This project is a remix of Andrew Sleigh’s laser-cut Laptop Stand for Macbook Air. I left out the top plate and replaced it with another crossbar in order to reduce material. Now it fits on a single 384x384mm board and costs only about 9 Euros ($12).
I have one in different rooms and offices and thus I don’t have to buy a desktop monitor. I printed it in grey cardboard at Formulor.de for only 8.97 Euros (plus shipping). It should also work with acrylic since I didn’t alter Andrew’s connector sizes.
This project shows how you can mod a stapler so you can separate the two halves and use magnets to align them on opposite sides of the paper. This lets you get around the normal limitations of only being able to staple 3.5 inches into the paper.
Bio: Bryan is a professional research engineer with degrees in both mechanical and electrical engineering. He enjoys tinkering with both software and hardware.
During last year, MID and PlayModes worked on the development of a system to control DIY Laser robots. For this application, we developed a new shield that permits it to control Dynamixel servomotors also to work with PWM laser drivers.
The shield works using Arduino Ethernet programmed with a specific firmware to control laser and motor using Open Sound Control.
For this implementation we used Savage Electronic Dynamixel library and ZOSC library for Arduino. Thanks a lot to these people!
Some pictures of the electronics:
In order to control independently, compose, and play a full score for the laser diodes, servomotors, lights and music, Duration Open Source software by James George was used.
We are proud to present our last projects: Radial and Blaus, where we used this laser robots.
Radial
Radial is a fully immersive audiovisual experience. Composed of a set of 8 moving blue laser heads and a kinetic light sculpture, it drives the audience into an abstract synaesthesic trip.
While laying down on the center of the installation, you let yourself be surrounded by synchronized three dimensional light compositions, multichannel sound, and the intricate moving color patterns of the Particle. Radial is an unforgettable sensorial journey driven by cutting edge DIY technologies.
Blaus
Blaus takes us into the abstract realm of three dimensional geometry in time. It can be a cube or a blossoming flower, a grid or a jellyfish; a mutant entity of reflecting lights which submerge the audience into a symbolical universe, driven by hidden forces of the architecture.
Blaus is an immersive space where light and sound relate intimately to impact on the visitor. Movement and reflections of light, sound and laser beams generate a kinetic atmosphere that transforms the architecture into the main character of a geometric play.
These projects are brought to you by a team of 3 people coming from the field of audiovisual creativity, hardware engineering, and software development. The project is born from the collaboration between Playmodes and MID, two interactive design and creative technology studios placed on Catalonia’s countryside.
Both studios have a long experience on digital creativity and audiovisual art, and the collaboration between them gives birth to a team formed by Eloi Maduell, Alex Posada and Santi Vilanova.
Bio: MID is an interaction design and technology studio developing installations at the boundaries of engineering, interactive design, and new media. MID’s research interests include the use of light and sound as media to modify and transform human perception. Playmodes is an audiovisual research studio. We work with self-made digital technologies, both software and hardware, to create immersive interactive installations, projection mapping projects, theatre scenography, and more.
Bio: I have been fan of robotics for many years. I have designed a simple robotic arm, and now a more complex mobile robot. I like do-it-yourself in all fields, especially using very simple and cheap techniques and tools.
No space for a garden, but love cooking with fresh herbs? Here’s a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to have fresh herbs in the smallest of spaces. See how Upcycled Stuff turned a few ordinary soup cans into a hanging herb garden.
Bio: My blog, Upcycled Stuff, is where I show readers quick and easy (and sometimes not so easy) ways to rescue items from the landfill and turn them into something functional and beautiful. Every now and again, you'll see posts about animals and other green living topics, too.
If you have trouble opening a tightly closed lid and don’t have one of those fancy jar opening tools, you can use duct tape in much the same way. Yeah, using duct tape to un-stick something. But hey, it actually works!
Maker Saurabh Vyas came up with this project to create a voice-controlled, Arduino-powered lamp that changes colors on command. Pretty cool for a high school project.
Shoe maker Sharon Raymond has come up with simple plans for making a pair of comfortable shoes for babies ready to stand on their own two feet. She says:
How many pairs of shoes does a child grow out of before he or she is fully-grown? I don’t know the number, but I do believe if we were making some of those shoes, the cost of raising a child would plummet (a slight exaggeration) and our children’s feet would be healthier. And, if we use recycled materials to make them, our children’s shoes would have a smaller “footprint” on the earth.
Bio: Sharon has been making shoes and teaching shoemaking for more than twenty years. She uses non-toxic cements and recycled materials in an effort to be "part of the solution". Sharon envisions a country in which there are shoemakers everywhere, shodding family, friends and the community.
Christopher LoBello saw a Hackaday post on smoothing out the rough edges on 3D prints with acetone vapor and decided to replicate the experiment for himself. For such a low-tech technique, the results were good. Check out Christopher’s blog at trenchPhysics.
Make yourself a super flexible journal with this easy to follow tutorial, step-by-step. Binding your book with an open spine–a chain stitch or a coptic stitch binding–is a great method when you have book covers that are individual boards instead of completely wrapped around the entire journal. You are basically binding all the signatures and covers together with a connected stitch that holds everything together tightly, but with super flexibility. The pages will open up completely flat and that’s a big reason why this method is so popular. I’m sure you might have seen lots of books on Etsy bound in this way. There are variations to the chain stitch (as with everything) but this is how I go about binding with this technique.
Bio: Linda Tieu is a creative artist living in the beautiful Tuscan hills of Italy. She offers graphic and web design services by day while pursuing her artistic design and illustration passions by night. You can find her drawing, writing and generally creating cuteness at http://www.LindaTieu.com.
