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July 30, 2009

MAKE 19: MIDI camera control

One of my favorite DIYs in the newest issue of MAKE, Volume 19, is a sweet project titled "MIDI Camera Control" in our DIY Imaging section by Josh Cardenas. A while back, Josh got the rare opportunity to run visuals for The Hard Sell tour, a collaboration between renowned turntablists DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. These fine gentlemen were out to show nonbelievers that DJs do more than "just play records" by simultaneously performing using only original vintage-pressing 45 rpm records played on 8 turntables through 4 mixers. Josh was tasked with coming up with the unobtrusive multi-camera live setup for the show. And what he presents us with in MAKE 19 is how to make your own lower-budget version. He uses standard CCD security cameras and pan-and-tilt brackets with a couple of servomotors for each one. To avoid the prospect of interference during showtime, though, instead of R/C, Josh chose to use MIDI for control. You can roughly see the setup in the performance shot above, but here's a closer look:

Read the full DIY in MAKE Volume 19, which will be in your hands any minute now if you're a subscriber. Otherwise, look for it on newsstands on August 18th.

And for kicks, check out this awesome little intro video for The Hard Sell tour, explaining the concept:

Del Cruiser's "junkfiets" project

Del Cruiser has been working on building a "bakfiets" (box bike/cargo bike) from junked bikes and parts. He's keeping a photojournal of his progress on Flickr.

This project was inspired by the "Carrier Pidgeon" , which is a chinese-made imitation that has a shorter payload.

By nature, bakfiets take some time getting used to due to the elongated front payload. I liked the Carrier Pidgeon because it wasn't as long as traditional bakfiets and should be easier to maneuver.

Junkfiets Project

Water-powered jet pack

In the immortal word of Keanu Reeves: "Whoa."

A Water-Powered Jetpack

Akro-Mils storage cases

One of my upcoming Toolbox columns is going to cover shop storage tech. So I was happy to see this positive review of Akro-Mils storage cases in today's Cool Tools:

Working in industrial design, I constantly acquire small sets of parts to use for multiple clients and projects. I've tried using a variety of translucent plastic boxes to contain and organize these parts, but they've been flawed in a number of ways: the parts are difficult to pick out with your fingers; the small pieces migrate from compartment to compartment; and finally, the latches break.

I think Akro-Mils has solved all of these problems with their cases. The latches span the entire front side of the organizer, work well, and don't seem to break. The bottom of each compartment is curved on at least two sides to allow picking up those 0-80 screws, and the top has ridges that surround each divider to make it much less likely for the parts to jump out of their compartments. The two Akro-Mils organizers I have been using are the small (05-705) and the large (05-905). There's a medium available, too. I think I paid $4 and $7, respectively, which is about the same price as products with none of these features or durability. -- Arthur Carr

Akro-Mils

Online index of mechanical puzzles

John Rausch's Puzzle World website showcases some incredible and ingenious objects from Rausch's own puzzle collection, and from those of others. The site is divided into categories like interlocking solid puzzles, impossible object puzzles, sequential movement puzzles, etc. It's a nearly inescapable click-trap. Shown here are two of my favorites, so far. Above is Stewart Coffin's handmade "Jupiter" puzzle, and below is Harry Eng's "Jar of Tennis Balls."

Money to burn

Well, to laser-etch, anyway. Brooklyn tattoo artist Scott Campbell makes these laser-cut stacks of $1 bills. Recently shown at a gallery in Miami, the stacks are part of a collection called "Make it Rain." Thanks to Billy Baque for the heads-up.

Handbag of holding d20 edition

As a follow up to their d12 purse, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has gone ahead and upped the ante with this d20 purse, complete with a kit (including laser-cut numbers) and full instructions.

More:

How-To: Make a handbag of holding

Coconut headphone mod

Check out this clever headphone mod. Maker Iwan Roberts reconditioned this pair of headphones using coconut husks and some twine as a gift for a friend. They're perfect for listening to a MAKE Podcast and rugged enough to bring along on the occasional three hour tour.

[via ben grainger]

How-To: Wet/dry control for a toy voice changer

MAKE compadre Pete Edwards posted this rather handsome one-sheet guide for adding effect/mix control to a common megaphone voice changer. Looks like a great starting point for those looking to convert inexpensive toys into more versatile devices for music. Have closer look over @ Casper Electronics.

From the pages of MAKE:

Volume 04, Page 93

Gas-powered vortex cannon as big bad wolf

A bit of fairy tale busting from the BBC's Bang Goes the Theory - A gas-powered vortex cannon does some impressive huffing & puffing, taking on the role of big bad wolf against little huts of straw, sticks, and brick. That be one very loud & gassy wolf!

