Contest

Portable automated greenhouse

Portable automated greenhouse

My project is a portable greenhouse / seed starter that has high tech features and collapses for easy storage. Since a standard greenhouse can overheat if it is closed up or get too cold if it is opened up, mine includes an automatic vent that controls to a user selectable temperature. The user first selects a temperature between 60 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, by 5 degree increments. Then the greenhouse’s built in sensors and microcontroller automatically adjust how much the vent is opened or closed to help maintain that temperature. And because of its ultra low power design the whole thing can run 24/7 for about a month on just four penlight (AA) batteries!

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan
Aspic Ascension: Jell-O mold winners

Aspic Ascension: Jell-O mold winners

Subscribe to the MAKE Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube and Vimeo. Competitors in this year’s Gowanus Studio Space Jell-O Mold Competition brought their best and really wowed the judges (including me!) on a hot night in Brooklyn last month. The grand prize winner was Shelly Sable for […]

Continue Reading Becky Stern
How-To: Retrofit a Magic 8-Ball with an OLED display

How-To: Retrofit a Magic 8-Ball with an OLED display

>The steps outlined here will show you how to modify a standard Magic 8 Ball to replace the normal message icosahedron with a OLED screen, and how to add wireless microcontroller, and accelerometer. The screen is submersed in the normal Magic 8 Ball goo so that all the original aesthetics are preserved. The messages can be reprogrammed wirelessly without having to open the 8 Ball. The accelerometer detects when the 8 Ball is in use (e.g. tipped from resting to looking through the Magic Hole) and signals the microcontroller to turn on screen and fade in the messages.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan2
GeekDad/Ponoko/Sparkfun contest

GeekDad/Ponoko/Sparkfun contest

Here is a competition with a unique twist. The inspiration and creativity of Wired Magazine’s Geek Dad merges with Ponoko’s making system and electronic gadgetry from SparkFun in this call for entries. A panel of judges from Ponoko and GeekDad will choose ten finalists, and then the overall winner will be decided in a public […]

Continue Reading John Baichtal
How-To: Build a star-tracker for your camera

How-To: Build a star-tracker for your camera

The best stellar photography requires long exposure times to capture the dimmer stars. The problem with long exposures of the night sky, of course, is that it moves. Or rather, it appears to move. So if you don’t have some way of keeping your camera pointed at the same location over the course of the exposure, you get “trailing.” Eric Chesak built this impressive star-tracking camera mount bracket and won a Design News contest back in March with it.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan2

Kits & Kitmakers: Al Linke’s DIY Magic Mirror

Al Linke has just thrown down the gauntlet by entering his DIY Magic Mirror in our Gadget Freak Design contest! Al’s prototype won the Tech Grand Prize in our 2008 DIY Halloween Contest, and the kit he’s developed is for sale now in Makers Market. It features a Sleeping-Beauty style floating, talking face in a gilt-framed mirror with an amazingly wide variety of integrated and integrable functions–even a breathalyzer!

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan