Make Magazine - Volume 33

22GREAT PROJECTS YOU CAN BUILD!

TRY THE NEW TINY
HACKABLE COMPUTER

RASPBERRY PI

RMaocedIat TaotyMCaakrearnFdaire!

FSOROFTWARE

MAKERSRMWOHABAKTO’EST’CSOKORILTOINVAERRDAUINO

+ LEARN CNC JOINERY // GROW INCENDIARY GHOST CHILIES

BUILD
& RACE

A CELEBRATION OF AMAZING CREATIONS AND THE PARTS THAT MADE THEM POSSIBLE.

Use a simple circuit, DC motors, and solar cells to build autonomous racers.

BEAM (biology, electronics, aesthetics, mechanics) is a type This type of solar engine is called a FLED-type, for “flashing
of robotic design that makes use of simple components LED.” The LED is not used as a light, but as a trigger to
and bits of techno-junk to create cool robo-critters, many dump the charge from our capacitors (or polyacene
of them inspired by nature. Clever circuit designs, analog battery). When the charge is high enough to flash the LED,
parts, and minimal components make it a perfect type of it becomes a conductor and allows the current to flow
robot-building for beginners and kids. through the circuit and turn the motor. When the charge is
dissipated, the resistance goes back up and the charging
One of the basic BEAM circuits is called the Solar Engine, a phase begins again.
simple means of collecting a solar cell’s output and using it
to power a motor. The Solar Engine can be used to drive all OmuarkeChinanroiovtastive
sorts of BEAMbots. In this project we’ll use it as the muscle u“ttsheeecihornfoc-sojonumsntekr”ucin-
to power a little solar race car and a top-like spinner.
ttifhcornaeos,mrsioenaltcletlruepdowpirntlhagaeybeeller.
Let’s Get Started:
The list below includes enough parts to make two solar
engines. To assemble each one, follow the diagram and wire
together all components as shown. Note that the flat sides
of the transistors face each other. (You can use heat-shrink
tubing to hold them together.)

tsbhSuyaonnl-abdirroraleoCbngbhcyiahtrea-idrnoutdbnsu,ntghersere.ssae,Tdybhmueeftycorhnaaoranecilctemaisolsonrc.efruBittnEtoerAtrtosoMisrmeao-icscvere!ianwlsikpleeirrseladzy,

Whether you decide to build the Roller or Symet vehicle, SOLAR CHARIOTS INCLUDE
both are built using the same circuit design, modified to suit
their forms. These chariots are commonly referred to as THESE PARTS
a roller and a spinner, respectively. Other types of bots in
the BEAM taxonomy include walkers, fliers, squirmers, and 4700μF
sitters —— named for the type of movement they produce capacitors
(and yes, sitters simply sit).
Flashing
BEAM robots are all about LEDs
experimentation. Use this same
circuit to power different style
vehicles. Fashion a “dragster” from
paper clips to create a lighter
weight vehicle. Search for other
wacky “solaroller” designs online.
Most of all, have fun!

If you’re building the Symet Solar Chariot, which uses Transistors
three capacitors, you’ll want to attach three 4700μF 2N3904,
capacitors where one is shown in the diagram. 2N3906

We have downloadable templates available on the 2.2K
project page (makeprojects.com/project/b/1939) for resistor
the wooden wheels we cut with a laser cutter. But you
don’t need a high-tech machine. Stiff cardstock will Heat-shrink
work just as well. Just cut carefully! tubing

When you’re done assembling the parts from the To submit your own creation,
template, you can attach the circuit to your motor and explore other great creations,
the solar cell to your circuit. (Again, see the project and get the hard-to-find parts you
online for details.) Now take your racers into the need, visit RadioShack.com/DIY.
sunlight and start your engines! The Symet will spin and
move when it releases its charge, and the Roller will SCAN THIS QR CODE TO LEARN
race forward like a solar-power dragster. For maximum MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT
racing fun, build two Symets or two Rollers and race
against your friends. To see full build instructions, visit
radioshackdiy.com/project-gallery/beam-solar-chariots.

By MAKE Editorial Director Gareth Branwyn, and Zach and Kim DeBord

Volume 33

COLUMNS FEATURES OCNOTVHEER
8: Welcome 24: Hack the Track
NEVER GROW UP: Peter Novotnak from Sector67
Geek sports! Move over Formula 1,
the Power Racing Series races Black Beauty at World Maker Faire New York 2012.
10: Reader Input is in town. Photograph by Andrew Kelly. Art Direction by Jason Babler.

Rocket sugar-rush, drill press 32: Going Pro 32
safety, an energy-saving bear,
and a trip down memory lane. Makers are turning their DREAM BIG:
hand-soldered prototypes
12: Making Makers into consumer electronics. How Sifteo went
from prototype
Why make? 36: Building a Bot to pro.

14: Maker’s Calendar Ben, Kendra, and Monsieur
Tux the cat tackle the Rovera
Events from around the world. 2W Arduino Robot Kit.

16: Made on Earth 39: Victorian Microtech

The world of backyard Adventures in antique
technology. watch restoration.

36 BEGINNER 44: Software for Makers

‘DUINO BOTS: From tangible to digital
and back again.
The new Rovera
51: Code Kids
kit comes with
Start programming with
fun included. SmallBasic Recipes.

54: The Banana

Interface
Control your world with
Scratch and MaKey MaKey.

HOBBY HORSE:

Link Scratch to your bronco
for rockin’ good times.

56

Vol. 33, Jan 2013. MAKE (ISSN 1556-2336) is published quarterly by O’Reilly Media,
Inc. in the months of January, April, July, and October. O’Reilly Media is located at
1005 Gravenstein Hwy. North, Sebastopol, CA 95472, (707) 827-7000. SUBSCRIP-
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2



READ ME Always check Volume 33

makezine.com/33 before
you get started. There
may be important
updates or corrections.

PROJECTS
58: Skill Builder:

CNC Panel Joinery
Make interlocking, self-
aligning, and demountable
joints in flat stock.

66 66: Laser-Cut Book Covers 146

HINGED LOGIC: Use this neat technique CHECKMATE: This new spin on the classic game
to make plywood flexible.
Make plywood flexible comes with plenty of geek cred.
by employing a clever 68: Simple Soundboard
series of cuts.
A getting-started project
108 for Raspberry Pi.

CAT SCRATCH 72: DIY Welding Rod 88
FEEDER:
Prepare for the apocalypse
Build this post and by rolling your own.
save your furniture.
76: Panjolele
4
Start a ukulele craze with this
great-sounding instrument
built from household parts.

87: 1+2+3: Dice Popper

88: Growing the Ghost

Bhut Jolokia peppers are 125
times hotter than jalapeños.

92: Electronics:

Fun & Fundamentals

Make a key-card door lock.

96: Optical Tremolo

Plug your guitar into light-
programmable waveforms.

104: Country Scientist FIVE ALARM: “Spicy” is an understatement when

Explore your world through it comes to this killer pepper. Sketch by Evan Hughes.
a pinhole.

108: Scratch-a-Treat 121: 1+2+3: Spray Bottle 140: Howtoons: Abacus

Build a snack-dispensing 122: Kanpai! 142: Remaking History
scratching post to make Kitty
forget the couch and curtains. Brew sake at home. Abraham Lincoln and the
political campaign torch.
118: Wii Nunchuk Mouse 127: Making Trouble
146: Homebrew
Bring console-style motion Build a solar-powered
control to your PC. roasting spit. Nixie tube chess set.

130: Vinyl-Cut PCB Resist 148: Toolbox

Etch your circuits the easy Sliver grippers, screw pliers,
way — with a resist pattern Typhoon burs, universal
you make on a vinyl cutter. clamps, books galore, and
the latest in Arduino.
134: Counting Box
160: Toy Inventor’s
Building a simple counting
circuit for kids. Notebook
Gnome math required!

They met through

100kGarages.

Jens - Oslo Jens is a designer in Oslo.
Lee's a fabber in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

Together, they're doing
distributed manufacturing.

Lee-Ill Now they'reinois
in business.

Lee Bernard is a designer and fabber who's
worked for a number of years with natural
stone, wood and metals (his website:
cnc.rockspainc.com). Lee's digital fabrication
tool is a CNC router with 5'x 11' bed that he
designed and built himself.

He signed up on 100kGarages just a few
months ago. Lee says, "I searched the site
for possible collaborators, put the word out
to a handful, and connected with product
designer Jens Dyvik (www.dyvikdesign.com)
from Norway. We hit it off, and now we're
collaborating to fab his chairs for sale here
in the Midwest. We're excited to use the
distributed manufacturing business model!"

The third industrial revolution lives at 100kGarages.com. So be a part of it!
If you're looking for a custom product to be designed and fabbed, or if you're
a designer or fabber looking to make connections, 100kGarages is for you.

connect. collaborate. create.

100kGarages is a project of ShopBot Tools Ŕ ShopBotTools.com

“Beauty is more important FOUNDER & PUBLISHER
in computing than anywhere
else in technology because Dale Dougherty
software is so complicated.
Beauty is the ultimate defense [email protected]
against complexity.”

