, among other companies also show up as removable drives once connected to a computer. Use the media player as an external drive by dragging and dropping files to your PC.
9. Old Webcam Into a Home Security System
Old webcams can be reused to give you some peace of mind at home or when youre away. Essentially, webcams will serve that purpose when paired with the right software, but that depends on your budget and platform.
You cant go wrong by spending extra bucks on software with features like emailing images when the motion detection is triggered. Some of the most widely-used software that are reliable and effective are iSpy, Yawcam, and SecuritySpy.
10. Old Phone Into a Security Camera
You dont have to break the bank to set up a security system for your home. If you have an old smartphone, its time to put it to good use.
To start off, choose a security-camera app. Most apps offer features such as cloud streaming, local streaming, storing footage remotely, recording, and motion detection.
Once all is set up, youll be able to control your security camera remotely and monitor your home, straight from your old phone.
11. Old CDs Into Art
Do you still have some old CDs gathering dust in your room and you dont know how to use them? Here is a great way to turn them into eye-catching pieces of art.
Its a simple project that you can finish in a day. Some of the cool art pieces you can create are mirror frames, curtain decorations, and wall art.
12. Old TV Into Storage
You may be tempted to toss your old TV, but this enchanting project idea will inspire you to change your mind.
Your upcycled TV can be used to showcase your favorite items, or store books. Adding some shelves to it will make it more functional and interesting.
Related:Fun and Easy DIY TV Stands You Can Build
Turn Your Old Electronics Into Art
Pretty much any non-functional piece of electronics can become a fun art project. Depending on the amount of time you have and resources you want to use, you can make some funky knick-knack pieces of art.
With all the electronics recycling projects weve discussed, theres no doubt that youll find an interesting one to tackle this Earth Day.
Electronics Recycling 101: Tips to Repurpose Old Electronics
Most folks think that when electronics break or become outdated, the only option is to toss them in the trash or recycle them. But on the contrary, there are a number of ways to transform dysfunctional technology into new, usable products. Read on for ways torepurpose old or broken electronic equipment after all, reusing is even more earth-friendly than recycling!
Continue reading below
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iPods and mp3 Players
Your iPod may lack its former battery power, but that doesnt mean you need to get rid of it. Hooking up an old iPod or mp3 player to new speakers transforms the portable player into a home stereo system. Or, use the iPod as a multimedia storage device. Download movies, pictures, music videos or slideshows onto the device and purchase an audio/video cable. Then, hook the player up to your television. Using an iPod as multimedia storage is a clutter-free way to improve your movie collection and repurpose an outdated music player.
Computers
Even if one component of a computer konks out, there are ways to remove the still-working parts and use them. For example, if the hard drive still functions properly, consider removing that pieceto create an external hard drive. The extra storage will serve as a handy accessory for your new desktop or laptop.
Laptops
The computing lifespan of a laptop may be relatively short, but that doesnt mean the device cant serve other purposes once its been replaced. Try turning your laptop screen into a digital picture frame, or set it up next to a desktop monitor to act as a second screen. All that extra real estate comes in handy when conducting research, working on graphic design, or creating a more organized workspace.
Televisions
With new and more energy-efficient flat screens hitting the market almost daily, hanging on to your old TV set can be a struggle. But if your older model wont broadcast an NFL game with the same clarity as a newer version, resist the urge to ditch the set. Instead, give the TV to someone who is more concerned with watching movies or playing video games than following cable channels. Older sets still play DVDs or video games with solid picture quality.
Sell or Give Electronics Away
Even if youre not the fix-it type, there are many techies out there who love refurbishing broken or outdated goods. Try listing your item oneBay or Craigslist.org. Or, if youre really just looking to give your used laptop a loving home, try using Freecycle.org. The site connects folks who want to give with people who want to get free stuff in their own towns.
Create New Tech from Old Tech
For a more creative spin on how to repurpose broken electronics, check out this seriously cool book and accompanying Facebook page,. The book features step-by-step instructions to craft an infrared camera from floppy disks, a compost bin from an old scanner, a speaker system from old hard drives and other nifty items.
To find worthwhile charities that will take broken or used electronics and give them to those in need, be sure to read the next installment of our e-recycling series!
This post is part of the Recycling Series, which is sponsored by Best Buy. No matter where you may have purchased your electronics, Best Buy makes it easy to recycle. For more information on their recycling program and to make your recycle pledge, please visit www.recycleiton.com.
Hackaday
When looking at the specifications of smartphones that have been released over the past years, its remarkable to see how aspects like CPU cores, clockspeeds and GPU performance have improved during this time, with even new budget smartphones offering a lot of computing power, as well as a smattering of sensors. Perhaps even more remarkable is that of the approximately 1.5 billion smartphones sold each year, many will be discarded again after a mere two years of use. This seems rather wasteful, and a recent paper by Jennifer Switzer and colleagues proposes that a so-called Computational Carbon Intensity (CCI) metric should be used to determine when it makes more sense to recycle a device than to keep using it.
What complicates the decision of when it makes more sense to reuse than recycle is that there are many ways to define when a device is no longer fit for purpose. It could be argued that the average smartphone is still more than good enough after two years to be continued as a smartphone for another few years at least, or at least until the manufacturer stops supplying updates. Beyond the use as a smartphone, theyre still devices with a screen, WiFi connection and a capable processor, which should make it suitable for a myriad of roles.
Unfortunately, as we have seen with the disaster that was Samsungs upcycling concept a few years ago, or Googles defunct Project Ara, as promising as the whole idea of reuse, upcycle, recycle sounds, establishing an industry standard here is frustratingly complicated. Worse, over the years smartphones have become ever more sealed-up, glued-together devices that complicate the reuse narrative.
