Let’s Make Robots at World Maker Faire NY
Andrew Terranova writes in to let us know what Let’s Make Robots is bringing to World Maker Faire NY this weekend at the New York Hall of Science in Queens.
Technology
In the Maker Shed: PIR Sensor
The PIR sensor, from the Maker Shed, is a great way to add motion sensing capabilities to your project. It uses an infrared sensitive element enclosed by a Fresnel lens to detect changes in heat patterns up to 20 feet away.
Xperia Commercial Describes a Floating Maker Studio
Copenhagen art studio illutron conducted a 3-day hackathon using Xperia phones. Illutron is located on Copehnagen’s south harbor in a boat, how cool is that? [Via Arduino]
Hasselblad’s “Astronaut’s Photography Manual” for NASA
Cool find by my old pal Billy Baque. The manual describes the operation of the Hasselblad 500 EL/M, and gives general advice about how to take good photographs in space, should you ever find yourself there. With a camera. As Billy says, “[i]t makes working on the shuttle seem less glamorous and a lot more like hard, hard work.”
Tattoo of Schematic Brings Geek-Chic to New Level
While riding New York City’s L Train, I spotted this tattoo on an anonymous Williamsburg-bound hipster. I only had a few moments to chat with him as my stop was coming up, but he claims it is a full schematic for a guitar amplifier circuit. It heartens me to think that a piece of engineering ephemera has elevated itself to hipster tattoo art, but another part of me is dismayed. After further inquiry, it turns out the tattoo owner is a musician and actually has no clue what any of those strange symbols mean on his arm.
Robot Plays Fetch with a Dog
This excellent ball-flinging robot, by YouTube user LordLal0, plays fetch with a dog and even keeps track of the number of times it has flung the ball. As the caption says, this is what happens when an engineer owns a dog. [Thanks, Robert]
Color-Changing Doorbell
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, from Engineer Eiki Martinson of Lighthouse Point, FL. He writes: “This uses an Atmel Attiny12 to drive a single 5mm, 4-lead RGB LED…”