—David Gelernter

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MAKER-IN-CHIEF

Gareth Branwyn Sherry Huss

[email protected] [email protected]

EDITORIAL DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO SALES & ADVERTISING PUBLISHING &
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SALES MANAGER [email protected]
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Brigitte Kunde BUSINESS MANAGER
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SENIOR EDITOR [email protected]
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Sheena Stevens OPERATIONS MANAGER
TECHNICAL EDITOR Nat Wilson-Heckathorn
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SALES & MARKETING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER
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STAFF EDITOR Jake Spurlock MARKETING MAKER SHED EVANGELIST

Arwen O’Reilly Griffith [email protected] SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Michael Castor

COPY EDITOR MAKER FAIRE Vickie Welch COMMUNITY MANAGER
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CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Mister Jalopy, Steve Lodefink, Erica Sadun, Marc de Vinck
Nick Dragotta, Evan Hughes, Bob Knetzger, Timmy Kucynda,
INTERNS
Juan Leguizamon, Tim Lillis, Rob Nance, Shaw Nielsen, Uyen Cao (ecomm.), Eric Chu (engr.), Craig Couden (edit.),
Damien Scogin, Julie West Paloma Fautley (engr.), Sam Freeman (engr.), Gunther Kirsch (photo),
Courtney Lentz (mktg.), Brian Melani (engr.), Tyler Moskowite (video),
ONLINE CONTRIBUTORS Bill Olson (web), Nick Parks (engr.), Daniel Spangler (engr.),
John Baichtal, Michael Colombo, Stuart Deutsch, Adam Flaherty,
Karlee Tucker (sales/mktg.)
Travis Good, David Lang, Nick Normal, John Edgar Park,
Shawn Wallace

MAKE CARES MAKE is printed on PLEASE NOTE: Technology, the laws, and limitations imposed by manufacturers and content owners are constantly changing. Thus,
some of the projects described may not work, may be inconsistent with current laws or user agreements, or may damage or adversely
recycled, process-chlorine-free, acid-free affect some equipment. Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and safety gear, and determining
paper with 30% post-consumer waste, whether you have adequate skill and experience. Power tools, electricity, and other resources used for these projects are dangerous,
certified by the Forest Stewardship Council unless used properly and with adequate precautions, including safety gear. Some illustrative photos do not depict safety precautions
and the Sustainable Forest Initiative, with soy-based inks or equipment, in order to show the project steps more clearly. These projects are not intended for use by children. Use of the instruc-
containing 22%–26% renewable raw materials. tions and suggestions in MAKE is at your own risk. O’Reilly Media, Inc., disclaims all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or
expense. It is your responsibility to make sure that your activities comply with applicable laws, including copyright.

6

CONTRIBUTORS

Shaw Nielsen (Software for Makers Chris Connors (Vinyl PCB Resist) likes Timmy Kucynda (Scratch-a-Treat
illustrations) is a pretty snazzy illustrator, to mix it up, try things that he’s not had illustration), known as “Tim” to his dog
if he does say so himself. He lives in Den- a chance to take on before, and “do the Munky, is a graphic artist practicing out
ver, Colo., and says, “I doodle during the most with the least amount of tools and of San Francisco’s Upper Haight. When
week and escape to the mountains on supplies.” He lives a mile from where he not changing pee pads and searing raw
the weekend with my dog and girlfriend.” grew up, in Duxbury, Mass., with his wife, food for his senior Chihuahua, Timmy
Not only does he like outdoor activities Liz, but they have taken their two daugh- provides illustrations for a variety of
such as hiking, camping, and skiing, ters to places as far-flung as Alaska and studios, agencies, and publications,
but he also loves beer, sunshine, and Malawi. Connors was a public school and is proud to have been a contributor
puppies. Nielsen enjoys making delicious teacher for 18 years, teaching fashion to MAKE magazine since its inception.
food (“usually by adding bacon to it”), illustration, principles of technology, Timmy would like to finish these 100
and is working on building “the world’s drafting, CAD, radio broadcasting, audio words or less by thanking the family,
best indoor winter herb garden.” As a production, communication, graphic friends, and all the talented people he
designer and big fan of all things web- design, printmaking, web design, C++, has worked with over the years. Their
and design-related, he’s happy to see Java, robotics, engineering, fashioning confidence and support has meant
that the web is really evolving as a much technology, and digital fabrication, to the world.
more richly designed environment. name a few subjects.

David Neff (Chris Connors) Tim Hunkin (Victorian Microtech) Sam Freeman (Make: Labs intern coor- Chris Hackett (DIY Welding Rod) is
trained as an engineer but then became dinator) describes himself as follows: an artist, founder and director of the
a cartoonist, drawing a strip for The “I spent 1,000 years frozen in an ancient Madagascar Institute (madagascar
Observer, a U.K. Sunday paper, called cryogenics lab, and was thawed out 12 institute.com), occasional television
“The Rudiments of Wisdom” for 15 years. years ago. I now enjoy traveling, hiking, presenter (most recently on Discovery’s
His next career was in television, writing and root beer floats. But I have a weird Stuck With Hackett), and sometimes
and presenting three series called The sense of humor.” He loves traveling, both teacher (adjunct professor at New York
Secret Life of Machines for Channel 4. the road trip and backpack variety, as University’s ITP). He’s usually slogging
For the next ten years he worked for well as photography and bike riding. He away at a couple of concurrent projects:
museums, building interactive exhibits, thrives on variety. His project list “is long individual, personal, small-scale builds,
and curating and designing exhibitions. (and backed up), but somewhere on it is and larger, collaborative Madagascar
Since 2001, when not distracted by a raygun, an arcade console, and a six- Institute projects, like the Mandee
building enormous public clocks and foot-tall flaming tiki head.” MAKE duties Amplifier: a 14-foot-tall, fully mobile,
other entertaining projects, he’s been aside, he’s most thrilled by “the slightest clattering, singing construction of Awe-
obsessed with his amusement arcade possibility of cloning a Tasmanian tiger” some. Hackett likes his coffee strong,
on Southwold Pier called the Under the though he’d prefer that species stopped his physics Newtonian, and is a firm
Pier Show. going extinct in the first place. believer in “Build it, then measure it.”

makezine.com 7

WELCOME

Geek Sports! Detroit (and has been at every Detroit Faire Juan Leguizamon
since). Last year, the race made it to World
By Gareth Branwyn Maker Faire in New York, and it’ll likely be
coming to the Bay Area this year as well.
Years ago, I was channel surfing and happened
upon something I first thought was ridiculous. With an ever-expanding roster of races and
ESPN2 was broadcasting Magic: The Gather- racers, commercial sponsorship, and a grow-
ing World Championship. They had all of the ing fanbase, the future of Power Racing looks
sport broadcast trappings: announcer, color as bright as a jacked-up pink Barbie trike. See
commentator, referee, engrossed spectators our eight-page feature in this issue (page 24)
in bleachers, scoreboard, and onscreen to learn more about the history and ethos of
graphics to reinforce the action. Power Racing and how you can get involved in
An hour later, finding myself this challenging and wacky sport.
enthralled and rooting for a
specific player and his unstop- Some posit that the maker movement
pable monstrous cave troll is partly driven by the need for all
(or whatever), I didn’t think it of us pixel-pushers to get up
was so silly. Ever since then from our computers and do
I’ve been fascinated by the something tangible, physi-
concept of “brain sports” — cal, and grounding. So we’ve
fun, competitive games for ended up hardware hacking,
brainiacs and creative thinkers, 3D printing, robot building,
more inclusive and less cerebral (and or stepping further away
serious) than the original geek sport: chess. from high-tech altogether and
into more traditional forms of
Maker Faire, our large-scale DIY festival, making like woodworking, metal-
has done its part in hosting (and in some
cases creating) such sport. At the very working, and handicrafts. Often,
first Maker Faire Bay Area in 2006, we saw though, in pursuing some of these more physi-
Segway polo matches. Since then we’ve cal forms of making, we find ourselves back
witnessed human-powered Chariot Races, at our computers, using special software for
Model Warship Battles, Nerdy Derby (think: running our CNC cutters or 3D printers, or to
Pinewood Derby, only nerdier), Turtle Shell design our custom-printed circuit boards.
Racers (3D-printed racing turtles), Death In this issue of MAKE (starting on page 44),
Defying Figure 8 Pedal Car races, and more. we take a look at the critical programs you
And then there’s the Power Racing Series, a need to create CAD models, work with micro-
sport that grew out of a Chicago hackerspace controllers, design circuit boards, and teach
(Pumping Station: One) and has captured the kids programming.
imaginations of a growing number of hacker-
spaces and individuals. From hacking children’s toys into adult
race cars, to programming robots and tiny
Power Racing, which involves modifying and computers, to growing painfully hot peppers
racing electric Power Wheels kiddie vehicles, and brewing your own sake (all detailed in this
made its big debut in 2009 at Maker Faire issue), you can’t say that makers don’t have
diverse interests! a

Gareth Branwyn is the editorial director at MAKE.

8



READER
INPUT

Rocket sugar-rush, drill press safety,
an energy-saving bear, and a
trip down memory lane.

For more comments, mods, and tips on the
Compressed Air Rocket project, visit makezine.
com/go/carockets.

» I just made the “Charlie’s RFID Teddy Bear”

project from Volume 28 (makeprojects.com/
project/r/1411) for my 15-month-old daughter.
We’re attaching the RFID tags to pictures of
family members so she can hear their record-
W ed voices, because all my family lives out
of town. It was my first MAKE project ever,
» I can’t thank you enough for putting this although I’m a longtime maker. It works great!

project [“Compressed Air Rocket,” Volume 15] One easy and cheap add-on I highly recom-
out here! I started out building the launcher mend is the Pololu Pushbutton Power Switch
to entertain my two boys. The sugar-rush-like (item #750 at pololu.com, $7). It lets you turn
symptoms it gave my inner child are just a the bear on and lets the software turn the bear
bonus! I built ours using the tire valve and it off automatically after a timeout of no use —
seems to work very well. I have two tips for saves lots of batteries!
making the rockets that really made things
easier for me: You can also modify it so the button can
1. Use a spray bottle to mist the cardstock only power the unit on, not off (see makezine.
lightly before forming the tube and cone, but com/go/polswitch). This makes it less con-
give them a minute to dry before taping. fusing for my daughter!
2. After you have a finished cone that you’re
happy with, use it to form the moist cardstock —Stephen Schwartz-Fenwick, Chicago, Ill.
over for the next one.
» I really enjoyed Donald Simanek’s article
Thanks again!
—Robert Wade, Vancouver, Wash. on polarized light [“Screwy Light,” Volume 32].
When I was growing up in the 1950s, one of
my best friends was Jay Ballance. His father
owned a fascinating company, Technical
Animations, Inc., in our hometown of Port
Washington, N.Y. Among other clever things,
he used a combination of polarized filters with
Scotch cellophane tape to create animated
representations of complicated mechanisms,
fluid flows, etc., using the same color effects
pointed out in the MAKE article.

