The Future We Forgot To Make [Maker Update]
This week on Maker Update: the Echo you really want, low riding’s new low, and the Huggy Wuggy you may need to make for Halloween.
Best Electronic Soldering Badge Kits For Classrooms
Learning how to solder is a right of passage for any maker. Personally, I remember holding out for the longest time, relying on alligator clips and breadboard jumpers to complete beginner projects and simple circuits. Soldering is intimidating, and the prospect of mangling a project while you learn the basics technique can compound the anxiety.
The best way I’ve found to dip your toe in to learning to solder is with a fun, inexpensive soldering badge kit. These come in dozens of varieties, with a wide range of cost, which I’ve outlined here.
Boil them down, they’re essentially a simple LED circuit, powered by a coin cell battery. For both students and instructors, they offer a quick project with a high payoff. Plus, you literally get to wear your new skill as a badge of accomplishment. How cool is that?
For a look at ore advanced kits for beginning makers, check out our current list of the Top 5 Best Kits for Makers.
Arduino Snow [Maker Update #103]
This week on Maker Update, an Arduino snowflake, a hands-free cookie dispenser, building a big telescope, networked nightlights, budget robots, and the gamification of your couch.
Opening Up the Alexa Billy Bass
Hey I’m Donald Bell for Maker Project Lab and in this video we’re going to take a look inside the new Amazon Echo Alexa-compatible version of the Big Mouth Billy Bass talking fish. I got this for around $40 on Amazon. I’ll leave a link in the video description, but you may want to watch this whole video and hear my opinion before picking one up.
Split-Flap Attack [Maker Update #73]
This week on Maker Update, rolling your own split-flap display, the unholy union of Furby and Alexa, customized fan grilles and a walnut box with a foam core secret. This week’s Cool Tool is the Joe Knows Electronics Resistor Starter Kit.
LEDs For Your Face [Maker Update #43]
This week on Maker Update, LEDs for your eyes, talking to your lamp, a new marble machine, the poor man’s table saw, and a giant super soaker. This week’s Cool Tool is the Kreg Rip-Cut.
Fire Skateboard [Maker Update #34]
This week on Maker Update: a skateboard that shoots fire, design concepts from Hackaday prize, a dirt-cheap telepresence robot, a military tool bag, cardboard rivets, a microcontroller guide from Make, and the biggest show and tell on earth. Here’s a link to our featured Cool Tools product on Amazon (Canvas Military Tool Bag).
CNC Sky Iris [Maker Update #33]
This week on Maker Update, a giant mechanical iris, a lightsaber, remote control Arduino, a micro torch, python boxes, Google HATs, Processing Spirographs, and Maker Faires. Support the show by purchasing this week’s featured tool.
How to Hack Alexa into a Billy Bass Talking Fish
As many of you know from watching my Maker Update video series, I’ve been obsessed with hacking together a Billy Bass novelty talking fish and Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant. About a month ago, an artist named Brian Kane published a viral video showing a Big Mouth Billy Bass novelty singing fish, seemingly voiced by Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant. The internet went nuts for it, and so did I — but mostly I just wanted to know how it worked so that I could make my own.
After a few weeks tinkering with it and collecting the components I needed, I’ve come up with a workable hack. The project documentation and code are available on Instructables. I encourage you to provide feedback and ideas on how to improve it.
Let’s Hack Alexa into a Fish [Maker Update #10]
This week on Maker Update: making your own Alexa-Powered Billy Bass, the rise of the modular swarm bots, DIY candy dispensers, 3D printed Thanksgiving accessories, and a good excuse for a blow torch.