A while back I did some experimentation with stewing plastic bags in canola oil and then pressing them into solid forms. The process I followed used this method for molding a self-lubricating replacement bushing on a washing machine. While the results were certainly interesting, they had a side-effect of being impregnated in the oil, leaving grease stains in their path forever.
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.
Attention New Yorkers, Makers, Engineers, Kids, Game Lovers, Techies, Luddites, and Robots…we’re running the Deconstruction during the 2011 NYC World Maker Faire. Are you planning to attend the Maker Faire? If not, you should…and you should also take part in The Deconstruction. What is the Deconstruction? It’s a building competition where we ask folks to […]
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.
Malte Ahlers from Germany lucked into some FESTO hardware, and used it to build a robotic gripper (site is in German): I was intrigued by the FESTO FinGripper mechanism which they use for their “Bionic Handling Assistant” so I asked the guys from FESTO if they would give me three samples of the FinGripper fingers […]
Ryan Carmain built this POV out of junk parts for his Embedded Programming class, using the props from a Draganfly RC chopper and controlling it with a PIC18F4550.
We’ll be making DIY ecosystems — fully self-supporting and sealed from the outside world, with some plants, animals, and a few drops of pond scum, in a Mason jar. These same biospheres sell in airline catalogs for hundreds of dollars.
