Make: Online: Maker Shed Store Archives

Archive: Maker Shed Store

November 20, 2009

New in the Maker Shed: Mystery Box kit

The Mystery Box kit is a clever puzzle box made by our very own John Park, host of Make: television. Here is how it works: first you assemble the laser-cut wooden box, placing a treasure inside. Next, you present the Mystery Box and its hidden contents to a friend, loved one, or enemy. Ask them to not open it, instead encourage them to cherish the Mystery Box and its contents. Maybe they will listen to your suggestion, enjoying the mystery within for generations to come. Then again, maybe they will wait until you leave and eventually figure out how to open this clever wooden box? Who knows? One thing we do know, whoever receives the Mystery Box as a gift will certainly love it!

November 19, 2009

New in the Maker Shed: 6-in-1 Educational Solar Robotic kit

The 6-in-1 Educational Solar Robotic Kit is an excellent beginner building kit designed to teach how solar power is used to drive a small motor. Kids use the 21 snap-together parts (no tools required) to build 6 different working models including an airboat, car, windmill, puppy, and 2 different airplanes.

November 18, 2009

New in the Maker Shed: Robotic arm kit

With this award-winning Robotic arm kit, you can control the gripper, wrist, elbow, base rotation and motion, all from the tethered remote. The robotic arm has a vertical reach of 15", horizontal reach of 12.6", and lifting capacity of 100g. Features include a searchlight on the gripper and an audible indicator on all 5 gearboxes to prevent any potential injury or gear breakage during operation. Who is going to be the first to hack this with an Arduino?

November 17, 2009

In the Maker Shed: 3pi Robotics bundle

The 3pi robotics bundle from the Maker Shed includes all the major components needed for programming this fun little bot. The Pololu 3pi robot is a complete, high-performance mobile platform featuring two micro metal gearmotors, five reflectance sensors, an LCD screen, buzzer, and 3 user push buttons, all connected to a C-programmable ATmega168 microcontroller. Just add a few AAA batteries and a USB cable to get programming!

The 3pi robotics bundle includes:

(1) Pololu 3pi Robot $99.95 value
(1) Orangutan USB Programmer $27.99 value
(1) 3pi Expansion Kit without Cutout $19.99 value
(1) Maker's Notebook $19.99 value

Learn how to program the 3pi:

Don't forget to read our How-to Tuesday: Getting started with the 3pi for a lot more information about this little bot.

November 16, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Cabaret Mechanical Movement

The Cabaret Mechanical Movement book is packed with information, diagrams, and useful tips on making your own automata. The book uses machines and automata from the Cabaret Mechanical Theater to explain levers, shafts, cranks, cams, springs, linkages, ratchets, gears, and even coin-op control. This is a great introduction for those inspired to go and make their own work.

November 15, 2009

Build: Chumby Guts kit

When I put together my Chumby Guts kit, I had to stop and scratch my head a few times because I didn't know how to orient a part or which screws to use. I filmed the second time around, to share with you how easy it comes together! Now all that's left is to build a plush enclosure for it. Keep an eye out for an upcoming CRAFT Video about that!

Subscribe to the MAKE podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

More:

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

November 13, 2009

Chumby in a box

Kent was impatient at having his Chumby Guts laying loose on the table, so he took to the box that it came in. This is a good way to see what the casing process entails and considering what it will ultimately need before committing to a proper case. Think of it as a Chumby case sketch model. Some of the other possibilities we've heard are cigar box Chumby and Teletubby embedding (called either TeleChumby or ChumbyTubby). MAKE Flickr pool member Pauric posted a set of photos showing how he gutted his first gen Chumby and installed it in a nice wooden case.

How are your Chumby Guts doing? Post up some Chumby photos in the MAKE Flickr pool, and send us some tips in the comments.

More:

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

In the Maker Shed: Peggy 2 LED display kit

Peggy 2 is an updated version of the original Peggy light-emitting pegboard display. Version 2 adds simple animation capability and Arduino compatibility. Like its predecessor, the open-source Peggy 2 provides a quick and efficient way to drive up to 625 LEDs.

November 12, 2009

New in the Maker Shed: Ice Tube Clock kit

Somewhere at the junction of modern open-source hardware and early 80's Russia lives a beautiful new DIY kit from the Maker Shed called the Ice Tube Clock. The centerpiece of this old-meets-new clock is a Russian-made, 9-digit, vacuum florescent display (VFD). Included in the kit is everything you need to build a complete VFD clock.

Features:

Cool glowing blue tube with 8 digits, PM dot and alarm on/off indicator
Adjustable brightness
Alarm with volume adjust
Precision watch crystal keeps time with under 20ppm (0.002%) error (< 2 seconds a day)
Clear acrylic enclosure protects the clock from you, and you from the clock
Battery backup will let the clock keep the time for up to 2 weeks without power
Selectable 12h or 24h display
Displays day and date on button press
10 minute snooze
Integrated boost converter so it can run off of standard DC wall adapters, works in any country regardless of mains power
Great for desk or night table use, the clock measures 4.9" x 2.9" x 1.3" (12.5cm x 7.4cm x 3.3cm)
Completely open source hardware and software, ready to be hacked and modded!

