Maker Shed Epic New Product Post
We’ve had an influx of new arrivals in the Maker Shed lately and rather than tell you about them one blog post at a time, we thought it’d be more fun to post several at once!
Technology
Bluetooth: The Next Generation
Bluetooth has never had a reputation as being easy to work with, but with the arrival of the Bluetooth LE standard, all that has changed. We look at two of the new Arduino-compatible micro-controller boards on Kickstarter with Bluetooth LE built-in.
All About the Diode
Collin Cunningham explains what diodes are all about, describing the history of the component, the various types, and even touches on creating your own. [M]aking this installment of the series taught me quite a few things. Prior to reading up on the diode, I wasn’t aware how closely its development was tied to the birth […]
K’Nex Tic-Tac-Toe Robot
Instructable user OddBot built this Arduino-controlled Tic-Tac-Toe robot built out of K’Nex (actually, he used LOZ, a K’Nex ripoff product) using ping pong balls. He controls the robot with a universal TV remote and an IR receiver, and you can actually configure the game with the remote, setting up (for instance) a larger board like […]
Is This 3D Machine a Printer or a Fabber?
Are 3D printers a continuation of developments in a modern technology that started over 500 years ago with Gutenberg? Printers use a variety of materials and processes, and now you can print in 3D. Or will we look back one day and think that these fabricators represent the beginning of something entirely new, and we might consider 3D printer such as MakerBot the start, not the end, and that’s there’s generation of 3D machines we haven’t seen yet. Maybe we should have been calling them something other than printers, a better name such as “fabbers.”
Robot-Assisted Xylophone
The makers of MakeBlock, a very cool and sophisticated extruded aluminum building set, are showing off their stuff with this fantastic xylophone-playing robot controlled by an Arduino. MakeBlock, as you can see from the photo, is very beautiful (love the blue anodization!) and it’s extremely well thought out. They’re a startup located in Shenzhen, China. […]
HAM Radio 80th Anniversary “Field Day” This Weekend
Every year on the fourth weekend in June, the largest amateur radio event in the US and Canada occurs. It’s called Field Day. The first Field Day was in 1933 and this year’s event— June 22-23—is the 80th anniversary.
