Year: 2010

Programming EL wire fashion

Programming EL wire fashion

Electroluminescent (EL) wire is a great way to add electronic patterns to your clothing. EL wire is a flexible wire that has a phosphorescent glow when current is applied to it. EL wire is one continuous strand that can easily be bent into different shapes and applied to clothing. This tutorial will show you the basics of how to sew EL wire to a garment and how to program the EL wire to turn on and off and create an animated pattern.

Sisyphean Automaton

Sisyphean Automaton

There are three movements, controlled from 3 axles, and the gears on the axles have prime numbers of teeth (23, 43, 59). So technically the movements will only repeat every 58,351 turns of the small gear. There’s also a semi-random toggle on the head motion, so it will never really quite repeat. Almost all the parts press fit and/or lock together, so the whole thing can be disassembled to a pile of parts, then reassembled, adjusted, and set going again without tools.

My Visit to The Seed Bank

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has long been a resource for heirloom and rare seeds. They have a very comprehensive online shop, but in 2009 they decided to open a storefront in the building of an old bank in downtown Petaluma. It is one of the most beautiful and inspiring shops I have ever visited. Filled […]

Make: Robot Build project submissions

Becky’s preliminary robot build. Note the use of a sewing bobbin as an idler wheel. We’re absolutely thrilled with the response we’ve gotten to the Make: Robot Build! The participation on the Forums, Flickr, and on contestants’ personal project blogs has been so inspiring. We’ve heard from a lot of people that this project inspired […]