November 11, 2009

In the Maker Shed: SD card shield for Arduino

The SD Card Shield from the Maker Shed is an inexpensive break out board for a standard SD Card. It makes adding mass storage and data logging to your next Arduino project a lot easier. The shield allows you to select either 3.3V or IO port power, allowing for added flexibility depending on you application.

November 10, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Electronic Brick starter kit

The Electronic Brick Starter kit allows you to easily connect various digital, analog, and I2C/Uart modules to any shield-compatible Arduino. The kit comes with 10 modules, and the sensor chassis. You can start building projects without the need to solder or breadboard. Just plug, program, and play!

Electronic Brick starter kit includes:

(1) Arduino sensor chassis
(1) LCD 16*2 Characters
(1) Rotary Angle Sensor (Analog)
(1) Button Switch
(1) Piezo buzzer
(1) Tilt Switch
(2) LEDs
(1) Light Sensor
(1) Temperature Sensor
(1) 2-pin Plugable terminal module
(5) Fully-buckled 3 Wire Cables
(1) 10-pin Colorful Ribbon Cable (for connecting the LCD)

November 9, 2009

In the Maker Shed: ERECTOR sets

The Maker Shed now stocks a variety of ERECTOR sets. They make a great gift for ~~you~~ your aspiring engineer, or any 'little maker' this holiday season. We stock the 252 piece set, 352 piece set, and the giant 605 piece set.

November 7, 2009

Maker Shed weekly wrap-up

A few more products were added to the Maker Shed lineup this week. We finally have more Danger Shields back in stock, along with a bunch of other new products. Earlier in the week, we posted another 45 second in the Maker Shed video, this time it was the Gakken Gennai Hiraga's Spark Generator. Last but not least, don't forget about our Chumby Guts, get 'em while you can!

The Chumby has landed!

Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to see a box on the doorstep. The return address was from the Maker Shed. That could only mean one thing: The Chumby has landed!

My daughter had to draw first blood on the package. We cracked the box and checked out the stuff inside. After going to the hypnotist show to benefit the school drama department and doing strange things on stage, I felt refreshed and motivated to assemble and play with Chumby guts until long past my bedtime.

I didn't take any photos, in large part because of the very helpful images already taken and posted to the MAKE Flickr Pool.

Build instructions are on one double sided sheet of paper. I missed it the first few times I looked through the box because I thought I would find a booklet. There is a link to the instructions pdf on the Chumby guts page in the Maker Shed. The directions are pretty good, but leave a bit to be desired. I found the photos by MAKE Flickr Pool members MTBFO and ewee to be essential. Early in the build, I was wondering which of two sets of small screws to use, and found that the silver ones were likely the ones by checking a photo. I also found the notes on many of ewee's pictures to be really useful.

So now there is a new tooltoy in the arsenal. This should be fun, and already the big question is "How do you case this thing?" Kent Barnes has extended the chumbilical cord that connects the mother and daughter boards and seems ready to move things around. John Park has a nifty laser-cut case. The box that it came in is sized about right for a first enclosure. The next case will probably be a cigar box, which is very alluring lately. You can clothe your naked Chumby guts by following these instructions.

As soon as it was plugged in, the disembodied Chumby woke up, started talking and showed a tour of the basic functions. Within a few minutes, it had upgraded the firmware and brought me to the website to register it. Finding the household wireless was a snap. Over on the Chumby wiki, you can find resources on hardware, software, and more.

In all, this has already been a fun project with few pitfalls. The next steps of customizing the case and configuring the software are exciting prospects at this point. Now that she's awake, my daughter is curious about how each of the widgets work. This will be a fun thing to have.

Have you got a some Chumby guts waiting to be animated? If you've already built yours, please weigh in with your tips and tricks by adding a comment or two. If you have a glamour shot to share or process set of pics, post them over to the MAKE Flickr pool.

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

November 5, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Welcome to MAKE bundle

The Welcome to MAKE bundle is perfect for any of our online readers that haven't subscribed to the print edition of MAKE Magazine. For a limited time we are offering the Welcome to MAKE bundle at an amazing discount of $48. That's 46% off the price if you purchased these items individually.

The Welcome to MAKE bundle includes:

A Year subscription to MAKE Magazine $34.95 value
The Best of MAKE $34.99 value
A Maker's Notebook $19.99 value

November 4, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Gennai Hiraga's Spark Generator

Hiraga Gennai (1729-79) was an Edo period Japanese pharmacologist, physician, author, painter, and inventor who is well known for his Erekiteru (electrostatic generator). The Gennai Hiraga's Spark Generator kit by Gakken replicates his early work in creating static charges. Easy to build -- instructions are in Japanese but feature highly detailed assembly pictures (sorry, no English translation at this time).

