Maker Project Lab
December 7, 2023 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Ceiling’s the Limit [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update: a dorm room drone show, a tiny volumetric display, a new look at screen printing, and bullying robots.

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May 11, 2023 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tread Gently [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update: bringing your own baby Wall-E to life, Hackaday’s Op Amp challenge, a new twist on the video synthesizer, and adding animations to backlit panels.

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January 28, 2021 AUTHOR: Christine Cain CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Surfing with the Bern [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update, the most expensive rip surf ever made, some huge news from Raspberry Pi, thin floating shelves, clever mechanisms, making cut lists and foaming TPU.

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November 12, 2020 AUTHOR: Christine Cain CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Counter Rhythm [Maker Update]

This week on Maker Update, a test machine gets its groove back, the winner of the 2020 Hackaday Prize, 3d printed HOTAS, Controller teardowns, perfect circles, cutting felt with a table saw.

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July 25, 2020 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News, Project Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making the VK-01 Cocktail Machine

There’s an Instructables page up now, collecting all of the work on my cocktail machine for the 2020 Cocktail Robotics Grand Challenge.

I call it the VK-01 Off-World Bartender. It’s a Blade Runner-inspired machine that’s a mix of sci-fi and retro. Every detail I can think of is collected in the Instructable — every line of code, wiring diagram, and 3D design.

I hope it can inspire you to build your own cocktail machine. It’s been a challenging project, but one of my most rewarding yet. It was also a great motivation for becoming more comfortable with coding, 3D design, and exploring the possibilities of working with other makers and artists. I wouldn’t take back a minute of it.

June 10, 2019 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Kits, Project Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

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August 8, 2018 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: News Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spider Clock [Maker Update #89]

This week on Maker Update, an LED filament clock, a pool noodle robot rover, a scream that screams back at you, a motorized Flippy crawler, 7 vintage toy robot designs you can 3D print, a project packaging generator, and a mini metal chop saw.

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August 3, 2018 AUTHOR: Donald Bell CATEGORIES: Tools Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wearable LED-lit magnifying glasses

Tools: LED Light Weight Magnifier with 5 Lenses
http://amzn.to/2uDdG90

Transcript

For this week’s Cool Tools review, I’m going to show off these wearable magnifying glasses. These run around $14 on Amazon, and by using the link in the video description you help to support my videos and the Cool Tools blog.

I bought these a year ago looking for a way to get a better look at soldering up small stuff. They really are perfect for those times when you’re wiring or painting or glueing up something tiny and delicate. Plus there’s a little LED on the front that helps put a little extra light on things.

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