This week on Maker Update, a robot with a staring problem, the end of Maker Media, holding rainbows, a robot dating simulator, DaVinci machines, a Pi movie tracker, and surface mount soldering with sand.

++Show Notes++

-=Project of the Week=-

Motion Tracking Face By alynton
https://www.instructables.com/id/Motion-Tracking-Face/

Albert at Exploratorium
https://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/albert

-=News=-

Maker Media Closes Up
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/07/make-magazine-maker-media-layoffs/

-=More Projects=-

Prism Holder for Rainbow Portraits By bekathwia
https://www.instructables.com/id/Prism-Holder-for-Rainbow-Portraits/

Robot Slow Dance by Dietrich Squinkifer
https://squinky.me/2019/03/14/robot-slow-dance/

Perpetual Motion Da Vinci Style II
https://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Motion-Davinci-Style-II/

Perpetual Motion Da Vinci Style III By gzumwalt
https://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Motion-Da-Vinci-Style-III/

Movie Tracker – Raspberry Pi Powered Theatrical Release Tracker by gocivici
https://www.instructables.com/id/Movie-Tracker-Raspberry-Pi-Powered-Theatrical-Rele/

-=Tools/Tips=-

Shop Tips: Know Your Screw Threads
https://www.tested.com/art/makers/877216-shop-tips-know-your-screw-threads/

Wind by Sean Hodgins
https://www.instructables.com/id/WIND-Project-Accelerator-for-the-Adafruit-Feather/

Best Rotary Tool Metal Cutter by Mike Warren
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AHS1V87kns

Repurposed Plastic for Project Protection
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/06/repurposed-plastic-protects-pcbs/

Solder SMDs With a Pan of Sand
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/05/solder-smds-with-a-pan-o-sand/

NeoPixel Ring Holder by MatMartigan
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3598294

Print In Place Hinged Crank for Rotary Encoders by Ruiz Bros
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3672910

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales #5
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/garethbranwyn/issues/gareth-s-tips-tools-and-shop-tales-issue-5-180439

-=Digi-Key Spotlight=-

Arduino Project to Product – Part 1 – How to Accurately Measure Current
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDHM8Xzmv48

Transcript

This week on Maker Update, a robot with a staring problem, the end of Maker Media, holding rainbows, a robot dating simulator, DaVinci machines, a Pi movie tracker, and surface mount soldering with sand.

Hey, I’m Donald Bell, and welcome back to another Maker Update. It has been a hot and sweaty week for me here in California, but I hope the weather is treating you well wherever you are. I have a lot of projects and some big news to cover, so let’s get started with the project of the week.

Check out how Anna Lynton made this motion tracking head using an Arduino, a stepper motor, an ultrasonic distance sensor, two servos, and some laser cut hardboard.

The project reminds of one of the first examples of a motion tracking robot called Albert, designed in 1968. You’ll still see it on display sometimes at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

And while the underlying concept is similar, Anna’s design goes a step further by adding expressions to the eyes using cardboard eyelids mounted on servos inside the face.

I also like the chunky, laser cut look of the face. Anna pulled this off by first designing a mask in Fusion 360 and then exporting it using the free Slicer add-on that creates templates of laser cut pieces you can cut out and glue up to create 3D shapes.

There’s also some really creative us of 3D printed and laser cut gears, PVC pipe, bearings — a lot of little things that make this guide worth looking through.

Now for some news. It’s been a huge bummer for fans of Make magazine and Maker Faire to learn that the parent company for both, Maker Media, has laid off all its staff and closed its doors.

Tech Crunch was one of the first to report on it, and in a conversation with CEO and founder Dale Dougherty, learned that he’s currently working to keep the Web site servers running for the online magazine archive, and find a way to keep both the magazine and the Maker Faire licensing program running.

There’s a lot of ongoing coverage about the closure and what it means. It’s pretty clear that this may be the end for Make magazine and Maker Media’s role in producing the flagship Maker Faire’s in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York.

But I think it’s important to point out that the hundreds of independently produced Maker Faires throughout the world are in no danger of closing down.

All of us owe Maker Media a debt of gratitude, but we also owe it to them to keep the maker movement growing and strong — so don’t let the news get you down too long.