MAKE is proud to be the exclusive distributor in North America for these brilliant kits from Gakken.

November 1, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Chumby Guts

We still have a few more Chumby guts ready for you to hack, modify, or just make a cool enclosure and enjoy. What's a Chumby? Glad you asked! It's an amazing little piece of technology that lets you get what's best on the web and delivers it right to you on it's 3.5" touch screen LCD. You can play games, check the weather, twitter, news, music, and even watch YouTube videos. All of this is done via you home's wireless Internet connection. Get 'em while you can, we have limited stock and we will not receive any more this year...if ever.

Here's what comes in each kit:

3.5'' LCD (320hx240v 16bpp TFT) with Touch Screen
Texas Instruments TSC2100 Programmable Touchscreen Controller with Stereo DAC
Plastic Front Bezel
Gasket
Aluminum Frame
4 x Screws to attach Aluminum Frame to Front Bezel
350MHz Freescale iMX21 MC94MX21DVKN3 ARM9 controller Motherboard Circuit Card Assembly with Samsung 64MB SDRAM on 32-bit data path and Hynix HY27US 64MB NAND Flash ROM
Kionix KXP74-1050 3-axis accelerometer
Daughtercard Circuit Card Assembly
Three USB 2.0 full speed ports, one internal, two external
Chumbilical Flex Cable from Daughter card CCA to Motherboard CCA
Wifi Riser Circuit Card Assembly
USB Wifi Dongle based on the Xterasys 3135G 802.11g USB Wifi adapter (ralink chipset)
Flex Cable for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
3 x Screws for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
3 x Standoffs for screws for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
2 x 2W StereoSpeakers
4 x Screws for Speaker to Plastic Speaker Holder
Plastic Speaker Holder
Switch for Bend Sensor
Plastic Switch Holder
2 wire cable with 2 pin connector (from Daughterboard CCA to switch)
2 x Screws to Attach Switch to Plastic Switch Holder
12 V DC 1A Power Supply
Built-in microphone

(Note: actual parts may vary slightly due to manufacturing and availability)

October 29, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Creepy CRAFT Bundle

The Creepy CRAFT Bundle from the Maker Shed teaches you all about making ~~creepy~~ adorable hand-sewn mini monsters. Before you know it, these little creatures will overrun your entire house.

Start out your monster-making experience by reading the DIY hand-sewn, free-range, monster tutorial found in CRAFT, Volume 06. Next, crack open the DIY Mini Monster kit and make your first adorable little monster. When you're all done, use the included Maker's Notebook to sketch out some new designs.

October 28, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Danger Shield kit

The Danger Shield kit is a shield for the Arduino micro controller. It's has a variety of fun, and useful components including: 3 linear sliders, pushbuttons, temperature and light sensors, 7 Segment LED, a piezo buzzer, a knock sensor, and more!

October 27, 2009

In the Maker Shed: Chumby Guts

Yep, that's right, the Maker Shed has Chumby guts all ready for you to hack, modify, or just make a cool enclosure and enjoy. What's a Chumby? Glad you asked! It's an amazing little piece of technology that lets you get what's best on the web and delivers it right to you on it's 3.5" touch screen LCD. You can play games, check the weather, twitter, news, and music, even watch YouTube videos. All of this is done via you home's wireless Internet connection. Get 'em while you can, we have limited stock and we will not receive any more this year...if ever.

Here's what comes in each kit:

3.5'' LCD (320hx240v 16bpp TFT) with Touch Screen
Texas Instruments TSC2100 Programmable Touchscreen Controller with Stereo DAC
Plastic Front Bezel
Gasket
Aluminum Frame
4 x Screws to attach Aluminum Frame to Front Bezel
350MHz Freescale iMX21 MC94MX21DVKN3 ARM9 controller Motherboard Circuit Card Assembly with Samsung 64MB SDRAM on 32-bit data path and Hynix HY27US 64MB NAND Flash ROM
Kionix KXP74-1050 3-axis accelerometer
Daughtercard Circuit Card Assembly
Three USB 2.0 full speed ports, one internal, two external
Chumbilical Flex Cable from Daughter card CCA to Motherboard CCA
Wifi Riser Circuit Card Assembly
USB Wifi Dongle based on the Xterasys 3135G 802.11g USB Wifi adapter (ralink chipset)
Flex Cable for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
3 x Screws for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
3 x Standoffs for screws for Wifi Riser CCA to Motherboard CCA
2 x 2W StereoSpeakers
4 x Screws for Speaker to Plastic Speaker Holder
Plastic Speaker Holder
Switch for Bend Sensor
Plastic Switch Holder
2 wire cable with 2 pin connector(from Daughterboard CCA to switch)
2 x Screws to Attach Switch to Plastic Switch Holder
12 V DC 1A Power Supply
Built-in microphone