John Ballance, the father, died an untimely
death from a heart attack in the late 1950s,

10

but I see his wife followed up on his patents for » Thanks to William Gurstelle for Volume
the technique (makezine.com/go/ballance).
Evidently the company continued at least into 30’s “Keybanging” project. The Monster Guts
the 1970s based on additional patents, but Nerve Center is an interesting device but
I can’t find any later references. Thanks for a seems underpowered for $69. That’s the same
great article and a trip down memory lane! price as a basic Click PLC from Automation
Direct. Whereas the Nerve Center offers but
—Walt Scrivens, Delray Beach, Fla. one input and two outputs, the Click offers
eight inputs and six outputs, with the option
» Figure 1h of Volume 31’s Fetch-O-Matic of additional I/O modules. Further, the Click
supports Modbus, allowing software like
build illustrates some very bad safety, and 1j Mach3 to interface with it. Click PLCs can also
isn’t much better. It’s interesting to learn that communicate with each other.
a main accident mode of a drill press isn’t
making a hole in your hand with the bit — it’s On the other hand, I like the Nerve Center’s
having the bit grab the work piece and spin audio feature, and the Click requires 24V DC,
it into you. whereas the Nerve Center can run on AC.
And Click doesn’t come with a programming
It’s the same with many other tools. A cable, although the software (it’s programmed
table saw blade can jam in a board and send in relay ladder logic) is free. For most of my
it shooting across the shop so someone applications, the Click would be my choice.
nowhere near the blade goes to the hospital.
There was a neat 2×4 hole in the wall way —Paul Anderson, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
behind our saw at school that was purpose-
fully never repaired. Author William Gurstelle replies: Paul, thanks
for the tip! My goal in this article was to automate
Figure 1h has a couple of things wrong: without programming, so I skipped the PLCs in favor
1. A spade bit should never go in a press, of pushbutton simplicity. For more on programmable
because they are very prone to sticking in the logic controllers, check out “Building with PLCs” in
work piece. The package they come in usually MAKE Volume 23, page 104.
says “hand drill only,” or something similar.
2. The work piece should always be either I'm on
clamped to the table or placed against some- a truck!
thing that will stop it from spinning if the
bit grabs it. Often you can stick the piece B
against the post — quick and easy! Figure 1h
looks like the work could have rested
against the post and not the dude’s
hand (though really that bit should
be in a hand drill). In Figure 1j, the
piece might be too small to clamp,
but it could have been placed against
something clamped to the table.

All the really good safety lessons
I ever got about tools taught me
something that wasn’t obvious. I’ll
never forget to treat gas cylinders
with respect after hearing the story of
my welding instructor, who saw a gas
cylinder go rocketing down the deck of
an aircraft carrier he was building during
WWII. Please keep encouraging your
readers to do dangerous things safely.

—Andrew Collins, Albuquerque, N.M.

makezine.com 11

MAKING this? Am I doing this the right way? I’ve made Juan Leguizamon
MAKERS Squishy Circuits (a method for using conduc-
tive play dough to sculpt working circuits) with
Why Make? people of all ages, and I’ve rarely had a child
turn down the opportunity to try it out. With
By AnnMarie Thomas adults, though, I’ve often seen reticence or
protests of “I’m not good at that sort of thing.”
Engineer Educator Making is about a willingness to try, and a
confidence in your ability to learn new things,
Last year, I took a friend to her first Maker often with help from others.
Faire. We walked around looking at projects
and exhibits, and she had a question for me: One of my greatest hopes for my daughters
“Why?” She was impressed by what she saw, is that they can find the combination of curi-
but really curious about the motivation behind osity, passion, and confidence that will allow
it. Why do makers make? them to see the world as a place they can
actively help create. Thus, whenever I meet a
The projects you flip through in this maga- maker who has spent hours/days/years work-
zine aren’t typically part of someone’s job or ing on a project simply because it brings them
homework assignment. Rather, making is so joy, I often ask them about their childhood in
often the result of intrinsic motivation. Many hopes of gleaning some parenting advice.
makers spend countless hours in the
library, lab, garage, or makerspace Their stories often include a supportive
working, alone or in a group, on adult who encouraged them in their projects
projects that no one has told
them to take on. Projects that, (even when the adult didn’t completely
truth be told, may never work. understand what the young maker
Projects that likely have no was doing). This supportive
due date, no entry rules, and adult was also typically some-
no complete how-to instruc- one who pursued her own
tions. Projects undertaken projects, which is key. If we
for the sheer joy of figuring out want to encourage children
whether something can be done, or to be makers, we need to
because there’s a problem for which no one demonstrate it.
has found a good solution, or because it’d be This is why I make a concerted
neat to have a light-up costume or pet robot. effort to work on my own projects,

Anyone who has ever been around a even small ones, and to show my
roomful of children with access to a pile of daughters what I’m doing. This is also why
craft or building materials has likely seen I recently brought my 4-year-old to her first
the happiness that typically accompanies Maker Faire. While I was excited for her to take
such endeavor. Unbounded youthful creativ- in the amazing projects, it was the makers
ity combined with readily available materials themselves that I most wanted her to see.
often leads to an all-out whirlwind of wonder- I wonder whether, years from now, she’ll
ful things. It usually doesn’t take much effort, remember meeting the 11-year-old who cre-
or the creation of any incentives, to convince ates her own maker how-to videos, or the man
young children to jump in and start making. who painstakingly recreates landmarks out of
toothpicks. I hope that one day she is equally
As the age of the group gets older, though, passionate about her own work and takes the
the dynamic sometimes changes. We start time to share it with some other inquisitive
to hear more questions: Why should we do little girl or boy. a

AnnMarie Thomas, mother of two young makers, is the executive director of
the Maker Education Initiative (makered.org).

12



FEB
MAR
APR

Mini Maker Faires Our favorite events from around the world.

Community-based, Compiled by William Gurstelle
independently produced
Maker Faires are taking Join the editors of MAKE on Google+ for
place all over the globe. Hangouts on Air every Tue., Wed., Thurs.
For more information @2pm PST / 5pm EST. google.com/+MAKE
on starting a Mini Maker
Faire where you live, and
to see a complete listing
of upcoming Faires, head
to makerfaire.com.

Feb. 2, Las Vegas, Nev.
makerfairevegas.com

Mar. 23, Tyler, Texas
tylermakerfaire.com

Apr. 7, Edinburgh, Scotland
makerfaireedinburgh.com

TEDActive The Launch Festival Gregory Hayes

Feb. 25–Mar. 1, Palm Springs, Calif. Mar. 4–6, San Francisco
Big thinkers and change masters from around Individuals and companies present their new
the world present their ideas about work, product ideas and get feedback from experts.
play, and innovation. Aside from the signa- If the idea is good enough, it could be launched
ture 18-minute-long talks, participants attend into the big time. conference.launch.co
workshops on subjects such as bike building,
sculpting in cardboard, 3D printing, and home AXPONA
brewing beer. makezine.com/go/tedactive
Mar. 8–10, Chicago
DIY Santa Fe Thousands of attendees come to the Audio
Expo of North America to hear the best
Mar. 1–31, Santa Fe, N.M. home audio equipment and software on the
Santa Fe’s famous creative community opens planet, showcased by hundreds of exhibitors.
the doors of their studios and workshops to Seminars include room acoustics, system
share their knowledge of painting, glass work- setup, and current music trends. axpona.com
ing, photography, and craft making. Visitors will
enjoy a variety of workshops, classes, and other Maker Faire UK
experiences. makezine.com/go/diysantafe
Apr. 28–29, Newcastle, U.K.
Spring Classic Swamp Buggy Races Co-produced by O’Reilly Media UK and
the Centre for Life since 2009, this largest
Mar. 2–3, Naples, Fla. gathering of makers in Europe will showcase
These strange-looking vehicles feature big 300 maker exhibits and welcome upwards
engines, bigger tires, gun racks, and unusual of 10,000 visitors. makerfaireuk.com
names like “Dirt Dobber” and “Tumblebug.”
Loud and inspiring, the handmade, one-of-a- IMPORTANT: All times, dates, locations, and events are uncon-
kind swamp buggies can move through the firmed and subject to change. Verify all information before mak-
deepest and muckiest terrain imaginable. ing plans to attend. Know of an event that should be included?
swampbuggy.com Send event listing for possible inclusion to: events@makezine.
com. Sorry, it is not possible to include all submitted events.

14



MADE ON EARTH

THE WORLD OF BACKYARD TECHNOLOGY

Sing with the Wind

By Gregory Hayes lukejerram.com/aeolus

Luke Jerram; Richard Deane (inset, left) The Aeolus acoustic wind pavilion, named
for the ancient Greek ruler of the winds,
could be described as a sculpture, a giant
aeolian harp, an optical pavilion, and even an
important artwork. Considering its genesis,
perhaps it would be more accurate to call
it a temple to the senses.

