USA - USB: American Flag USB Memorial

by fi5e in Circuits > USB

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USA - USB: American Flag USB Memorial

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Plug and play flag waving ceremony. PC = Patriotic Computer.

Related photos and video up here. Check out ni9e.com for more projects.

Materials

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1 - USB Fan
1 - USB LED lamp
12" of 1.24" diameter heat shrink wrap
1 - Flag (country of your choosing), roughly 9" x 6"
1 - Lighter
1 - Roll of electrical tape
1 - Hanger
1 - Heart full love for the country of the colors that don't run.

Tape USB Connections at Base

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If you are designing this for a specific computer check the location and orientation of your USB ports. Tape the USB plugs for the fan and lamp together at the base accordingly.

Bend 90 Degress and Tape Again.

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Bend the lamp and fan arms 90 degrees so as they point at god once plugged into the USB ports. Tape again directly above the bend.

Cut and Add Coat Hanger.

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- Cut the longest piece of straight section from a standard wire coat hanger.

- Just above the 90 degree bend you taped previously, attach the coat hanger and wrap with electrical tape again.

- Wrap the hanger, fan arm, and lamp arm again with electrical tape 2" higher.

Heat Shrink Wrap

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Cut roughly 5" of the heat shrink wrap tubing. Slip it over the lamp, fan, and wire until it rests at the base near the USB plugs. Heat with lighter till it shrinks together.

Plug and Hoist

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Plug our flag into the two USB ports in your computer. If you don't love this country enough to spare 2 USB ports then you are in the wrong place. Bend the arms and hoist your flag into position.

Take Off Your Hat and Place Your Right Hand Over Your Heart

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Hit the power button and prepare to shed a tear for freedom.

Desktop and National Anthem Boot Music

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If this isn't patriotic enough for your taste already then you can take it to the next level with some custom desktop and boot up music.

First set your desktop to imagery of people saluting the flag (see example below). Make sure the orientation is correct so that the eyes are staring right at Ole Glory.

Next set your boot up alert noise to play the Star Spangled Banner, the .wav file of which can be downloaded here. I use Ubuntu, so to set your boot up sound to this file you simply go to System -> Preferences -> Sound. In the Sounds Preferences display box hit the Sounds tab. At the bottom to the right of where it says 'Log In' select the drop down menu list and click on 'Select sound file...'. Select the .wav file linked above and hit the play button to test that it is working.