Knock Knock is a clever Arduino-controlled calculator toy, designed for small children. The user knocks out a calculation on the surface — addition, multiplication, subtraction, or division — and Knock Knock will spit back the solution, in the form of knocks, of course. It’s a fun idea for a toy, but good luck trying to use this in secret during a “no calculators” test at school!
The Maker Faire Bay Area brings in Makers from around the world, like 15 year-old Gabriel Diaz Yanten, who is coming all the way from Chile along with his animatronic dinosaur puppet, Anacleto. Anacelto is a 12.8 feet tall and 8.2 feet long T-Rex that Gabriel designed and built with the help of his uncle, a mechanic.
For young makers, making is more than learning how to use a particular tool or a technique. It’s experiencing the power of a material, technology, or tool as a language of self expression. It’s PLAYING with different languages and experiencing the magic of connections that is made when what you have made makes someone laugh, cry, or wonder.
Some months ago I finished an original Space Invaders restoration project, but as you can see on the picture on the left, it was a little big for my daughter. So the other day I stumbled across a cheap 5.5 inch CRT black and white TV and I decided to make a “mini-me” version for her.
Ian Danforth has created a robot he hopes change how people, mainly children, think about and interact with robots. It’s called the Fenn. Ian, founder of Embodied AI, has written a children’s story about our contact with an alien planet and the creatures who live there. The Fenn is the robotic embodiment of one of those creatures. Ian and the Fenn will be at Maker Faire Bay Area this month.
From the creative mind of Steve Belfer, who composed music for the animated TV show “Spongebob Squarepants,” comes this awesome homemade bubble machine. The video that shows it in action is, of course, accompanied by Belfer’s fun and quirky tunes.
Last month, Super Awesome Sylvia, one of our favorite young makers, was selected to show off her WaterColorBot at the White House and meet President Obama. Yesterday, Joey Hudy, another young maker and MAKE regular, was named by Business Insider as one of 10 smartest kids in the world. Wow.
