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The Hexanaut: Building The World’s Largest Rideable Hexapod Robot

The Hexanaut: Building The World’s Largest Rideable Hexapod Robot

Sophie Martinez

By Sophie Martinez

Sophie Martinez

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Whether they realize it or not, fans of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Disney+ series Andor may already be familiar with UK creator Matt Denton’s movie magic. But in 2012, Denton’s futuristic fabrications transcended the silver screen and landed in the real world with the debut of Mantis — a six-legged, two-ton, human-piloted, steel behemoth.  Originally commissioned for commercial use, a […]

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Chrome and Lace: Rae Ripple’s Take On Rat Rods

Chrome and Lace: Rae Ripple’s Take On Rat Rods

Chrome and Lace: Rae Ripple’s Take On Rat Rods

By Greg Gilman

Greg Gilman

Greg Gilman is a writer and musician based in Los Angeles, California, where he began his career as a reporter and editor for TheWrap. After forming rock band Greg in Good Company, he pivoted to freelance journalism, with his work appearing in publications including MovieMaker Mmagazine, Syfy Wire, and Make: magazine.

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Meet Phillis Gene, a vintage Chevrolet Deluxe that just got a one-of-a-kind redesign by Texas-based metal artist Rae Ripple. “I wanted to keep that real classy lady feel, so that’s where the lace came in,” Ripple says of her work, commissioned by a rat rod enthusiast and named after his mother. “I guess if you were going […]

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Plane Spotting (And More!): Put your spare gear to use as a feeder for community-based data exchanges

Plane Spotting (And More!): Put your spare gear to use as a feeder for community-based data exchanges

onemindisbuddha

By onemindisbuddha

onemindisbuddha

a 38-year Japan resident, Make: fan, and a radio and 3D printing enthusiast. You can find him on Reddit under the same name.

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If you’ve ever used a flight-tracking app or looked up local weather on Weather Underground, you’ve likely accessed data supplied, in part, by volunteer contributors. Crowd-sourced data exchanges collect this information and share the pooled results online via interactive maps. The data ranges from radio-signal telemetry for airplanes, ships, weather balloons, or satellites, to seismic measurements, to air […]

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Model Mainframe

Model Mainframe

Marshall Piros

By Marshall Piros

Marshall Piros

Marshall Piros is a freelance writer, upcoming college student, and lover of all things retro, pop-culture, and sci-fi. Despite not being a maker himself, he is always happy to showcase the creativity of others. Born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA, Marshall spends his spare time reading, drawing, playing video games, and practicing the piano.

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With how important desktop and laptop computers are to the world today, it’s hard to imagine that, not too long ago, they used to be the size of refrigerators and entire rooms. However, Nicolas Temese has found a way to keep the memory of these gigantic machines alive — by shrinking them down to a fraction of […]

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Get a Grip! Overcome Those Shaky Hands With These Useful Adaptive Devices

Get a Grip! Overcome Those Shaky Hands With These Useful Adaptive Devices

Charles Platt

By Charles Platt

Charles Platt

Charles Platt is a contributing editor to Make magazine, which has published more than 50 of his articles. Six of his books are available from Make: Books

Make: Electronics, an introductory guide, now available in its second edition.

Make: More Electronics, a sequel that greatly extends the scope of the first book.

Encyclopedia of Electronic Components, volumes 1, 2, and 3 (the third written in collaboration with Fredrik Jansson).

Make: Tools, which uses the same teaching techniques as Make: Electronics to explore and explain the use of workshop tools.

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Get a better grip on your tools with these easy assistive solutions.

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Getting Involved: Robot Sports Aren’t Just Combat — There’s Something Fun for Everyone

Getting Involved: Robot Sports Aren’t Just Combat — There’s Something Fun for Everyone

David Calkins

By David Calkins

David Calkins

David Calkins is a widely respected robot builder and expert. He has taught robotics and computer engineering at San Francisco State University and various grade schools, is the president of the Robotics Society of America, Founder of the international RoboGames (world's largest robot competition), and has lots of other pedantic titles that no one really cares about.

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From 1997 to 2004, I competed around the world in a number of different robot categories, primarily sumo robots. I also worked a lot of shows (judges are always in demand) while teaching robotics at San Francisco State University. One thing I noticed in that time was not only the variety of robots out there, […]

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