Floppy Disc Racing!

by bumpus in Outside > Sports

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Floppy Disc Racing!

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HOLY FLYING FLOPPIES!!


I will show you how to modify a floppy disc drive so it will shoot out floppy discs.
I will also explain the rules to Floppy Racing, and how you can play with a group.



Materials

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Well, to make your own set for Floppy Racing, you'll need the following:

  • Floppy Disc drive
  • Floppy Disc
  • Assortment of little screw drivers
  • Small rubber bands (more or less depending on how powerful you want to make your Disc Ejector)
  • about 20 minutes

Removal of Uselessness

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First, you will want to identify what screws are needed to be removed to reveal the inner workings of the drive. My drive only had one screw, and four wedges to be pried open.



Next, grab one of your Floppy Discs and insert it slowly into the drive mouth. Watch carefully on what is triggered and what moves. Pay close attention to your ejector hand and spring. You may need to remove a circuit board to see whats going on.



Okay, now for the tear down. You'll want to remove everything from inside the drive, all the electrical components, but not the metal inner skeleton, remember, you want your drive to still take a disc, and eject it properly.

Modification!

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Next, grab your bounty of little rubber bands, and look once more on how your drive works. You need to look for little holes, and slits to place rubber bands to help launch your disc. There really isn't much to explain to this. Use your little screw drivers to make it easier to attach the bands...
If your bands run over an edge, make sure to file it down to reduce wear on the rubber bands.



Depending on how you placed your bands, they may warp the Floppy Disc upon entry, So sometimes its a good idea to remove the sliding window on the Floppy Disc, which can be done by prying it off.



Finally!
You've just hopefully made your own Floppy Disc Shooter!
:D

Rules and Game Play

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Regular game play with opponents:

  • Have a table approximately 3 feet above the ground.
  • Line up the edge of your disc drive at the very edge of the table.
  • Take turns shooting Floppy Discs.
    • Jot down lines on where the disc landed on the floor.
    • See who can shoot their disc further than the other.
    • Put a plate/pan/saucer on the floor and try and land your disc on the plate/pan/saucer.

Another idea for when you have a big group of people/n3rds/geeks/h4x0rs/programmers is to have a set of brackets to see who is the champion Discer out of the group, Hell even take bets on who will be the winner!



Solo play:

  • Have a table approximately 3 feet above the ground.
  • Line up the edge of your disc drive at the very edge of the table.
  • Tape down a "Bulls Eye" of sorts, and play the game like a round of darts.







Challenge your co-workers, interns, parents, children, pets, neighbors, hey! even yourself! Experiment with different amounts of rubber bands, modifications to your Floppy Disc, even different drives!

Have fun!
:D

- bumpus