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Posts with «electronics» label
When Things Start to Gossip and Other Computational Matters
What are the implications of our devices exchanging information about our identities, abilities, and actions? They're all quite the gossip.
The post When Things Start to Gossip and Other Computational Matters appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
Maker Spotlight: Daniel Zimmerman
An engineering manager, Daniel Zimmerman enjoys tinkering on basement tech projects that further automate his home.
The post Maker Spotlight: Daniel Zimmerman appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
Mini Hacker Breaks Down How To Build It
I read the other day that the hot career choice for kids these days is: YouTuber. That means every kid — yes, including mine — has two or three attempts at a YouTube show on their account and then they get into the next big thing and forget about it. On the other hand, sometimes you find someone who has a lot of ideas to share, and the dedication to keep sharing them.
[Kevin Zhou], an 11-year-old from Indonesia, has filmed around 70 videos in the past couple of years, with a fantastic variety of nerdy projects ranging from Mindstorms to Arduino to wood shop projects, and even a Blender tutorial. His projects show a lot of complexity, with serious, real-world concepts, and he shares the technical details about the various components in the project, and he walks you through the code as well.
He made a Mindstorms carving machine, pictured above, with a gantry system holding a motor steady while the user carves into a block of floral foam with LEGO bits. He does a lot of home automation projects using an Arduino and relay board, as well as a number of water-pumping robots. He doesn’t stick to one medium or technology. He has a jigsaw and in one video he shows how to build a Thor’s hammer out of wood. He prints out each layer’s design on office paper and glues the paper to a piece of wood, cutting out the cross-sections on his jigsaw. The whole stack is glued together and clamped. [Kevin]’s design featured a hollow space inside to save weight, which he cut by drilling a 1-inch hole in the center with his drill press, then threading the jigsaw blade through the hole to cut out the inside. As an amateur woodcrafter myself, I like seeing him branching out working on small wood projects.
[Kevin]’s full automatic water dispenser is one of a series of water-pumping projects including a couple of plant-watering robots. [Kevin] uses a relay-triggered pump and a water-level sensor, all running on an Arduino Mega plugged into a 1360-point breadboard.
He has a lot of common modules. He uses a LED display plugged directly into the breadboard, with its backpack plugged into same rows so it can lay flat. He plays around with an IR remote, as well as a 12 V / 5 A Peltier thermo-electric cooler running off of a relay. He has a couple of different relay boards making for a number of home automation projects, including a fairly complicated security system featuring RFID and keypad entry.
There are many LEGO and Mindstorms projects as well, including a complicated robot arm controlled by a smartphone app, as well as a Technic beam sorter that rolls the beams down a conveyor so that shorter elements fall through smaller holes, while longer pieces continue on to fall in larger holes down the line. Intriguingly to me, he did a couple of projects involving mixing Arduinos and LEGO/Mindstorms, and frequently uses the building set to build enclosures and support structure.
I suppose you could say the individual projects aren’t that challenging–connecting a relay board to an Arduino, for instance. All of these parts are fairly simple to run individually but together show he’s been working at this for a long time: 70 videos. A DIY security system is a far cry from turning on a LED.
Besides, I like how [Kevin] finishes projects, then riffs off of them. He tries out a few variants in a row, making changes and improvements. I just hope he keeps building–I can’t imagine what he’ll be making fifteen years from now.
Check out some of his videos:
Filed under: Arduino Hacks, Featured
Espruino: The Challenges of Running an Open Source Hardware and Software Company
Running an open source hardware and software company has its rewards. But it also has its challenges. Espruino is no different.
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Build a 1930’s Style Dieselpunk Cellphone
Adafruit’s Fona microcontroller, with a GSM phone module, can be used to make your very own dieselpunk cellphone that can make calls and store contacts.
The post Build a 1930’s Style Dieselpunk Cellphone appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
Build a Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe
This isn't your typical schoolroom globe... Create a Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe to display a map, a skull, or message.
The post Build a Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
5 Projects Fit for a Pokemon Go Master
Do you want to be the very best? Do you want to become a Pokemon Go master? Then here are 5 projects to help you level up and catch 'em all.
The post 5 Projects Fit for a Pokemon Go Master appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
How to Develop a Sellable Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) Product
Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) is a great bluetooth solution for your electronics product even if energy use isn't a factor.
The post How to Develop a Sellable Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) Product appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.