More:

Weekend Project: Vortex Cannons

Volume 15, Page 116

How-To: Build BEAM vibrobots

The following article is reprinted from my old personal-tech website, Street Tech. I thought these vibrobots would make perfect family projects for the "Teach Your Family to Solder" MAKEcation. If you have kids too young to solder, you could build a mint-tin vibrobot [PDF] with them (which doesn't require soldering) and these solar-powered vibrobots with the rest of the makers in your family. - Gareth

In MAKE, Volume 08, I wrote a piece on pummers, a type of solar-powered robotic plant life. I've known about pummers for years, but my inspiration for the MAKE article was finding Zach Debord's gorgeous pummer set on Flickr. Being an artist and designer, Zach understands the value of making miniature robots that are as beautiful as they are functional. Mark Tilden, the "Big God" of BEAM robotics, has a wonderful adage that a human is a way that a robot makes a better robot. One "evolutionary strategy" here is centered on aesthetics. Aesthetics help drive human interest. The pummer piece is a prime example. I saw Zach's bots, I was wowed by their beautiful designs, and I wanted others to see them. The piece got published, and now, if you search on pummer in the MAKE Flickr pool, you see other people are making them. The robots are replicating themselves.

In the realm of behavior-based robotics, BEAM, bio-mimics, and other bottom-up, bug-brained approaches to robotic design, nearly every conceivable form of motility has been explored. There are bots on wheels, two-, four-, six-, eight-legged bots, bots with whegs (wheel/leg crossbreeds), snakebots, spinnerbots, swimmers, fliers, climbers. You name it. One of the less documented types of robotic motility is found in the vibrobot, a type of robot that gets around by shimmying, shaking, and scooting. It's not the most graceful or accurate way to explore the world, but it's very easy to build a vibrobot and they're really fun (and funny) to watch.

Read full story

Printable batteries

A research team at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS) in Chemnitz, Germany, led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann, have developed a 1.5V battery that weighs less than a gram, is less than 1mm thick, and can be printed using a process similar to that used in silk screening.

The new type of battery consists of different layers: a zinc anode and a manganese cathode, among others. Zinc and manganese react with one another and produce electricity. However, the anode and the cathode layer dissipate gradually during this chemical process. Therefore, the battery is suitable for applications that have a limited life span or a limited power requirement, for instance greeting cards.

The team hopes to have products using the method available by the end of the year.

Need battery power? Just print it out

Timber Frame Design using Google SketchUp

A lot can be learned about 3D modeling in Google SketchUp from these video tutorials. They are extremely well presented, and cover a lot of advanced techniques. Check out the web site for a really nice library of building timbers, more videos, and information about designing in SketchUp.

More about Timber Frame Design using Google SketchUp

9781565232396-2 copy 1.jpg
Woodworkers Pocket Ref

$100 Maker Shed shopping spree could be yours!

Don't forget, we're giving away a $100 Maker Shed gift certificate to our favorite entry in the "Teach Your Family to Solder" MAKEcation challenge. We're also giving away five additional prizes (your choice of The Best of MAKE or The Best of Instructables) and some Maker's Notebooks, so be sure to upload your images and videos to Flickr and YouTube and tag them "MAKEcation."

All the details about the soldering challenge can be found here.

And, to make them more convenient and cheaper, we've put together a special bundle of kits (and some other goodies) for the event:

MAKEcation learntosolderbundle2 copy.jpg The MAKEcation learn to solder bundle is a cool collection of all things blinky. All the kits are easy to solder and each one makes a fun blinky piece of hardware. The bundle also includes our Maker's Notebook and MAKE, Volume 01, which features a great soldering tutorial. Have fun this summer, teach the family to solder, and flash some LEDs!

Features:
MAKE Volume 01 $14.99 value
tinyCylon $10 value
Wee Blinky $8 value
Lux Spectralis $10 value
Maker's Notebook $19.99 value

More about The MAKEcation learn to solder bundle

July 29, 2009

How-To: Acoustic rain gauge (disdrometer)

Wow, neat, Instructables user nusnel shows us how to make an acoustic rain gauge:

For a project at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) we are building cheap, durable acoustic rain gauges, known as disdrometers. These devices "listen" to the rain and calculate the rain rate from the acoustic signal. But you can also listen to the signal: that way, you can hear the rain, even when inside a cubicle. A nice way to bring the outside environment into the office, without getting wet.

