ChipDB, a new quick reference for ICs
Instead of digging through hundred-page PDF datasheets to find the pinout of a microcontroller or logic chip, you can use a simple URL scheme to get the data right away.
Electronics
Lee Felsenstein on voltage dividers
We recently covered voltage dividers in our Ask MAKE column. In the above two videos, done by our pal Jeri Ellsworth, computer industry legend Lee Felsenstein (member of the Home Brew Computer Club and Osborne designer) explains voltage dividers and how to calculate them. Things get pretty thick by part II and I pretty much […]
MrScorp, technoart sculpture that animates
While I really like a lot of the “mechanical animism” folk-art sculpture that’s out there — people making robot sculptures out of found objects and retro appliances, comical scenes and dioramas using electronic components, cellphone charms and jewelry made out of electronic parts, etc. Most of it’s immobile. Silent. So, I particularly like this scorpion […]
SpinTronic, light-based sound controller
This is a pretty simple, clever way of controlling sound by creating these pins wheels with holes in them that spin over light sensors and change frequency and modulation as light levels change. Different wheels can be swapped out. SpinTronic
MAKEcation pics: Teach your family to solder
We’re starting to see some fine submissions to our Teach Your Family to Solder MAKEcation challenge. So far, it’s been mainly kids — very little kids. While we’re thrilled that MAKE readers aren’t Nanny State types who over-protect their children, we’d love to see some older kids, teens, and more grown-ups. We’re still offering Maker’s […]
Circuit Girl fights resistance with homemade conductive glass
We haven’t heard too much from Circuit Girl, aka geek superheroine Jeri Ellsworth, in awhile. We’ve been waiting for some new clips from FMCG to show up on YouTube. In the above new segments, Jeri experiments with creating conductive glass using stannous chloride and heat, and with dying rubber parts with Rit dye to get […]
Printable batteries
A research team at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS) in Chemnitz, Germany, led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann, have developed a 1.5V battery that weighs less than a gram, is less than 1mm thick, and can be printed using a process similar to that used in silk screening. The new type […]