Luke Jerram, the artist behind the work,
got the idea during a visit to Iran. There,
desert well-diggers using only an axe will dig
straight down through the sand and rock
to the water table, then tunnel across to
transfer water from the wells to the towns.
Every 50 meters or so they’ll add an air vent.
“I spoke with a desert well-digger who had
been doing this his whole life,” says Jerram,
“and he talked about how sometimes the
wells would sing and make noise as the
wind blew over the top. That got me think-
ing about other pieces of architecture that
might create sound, and to indeed create
a building that would resonate and sing
with the wind.

“The geometry of this artwork is inspired
by visiting mosques, thinking about domes
of mosques, and how light is used and
considered in sacred architecture. And
again, in the Basilica in Rome, they’ve got
a solar clock with a small hole in a window,
and at certain times of day the sun comes
through to create a huge spot on the nave
of the basilica.”

Aeolus echoes these experiences for
a visitor. Even when the wind isn’t blowing,
the tubes filter ambient sound, tuned to the
Aeolian scale. The same tubes are highly
polished inside and reflect the surrounding
landscape in brilliant abstractions.

MADE ON EARTH

Glittering Cloud

By Craig Couden incandescentcloud.wordpress.com

Inspired by light, communal art, and cloud- the Alberta College of Art and Design followed Doug Wong
gazing, artists Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne by four days (and late nights) of setup on-site
Garrett created Cloud, an interactive sculpture leading up to the festival.
composed of around 6,000 new and used light
bulbs donated from local homes, businesses, Brown and Garrett weren’t sure how people
museums, and eco stations. The sculpture would react to the piece, because conven-
stood for a single night in September as part tional art protocol (and countless museum
of the Nuit Blanche late-night arts festival in signs) often stresses “do not touch.” However,
Calgary, Alberta. throughout the night many visitors played
with the ball-chain pull-strings, cut to different
Brown and Garrett attached thousands of lengths to resemble falling rain. One enterpris-
new and burnt-out incandescent light bulbs to ing group worked together to turn off as many
1-inch chicken wire and reinforced them with lights as possible — and then turn the entire
glue. This shell of bulbs formed the translucent sculpture on again with one coordinated tug.
cloud shape, while 250 compact fluorescent
bulbs illuminated the structure from within. “It was pretty magical to watch — although
Each of these working bulbs was connected we definitely had to back away and give the
to a pull-string switch, so visitors could turn sculpture space from time to time,” says
each light on and off individually. The team Brown. “It’s surprisingly hard to watch people
spent three weeks working in a metal shop at test the limits of endurance on something
you’ve spent a month building.”

18

Patrick Posta Split-Flap
Storytelling

By Matt Richardson
mechanicalflipbook.com

In a nod to Eadweard Muybridge’s contri-
bution to the early development of motion
pictures, Wendy Marvel and Mark Arnon
Rosen’s Mechanical Flip Books tell a very
short story in just 24 frames. These hand-
crafted boxes use a motor-driven spindle
that flips through distressed pages of an
animation in under four seconds.

Their first flip book was created from
scrapped inkjet printer parts. But the varia-
tions in discarded printer components made
it difficult to create a repeatable design. Since
then, they’ve sourced motors that have the
right electromechanical characteristics and
“sound just right.” Even the page material is
selected to ensure that they’ll flip gently and
yet won’t fray or wear out.

The mechanics and materials aren’t the
only challenge, however. The animation that
the box displays must be carefully considered.
After a few days of concept development,
they plan out the timing and make sure that
the composition fits well in the confines of the
box’s frame before they produce the pages.
The physical design has even evolved to allow
more complex storytelling: by adding sensors
and an Arduino, it’s possible to link several
boxes together and let the animation travel
from one box to another.

Marvel and Rosen were initially apprehen-
sive to show the Mechanical Flip Books at
Maker Faire Bay Area along with their fellow
members of L.A. hackerspace, Crash Space —
they didn’t know how they would be received.
But Maker Faire visitors loved them. “Seeing
so many people excited and full of questions
was an amazing adrenaline rush,” says Marvel.
“At night we were completely exhausted,
grinning like Cheshire cats as our heads hit
the pillows.”

MADE ON EARTH Joe Sandor (egg), Paulius Musteikis ( pouring/welding), FeLion Studios (skillet map)

Made of America

By Joe Sandor felionstudios.com/pans

Back in the old days, pioneers traveled with
round cast iron skillets. You could make round
pancakes, round eggs, and throw some rect-
angular strips of bacon on the side. But today,
thanks to Alisa Toninato of FeLion Studios,
you can cook a quiche in the shape of your
home state.

Toninato made her first skillet in the famil-
iar shape of the great dairy state, Wisconsin,
in her own DIY backyard foundry at the first
annual “Pour’n Yer Heart Out” iron pour in
Milwaukee. Shortly after, while on a flight to
L.A., she used the inflight map in her seat to
draw out handles on all the states of the union,
thus giving birth to the Made In America cast
iron skillet map of the U.S.

Now FeLion Studios is in full swing pro-
duction, offering castings of any state in the
continental U.S. You could cook at least a
dozen steaks in Texas alone. Recently, she
ambitiously mapped out Canada with a whole
new set of land mass challenges. Though
the proportional sizes of Alaska and Hawaii
give her pause: “I see Hawaii as a muffin
tin instead of a skillet!”

20

John Morgan; Barbara Dimock (inset) Pyrotechnic
Pillars

By William Gurstelle
fireworksnews.com/

product/175

Imagine a helicopter exploding and falling
up, and you’ll get the basic idea of a girandola,
an arcane type of firework. A girandola is a
whirling, spark-spitting fountain of burning
chemicals, paper, and bamboo that rises
as much as 100 feet into the air.

Among pyros, girandolas are considered
one of the most finicky, challenging, and (on
those occasions when they actually work)
satisfying of all fireworks. Sixty-four-year-old
Tom Dimock was hooked as soon as he built
his first one. Dimock, who splits his time
between Ithaca, N.Y. and Jamaica, is known
among his fireworks-making peers as a
master of the craft, and when it comes to
girandolas, he literally wrote the book.

To make his girandolas, Dimock builds a jig
around which he wraps bamboo, tying it into
place with tar-impregnated string. Next, he
builds the chemical drivers that lift the device
through the air: a sort of black powder rocket
motor, specially designed to provide enough
thrust to lift and spin the device, but not so
much that it tears the bamboo framework
apart. Finally, he attaches the drivers and
other carefully selected fireworks with more
tar string. A single large girandola, some of
which are nearly four feet across, takes him
a week to make.

Since they are so complicated and exacting,
a girandola succeeds about half the time.
But that doesn’t get Dimock down. “When
girandolas do what they’re supposed to
do, they are wonderful and spectacular,” he
reflects. “And when they don’t work, they are
still wonderful and spectacular.”

makezine.com 21

MADE ON EARTH

John Edgar Park showcases his Arduino Grande
at Maker Faire New York, while co-founder
of the Arduino project, Massimo Banzi (back-
ground), holds the standard size.

Honey I Shrunk the Maker

By Laura Cochrane makezine.com/go/arduinogrande

“Arduino is going to be really big at Maker The result? Arduino Grande, a working Gregory Hayes (top); John Edgar Park (bottom)
Faire this year.” As these words rang in MAKE microcontroller (thanks to a normal Uno
editor John Edgar Park’s ears, the thought mounted on the board) six times larger
occurred to him that he could make Arduino than life. In the top left corner (the loca-
even bigger — literally.
tion where a regular-sized
Using 3D modeling soft- Arduino declares its Italian
ware, Park designed a giant origins), Arduino Grande
version of the Arduino Uno proudly announces, “Made
microcontroller board. He in Burbank” (Calif.). Park is
then turned his delightful pleased with his results: “The
dream into reality by laser first time I hoisted it up on
cutting, soldering, etching, my shoulder like a boombox
and painting. I was pretty darned psyched!”

22

Fluid
Suspensions

By Laura Cochrane
behance.net/jacklongphoto

Jack Long Sculpting liquid into exquisite, ephemeral “what if,” and constructing various mechani-
sculptures and capturing them on camera cal devices to direct the liquid in ways that will
requires a creative eye, mechanical know-how, achieve different looks. Some of his sculptures
precision, and most importantly, an abun- resemble real objects, like flowers in a vase
dance of patience. Jack Long of Milwaukee or jellyfish, while others are abstract and lend
possesses all of these qualities, thanks to his themselves to any number of interpretations.
experiences as a professional photographer “I took the basic forms I was getting and
and amateur tinkerer. He originally got into experimented with color, texture, and shape,”
high-speed photography a few years ago, he explains. The images are single capture,
when he was working on photographing non-composite photos, where Long is usu-
beverages flying through the air. As Long ally the sole stylist and photographer, which
experimented with creating more traditional translates to a painstaking process of several
liquid “splash” imagery for his professional days of preparation followed by one full day of
work, he became fascinated by the interesting shooting. He only recently commissioned an
shapes that liquid takes when airborne. associate to build him an Arduino-based elec-
tronic timing device to help orchestrate events
Today, he regularly experiments with during his elaborate shoots. “[It] has become
capturing these split-second liquid sculptures a near obsession,” Long admits.
in his garage, constantly asking the question

makezine.com 23

FEATURES HACK THE TRACK

24 Make:

MOVE OVER FORMULA 1, by Goli Mohammadi
THE POWER RACING
Anne Petersen SERIES IS IN TOWN.

TEAM CHALLENGE: Modify to oblivion an
existing ride-on electric toy of the Power Wheels
persuasion, on a budget of no more than $500.
Then compete in a series of races, while making
a rowdy crowd-pleasing spectacle and trying not
to catch on fire. It might just be the most fun
you’ve ever had. Wanna race? We caught up with
event organizer Jim Burke to get the
skinny on the (maker) world-famous
Power Racing Series.

