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MAKE Magazine (10 unread)

NEWS FROM THE FUTURE – Drone Pilot Discovers “River of Meat Blood”

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 4:00pm MST by Phillip Torrone

This was one of our predictions for 2012, not the rivers of blood, but drones being used by "citizen journalists" more and more - I think this is a good example, even if accidental. My friend Johngineer posted up a great list of "The future of Drones".
Fused Filament Printing with Water-Soluble Support

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 2:00pm MST by Sean Ragan

Veteran Thingiverse user Tony Buser has printed a model (intended to be an approximation of the fractal Hilbert curve) using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a support material. Once everything is printed and cooled, the PVA is dissolved away in a glass of water, leaving only the polylactic acid (PLA) model. This technique, when perfected, should [...]
Got Weekend Plans? How About a Visit to the Materials Library?

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 10:00am MST by Sean Ragan

Two years ago I wrote about what a delight it was to discover the UT-Austin School of Architecture’s Materials Lab when I was on campus there, and it seems appropriate to resurrect the topic in honor of our theme this month. Kevin Kelly just posted a roundup of major materials libraries around the USA over [...]
In the Maker Shed: Teleclaw – Telerobotic Gripper Kit

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 9:00am MST by Michael Castor

Need a hand? Build your own with the Telerobotic Gripper Kit from the Maker Shed! This kit includes everything you need to make the Teleclaw featured in MAKE: Volume 27, right down to the batteries.
Smartphone-Controlled Ball Launcher

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 8:00am MST by John Baichtal

Andrew and his brother built this great ping-pong ball launcher out of salvaged and repurposed parts. I especially like the 13-ball hopper made from two paper towel tubes taped together, and the clever K’Nex-controlled release mechanism. The launcher is controlled with an Arduino connected to a computer and activated via a remote desktop app from [...]
Railroad Spike Oyster Knives

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 7:00am MST by Sean Ragan

I like these hand-forged oyster knives from Kirk Davis and Michael Waller of Carolina Shuckers enough to actually consider eating a raw oyster, so long as I got to use one to open it, first. Reminds me of the work of Tai Goo. [via Dude Craft] More:Railroad Spike Rope Dart
Shawls Made from the Silk of Over One Million Spiders

Posted: January 26th, 2012, 9:48pm MST by bluemollusc

Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley teamed up to create materials from the silk produced from Golden Orb Spiders in Madagascar. They collected 1.2 million of these spiders and extracted their silk over the course of three years to create two golden silk capes. This shawl is the world’s largest piece of spider-silk cloth ever created, [...]
Build the Tiny Wanderer from MAKE Volume 29

Posted: January 26th, 2012, 8:03pm MST by Goli Mohammadi

Looking for a great starter robot project? Doug Paradis is an active member of the Dallas Personal Robotics Group, and last year, they were looking for a way to help their beginner members strengthen their robot-building chops. Thus, the Tiny Wanderer was born. We produced a series of lessons covering 5 topics needed to make [...]
ShapeShift Electroactive Polymer Sheets

Posted: January 26th, 2012, 2:02pm MST by Sean Ragan

DIY methods for electroactive polymer actuators are hard to come by, and none of them are kitchen-counter simple. But compared to the wet chemical methods circulating in the academic research community, the purely mechanical process documented in this video from the Swiss ShapeShift project is relatively accessible. Click here to skip the how-to and go [...]
Shrewbot, a Robot With Whiskers

Posted: January 26th, 2012, 12:00pm MST by John Baichtal

When the whiskers touch an object this causes them to vibrate and the vibration pattern is picked up by sensitive cells in the hair follicle at the base of the whisker. These patterns are turned into an electrical signal which is sent to the brain, enabling the mammal to make instant decisions about its environment [...]