Recycling Imperfect
One question that may come to mind when the idea of recycling electronics is raised, is why this is such a terrible idea. After all, when you send a device in for recycling, it gets carefully stripped down and all materials from it are sorted before the metals molten down, plastics recycled and all the other bits and bobs handled in that industrial fashion that makes How Its Made episodes and kin such a delight to watch.
The reality is, unfortunately, less sunny and perfect. According to the UN, only 20% of an estimated 50 million tons of annual electronic waste (e-waste) is formally recycled, which is to say that those are recycled in properly equipped recycling centers. The remaining 80% of e-waste is dumped in landfills, or is informally recycled, generally by local people who burn the circuit boards and wiring to extract the metals, often without any kind of protective gear. These findings strongly highlight the need to reduce the amount of e-waste so long as we do not have the capacity to even recycle it.
Yet even within formal recycling facilities, only part of an old smartphone is truly recycled. For example, a massive problem is and remains plastics, many of which are highly resistant to recycling, especially when the economics of recycling plastics is taken into account. Worse, the economics of phone recycling are worsening over time, as fewer precious metals and other valuable elements are used in circuit boards and chips, as well as in smaller quantities. As a result, after shredding of the printed circuit boards and their components, recovery of these metals takes more effort for less material. Even with copper prices going up constantly, the economics of recycling are such that the concept of not recycling a working device, but rather reusing it can make sense from multiple perspectives.
Carbon And Economics
The aforementioned CCI metric proposed by Jennifer Switzer et al. is defined as: the measurement of the lifetime carbon impact of a device versus the lifetime useful compute it performs. In more basic terms, it tries to capture whether it makes more sense to use a computer (like a smartphone) for computing tasks rather than to send it off for recycling and buy a new device to replace it. Interestingly, it is also noted by their paper that between 60-70% of old smartphones are never thrown away, but rather kept lying around.
In its simplest form, such a compute farm using smartphones can be set up using nothing but a simple webpage, as demonstrated succinctly by the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre of the University of Edinburgh back in 2016. In this demonstration, volunteers would load the webpage that contained some JavaScript so that their device can then contribute to the impromptu parallel compute cluster. For a more custom solution, devices could be flashed with a custom ROM that optimizes it for a specific task.
Cycling Upwards
One aspect that really cemented the IBM PC as a computing concept that has endured to this day is the ability to upgrade, add and replace entire components through the use of storage, memory and processing unit modules. Attempts to accomplish something similar with smartphones have been attempted for more than a decade with so-called modular smartphones. Unfortunately, after 2015s PuzzlePhone (died: 2017) and Googles Project Ara (killed in 2016), there have been no significant attempts to make smartphones in general into a modular, easily repairable system. This along with the traditional locked bootloader significantly limits any reuse attempts.
In this regard, reusing smartphones in a compute cluster is probably the most straightforward option, which could e.g. for an Android smartphone involve using the native development kit (NDK) to run the same C-based code as would run on regular compute nodes. Less straightforward would be reusing especially an older smartphone as a dedicated media player, as eventually the devices OS would be considered too old for such media player applications. Here the lack of updated (binary blob) drivers for older mobile SoCs is a major reusability obstacle, as this locks these systems essentially into an older Linux kernel.
When we look at what Samsung was suggesting with its upcycling program before it got nerfed, concepts for reuse included everything from a smart home controller to a weather station and nanny camera. More importantly, it would unlock the bootloaders and remove the need to purchase a lot of new devices whose functionality could be easily covered by an older smartphone. Anything involving a display, WiFi, Bluetooth and a battery, essentially. Considering that for example a smart home controller is just an SoC-based device with WiFi, a display, etc. using an old smartphone here instead would seem sensible.
In light of this, the skeptics view could thus be that the problem lies with the phone manufacturers, who will just not let us have nice things.
Throw-away Society
That it is more efficient to keep using devices such as smartphones that otherwise end up collecting dust in drawers or shredded to recover a fraction of the materials that went into their production is something that should be clear at this point. The lack of such reuse being implemented is something that can generally be attributed to the general throw-away society attitude that has become more and more prevalent since the rise of industrial-scale production of goods in the 20th century.
Considering the related concept of planned obsolescence, which was coined as early as the 1930s, it seems now almost quaint to look at the IBM PC and the extreme extensibility and upgradability that it enabled. Not only did it offer a flexible upgrade bus that enabled whole new industries of expansion cards and more to spring up, the PC clone wars of the 1990s also essentially annihilated the fixed-design, limited upgrades of the home computers up till then, even if this was not what IBM had intended to happen. Its possible that IBMs experience with easy upgrades, maintenance and repairs with mainframes played a role in this design choice, but the effect was that the PC became the de facto standard, with all of these modularity benefits.
Due to the modular nature of PCs, a system can be configured and reconfigured to fit a particular role, all of which helps to extend its useful life. Even if as a modern-day version of the Ship of Theseus every single component in a system will have been replaced over the span of a few decades, it seems fair to argue that although its not the exact same device that it was at the beginning, from an e-waste perspective, each individual component will have served its maximum useful life.
Additionally, as a modular system, components from different PCs can be assembled into another system, which might go on to be useful for another few years. This is also unfortunately a property that laptops have lost over the years, and which smartphones and tablets have never embraced in any meaningful way. Maybe that with the Right to Repair movement making inroads at long last, some level of modularity will also make it into smartphones and other devices, which would make not just repair but also reuse significantly easier and attractive.
Who knows, maybe one day smartphones will feature the same DIY, white box and OEM systems as we see with PCs today, and people will use old smartphones for clusters and hobby projects that today require a Raspberry Pi board or kin.