FEATURES HACK THE TRACK

How did the “Pow-Pow” Power Racing Jim Burke
Series (PPPRS) get its start?
We started the series in 2009, and held our
inaugural event in a dirt lot that the landlord
of our hackerspace owned. We had just six
teams, all from Pumping Station: One [a
Chicago hackerspace], and the cars were
nearly stock machines. Friends and a bunch
of kids from the neighborhood showed up, but
it was a really small event. I don’t think more
than 60 people attended.

The main inspiration came from one rather
active evening when a member dragged a
discarded pink Jeep from the back alley into
PS: One. We shoved larger batteries in it and
drove on the roof of our space until somebody
suggested that having more of these around
would be fun. Then I said something about
racing them, and a few drinks later we pretty
much wrote the basic rules.
PPPRS 666
Eric Stein (Jim Burke, Banana Car)
How many races have there been so far Grave Digger
and how have they evolved?
We’ve been adding more races to our calendar CAR#: 666
since 2010, and we completed 2012 with HACKERSPACE: Milwaukee Makerspace
six races total (four sanctioned and two non-
points exhibitions). You could say that it really (Milwaukee)
started expanding in 2011 when we added
Kansas City to the calendar and the “champ- ACTIVE: 2 seasons
ionship” races finally meant attending more WINS: 2
than one race weekend. BASE: Power Wheels Grave Digger
FEATURES: Doors opened to fit driver Royce
The one thing that has really changed is
the level of creativity the teams are reaching. Pipkins’ legs. Had no real brakes to speak of
The cars are getting really interesting. We have
wheelie-popping, trailer-hitching, power- aside from a wooden plank with tire tread
sliding, drink-dispensing, water-
dousing $500 electric race cars, stapled to it. Earned namesake because
and every season some
it kept running over its own driver.

Q PPPRS founded.

timeline Q First race had only Q Cars were virtually
&notables one round. All cars were stock, aside from
from the same team reinforcements to
26 Make: (Pumping Station: One). accommodate larger
batteries.

2009

hackerspace ups the ante. PPPRS Wisdom # 1: was a nice touch. Finally,

On the organizational “ Don't worry about not having our first night race
end, the biggest changes knowing what you're in Chicago was also a high-
we’ve seen have come from doing, because you're not light. The qualifying session
improving how we run the alone; we don't either. ” for that race was actually
event. I’m a graphic design- intense, with cars coming

er, so event management within mere tenths of a sec-

is probably the farthest I could be from any ond between each other. Ambassador Carol

level of expertise. After a few years of trial and Moseley Braun presented the trophies.

error, I’d like to think we have things sort of,

mostly under control. Mostly. Besides driving fast, what else gets points

on the track?

Any memorable moments you can share Ah, the moxie points! Those are literally the

from this season? crowd favorite. Basically we have an Arduino-

First was Sector67 towing their secondary

car in the endurance race for 50-something 313
laps. The crowd got a kick out of that. The
fact that OmniCorpDetroit returned to Detroit

in 2012 by converting their Banana Car into

a rolling tiki bar was pretty fantastic as well.

The T-shirt cannon that fired denim cut-offs

Banana Car Anne Petersen (Grave Digger, Little Pink Trike, Americar, man down)

CAR#: 313
HACKERSPACE: OmniCorpDetroit (Detroit)
ACTIVE: 2 seasons
WINS: 0
BASE: Little Tikes Hummer
FEATURES: Only car with more than two car

audio systems. Equipped with bar capable

of banana mixed drinks. Armed with T-shirt

cannons and rear pedestal for “hop-on” riders.

Stands 6' tall, not including disco ball.

Q First race Q First wheelie performed by Q First Endur- Q First electrical fire:
involving Milwaukee Makerspace’s Little ance Race, Americar goes ablaze in
multiple (five) Pink Trike, shockingly won demon-
hackerspaces which split by OmniCorp- stration
at Maker Faire in half upon Detroit, who run while
Detroit. landing. never pitted for piloted by
batteries. Bre Pettis.

2010

makezine.com 27

FEATURES HACK THE TRACK

controlled board of buttons that gets sent out 67
into the crowd, and next to each button is a
team. When the crowd pushes a button, that
team is rewarded actual race points for doing
whatever the crowd finds entertaining. It’s
up to the teams to find ways to entertain

PPPRS Wisdom #2: Fauxrarri Colin Parsons (Fauxrarri)
“ Tea ms are also given some hefty
CAR#: 67
limitations so you masochistic HACKERSPACE: Sector67 (Madison, Wis.)
engineers can pleasurably cry ACTIVE: 1 season
yourselves to sleep at night.” WINS: 7
BASE: Power Wheels Ferrari
everyone. This can be comprised of acting FEATURES: Custom Arduino-based motor con-
silly, popping wheelies, epic passes, or simply
catching on fire. The goal is to encourage troller dubbed Paragon. First car to utilize
social engineering; you want teams to not water-cooling system. Relies heavily on
only work the mechanical end of this series, regenerative braking. Acceleration from two
you want them to figure out how to unstoppably powerful 1970s electric lawn
read a crowd. I think that social mower engines. Has trailer hitch for wheelie
engineering is just as bar. Clocked 0-18mph in 50 feet.
essential to a hacker-
space competition as physical engineering. other data to their pit crew. I think it was also
equipped with GPS, but since that was over
What are some favorite cheap but budget it was disabled during the race.
awesome mods you’ve seen?
J-Squad, one of the first teams, built their car Why hack an existing platform instead of
around a $200 starter motor off a semi truck. building a machine from scratch?
There isn’t really much logic to this; the car Well the easy answer is: you can’t have a
is an automatic drifting machine. The crowd hackerspace motorsport without hacking!
really gets riled up when they see a kid’s toy I really think there’s massive value in building
power slide through turns. from scratch, but there’s also another larger
series of benefits that come from taking apart
Sector67 started water-cooling their brush- something and repurposing it. We could just
less motors last season. Now several teams have people make electric go-karts and dump
are equipped with similar systems. In 2011 as much money in them as possible and call it
they debuted the first wireless telemetry sys- a day. To me, that’s boring, and reserved for a
tem that reported motor temperatures and

Q First time Q Digital Q First Q First Q First
PPPRS hosted moxie point real pit stop rain-affected car flip
two events in one system. for both race. Cost by Royce
year, with the batteries Sector67 Pipkins
opening round Q First year and tires. valuable in Kansas
in Kansas City. with over 20 lap time. City.
entrants.

2011

28 Make:

PPPRS Wisdom #3:
“ For every ounce of engineering there will be equal parts of tomfoolery."

Eric Stein (raceway shots); Alfredo Castil (The Cannon, timeline shots) more legitimate racing series. I want people 03
to take something that was never intended
to be modified in this way and use a minimal The Cannon
budget to make it happen. Some of the best
bouts of creativity come from constraints, and CAR#: 3
we live in a world full of constraints! We should HACKERSPACE: i3 Detroit (Detroit)
just condition ourselves to try and fail and ACTIVE: 3 seasons
then learn. Hacking apart stuff is pretty much WINS: 8
the easiest and cheapest way to do this. It’s BASE: Power Wheels Jeep Wrangler
something we all need. FEATURES: Odd camber setup catered to Karen

How did you get started making things “Cannonball” Corbeill’s aggressive sitting
and who are your inspirations? stance. Built around low-hanging batteries
I was raised in a home of making. My father and dual 1000-watt motors. Dual disc brakes
is in the tech industry and a self-taught work occasionally. Relies on shifting body
automotive engineer, and my mother was in weight to manage turns. One of the most
the printing industry and an illustrator. Both difficult cars to drive.
of these backgrounds cultivated my love of
art and science. I used to build things out of
anything sitting around the house (mostly
various types of paper and cardstock)
and loved cars from a young age.
I really admired the artistry
in engineering early on.

Q Timing Q Closest Q First full-on Q Four races in one
and scoring drag race ever, rain race at season (Kansas City,
become won by under Maker Faire Detroit, Chicago, New
electronic. 3". New York, York), plus two non-
Required video with i3 Detroit points exhibition races
review. victorious. in Florida and Indiana.

2012

makezine.com 29

FEATURES HACK THE TRACK

PPPRS Wisdom #4:
“OK, so you’re taking these tiny
little plastic cars and modding

them with motors that push
them near 20mph and you’re

asking me if this is safe?
Methinks you need to wear the

helmet outside of the track.”

Having a mutual respect for both fields real-
ly shapes the kind of art projects you take on,
and honestly, when it comes down to it, I’ve
seen PPPRS as some sort of traveling hacker
art exhibit. Makers and artists are cut from the
same cloth as far as I’m concerned.

What do you think is the key factor in the

recent growth of hackerspaces?

Community. You need to have a strong

community. Variety is just as important.

Hackerspaces are an exponential force of

creativity and require a relatively healthy

314 mix of tinkerers, hobbyists, and pro-
fessionals to work. I also think the
modern economic climate has really

benefited from this growth. The lum-

bering state of our country, coupled with a

growing resentment of apathy and pessimism

in my generation has really helped too.

