Before my hip replacement surgery in 1999, I was sometimes relegated to a wheel chair. You cannot imagine what it feels like to give up your freedom of movement and your self-sufficiency. And you cannot imagine the joy and sense of independence you reclaim when you get some ability back, through an assistive device or […]
I’m converting a Twitchie kit into a finger-controlled robot arm. I built a little servo breakout on some perfboard, and added pin headers to plug a flex sensor into it, making a voltage divider circuit for the Arduino. This means the angle of the servos changes (rapidly!) as you bend the sensor. I’ll be attaching […]
EMS Labs decided to give Jay Clegg’s excellent Peggy video hack a go and documented the results. The updated version of the project requires a Peggy 2 board (with all 625 LEDs installed), an Arduino (for Serial to I2C data conversion), and a computer running Processing with a video source. I’m thinking this is probably […]
Oomlout sells a nifty $20 kit to mechanically control a light switch using an Arduino. No need to play with the wiring just bolts onto any standard light switch. Doesn’t interfere with normal operation. (there’s still room to flip the switch on and off manually) The project possibilties are endless. (automatic nightlight, motion sensing, controlling […]
Gakken’s Aurorarium is a fun and easy to build LED light kit available in the Maker Shed. It would be a great first-time project to make with your kids. You don’t even need any tools to build the Aurorarium. All you need are (4) AA batteries and a little time for assembly. Check out all […]
I finally put together my Newton’s Reflecting Telescope Kit by Gakken. It was a lot of fun to build and it works great. This kit would be a perfect gift for anyone getting into astronomy. By the time I was finished, I had a really good understanding of how these types of telescopes work. A […]
Next week I am going to try out the Designing Automata Kit from the Maker Shed. It’s a beautifully made kit that seems to have endless possibilities. When I opened the box, I was really surprised at just how many pieces are included in the kit. The New Designing Automata Kit is great value and […]
