This Week in Making: Robot Arms and a VR Octopus

This week we launched the Make: Gift Guide. We asked makers what they really recommended for crafters, builders, and tinkerers of all kinds. We’ll be updating it regularly over the next two months, and if you’ve got a recommendation we want to hear it! Email editor@makezine.com if there’s something you think other Makers would be happy to receive, or if there’s maker creating awesome gifts.

Last weekend, the Hackaday Superconference took place at the Supplyframe Design Lab. This two-day event focused on hardware hackers and their projects, and featured the announcement of the Hackaday Prize winners.

The American Steel Studios warehouse, home to many industrial artists and small business owners in Oakland, California, was sold to developers. While one commenter on Burning Man’s article covering the purchase, a current American Steel artist, called the purchase “The best we could have hoped for,” there’s still some trepidation among current renters at the space about the future. Given the competitive state of Bay Area real estate, there’s always a fear that spaces dedicated to dirty jobs might be turned into more lucrative housing or office spaces.

Editor’s Note: Hey, real talk, we heard about this story through friends. While this specific event probably has no impact on you or your making, the issue (needing a facility to pursue industrial arts and small scale manufacturing in areas where those spaces are disappearing) might be something you’re dealing with in your own way in your own community. We are, unfortunately, not Omniscient and not connected to every facet of the Maker community. If you have a story about the challenges your local maker community is facing and want it shared with the Make: audience in This Week in Making or feel like it deserves our attention, please don’t hesitate to email me. I’m Lisa Martin and I can be reached lmartin@makermedia.com

If you’re a Maker you sometimes find yourself with a burning need for a robotic arm… just because. The BCN3D MOVEO is a fully open source, 3D printed robotic arm that Matt Stultz, our Digital Fabrication Editor has been wanting to build for himself. While this project is technically not from this week in any way shape and form, we recently found that we had a burning need for a robotic arm (hint hint) for an upcoming issue of the magazine, so it’s fresh in our minds.

Simone Giertz, reigning Queen of Shitty Robots, and Laura Kampf, maker and youtuber extraordinaire, has now made a robot to defend from a shitty situation.

Caleb Kraft, the Make: Senior Editor voted Most Likely to Be Found at Your Local Mini Maker Faire, has been playing with Oculus Medium all week. And he won’t shut up about it. Virtual Reality makes for some pretty intuitive and FAST modeling for 3D printing. (Follow him on Twitter for some sneak peaks at Oculus Medium).