Mechanical toy and automata gift guide
Dug North has posted a two-part Mechanical toy gifts for holidays 2008 on his Automata / Automaton Blog. Mechanical toy gifts for holidays 2008, Part 1 Mechanical toy gifts for holidays 2008, Part 2
Kits
i-SOBOT named “Robot of the Year”
How about that? Tomy’s i-SOBOT, which the company just discontinued, was named Robot of the Year in Japan (by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) . Judges awarded this year’s Grand Prize to i-SOBOT due to its advanced technology, its high entertainment value, and its reasonable price of under 30,000 yen (around $300). […]
HOW TO – SX-150 button mod
A number of people have asked for more info on how I modded the Gakken SX-150 analog synthesizer for pushbutton usage. If you’d like to add a DIY keyboard youself, check out my recipe – Parts – Feel free to experiment with other resistor/trimpot values and using more/less switches. The basic idea here is to […]
Hacked MAKE gift subscription card
Here is my hacked MAKE gift subscription card I plan on giving this holiday season. I used an Arduino, a 7-Segment display, and a modified MAKE gift subscription card. The recipient gets the Arduino and a subscription to MAKE. It’s the perfect combination! It’s never too late to pick up a Maker Shed Gift Certificate, […]
Owl pellet dissection kit
We gave owl pellet dissection kits as party favors a couple of years ago – they’re easy to put together and make great holiday gifts! We included a couple of owl pellets, dissecting forceps, a magnifier (we like the Private Eye loupe, you can nest them for higher magnification) and a Riker box to display […]
Chronulator 2 kit parts
I got my brand spanking new Chronulator 2 kit in the mail! I had big plans for opening it all up and taking photos of the parts. I figured I go out and find an amazing case to build it into. I have a two-year-old with a cold. I figured wrong. I got as far […]
Build: The Gakken Karakuri Tea Serving Robot
The Gakken Tea Serving Robot is designed to be a replication of the karakuri zui, an illustrated manual written in the Edo period (1603-1868). This mechanical doll has a tray that holds a cup of tea, and it is designed to approach the guest with the tea, bow his head, and then carry the empty […]