We’ve gotten some of the packaged marble roll games that go on the fridge and they’ve been kind of disappointing. I really like this set that you can make yourself with plumbing pipe – Jack McKee’s site has lots of other cool stuff for kids, too!
I made this scorpion toy with a Twitchie Robot Kit. I’m really afraid of scorpions where I live in Arizona, so I thought a friendly toy would help me get used to them. I made his plush body from some fabric I had around, aiming to make him look like an Arizona bark scorpion, which are tan/yellowish/translucent. Twitchie is Arduino powered and comes pre-programmed, so it’s an excellent kit for beginners in robotics, because no programming is required! You can download and modify the code if you want, and it’s pretty light on the soldering, too. I’d recommend Twitchie for young makers (boys & girls, too!) interested in robotics or moving plush toys. You can buy the Twitchie Robot Kit in the Maker Shed:
http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKTET2
Music is “At the Crack of Noon” by Shuutobi, http://shuutobi.com
Steampunk maker Professor Fzz rebuilt a hydrogen/oxygen rocket kit into a thing of Victorian era beauty. He used a 12V 3.3Ah lead-acid battery to generate the hydrogen, and built a control system to monitor battery charge and fire the rocket. He also built his own spark igniter from a voltage generator, and constructed a lovely […]
The latest addition to WowWee’s FlyTech line is the Lightstar, a simple, inexpensive flying blade (retailing for $20). They come in three different colors/infrared channels, so you can fly and remote-control three fliers at the same time. WowWee Lightstar
Check out this wonderfully disturbing piece by Jon Beinart! Via the AntiCraft
A few weeks ago, I checked out a Noise Night at Willoughby and Baltic. Scheduled for the second and fourth Thursday of the month, it’s a really fun time. I read an article in MAKE, Volume 04 on circuit bending, but I’d never gotten around to trying it. Back in college, I took a few […]
Here’s another “mind control” toy, these will be fun to take apart via CrunchGear.
