The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
When we asked some of our maker family what they had on their holiday wish lists, I-Wei Huang, aka Crabfu, responded with so many R/C vehicles (this…er-hurm.. grown man likes toys as much as I do!), we decided to make it into a mini, unofficial gift guide. Thanks, I-Wei! And to all you fellow Peter […]
Here’s a cool project by Ivan Poupyrev, an interactive 3D surface called Lumen. Unlike a regular 3D display, which uses optical tricks to make the image appear to extend out from the screen, in this display the pixels actually move.
Michael Mandiberg developed a kit for making your bike super visible to car headlights with retroreflective vinyl tape! It’s easy to apply, looks fly, and comes in several colors. I did up my ride too, check it out above in normal light and below in flash (simulating headlights). The kit makes a great gift for […]
Sebastian Thielke’s PongThatBeat! sequencer was created using Max/MSP and Processing – and it looks like fun!
I love this awesome Jawa doll with LED eyes from Bitter Betty Blogs. She’s created a pattern for download and personal use.
Heather Sitarzewski shares how to turn small plastic toys into festive Christmas tree ornaments. This could be a fun way to clear out the toy bins and create fun ornaments for lower branches of the family tree, or for a small kid-friendly tree! [via @dollarcraft]
In my Principles of Technology class, we’re using Sketchup to design the parts we will make for the Mendocino Motor. Though we’ll fabricate the parts with hand and power tools, you can also use Sketchup to make the files needed to cut parts on a mill, Makerbot, Shopbot or other CNC tools.
The Mendocino Motor project appears in the Teachers’ Pet Projects section on
in MAKE, Volume 20, page 79.
Here are some techniques to design parts for the motor:
First get familiar with the Sketchup interface. This is pretty easy, the software is rather intuitive. A good place to start is by making whole shapes with the rectangle and circle tools. Draw a shape, then use the Push/Pull tool to extrude it up or down. You can make a shape on the side of another shape, then pull it out or push it in. Make some shapes. Mouse over the tool icons and you should see the name of the tool in a popup.
