Maker Shed Epic New Product Post

We’ve had an influx of new arrivals in the Maker Shed lately and rather than tell you about them one blog post at a time, we thought it’d be more fun to post several at once!

First up is the new FlipBooKit Moto shown in the above GIF. Mark Rosen and Wendy Marvel first showed off their self-made flip books at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2012. Due to the response they received (and some input from our own Matt Richardson) Mark and Wendy decided to create a kit version which they launched via Kickstarter at Maker Faire New York. We worked with Mark and Wendy to bring you this motorized version of their FlipBook Kit which assembles with simple hand tools (you just need a screwdriver) and can be completed in under an hour. You can use the included galloping horse animation or create your own custom frames from pictures or videos.

Next up is the Bandit Sheriff Shotgun Kit. We met Bob Coulston last year at Maker Faire Kansas City where kids were going crazy over a shooting range he built to show off his laser cut rubber band guns. After his success he also launched a successful Kickstarter and now he’s in full production. This Bandit Rubber Band Sheriff Shotgun Kit consists of 14 pieces of laser cut plywood stacked and held together with binding bolts (no glue required). The pieces come together to form a one of a kind 10 shot, pump action rubber band shotgun with three firing modes: Single Shot, Rapid Fire, and Shotgun Blast. The kit can be assembled under 15 minutes with only a screwdriver, and fires rubber bands up to 25ft. Be sure to check out our Deal of the Week for a special introductory offer!

I personally don’t think the Propeller from Parallax gets the credit it deserves. This 32-bit microcontroller has 8 individually programmable cores (cogs) on a single chip running up to 80Mhz each. It was designed from the ground up for high-speed embedded processing with minimal power consumption while providing a host of features. It used to be that you had to learn a new programming language called “Spin” to program the Propeller, but not anymore. Recently Parallax released a GCC compiler for C or C++ programming and created the Propeller C Learning System to get you started with this powerful platform. The new Propeller Activity Board was developed to accompany these tutorials and comes pre-wired to the most popular peripherals to get you up and running without spending a bundle.

Cubelets have been teasing us at Maker Faires for as long as I can remember. These “magnetic robot blocks” constantly drew a crowd, but were never available for purchase and were always still under development. Well, I’m happy to say we now have Cubelets in stock and shipping! This 6pc starter kit includes 2 action Cubelets (1 Drive, 1 Flashlight), 2 Sense Cubelets (1 Brightness, 1 Distance), and 2 think Cubelets (1 Battery, 1 Passive) which you can arrange to create your own robot – no programming required! Each kit includes the batteries and charger for nonstop fun.

The BeagleBone Black was released a few weeks ago but sold out days after we put them online. We just restocked so now’s your chance if you missed out on the first round (or just want another.) The Beagle Bone Black is a high performance, hardware hacker focused development board based on the AM335x Cortex A8 ARM processor from Texas Instruments. It features built in HDMI, 512MB of RAM, and 2GB of onboard storage with Ångström Linux pre-installed.

Ever wish you had an indicator that would tell you when you get an e-mail, tweet, or notify you if something goes wrong? The Blink(1) from ThingM connects to your USB port and uses downloadable GUIs to configure the behavior of the blink(1)s RGB LED. The Blink(1) can also connect to the cloud using  IFTTT, so you can get weather updates, shipment notifications, news alerts, or social media updates at a glance.

Sure, anyone can download a program for digital sound synthesis or purchase an inexpensive digital synthesizer, but true purists know you need an analog synthesizer to get the most realistic sounds possible. Analog synthesizers can be pretty pricey, but with a little ingenuity and know-how, you can build your own! Make: Analog Synthesizers by Ray Wilson lets you dive into the tools, techniquess, and information for making your own analog synthesizer. Whether your a musician or a hobbyist with experience in building electronic projects, this do-it-yourself guide will walk you through the parts and schematics you need, and how to tailor them for your needs.

When I saw Christian Carlberg’s HexBright flashlight launch on Kickstarter, I must admit I was terribly excited. An open source flashlight? What’s the point? But then I saw one in person which  changed my mind entirely! Now I would gladly trade out all my other flashlights for one HexBright. This small (under 6″) light is turned from solid aluminum stock and fits perfectly into your hand. It has a heft that lets you know it’s quality and that it won’t let you down any time soon. The 500 lumen CREE LED has no problem illuminating an entire room and is so bright that you can feel heat coming from the beam. The light recharges over USB and has an on-board Arduino with accelerometer that can be programed for different behaviors. Want your light to turn on when dropped? Tired of the kids shining the light in your eyes? It’s possible with the HexBright!

Lastly, we now have the Arduino Esplora in the store. This all-in-one Arduino board is perfect for learning Arduino without worrying about wiring circuits or sensors. It features a buit-in light sensor, temperature sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, microphone, joystick, directional pushbuttons, linear potentiometer, RGB LED, and a buzzer which are all soldered on and ready to use. Since the Esplora is based on the same ATmega32u4 as the Arduino Leonardo, it is capable of mouse and keyboard emulation. It comes pre-programmed with a game controller script so you can plug it into your computer and start playing right away.

Be sure to check out the New Arrivals page on the Maker Shed to keep track of all our great new products. Know of anything you think we should carry? Leave a note in the comments!