Makers my age seek the knowledge of the

past to look toward the future. We ask our

elders the long-forgotten trades and give Eric Stein (raceway shots); Anne Petersen (Little Pink Trike)

Little Pink Trike these skills a renewed purpose. The econo-
mics of mass production has helped us
CAR#: 314 scale things down to a world of affordable
HACKERSPACE: Milwaukee Makerspace (Milwaukee) customization. Frankly, if things keep going
ACTIVE: 2 seasons the way they’re headed, you’ll see a rebirth of
WINS: 1 manufacturing in the U.S. the likes of which
BASE: Fisher-Price Barbie Trike we’ve not seen previously. I honestly feel that
FEATURES: First entry with battery meter and we’re on the verge of the next great cultural
industrial revolution, and the seeds for this
fast-change battery pack for quick pit stops. prosperity are right in our neighborhoods at
our local hackerspaces.
First to pop wheelies. Fastest in a straight line

during seasons raced. Single most difficult

vehicle to drive (mad props to the over-6'-tall

Tom Gralewicz for nearly winning with it on How has hosting the event at Maker Faires
several occasions). affected the race?

MAKE magazine has literally helped make this

30 Make:

Alfredo Castil (Duct Tape + Zipties) sort of event even remotely possible. Between 911
all the staff, such as Sherry [Huss], Dale
[Dougherty], Louise [Glasgow], and Jonathan DUCT TAPE & ZIPTIES
[Maginn], we’ve had help from day one.
They’re fantastic to work with! They showed CAR#: 911
us the ropes, gave us the advice and help HACKERSPACE: CCCKC (Kansas City, Mo.)
we needed, and then delivered the track and ACTIVE: 2 seasons
logistics. We simply could not have done it on WINS: 1
our own. They really made sure we could per- BASE: Power Wheels Cadillac Escalade
form as we needed and taught us a great deal. FEATURES: Uses bicycle frames and tires for
I’m glad we reached out to them in Detroit
2010 because I feel every year we work with chassis. Has unique “Flintstones” bottom-
Maker Faire we become stronger and more less floor so you can push with the power off
prepared to put on a good show. After all, at (during cautions in the Endurance Race) to
the end of the day, it’s about going out there conserve battery. Made by two hacker families
and showing the crowd how fun making can and features several team members in high
be. What better way than to get a bunch of school (former FIRST robotics competitors).
hackerspaces together at Maker Faire?
up a few pages. Their enthusiasm keeps me
Where do you hope to take going through the rough parts of organizing.
the series, literally and I have to give a shout out to Patrick Callahan,
in essence? though, who helps out tremendously.
I try to take things one year at a time, but I’ve
certainly considered what it would mean to Here’s something else important I’ve
keep doing this for many years to come. If that learned: anyone can do this. Seriously, there’s
is a real possibility, I want to make this event nothing stopping you from going out there
an arena for education. and doing something like this. Yes, you. This
is really for anyone out there who’s swamped
With the help of sponsorships, I want to get in the doubt and uncertainty that never stops
high schools into the series and have hacker- bouncing around in your head — you just
spaces mentor the development of their need to silence those thoughts and do it. Get
teams. I want to help foster inexpensive and an idea, talk to people, refine it, fail a ton, and
fun education with real-world trial and error, make it happen. There’s no time better than
all within the confines of a local hackerspace. now. Go find a community, get involved, and
I hope I can make that happen soon, as early be the person you’ve always wanted to be.
as this coming season but as late as 2014.
+Mod your own car and get in on the action
Deep down, all I really want is for the hack-
erspace community to continue supple- at an upcoming race: powerracingseries.org.
menting education, with my little series
contributing toward a larger goal of having
hackerspaces — these great bastions of
learning — teach communities.

What’s the most important thing PPPRS Wisdom #5:
you’ve learned about hosting an event “ We will laugh at you.
of this magnitude? You'll get used to this or cry. Then
That it’s absolutely impossible to do this we'll laugh more. That's actually
without friends or a community of people written in the rules."
who believe in you. If I were to list all of those
who have helped me over the years, it’d take makezine.com 31

FEATURES SIFTEO

Going

PRO

By David Merrill

Makers are turning their
hand-soldered prototypes into
real consumer electronics.

32

Startups don’t make mass-market consumer Case Study: Sifteo Cubes
electronics products, only giant companies
do. That’s what I used to think. Despite a few Jeevan Kalanithi and I didn’t realize we were
celebrated exceptions with DIY beginnings mapping out the next 6+ years of our lives
like HP and Apple, it has historically been when we spent an afternoon in 2006 sketch-
tough for small companies to succeed mak- ing on printer paper in the kitchen. Longtime
ing hardware products. The main barrier is friends and then-graduate students at the
simple: it’s expensive and complicated to MIT Media Lab, we were thinking about how
manufacture physical things! computer interfaces should be more hands-
on, more like a pile of Legos than a glass slate
Components and materials have to be and a keyboard. I love building useful physical
purchased in advance to guarantee availabil- things and am fascinated by how tools and
ity, each unit requires labor to assemble, and other objects augment creativity and help
transportation costs eat profit margins. This us think. The more we sketched, the more
all makes the financial barrier to entry daunt- Jeevan and I became obsessed with the idea
ing. On the flip side, desktop software, mobile of a computer interface made up of a bunch
apps, and web services are much cheaper to of little interactive pieces that would let hands
build and deploy these days, so a lot more and minds move in unison.
startups and venture investments have
steered toward virtual products. We started with a simple idea: small
physical objects that could each
But recently something awe- represent a digital thing, like a
some has been happening: more photo or an email. Arrange the
startups, like the company that objects and you arrange their
I co-founded, Sifteo (sifteo.com), virtual counterparts! There were
are making hardware products. a lot of open questions, like:
Makers are turning their hand- what capabilities should these
soldered prototypes into real devices have? What will the
consumer electronics (CE) products “killer app” be? How “real” do
and selling them through retailers our prototypes need to be to learn
like Amazon and Best Buy.
if this is a good idea? First, we made
Changes in manufacturing and distribution non-functional prototypes using wood and
power this new breed of lean CE startups. In acrylic, to try different sizes for the devices
the last year and a half at Sifteo, we launched and ideas for applications. We asked others
two generations of Sifteo Cubes, a hands-on what they thought they’d be good for. We
game platform built around a very different called our idea “the Siftable Computer,” or
(and fun) new interface, an expanding library “Siftables,” for short, and learned that they
of downloadable games, and a software devel- should have screens about an inch square
opment kit with an emulator for developers. and should be able to talk to each other
Sifteo Cubes are “inch-scale computers”: when placed side-by-side.
small, wireless tiles with color screens, accel-
erometers, adjacency sensors, and touch We bought color LCDs, infrared trans-
sensing that make classic play interactive ceivers, accelerometers, and microcontrollers
— they’re like programmable magic dominos from online electronics hobbyist shops and
that run brainy action-puzzle games. sent a circuit board design off for barebones,
low-cost fabrication. When the first circuit
This article shares our founding story, the boards arrived, we assembled a handful of
evolution of our products, what has changed barely functional Siftables that kicked off two
in the market to make what we do possible, full years of trial and error. We made three
and my top five lessons for transitioning from generations of working prototypes, each gen-
hobbyist maker to entrepreneur. eration fixing the bugs of the previous and

makezine.com 33

FEATURES SIFTEO

allowing us to try new application ideas more too expensive to manufacture, and although
easily. We let people use them a lot along the people who used them thought they were
way, and noticed something surprising and neat, we still weren’t confident in their mass
exciting: our testers were having a lot of fun. appeal. Then an unexpected breakthrough
Rather than using them for work, they wanted happened: I was invited to give a short “tech
to play with Siftables. demo” talk at the TED Conference. I almost
turned down the offer, thinking that we’d
By the third-gen prototype, we had gotten have better demos to show a year later — but
it mostly right. The color display, Bluetooth decided that the opportunity might not exist
radio, neighbor sensing, 3-axis accelerometer, then! The audience loved the simple, brainy,
and battery-charging circuits were all working playful apps that I showed, like the physical
well. The downside? Each block cost more equation editor and the word game that I lik-
than $200 in materials, and it took me four ened to an interactive form of Scrabble. When
hours to build a single one, soldering all the my talk appeared online it went viral, and has
components by hand. now been viewed more than a million times.

By 2008, Siftables was a great research Early designs for charging
platform, but it didn’t seem like it was des- and stowing cubes.
tined to be a commercial product. They were

What’s Different Prototyping is easier. you out and give some can also spread the word New Deal Designs (illustrations)
About Now? Basic circuit boards can feedback. There are a about their product using
be fabricated cheap number of new hardware web video, enabling cus-
So why can a young and quick, facilities like incubator programs, and tomers to get comfortable
startup make a CE TechShop provide afford- the Bay Area now has enough to buy without
product these days? able access to expensive several Meetup groups experiencing it firsthand.
tools, and online suppliers focused on commercializ- Kickstarter is a fantastic
Costs are down, of DIY materials are more ing hardware products. tool that allows entrepre-
and quality is up. comprehensive and help- neurs to gauge demand
Components are cheaper ful than in the past. The mature internet. before they commit to
than ever and manufac- Products can connect building a product. The
turing capacity in Asia CE startup founders to the internet, mean- new revenue streams
(where Sifteo cubes are are helping each other. ing CE businesses like and message-spreading
now built) is plentiful, The web-entrepreneur Sifteo can have a second capabilities allow CE
thanks mostly to the culture of sharing infor- revenue stream based startups to enjoy the kind
rise of the mobile phone mation is spreading to CE on virtual goods (e.g. our of steep growth potential
industry and other mass- startups — you’ll be sur- game store). I call this that attracts (or someday
market CE products. prised at who will meet Connected CE, and it’s obsoletes?) investors.
you for coffee to hear relatively new. Companies

