Technology

Maker Faire Detroit: The Midwest at its Best – What We Hope for Detroit

Maker Faire Detroit: The Midwest at its Best – What We Hope for Detroit

The fourth Maker Faire Detroit took place at The Henry Ford in Dearborn on July 27-28, 2013. When we first started planning Maker Faire Detroit five years ago, we knew it would be a challenge. The regional economy was as bad in 2008 as in any part of the country, and the forecast seemed grim. Yet, even then you could see hopeful signs, even in downtown Detroit. Now that Detroit has declared bankruptcy, one might think things have only gotten worse. I want to tell you that in fact they have gotten better and Maker Faire Detroit offers any number of hopeful signs, that there’s new life not just in Michigan but perhaps for the entire Rust Belt.

Continue Reading Ken Denmead22
Digital Magic 8 Ball

Digital Magic 8 Ball

The Magic 8 Ball is a fun toy that answers yes or no questions in a variety of ways. There are 20 different responses that it can give (10 positive, 5 non-committal, and 5 negative). A different answer is written on each face of a 20 sided die that floats in a blue liquid.

Each time you turn over the 8 ball it randomly displays one of the answers. This can be an amusing way to speculate about life’s many questions, but it lacks versatility. So I decided to augment my Magic 8 Ball with a digital picture keychain. This let me store up to 60 picture responses and I can change them whenever I want. So in this project, I am going to show you how to make a digital picture Magic 8 Ball.

Continue Reading Jason Poel Smith
What’s an FPGA?

What’s an FPGA?

In a recent episode of the very popular EEVblog by Dave Jones, the electrical engineer walks through the fundamentals of the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). He explains how FPGAs work, how they’re different from microcontrollers, and their advantages and disadvantages. Myself, I’m still learning this stuff, so rather than trying to stumble through my […]

Continue Reading Matt Richardson24