Something in the Air [Maker Update #131]
This week on Maker Update, a desktop air tester, a drill press table lift, art from particle collisions, working with black & white TVs, EL Neon, and diffraction finishes for 3D prints.
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.
DIY Spy Camera and IoT Valentines [Maker Update #20]
This week on Maker Update, a cheap, DIY spy camera, manufacturing with Voodoo, the Billy Bass Alexa gets fully realized, an internet valentine, printed pangolins, a guitar stompbox development rig, friction welding plastic, and Maker Faire Kuwait. SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE
Time to Print the Ornaments [Maker Update #12]
This week on Maker Update: a payphone that calls the 90’s, a moon for your nightstand, a way to finally get your fish talking, a mini NES with NFC, 3D print ornaments, a sewing machine for makers, a ridiculous amount of maker contests, and the first Maker Faire in L.A.
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.