This week on Maker Update: a DIY digital camera that’s made to be played with, Google’s Little Signals, dismantling cookies for science, and unlocking your computer with push-ups.

++Show Notes [Maker Update Ep. 280]++

-=Project of the Week=-

Digital Toy Camera by Christopher Getschmann
https://volzo.de/thing/digitaltoycamera/

-=News=-

Little Signals by Google Seed Studio
https://experiments.withgoogle.com/little-signals

-=More Projects=-

Oreometer by Crystal Owens
https://github.com/crystalowens/oreometer/

Pushup Lockscreen by Victor Sonck
https://youtu.be/ZiOr9EdYEeE

-=Tips & Tools=-

Cyberpunk Inspired Watch by HCLI
https://www.tindie.com/products/hcli/cyberpunk-inspired-watch/

WS2812B 10001000 LED Coaster by MakeTvee
https://www.printables.com/model/171701-ws2812b-10001000-led-coasterdeco

-=Digi-Key Spotlight=-

Chip Shortage by Adafruit
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjF7R1fz_OOX6EyjN3BYud1VHIqnDyvm_

-=Transcript=-

This week on Maker Update: a DIY digital camera that’s made to be played with, Google’s Little Signals, dismantling cookies for science, and unlocking your computer with push-ups.

Hey, I’m Donald Bell, and welcome back to another Maker Update. I hope you’re all doing well, and pushing forward with whatever you’re working on. If you could use a little inspiration, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s start off with the project of the week.

On his blog, Christopher Getschmann describes his experiments with creating his own unique digital cameras.

These days, most of the interesting things you can do with digital photography happen after the photo is already taken – filters, effects, cropping – it’s endless.

What Christopher has done is design a number of cheap, 3D printed cameras, where you can really play with the image before you snap the shot.

There’s a tilt lens where you can create weird focal planes.

Rise/Fall mounts that can distort angles and create stronger vignettes.

Focus rings for cheap lenses that wouldn’t normally have them.

Even a dual camera system where you can take simultaneous shots on two different lenses.

Inside each camera is a Raspberry Pi Zero, a rechargeable 18650 battery for portable power, and a Pi Camera module.

But we’ve seen Pi-based cameras before. That’s not what makes this project interesting. So often, I see projects where someone makes a DIY version of something that already exists.

But projects like this are my favorite because the maker wanted something that didn’t exist yet – something too weird or risky or unprofitable for a company to make. And in the end you get this fun invention that nobody else in the world has but you. It’s just the best feeling.

You can find Christopher’s code and design files using the link in the description.

Now for some news. Google Seed Studio has unveiled a series of experimental IoT notification objects you can create for your home.

The project is called Little Signals, and it’s a showcase of alternative ways we could weave subtle notifications into our lives.

They show these little desktop objects that use sound, movement, or visual indicators to gently grab your attention. To that end, the objects use little blower fans, motors, and speakers, to make noises or create motion.

I think it’s a neat concept, though I have to wonder if these little signals would be enough to grab my attention. You can find the example Arduino code and 3D model STEP files using the link in the description.

More projects. Crystal Owens from MIT has published a scientific paper and an associated 3D printed design dedicated to the study of the sheering and separation characteristics of Oreo cookies.

I had to look this over twice to make sure it wasn’t some sponsored content or an April fools prank, but from what I can tell it’s legitimate, and awesome.

Apparently, the study of the flow of matter is called Rheology, and one of its principal instruments is a tool called a rheometer, which applies forces to a substance to measure its change.

So naturally, studying the material characteristics or Oreo cookies would be called Oreology and it would require a specialized instrument called an Oreometer.

The design clamps on to each side of the cookie sandwich. Then, weighted arms that are designed to be loaded with a varying amount of pennies, are used to apply a specific amount of twisting force to the Oreo until it breaks apart.

Not only do I love this project, but I love thinking about other testing rigs you could design for other kinds of standardized foods. It might not be MIT research paper worthy, but there’s at least 100 science fair projects you could spin out of this idea.

But when it’s time to shed that Oreo weight, Victor Sonck has you covered. He’s created a Raspberry Pi-based system that requires him to unlock his main computer by doing 5 push-ups.

What makes the project especially unique is that Victor turns to machine learning for his solution.

He trains a machine learning model to recognize the difference between the up and down positions of his push-up, and then count how many have been done. And to prevent the possibility of just entering his password, the Pi spams his computer with backspace commands until the push-ups are completed, making it impossible to type.

It’s a fascinating look at how to tackle problems with machine learning and computer vision. I could see how someone might solve this same problem with hardware and sensors, but I really enjoyed seeing how a machine learning approach provided a valid, and arguably more foolproof solution.

Now for some tips and tools. On Tindie, I saw this cyberpunk inspired watch by HCLI. You can get it as an unassembled kit. Aside from the design looking pretty cool, I especially like the bit of LED filament on the right side for a bit of neon glow.

There’s a bill of materials on Tindie page you can use to view the components and maybe incorporate them into a design of your own.

And on Printables, I got a kick out of this giant, 3D printed Neopixel by MakeTvee. You can use it as a coaster if you like, and there’s built-in holes for wiring in your own red, green, and blue LEDs.

For this week’s Digi-Key spotlight, I recommend checking out Adafruit’s new series Chip Shortage.

As we move from denial to acceptance around the global drying-up of supplies of electronic components that were once commonplace, a show like this is a kind of support group for those in search of the unobtainable.

It’s also a place where you can hear about component substitutions that may get your project back on track. Check it out.

And that does it for this week’s show. Be sure to subscribe, leave a thumbs up or leave a comment. Get on the Maker Update email list to keep up with each week’s show. A big thanks to Digi-Key electronics for making this show possible. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you soon.