This week on Maker Update: superhuman jumping shoes, a ball of LEDs, kinetic sculpture, a gingerbread condo, a screw drive tank, controlling pitch with voltage, a bird feeder for people, and Raspberry Pi turns 10.

Guest host: Becky Stern
https://beckystern.com/

++Show Notes [Maker Update Ep.272]++

-=Project of the Week=-

Hacked Car Backup Alarm by Guy Dupont
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy4Ua8bXRiE

-=News=-

Raspberry Pi Turns 10
https://youtu.be/eiwm5TMHIy8

Young Music Maker Competition
https://www.makermusicfestival.com/news

-=More Projects=-

Gingerbread Condo by Natasha (and Matt) at Technochic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDGhZ7-k81U

GIANT Bird Feeder for People! by Kids Invent Stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHRPT-LtP-4

Anti-Swear Box by Ruth Amos
https://youtu.be/RZvADQMPKn4

PVC Screw Drive RC Tank by DIY_MVB
https://www.instructables.com/SCREW-DRIVE-RC-TANK/

Concrete Vase with Cardboard frame by kikomoda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYChFCNhhDs

Superhuman Jumping Shoes by Ian Charnas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJbGiatk_Ro

Mechanical Ping Pong Sculpture by JBV Creative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUsbQAm9Y_c

Ball with 242 RGB-LEDs by Carl Bugeja
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iIn6wOLhv4

-=Tips & Tools=-

How To Make Prototypes by Jeremy Fielding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2nNmENmMdk

How does 1v/OCT work? by Liz at Blitz City DIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgVXPwUlIQU

Coin Cell Eliminator
https://hackaday.com/2022/02/23/coin-cell-eliminator-does-more-than-save-batteries/

Phased Arrays (DIY sonar scanner) by Bitluni
https://youtu.be/z4uxC7ISd-c

Weighted Blanket Filling Tool by Makerneer
https://www.instructables.com/Weighted-Blanket-Filling-Tool/

Use Canned Air on Hot Glue
https://youtu.be/okRKcGSsdw0

-=Transcript=-

This week on Maker Update: superhuman jumping shoes, a ball of LEDs, kinetic sculpture, a gingerbread condo, a screw drive tank, controlling pitch with voltage, a bird feeder for people, and Raspberry Pi turns 10.

Hi, welcome to Maker Update! I’m Becky, back again to guest host.

Let’s start off with the Project of the week.

Guy Dupont hacked his car’s backup alarm to play custom sounds. Everybody should know how annoying piezo buzzers are, and never be subjected to that much suffering, and maybe that’s why this build is so satisfying. The previously headache-inducing squealing has been replaced with less intense audio that entertains while it informs. The design uses an octocoupler to read the alarm’s 12V input and use it to trigger a microcontroller pin and select playback of the appropriate file on the audio module depending on the distance from the obstacle. I think it’s hilarious and so so clever, and the build video is super thorough.

Onto some news! It was Raspberry Pi’s 10th birthday this week. Eben Upton recounts its origin story on the Raspberry Pi YouTube channel, hoping to bring the joys and inspiration of computing to young people everywhere.

Speaking of inspired kids, the Maker Music Festival just announced its Young Music Maker Competition, this year focused on circuit bending projects by kids ages 12-16. The deadline is April 4th, in advance of the virtual Festival happening May 14th and 15th. Check out the press release on the Maker Music Festival website.

More Projects! Natasha from Technochic and her husband Matt processed a recent tragedy in a truly maker way. After discovering their new condo was prone to flooding with sewage, they carried out their detailed architectural plans in gingerbread instead and took their feelings out on it afterward. We get a tour of the dream cookie condo complete with LED features and detailed interior decorating. In a time when we’re all feeling some weltschmerz, Natasha’s video hits home. What a creative way to channel that grief.

On a lighter-hearted note, check out the giant bird feeder for people by Kids Invent Stuff. Ruth and Shawn made a sturdy tree swing filled with sweet treats, dreamed up by 11-year-old Kit. I love how their channel lifts kids’ ideas up and shows that engineers can look all sorts of ways. You can read more about Kids Invent Stuff in the latest HackSpace Magazine. And if you haven’t caught the latest on Ruth’s personal channel, you’re going to love her anti-swear box. Powered by an audio FX board, the box suggests alternatives to swear words so your kids don’t learn to repeat your foul language.

Also on Instructables, DIY_MVB shares their PVC screw drive RC tank. This thing uses nails to create a helix on each axle, covered by some aquarium tube, and was entered this project in the PVC speed challenge.

Back over on YouTube, Kikomoda has another impressive cardboard project to share, this time using it as a substrate for these large concrete vases. You’d never know by looking at them that they aren’t solid concrete. This is a clever conservation of materials since you can use recycled cardboard for the interior, then coat the outside with a layer of concrete, resulting in a lighter-weight object and less work hauling large volumes of concrete around.

Ian Charnas has a new video out on his channel about these superhuman jumping shoes. He shows off his signature competent zaniness in this collaboration with Tyler Csatari. With pneumatic pistons bolted directly to the boots and plenty of parts made on a water jet cutter, Tyler was able to jump four feet in the air. This is one of those builds that brings me joy just watching it, and gets me excited to experiment with air power, albeit perhaps in a less dangerous context.

JBV Creative shows off this impressive mechanical sculpture that launches ping pong balls in the air. It reminds me of Arthur Ganson’s kinetic artwork if perhaps he’d had access to a 3D printer. This thing continually recycles its queue of ping pong balls with the clever mechanism inside.

And last but definitely not least, Carl Bugeja shows off an impressive flexible PCB design for a tiny LED sphere with 242 RGB LEDs. The core is 3D printed, and the flower-shaped PCB wraps around it. It also has an accelerometer to trigger a color change when it’s hit. Carl discusses the missteps and challenges encountered along the way.

And now for some tools and tips.

Jeremy Fielding shares helpful tips about prototyping by sharing the journey of designing a yard-painting robot. I love Jeremy’s approachable attitude and tips about what kind of mindset will get you through engineering challenges that arise during any project.

On her channel. Liz at Blitz City DIY explains how 1v/OCT works to control pitch on a synthesizer. Each note has its own voltage. The higher the voltage, the higher the pitch of the note. I loved this casual explainer video and walkthrough of how Liz is using it.

Over on Hackaday, Peter Misenko shares his coin cell eliminator circuit, which fits into a coin cell holder, allowing you to power the device over USB instead. I personally would find these so useful for prototyping battery-powered projects without wasting a bunch of time and batteries. The handy device is for sale on Tindie.

Bitluni published a mesmerizing video about phased arrays, demonstrating their power and usefulness in many everyday applications, and he builds a sonar scanner in the process. This is a helpful lesson in some pretty complex physics.

On the simpler side of things, Makerneer on Instructables made a special funnel for filling up pockets in a DIY weighted blanket. I never imagined how they were made before, but after seeing this, I am feeling inspired to make one.

Lastly, I want to share a tip from the latest video on my channel– did you know that you can use canned air to quickly cure hot glue? This trick is a great time-saver when you’re prototyping in any material. The pressurized air is cold as it exits the nozzle, applying a strategic and intense chill.

And that’s it for this week’s show. Be sure to like and subscribe, and please consider sharing this video with a friend. Sign up for the weekly Maker Update newsletter so you never miss a thing, and thanks for watching.