34

The response to my TED talk they had to stick close to their PC —
showed us that Siftables resonated people really wanted it to be porta-
with a wide audience. People were excit- ble so they could take it anywhere.
ed by their tactile nature — unlike any Jeevan and I work with a team of
technology they’d previously experienced, 25 extremely talented makers, and
and they wanted to play. We started Sifteo we hunkered down together imme-
Inc. and were awarded a Small Business diately to create the solution: a new
Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the Sifteo Cubes platform that is portable,
National Science Foundation. Funded by this developed in just under a year and with a
initial grant, we met venture capital firms True brand new SDK and cycle-accurate emulator
Ventures and Foundry Group and raised more that’s already released. We’re getting faster.
than $10 million in two rounds. One takeaway You can read more about how we did it at
from fundraising (which required serious time tech.sifteo.com, and download the SDK and
and effort) is that it’s better to find an inves- emulator for free at sifteo.com/developers.
tor who already believes in your vision rather Have a question about your CE startup or
than trying to convince one who doesn’t. idea that I might be able to help with? Send
me an email at [email protected].
With a funded startup, there was still a
ton of work to do before we could release Dave Merrill ([email protected]) builds hand tools for the digital age with
a product to consumers. The game system a bunch of smart makers at Sifteo. He is an entrepreneur, programmer,
would have to be robust, affordable, and user- self-taught electrical engineer, and geek dad.
friendly. We rewrote the code and rebuilt the
hardware from the ground up. The finished
product, Sifteo Cubes, did not inherit a single
line of code or any hardware design from our
earlier MIT prototypes. The Original Sifteo
Cubes launched for the holidays in 2011 with
a growing library of games focused on intel-
ligent play. Users loved the tactile play experi-
ence, but the system was not user-friendly
enough! Since games ran from the computer,

Takeaways Find out who your possible, but no leaner. as manufacturing,
for Makers market is. You might Sifteo started in a base- PR, and retail-channel
think you already know ment where we paid relationships. Know
We have learned a who will buy your prod- $500 a month in rent. what you can do well,
lot over the past few uct, but entrepreneurs A good friend of mine and outsource the rest.
years. Here are some of are often surprised. Get regularly looks over
the most useful tidbits: feedback early and often, new designs and offers Nobody is more
and learn to relish being feedback (thanks, Ivan!). passionate than you
A neat idea is not the proven wrong. Even after raising some about making your
same as a good prod- money, finding ways to idea real. You really have
uct, and a good product Know what kind of keep expenses down will to go for it, and you’ll
is not the same as a company you want to increase your chances sacrifice other things
great business. Don’t build. Do you want of success because you’ll along the way to building
fall so deeply in love to build an exponential- have more time to find a successful company.
with your idea that you growth company, or not? your way there. At the Extraordinary outcomes
can’t evaluate whether a It’s OK to say “nope” and same time, we do pay require extraordinary
successful business can set your business up for outside help in areas efforts, and the startups
actually be built around it. accordingly. where we need it, such that succeed are the
extraordinary ones.
Keep it as lean as

makezine.com 35

FEATURES ROVERA ROBOT Gregory Hayes

Learning

TO BUILD AByBenjaminBonner

TO BUILD A BotandKendraMarkle

Friends Ben, Kendra, and Monsieur Tux
the cat tackle the Rovera Robot.

36

Kendra: With great anticipation, my favorite ours in different bowls. With lots of similar-
13-year-old, Benjamin Bonner, and I sat down looking parts, pretty soon your desk will be
to build MAKE’s Rovera 2W Arduino Robot Kit. covered with tools, parts, wire clippings, and
With Monsieur Tux the cat closely monitoring solder bits, and that one lost component can
our efforts, we carefully unpacked the compo- take forever to track down.
nents and laid everything out. The size of the
companion book (Make an Arduino-Controlled The Rovera Arduino library code was easy
Robot) was daunting at first, but it has lots of to download from the Maker Shed and the
color photos and illustrations, and moves you instructions were clear and helpful. Loading
methodically through the build. It was easy and understanding the code wasn’t quite
to figure out what to do and in what order. interesting enough to hold Monsieur Tux’s
attention. He preferred to distract Benjamin
We quickly had the chassis and wheels while I set up the software environment.
together and the power switch and battery
case soldered on (you supply the batteries). The fun really begins after the robot is fully
The instructions then show connecting the assembled. The included code is just the
completed motor shield (a board that’s added beginning of the features and personality you
to the Arduino to provide motor control). can program for your bot. You’re only limited
After a moment of confusion, we discovered by your imagination and patience for working
that this was a separate kit (included with the through issues that come up. Monsieur Tux
Rovera) with its own instructions. We found apparently has some great ideas for future
and followed those online. additions and improvements.

Benjamin had never soldered before While it’s possible for an intelligent eighth
and he got some really good practice on the grader to build this bot alone, it’s complex
motor shield and Rovera’s printed circuit enough that having a little help makes it more
board, which has just enough components enjoyable. We worked on it together for about
to be challenging but not too many to be an hour every day after school for almost two
overly intimidating. weeks before it really came together. It took
longer than we thought, mostly because we
I highly recommend keeping all of the had to troubleshoot a few problems, which
components together in groups. We organized are bound to happen with a project of this size
(you’re building a robot, after all). We also had
to re-buy parts that we managed to ruin, since
no extras are provided.

Benjamin: The Rovera is way better than
Lego! This was my first big electronics project
— my only experience before this was making
the robot cockroach kits [RoboRoach from
Backyard Brains]. It started to be really fun
once I knew how to solder well. My favorite

makezine.com 37

FEATURES ROVERA ROBOT

part was soldering up the motor shield. The to get all the way through this project. The
board looks like a city, and adding compo- instructions say that you can build Rovera in
nents feels like adding buildings to your city. a weekend. That would be true for someone
who’s experienced in soldering and basic
Unfortunately, the biggest skill I ended up robot construction, and may be true if you
needing for this project was de-soldering. don’t make any mistakes.
I installed one of the 16-pin IC chips on the
motor shield backwards and it was so try- Monsieur Tux was a helpful member of our
ing on my nerves to de-solder all of it. But team. He has a keen eye for detail and kept
I learned my lesson. In the future, I’ll always our spirits up. I want to program the robot to
make sure to install the chip as marked! play with him. He’s a black cat so I think we
can program Rovera to follow him around,
You might need more time than you think which will, of course, annoy and confuse him.
He will be our test kitty. We’ll see if he and
Rovera become friends or enemies. a

Besides being an eighth grader, Benjamin Bonner is an avid sci-fi reader
and has read the entire Doctor Who series. He loves model trains, building
worlds in Minecraft, and sleeping in.

Kendra Markle builds tools for behavior change in the healthcare industry
(alteractions.org). She also makes wearable electronics, shoots portrait
photography, and spends much time letting the cat in and out.

Monsieur Tux the cat is a keen artificer and excellent project manager with
an interest in robotics and opening the front door by himself. He loves to
solder and is the author of Making Things Meow. He is a relentless napper.

THE MAKE ROVERA ROBOT KIT is available
in two models: two-wheel drive (2W) and four-wheel drive
(4W). Both kits come with all the basic parts you need
to build the bot and include Michael Margolis’ companion
book, Make an Arduino-Controlled Robot. The book pro-
vides assembly instructions for the two robots, how to
program them, and has additional ideas for what you can

do with your new
bots. Rovera 2W and
Rovera 4W are
both available in
the Maker Shed
(makershed.com).

38

Written and photographed by
Tim Hunkin

Victorian

MICROTECH Adventures invintage
watch restoration.

Ian Coote I didn’t know much about watches until my such a valuable piece (I think worth roughly
aunt died and I inherited an astonishingly £1,000/$1,608) but one member, Ian Coote,
beautiful pocketwatch from her. Looking offered to take me on.
online, I found it was made in Switzerland
around 1800. It didn’t run, and when I opened The first surprise was the height of his
the case I thought a small worm had gotten workbench, almost at neck level. You rest your
trapped inside. On closer inspection it wasn’t wrists on the edge of the bench, and the watch
a worm but the tiniest chain I had ever seen, movement is clamped in a holding block.
a perfect microscopic bicycle chain with links
smaller than half a millimeter (above right). The screwdrivers are much more precise
than cheap jeweler’s drivers — they’re color-
I really wanted to take the watch apart to coded and it’s important to hold them the
see how it worked but I was nervous because right way and use exactly the right size for
it was obviously worth a lot. So I emailed each screw.
the local branch of the British Horological
Institute with photos of the watch, inquiring Once a screw is free, you remove it with
if any of their members would be willing tweezers. But these aren’t ordinary twee-
to tutor me. I had several replies saying a zers; they have super fine points made of
beginner should definitely not start with super hard steel (the best ones are made by
a company called Dumont and cost about
£30/$48). I never realized tweezers could do

makezine.com 39

FEATURES VICTORIAN MICROTECH

TIME PIECES: (Left) The verge escapement and (right) the fusee of old.

so much — they make picking up something putting all the parts in little wire baskets. Google Books (etchings) from Oxford University (verge), and Harvard University (fusee)
tiny, like a human hair, really easy. The danger Any sense of order I had as to where all the
is that because they’re so hard, it’s easy to parts fit was lost at this stage. The cleaning
scratch the watch — I scratched a few parts, machine immersed the parts and agitated
maybe decreasing the value of my heirloom. them in a series of different fluids. The
process took nearly an hour.
You aren’t supposed to touch anything with
your fingers. Ian says I’m a good pupil apart I then started reassembling the watch with
from this failing — my fingerprints are now Ian’s guidance. With the help of the photos,
on almost every part. working out where everything went wasn't
quite as hard as I had thought. It gradually
I Lose a Part and Search for It struck me that all these tiny parts had been
made by hand. I can’t imagine how the deli-
With Ian’s encouragement I stripped the cate minute hand could have been filed, or
watch down to a mass of gears, plates, how any of the parts were made so precisely.
screws, and springs. Amazingly, nothing was
seriously damaged, so it looked as if it might We then realized we had lost a part — the
be mendable. Every screw looked different to catch that locks the movement in the case.
me, so I couldn’t see how we could possibly Ian’s workshop is full of stuff, not an easy
ever put it back together, but I had taken a place to find anything. We spent hours search-
few photos. ing and had just given up when it reappeared
in a corner of a dark blue tray where I had
Once stripped down, everything had to put some parts. By this time we were both
be put in the cleaning machine. This involved exhausted so I returned to finish the job
another day.

