kinetic

Pitches with Prototypes: Haptix

Pitches with Prototypes: Haptix

Haptix is a sensor that enables multitouch on any surface, such as a screen, keyboard, or table. The creators are competing in MAKE’s 2013 Hardware Innovation Workshop, set for May 14-15 to compete in the “pitches with prototypes” contest. A dozen companies have submitted hardware projects and workshop attendees will vote for the most interesting and innovative ideas. The winner will receive a slot on the Maker Faire Innovation Stage to present their prototype the following weekend.

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Post Imperial Cocktail Shaker

Post Imperial Cocktail Shaker

This cocktail shaking machine is based on a turn-of-the-century machine called an “Imperial Shaker,” and was built as part of The Touring Pop-up Sideshow Saloon event organized by the Peerless Prodigies of P.T. Barnum.

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Alley Cat is Kinetic Trash Art

Alley Cat is Kinetic Trash Art

An “Alley Cat,” made entirely from would-be-trash wood, is an entrant in the Project Remake Contest. Do you upcycle, remake, or reuse components in your projects? Submit your project and you too could win!

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Kinetic Sculpture Pushes Gravity’s Envelope

Kinetic Sculpture Pushes Gravity’s Envelope

Ben Light displayed Kinetic Sculpture 5 at the ITP Winter Show last month. When the user waves his/her hand over a photoresistor, a push solenoid is triggered, causing a rod to decouple and swing to the other side. Whatever losses are sustained due to conservation of energy are then recovered by a strong magnet that gives the rod that extra pull it needs to couple to an identical solenoid on the opposite end.

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Higher: Benjamin Carpenter (video)

Artist Benjamin Carpenter explores interactions between systems in his mechanical kinetic sculpture “Higher”. At Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 he demonstrates the work, consisting of 3 vertically oscillating eyeballs atop springs. The movement is controlled by a single button the user presses which activates the piece’s mechanism.

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Fledgling: Christian Ristow (video)

Fledgling is an avian kinetic sculpture designed and built by Christian Ristow. Participants at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 climb up the spine of a metal bird that is anatomically similar to an eagle, then sit in its head where they can pedal furiously in order to slowly move the bird’s wings in mimicry of flight.

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