Video

MAKE Volume 29: DIY Superhuman

MAKE Volume 29: DIY Superhuman

We have the technology (to quote The Six Million Dollar Man), but commercial tools for exploring, assisting, and augmenting our bodies really can approach a price tag of $6 million. Medical and assistive tech manufacturers must pay not just for R&D, but for expensive clinical trials, regulatory compliance, and liability — and doesn’t help with low pricing that these devices are typically paid for through insurance, rather than purchased directly. But many gadgets that restore people’s abilities or enable new “superpowers” are surprisingly easy to make, and for tiny fractions of the costs of off-the-shelf equivalents. MAKE 29, the “DIY Superhuman” issue, explains how.

Quick LED Robot Ornament (video)

My colleagues over on CRAFT all have the work ethics and compulsive tendencies that of any crafter worth his/her stripes. When Rachel and Lish proposed an ornament swap this year, precariously close to Christmas, we all piled on. None of us can resist crafting on a deadline. I whipped up a whole bunch of these cardboard LED robot ornaments on Sunday morning. I used what I had at hand– some cardboard, spray paint, and a whole bunch of LEDs. Since I can’t resist the urge to document my crafts, enjoy this video and see the complete how-to on Make: Projects.