Gadget Freak Case #221: Smart Toolbox Finds the Right Tool 16060

Here's a gadget that knows what tool you need and shows you where it's located. A team of student engineers at Colorado State University have designed a five-drawer toolbox that stores instructions for specific projects -- such as a brake job -- and tells you what tools you will need. Then the toolbox locates each tool and opens that tool's drawer. Once the job is finished and you've replaced your tools, the toolbox closes its own drawers.

The student engineers -- Michael Hake, Aron Seader, Kai Erickson, and T.J. Shaul -- offer full instructions on how to turn a standard Harbor Freight toolbox into a smart dream machine.

Michael Hake (left) and Aron Seader (right), along with Kai Erickson and T.J. Shaul (not pictured), have created an intelligent toolbox that can look up a tool on its user friendly touch screen display.

Once you select a project, the toolbox knows which tools are needed to complete the job, and the drawers containing the required tools open.

Do you have a Gadget Freak project you would like the world to see? Send a brief description of your gadget and a photo to Senior Editor Rob Spiegel.

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The editors of Design News have handpicked your favorite Gadget Freak cases from over the years, bringing them together in a dynamic digital edition, complete with videos, which you can view here.