Back to more projects, fellow Maker Media alum Becky Stern has a new guide out on making this 3D printed prism holder.

Prisms are awesome, but without a way to fixture them they just turn into another desk toy. With this fixture design, you have a way to permanently capture and redirect rainbows across your room, and give your selfies an extra rainbow touch.

Becky breaks down how she created the design in Tinkercad, and her guide and video are great as always.

For one of the more hilarious projects I’ve seen recently, check out Robot Slow Dance by Dietrich Squinkifer.

It’s a take on Rock’em Sock’em robots, but instead of fighting, the two robots engage in romantic robotic dating conversation. Two joysticks move the servo-based robots around while a hilarious MP3 file of the robot conversation plays in the background over speakers.

This is one of those projects that’s purely entertaining, but I’d love to show it off when friends come over.

I also really enjoyed these two 3D printed, DaVinci inspired motion machines from Greg Zumwalt. These are motorized with a small gear motor to give the illusion of perpetual motion. Concave channels in each of the arms allow you to place individual ball bearings that glide or swing around as the machine starts working. It’s a cool trick and I think it’s neat that Greg explored it with different designs.

Görkem Bozkurt has this awesome Raspberry Pi based project. It’s designed like a movie clapboard, but has a thermal printer on the front that prints out little show posters and descriptions for movies coming to your local theater.

The clapboard is 3D printed and includes space for the Raspberry Pi and two magnets inside that make it possible to magnetically attach the two most promising movie print outs to the front. It’s a fun idea, and great execution.

Now for some tips and tools to share. On Tested, Sean Charlesworth has a video going over the best tools for tapping and repairing screw threads as well as how to read imperial and metric sizes. There’s a ton of great tips in here.

Sean Hodgins has an Instructable up on how he made his own custom project breakout board he calls Wind. It’s compatible with all Adafruit Feather style boards — so extra pun points awarded for a Sean’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” naming scheme.

The big payoff for using this board is that you can easily prototype projects by pushing wire or components into the little matrix of headers, and you have a dedicated spot for an 18650 LiPo battery. Sean includes the PCB files and bill of materials for making your own.

On the Cool Tools channel, I’ve got an interview with Mike Warren, Mikeasaurus on Instructables, talking about his favorite metal cutting wheels for rotary tools. If you’ve been disappointed by the flimsy abrasive wheels that come with your Dremel, this will change the game.

On Hackaday, there’s a great tip by Brian McEvoy on how to recycle plastic lids to melt over your project components and keep them protected.

Lewin Day has a tip for soldering surface mount components using an induction cooktop and a pan of sand create an even heat. It’s kind of crazy, but it looks so cool when all the components magically sizzle on to the board.

I was also happy to find these 3D printed Neopixel ring holders by MatMartigan on Thingiverse. Rings like these have become increasingly inexpensive and easier to come by, the problem is always finding a way to mount them. Not only do these solve the problem, but they include spaces in the back for passing through wires.

Another quick, useful print is this print-in-place hinged hand crank design from the Ruiz brothers that pushes right on to a rotary encoder shaft. Knobs are so 2018. The future is tiny hand cranks!

And in issue #5 of Gareth Branwyn’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales newsletter he goes over easy electroplating, an Adam Savage tip for dialing in paint color, cleaning corroded battery holders, and more.

And finally, for this week’s Digi-Key Spotlight, check out the new four-part series from Shawn Hymel on how to take your Arduino project and the steps needed to turn it into a product you can sell.

He goes over how to optimize your project to maximize power efficiency, streamlining the code, and eliminating the Arduino altogether, replacing it with just the microprocessor and the minimum necessary hardware.

It’s not a series for beginners, but if you’re serious about taking and Arduino project and maximizing its potential and profitability as a product you can sell, Shawn’s free advice here is a great resource.

And that does it for this week’s show. Be sure to subscribe, leave a thumbs up or leave a comment. You can also get on the Maker Update email list to get show notes emailed out to you automatically each week, along with a few bonus projects that didn’t fit in the show. A huge thanks to my patrons on Patreon and to Digi-Key electronics for sponsoring this show. Alright? Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.