From the Editor’s Desk
Notes and news from around the Make: world.Page 06
Make: Volume 82 – We’re All MacGyvers Now
Responding effectively to emergencies, from short power outages on up to natural disasters lasting weeks or months, is almost always a result of preparation. With a little forethought, know-how, and advance planning, makers with a DIY and community mindset are fantastically positioned to help themselves and others in extreme situations.
In this issue of Make:, get a crash course in emergency prep with our HUGE maker’s survival guide filled with projects and resources that you can get started with today. Next, MacGyver creator Lee Zlotoff explains how a maker mindset can help you manage when a crisis seems overwhelming. Get an overview of how the growing Internet of Production helps communities respond faster and cheaper to disasters with locally-sourced resources and rapid manufacturing. Then, build a solar-powered lamp out of a soda bottle that’s both decorative and resourceful. And, learn how to “nuke-proof” your ride from EMPs with superfast surge suppression.
Plus, 55 projects, including:
- Build a light-up kaleidoscope using wireless LEDs
- Make an easy solar-powered phone charger
- Twist bamboo to make a Japanese shiorido garden gate
- Make a weather station using battery-free perpetual computing
- Halloween projects: Smoking skull mask, edible eyeballs, spooky costumes, and more!
On the cover: Shradha Piri delights in the light of the Solar Bottle Lamp, in Baripada, Odisha, India. Build it on page 44. Photo and project by her uncle, Debasish Dutta. Additional photos by Mike Warren and Adobe Stock-Lumos sp
Table of Contents
Columns
Welcome: Who You Gonna Call
In an emergency or disaster, a preestablished network of neighbors can be more responsive than 911.Page 07
Made on Earth
Backyard builds from around the globe.Page 08
Features
A Crack in the Hourglass
Jennifer Dorner and Stephan Schulz
A maker family in lockdown helps to engineer a memorial Covid artwork.Page 14
Homage to a Handmade Chip
Charles Platt
The world’s most popular integrated circuit — the 555 timer — turns 50.Page 18
Special Section
Emergency Prep!
Tim Deagan
How makers can prepare for the unexpected, with DIY power and radio projects, food storage and water purification, emergency kits, and more. Page 22
We Are All MacGyvers Now
Lee D. Zlotoff
When the going gets tough, makers get it together.Page 34
From Emergency to Emergence
Andrew Lamb
Scaling an Internet of Production that’s ready for disaster relief.Page 38
DIY Solar Bottle Lamp
Debasish Dutta
Reuse waste plastic bottles to make this 3D-printed solar lamp.Page 44
Nuke-Proof Your Ride
Forrest M. Mims III
Harden vehicles against EMP blasts with superfast surge suppression.Page 50
A Modern Watchmaker
Paul Smith
Creating a private, open source smartwatch that anyone can build, repair, and program.Page 52
Cyber Prep
David Groom
Harden your digital domain against disasters and bad actors.Page 58
Projects
Ka-Light-Oscope!
Debra Ansell
So shiny! Use free-floating, inductive wireless LEDs as glowing, moving elements in this mirrored acrylic kaleidoscope.Page 60
Build a Bamboo Garden Gate
Douglas Arensberg
Cut, join, and weave bamboo to make a beautiful Japanese shiorido tea garden gate. Page 68
Solar Power on the Move
Lee Wilkins
Experiment with mini photovoltaic panels and turn your phone case into a mobile solar charger.Page 74
Song Spotter
Keith Hammond
Program a Raspberry Pi to identify 3,000 birds by sound alone, using an AI neural net.Page 81
Perpetual Battery-Free Weather Station
Vito Kortbeek and Przemysław Pawłczack
Batteries not included — ever! Use perpetual computing to build an energy-harvesting weather transmitter that can run CircuitPython virtually forever, despite power failures.Page 82
Custom Fabrics
David J. Groom
Design your own fantastic fabrics and have them specially printed or woven. Page 90
Amateur Scientist: Get Barreled
Forrest M. Mims III
Emergency water storage is an easy project. Build a 55-gallon drinking water drum.Page 94
Open Smart Security Cam
Eben Kauao
Free yourself from the corporate camera cloud with this private, motion-detecting, notification-sending Raspberry Pi/Arduino mash-up.Page 98
DIY Fingerprint Scanning Lock
Jeffrey Elias
Add some real biometric security to your doors and drawers, using an Arduino, a solenoid lock, and an optical fingerprint sensor. Page 104
Toy Inventor’s Notebook: Mini Glowboard
Bob Knetzger
Make a little light-up message board that gleams in the dark.Page 108
Halloween Hacks
En Fuego!
Mike Warren
Add awesome smoke and fire effects to this realistic Ghost Rider — or any costume — using an e-cig and flickering flame LEDs.Page 110
1+2+3: Floating Specter
Build a 10-foot-tall spooky ghost costume and ride a Segway or hoverboard to glide through the shadows.Page 113
Edible Eyeballs
Bryan Harper
Elevate your spooky libations with these easy treats made from shiratama sweet rice flour.Page 114
Cursed Objects
Caleb Kraft
Jumpstart the season with motion-sensing scare props, monster house toppers, and a bike-riding skeleton.Page 116
Skill Builder
Making Calculus With Lego
Joan Horvath and Rich Cameron
Use the venerable building bricks to intuitively learn and demonstrate key calculus concepts.Page 118
Speed Up Your 3D Prints
Bryan Vines
Change a single slicer setting to save hours on your long 3D prints.Page 122
Toolbox
Toolbox
Caleb Kraft
Gear up with the latest tools and kits for makers.Page 124
The Last Word
The Humpbacks of Notre Dame
Dale Dougherty
Combining science fiction and climate advocacy, this pedal-powered racer takes first place.Page 128
