The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
Lego robotics engineer Akiyuki is rightly famed for his amazing Great Ball Contraptions (GBCs), including this sick 17-module arrangement he has in his home. One of his latest modules is this great 6-headed hydra that snags balls and delivers them to the next stage. I love it!
Some months ago I finished an original Space Invaders restoration project, but as you can see on the picture on the left, it was a little big for my daughter. So the other day I stumbled across a cheap 5.5 inch CRT black and white TV and I decided to make a “mini-me” version for her.
From the creative mind of Steve Belfer, who composed music for the animated TV show “Spongebob Squarepants,” comes this awesome homemade bubble machine. The video that shows it in action is, of course, accompanied by Belfer’s fun and quirky tunes.
Aaaaaaaaand we have a serious new contender for the title of Best Who’s-in-the-Box Ever. Adafruit senior designer Phillip Burgess was inspired by customers’ observations that their new-ish 10 cm “Massive Red Arcade Button” looks a lot like the iconic eye of Clarke and Kubrick’s famously malevolent mainframe. For sheer comedic value, I think…
Operation is a game that lets you test your hand-eye coordination by removing a variety of ailment tokens from a cartoon patient without touching the metal sides of each slot. Since its release in 1965, there have been a lot of special editions created. These feature popular characters such as Buzz Lightyear, R2D2 and Iron Man. The game’s simple design makes it very versatile and easy to adapt.
Lego builder Matt “Monsterbrick” Armstrong rebuilt a Lego 10225 (a 2,000-piece R2-D2 model) in black and gold to create R2-Pi, the Death Star astrodroid. It will be featured at Legoland Star Wars Days.
There is a large field of mustard a couple miles from MAKE headquarters, and for a few weeks in spring, all the mustard blooms, and the field turns brilliant yellow. On the way home from work about a month ago, I stopped at the field, with a plan to to take some photos. As I got closer to the ideal photo spot, I came across a gentleman, documentary filmmaker Michael Heumann, flying a quadcopter. We got to chatting, and I ended up snapping some photos. Michael has a DJI Phantom Aerial UAV Drone Quadcopter with a GoPro camera mounted to it, and he showed me how he had installed some Moongel pads on the top and bottom of the camera, to absorb shock to reduce video shakiness.
