Month: May 2013

“If You Come, We Will Build It” – Crowdsourcing Hardware Ideas

“If You Come, We Will Build It” – Crowdsourcing Hardware Ideas

Ouya is a new kind of game console for the television. It is open and allows any creator to develop games. Ouya’s Tim DaRosa will be at the Hardware Innovation Workshop (May14-15) talking about how they got started. Central to their development process was getting feedback and suggestions from backers, partners, and the media about their console. Tweaks and improvements such as adding an Ethernet port, renaming of the buttons, and changing the cross-style control pad were all products of this process.

Binder Clip Bag

Binder Clip Bag

Seattle designer Peter Bristol’s Clip Bag translates those ubiquitous binder clips you find in offices into a funny and useful accessory that could almost be elegant, if it weren’t so silly. It’s one of those form translations that makes me say, “Of course!” The bag is made out of wool felt and aluminum tubing.

Component of the Month: Op Amps

Component of the Month: Op Amps

Each month this year, we’re exploring a different electronic component, delving into what it is, how it works, and how you use it in projects. Last month we covered resistors, and before that we looked at batteries. This month we examine operational amplifiers, often called op amps. An op amp is an electronic component used […]

DIY Robot Building, Circa 1956

DIY Robot Building, Circa 1956

Stuart “Mr. Retro” Sandler built a super retro robot from plans found in a 57-year-old copy of Boys Life he’d purchased from eBay. Stuart had heard about the robot as a teenager and wrote to the magazine for the copy of the plans. They sent him a photocopy but left out a couple of key […]