$20 solder paste fridge!

3769860416 31Fb16Bd46 B-1
Here's a USB fridge we from www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7340 but there may be better places... We're using this to keep our lead-free solder paste cold (more on that in a moment). Cut off the USB cable and replace it with a 2.1mm DC inline jack cable. Tip is + (red) and sleeve is - (black). Use a 5V regulated power supply, the switching one we used is an overkill. You only need about 1Amp supply draw, but its what we had in our box-o-wallwarts. There's sometimes a little condensation on the peltier, that's fine.

We use this paste for reflowing and stenciling of some of our kits at Adafruit, one example is the 3-axis accelerometer. The parts are super tiny so you use a stencil and a squeegee to apply the paste and pop it in the skillet (video here of another kit getting cooked).

Pt 2080
The solder paste needs to stay between o and 10 degrees celsius to keep its 6 month shelf life. If it's not stored properly (cooled) it can degrade, get too sticky and just be a mess to work with. Don't store in your fridge with food, this is nasty stuff - look in to a solution like a small cooler instead.

Flashback: Rock 'N' Roll speakers

After last week's Teach Your Family to Solder announcement, I couldn't help but think of this cool little project as perfect soldering practice. The Rock 'N' Roll Speakers first appeared on the pages of our sister publication CRAFT in Volume 07 as a sneak peek excerpt from one of our books, Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakhchyan. This set of lo-fi travel speakers are driven by a simple power amplifier circuit and a tilt switch, so you turn them on and off by tilting them. When both speakers are visible, they're on, and when only one is visible, they're off. The speakers are built into cut and folded mat board. Here's a look under the hood:

Here is the full project for you shared through our Digital Edition. Naturally, the best soldering practice is one that yields a super cool end product.

And be sure to check out Fashioning Technology for lots more where this came from.

This DIY Intro to Smart Crafting is an invaluable resource that walks you through the materials and tools you can use, gives technical primers on everything from LEDs to soldering to troubleshooting, and then offers 12 innovative projects of wearables, home goods, and toys you can make. The book is filled with clear, instructive photos for anyone who wants to expand their crafting horizons. There's really no other book out there like it. You can also check out the Fashioning Technology community site for tutorials, resources, and forum discussions.

Also, check out Make: televison Episode 10 for a spotlight on author and SparkLab founder and designer Syuzi Pakhchyan.

Re: MAKE IT! event in Santa Fe, NM, Aug 7-9

Re: MAKE IT! is a three day festival of installations, music, and workshops highlighting the spirit of DIY culture. The festival celebrates the innovative use of custom-built, re-purposed, and recycled technology to create art, presented in environments and performances that reflect self-reliance, innovation, collaboration, and community participation.

Re: Make It! will take place at the Santa Fe Complex (Santa Fe, NM) on August 7th 5PM - 10PM, August 8th NOON - 10PM, and August 9th NOON - 8PM.

More information can be found here.

Heather Knight of JPL @ Ignite

In this Ignite talk, social roboticist Heather Knight talks about her work at JPL. The talk feels a bit rushed, but you can explore more about the projects she mentions at her website (link below).

Marilyn Monrobot

From MAKE magazine:
make volume 19 cover.gif
In MAKE, Volume 19: Robots, Rovers, and Drones, learn how to make a model plane with an autopilot and a built-in robot brain. We'll also show you how to make a comfortable chair and footstool out of a single sheet of plywood, a bicyclist's vest that shows how fast you're going, and projects that introduce you to servomotors. All this, and plenty more, in MAKE, Volume 19! If you're a subscriber, your copy should be shipping in the next few days; newsstand date is August 18th.

Decomposing plastic with bacteria

Science Fair project FOR THE WIN! According to a piece on Wired Science, a 16-year-old high school student, Daniel Burd, from Waterloo, Ontario, has figured out a way to quickly decompose plastic (like that used in shopping bags) by letting bacteria eat it. He presented his findings at the high school science fair.

The Record reports that Burd mixed landfill dirt with yeast and tap water, then added ground plastic and let it stew. The plastic indeed decomposed more quickly than it would in nature; after experimenting with different temperatures and configurations, Burd isolated the microbial munchers. One came from the bacterial genus Pseudomonas, and the other from the genus Sphingomonas.

I like how the piece ends:

Amazing stuff. I'll try to get an interview with this young man who may have managed to solve one of the most intractable environmental dilemmas of our time. And I can't help but wonder whether his high school already had its prom. If he doesn't get to be king, there's no justice in this world.

Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in Three Months