The next generation Proto-Screw Shield from the Maker Shed is a dual-purpose prototyping shield for Arduino. Not only does it have a large 0.1″ grid prototyping area but it also extends the Arduino pins to sturdy, secure, and dependable screw terminal blocks. You even get a few bonus terminals for extra GND and four ‘free’ terminals for whatever connections you wish!
Infrared light may be invisible to the human eye, but its usefulness in the world of electronics is easy to see. From simple object sensors to wireless data transmission, IR emitters & detectors can be used in a variety of different ways – and their low cost and wide availability makes them a great choice for enhancing an electronics project.
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, some interesting process shots from user Shigeru Kanemoto, who’s used a Craft ROBO brand paper-cutting robot to prepare a stencil for applying solder paste to a PCB in preparation for SMT assembly. Uppermost, the stencil freshly cut; immediately above, solder paste applied. Cool idea, with a few more shots in Shigeru-san’s photostream.
It’s not every day you get to see a demonstration of something that previously only existed in works of fiction. I’m sure we’ve all seen the clunky video of highly stylized humanoid robots like the Asimo or the eerily visceral quadruped Big Dog. Nothing will prepare you for the life like movements of Boston Dynamic’s PETMAN. The closest approximation would be the CGI animations of the robots from the 2004 blockbuster ‘I, Robot.’
The revolution will be automated! Gone are the days when you’d have to practice drawing big letters legibly with a rattle can in order to get your message across. Thanks to the folks at Graffiti Research Lab France, you need only walk along the perimeter wall with your finger on the button of their spray paint graffiti printer.
MAKE has covered Berlin-based artist Benoît Maubrey prior work on Audio Ballerinas. Now he has created a similar, but stationary sculpture using over 1000 repurposed speakers. It’s called “Speakers Wall” and in the center is a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall. It has become something of a speaker’s corner for remote museum attendees who can call in and talk through a set of the speakers for 3 minutes. As an added bonus, the speakers are used as a PA system for DJs during concerts – I can only imagine what that would sound like.
It can be done! But rather less satisfying than the traditional method, at least according to intrepid experimenter Jack Chalkley. I would think a fresh pumpkin would smell pretty good under a laser, but Jack says no.
