From the Editor’s Desk
Tips, tributes, tidings, and tweets from readers like you and members of our worldwide community.Page 06
Make: Volume 87 — Beasty Boards
Boards are back and more powerful than ever! With fresh offerings from Arduino and Raspberry Pi and powerhouse boards like DFRobot’s LattePanda Sigma and Nvidia’s Jetson Orin Nano, it’s easier than ever to put epic computing power for your next project in the palm of your hand.
In this issue of Make: we track new trends in microcontrollers and single board computers, and show you the ones we’re most excited about. And if you still can’t find the right board for you, we show you how to design and manufacture your own custom chips for cheap! Next, use machine learning and Particle to automagically unmute your mic when someone says “You’re muted!” Then, use a Waveshare RP2040 board to build a mini oscilloscope for your workbench for about $25.
Annual Boards Guide: Meet the hottest new boards, and compare specs for 80+ microcontrollers and single board computers in our annual comparison guide
Plus, 31 projects:
- Craft an illuminated, animated, tessellated tote bag using LED pebble lights and 3D-printed fabric
- Build an optical transmitter for covert communication
- Sew a soft touch panel matrix for wearable electronics
- Super-size classic wooden Froebel blocks for a fun playground experience
- Harvest disposable vape batteries and give e-waste a 2nd life
- Build a metal detector circuit, 3D print a Kirby fume extractor, or laser-cut an emoji fortune teller
- And much more!
Table of Contents
Columns
Welcome: Reaping the Fields of Ingenuity
David J. Groom
What a difference a year has made. Almost 200 boards were vying for a spot in our new 2024 guide.Page 08
Made on Earth
Backyard builds from around the globe.Page 10
Feature
A Model Modern Makerspace
Dale Dougherty
How Vienna’s thriving Happylab is helping other makerspaces succeed.Page 10
DIY Spy
The Briefcase of a Laser Spy
Forrest M. Mims III
Amateur scientist Forrest Mims recounts his laser eavesdropping adventures with the National Enquirer.Page 20
Disarm a Drone
Laurel Cummings
Invasive drones are snooping everywhere. Here’s how they can be defeated.Page 26
Hiding in Plain Sight
Joe Grand
Send secret messages invisibly over light waves with your own optical covert channel.Page 30
Raspberry Spy Streamer Cam
Diego Gonzalez
Surveil your domain and stream it to Twitch, YouTube, or a private RTMP server.Page 36
The Art of Surveillance
Keith Hammond
Provocative tech artist Dries Depoorter exposes the many ways you’re being watched.Page 42
Beasty Boards
Boards Are Back
David J. Groom
With shortages behind us, behold a new ecosystem of go-to gadgets, specialized boards, all-in-one hybrids, and high-power beasts!Page 46
DIY Silicon!
Gareth Halfacree
Yes, now you can design and manufacture your own custom chips — for cheap.Page 50
“You’re Muted”
Particle
Oops! Use machine learning to automagically unmute your mic when anyone utters the immortal phrase.Page 54
PicoScope
Steve Johnson
Build a useful mini oscilloscope for about 25 bucks!Page 58
Make: Guide to Boards 2024
Check out specs and hands-on reviews of the latest microcontrollers and single-board computers. 80+ boards for you to compare!Page
Projects
Bag to the Future
Debra Ansell
Build an illuminated, animated, tessellated tote using LED pebble lights and 3D-printed fabric.Page 66
Ginormous Froebel Blocks
Doug Stowe
Super-size a classic teaching toy and put the play back in playground.Page 76
Join the Air Movement!
Christina Cole and Victoria Jaqua
Build your own “Corsi box” air purifiers to battle viruses, wildfire smoke, and indoor air pollution.Page 82
Squishy Tech: The Soft Matrix
Lee Wilkins
Make soft touch pads and panels in conductive fabric to control wearables, LEDs, and more.Page 88
Electronic Fun & Fundamentals: Change Sensor
Charles Platt and Fredrick Jansson
Find lost coins and other treasures by building this DIY metal detector circuit.Page 94
Very Sucky
Chris Borge
Print a portable mini fume extractor, and solder more safely anywhere. (Kirby optional.)Page 98
Hack Your Toothbrush
Cy Tymony
Part 1: Salvage tiny motors from discarded electric toothbrushes and use them for fun projects!Page 102
Harvest Disposable Vape Batteries
Becky Stern
Give these trendy products destined for e-waste a second life to power your projects.Page 106
Toy Inventor’s Notebook: Mystic Emoji Fortune Teller
Bob Knetzger
Make this pocket-sized prognosticator and ask away!Page 110
Skill Builder
Tiles and Tessellations
Joan Horvath and Rich Cameron
Want to design interlocking geometric surfaces? A little trigonometry has you covered.Page 112
Serious Soldering
Charles Platt
Banish bad habits and solder like a boss with an inexpensive temperature-controlled iron.Page 118
Toolbox
Toolbox
Gear up with the latest tools and kits for makers.Page 122
Over the Top
To the Stars and Back
Craig Couden
A secret manned mission to Mars was lost to space in 1969. Or was it?Page 128
