How-To: Plush Game Controller
The infamous Becky Stern has made another great tutorial video. This time she demonstrates how to make a totally functional plush game controller with Flora and conductive fabric!
Arduino
As the preeminent tool for makers, Arduino is a versatile platform that covers almost every type of creative making. With its simple-to-use coding language and fun programming concepts, Arduino enables users to create modern electronics with ease. From beginner level projects like flashing LED lights to more advanced builds such as interactive robots, there are an endless number of possibilities when it comes to building projects with Arduino. Whether you are new or an experienced builder in search of fresh ideas, these posts will provide interesting Arduino tutorials and unique ideas that may spark your creativity and motivate you take on any type of maker project!
Swarmageddon: Cicadas Helping Crowdsource Citizen Science
The Cicada Tracker project is crowdsourcing soil temperatures to track the emergence of Brood II cicadas, that have been living underground for the past 17 years. Billions and billions of cicadas are expected to emerge over the next few weeks throughout the northeast United States.
CuteUino, a Stackable and Tiny Arduino
Fran Blanche’s CuteUino Arduino spinoff is just 20mm (0.78″) square, and can have other modules stacked on top like a USB interface board. Also check out her Fretboard Shredcam project. [via Embedded Projects]
Light Wave: Playing with Light
Light Wave is a two player game and art installation I created. The game is simple. To begin the rally, hit a pedestal with one of the foam mallets. If your partner’s hit is timed correctly the rally will continue. The harder a pedestal is hit the faster the signal travels and it doesn’t slow down until a winner is determined. You may think that tennis or pong skills would serve the player well, but I found that players with experience in rhythm games like DDR or Guitar Hero usually won.
MaKey MaKey Banana Pong
Pete Prodoehl’s beautiful MaKey MaKey Banana Pong controls a Processing pong game with game paddles made from bananas. Of course, the MaKey MaKey handles the banana inputs — that’s kind of what it does. Inspired? You can pick up a MaKey MaKey Standard Kit from the Maker Shed.
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino: Making the Good Night Lamp
Last March, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino registered a new limited company in London, and booked a booth at CES, the consumer electronics trade show, taking place 10 months later. She had no team, and only a dated prototype product that she had designed back in 2005. “I thought what’s the biggest kick in the ass that I […]
Book Review: Arduino Adventures
Authors James Floyd Kelly and Harold Timmis teach kids how to use Arduinos, using a science-fiction angle to engage their readers.