I Give My Watch a Lube Job

I hadn’t realized that the escapement was
a verge escapement (pictured above). This is
the escapement that was used on the very
first clocks. Verge escapements have a very
irregular “tick” and are never good timekeep-
ers. They were gradually abandoned in clocks
after the pendulum was invented in the early
17th century. As it was impossible to mount
a pendulum in a watch, the verge remained
for another 200 years.

The tiny chain I found when I first opened
the watch was part of a mechanism to make it
a bit more accurate, called the fusee (above).

40

The more you wind a watch, the stronger the I Put It Together and It Works! …
“pull” of the spring on the escapement. To Sort Of
even out the spring tension, the chain goes
from the spring barrel onto a wheel with a When we finally got the balance wheel back
spiral track. The chain was bent from being in place, the escapement showed no inclina-
squashed against the watchcase, so I thought tion to tick, but tweaking two adjuster screws
it was no good, but Ian confidently pulled it eventually got it going. At the end of the
straight. Fitting it back in place was fiddly. second day it felt very satisfying to replace
the dial and case and hear the escapement
The other fiddly bit was replacing the top merrily ticking.
plate. All the gear shafts have reduced ends,
called pivots, which fit into holes in the plate. Sadly, having adjusted everything possible,
I could fit two, but while trying to get the last it still runs wildly fast, gaining 3 minutes an
one in, the others would pop out again. This hour. Ian thinks the balance spring may have
was a relatively simple watch — some chiming broken and been shortened at some point.
watches have 13 pivots to locate. I did eventu-
ally succeed. It was still a great experience. Rather than
owning a valuable watch that doesn’t do any-
The top plate is fixed by four tiny tapered thing and that I don’t understand, I now own
pins, pushed through holes in locating pillars. a slightly less valuable scratched watch, but
One pin had snapped off, so the pillar (1.5mm I know what makes it tick. I’m sure my aunt
diameter) had to be drilled out. Ian set up a would have approved.
0.5mm spade bit in his watchmaker’s lathe,
made a center mark on the pillar with the The Genius of the Lever Escapement
tweezers, and told me to drill by pushing the
pillar against the spade bit. I never thought it While I was working on my aunt’s pocket-
would work, but it was surprisingly control- watch, Ian showed me some of his other
lable and my hole went perfectly through the watches. The very first watches appeared
center of the pillar. in the 1500s and apart from the addition of
the balance spring, their basic design didn’t
Then all the bearing holes had to be oiled. change much until the 19th century. Then
Too much oil gums up the works and can they went through a revolution — by 1850 the
suck the oil out of the vital places by capillary verge escapement was obsolete, replaced
action. Watchmaker’s oilers ingeniously dis- by the lever escapement.
pense one tiny drop at a time.
The lever escapement solved a major prob-
lem. In a verge escapement the balance wheel
is always in contact with the watch gearing,
so any slight change in the friction of anything
in the watch influences the balance wheel.
The genius of the lever escapement is that
the balance wheel (omitted from the shaft
on the right of the drawing on the following
page) is completely detached from the rest of
the watch, except at the midpoint of its swing
when it releases the “lever” and moves the
escape wheel to the next position (making the
tick sound). It’s so much better that it doesn’t
need a fusee like the one inside my aunt’s
watch — a lever escapement will keep time
whatever the spring tension.

Shortly after the lever escapement was
introduced, an American engineer named
Aaron Dennison developed the first machines

makezine.com 41

FEATURES VICTORIAN MICROTECH

CATCHER AND RELEASE: Lever escapements
replaced verge escapements by 1850.

to mass-produce watch parts. At first his Round Two: Dissecting
companies kept going bankrupt, but some- a Waltham Railway Watch
how the same machines would reappear in
the next company. Eventually named the I bought a beautiful Waltham pocketwatch
Waltham Watch Company, it became well (below) on eBay for about £100/$161 (a
established and continued in operation until model 645, made in 1908) to take to bits.
the 1950s. The Waltham Watch Company was I thought it was a hopeless case because I
really proud of its achievements, and felt that couldn’t pull out the winder to change the
machine-made watches with interchangeable time. Ian immediately solved this problem.
parts were “scientific” and greatly superior It was classed as a railway watch, and one
to European handmade ones. Its pride is very of the railway specifications was that it must
evident in the elaborate decoration of its be impossible to change the time accident-
watch movements. ally. So, instead of pulling out the winder, the
dial cover had to be unscrewed and a tiny
lever pulled out. Then the winder moved the

42

Rather than owning a
valuable watch that doesn’t
do anything and that
I don’t understand, I now
own a slightly less valuable
scratched watch, but
I know what makes it tick.

hands perfectly. and marketed in 1972 as the Pulsar. It had an
Instead of two thin “watch plates,” Waltham LED display that lit only when a button was
pressed for a few seconds, to avoid draining
watches are made of thick nickel-alloy plates, the batteries. The enthusiasm for digital
with spaces milled out to accommodate the displays didn’t last.
gears. All the screws go in much further and
it feels satisfyingly solid. It’s a joy discovering Today’s dial watches are electronic and
how carefully every detail is designed. battery powered (the first watch of this type
was introduced by Seiko in 1969). The hands
My watch had 21 jewel bearings, pale pink are driven by a stepper motor, and the timing
rubies. Most of them could stay in place, but is controlled by a quartz crystal oscillator.
the balance wheel and escape wheel had a Quartz watches are typically accurate to with-
double jewel on each end — one with a hole in half a second a day, about 10 times more
as the bearing and one plain disk as an end accurate than any mechanical one.
plate, or thrust bearing — and these had to
be taken out, as dirt gets in the gap between Now almost everyone has a mobile phone
the two. After cleaning everything, we realized and there’s no need to have a watch at all, so
we had lost track of which jewel went where, today’s watches are basically jewelry. Simple
a bad case of divided responsibility. It took quartz watches are now amazingly cheap.
hours inspecting them all under a microscope
and trying them in different places. Mechanical watches are also still made,
but it’s a strange business. At one end of the
Eventually we got the jewels in the right scale the Chinese mechanical watches on
positions. The satisfying thing about a lever eBay cost less than £10 ($16). I bought one
escapement is that it starts ticking instantly and it keeps good time. The Swiss watches
after the balance wheel is in place. Sadly my that feature in glossy magazine adverts (often
watch doesn’t keep ticking for a full day, and costing over £10,000/$16,080) also have
is only accurate if kept flat. Ian is confident he traditional lever escapements. They’re beauti-
could get it to work properly with effort, but fully made and every part is hand polished
still, not bad for a 100-year-old watch. — but it’s weird that people spend that much
on a watch that is less accurate than a simple
The End of the Pocketwatch quartz watch. a

Pocketwatches were gradually superseded by Tim Hunkin trained as an engineer but became a cartoonist for a U.K.
wristwatches in the early 20th century. The Sunday newspaper. He next made The Secret Life of Machines TV series
movements were exactly the same, but half and now runs an arcade of homemade coin-operated machines in
the size. The first digital electronic watch was Southwold, England. He wrote “Building with PLCs” in MAKE Volume 23.
developed by the Hamilton Watch Company

makezine.com 43

FEATURES SOFTWARE FOR MAKERS

WrtihtItelleEunSdsihtbtaryoawrtseNidoeflbsyMeAnKE
Havliiknegshhtohawvpeianarnogsigutshatistataotsa3smpansDoraentfitrlmanlawftltyaty,oeavohzdydruopeaeoerlrcrlau,iaidtctprrfoef-aircwsnrosnuocripiodsidbhmtrbrhueueokebes.cimgliodtIdnwfr,aagatftriyaalhmidlocsihw,u,sstede,legalerpbtuys,usiyiedgtiotaoeneusrtiigoteaoerlost,u,yaranonuddrbjoebtter.

FEATURES SOFTWARE FOR MAKERS

ELECTRONICS KICAD
DESIGN
FREE \\ kicad-pcb.org
Software tools to help you design, If you want a truly open source CAD program for
simulate, and analyze circuits, laying out printed circuit boards, KiCad may be your
as well as draw schematics and lay answer. It comes close to providing the workflow
out printed circuit boards. and functionality of closed-source CAD tools like
EAGLE, but without the restrictions and cost. You
EAGLE may invest a little more in the learning curve, but
that could easily change in the near future.
$69+ \\ cadsoftusa.com
If you’re creating a printed circuit board (PCB) CREATIVE CODING
that’s more complex than an LED blinker, you’ll
need a CAD program to create the Gerber files Languages and libraries for artists,
that PCB manufacturers expect. EAGLE is currently designers, and musicians.
the common coin of the open hardware crowd,
even though there’s a (small) price to entry for PROCESSING
commercial use. EAGLE offers a modular CAD tool,
but you’ll really just need the schematic and board FREE \\ processing.org
editors to get started laying out your own PCBs. This open source programming language is
ideal for working with graphics and for creating
FRITZING animations, interactive programs, and other visual
software. Although Processing is based on the Java
FREE \\ fritzing.org programming language, it’s much easier to learn,
Fritzing is the name both of an open source initiative and a large number of artists, students, hobbyists,
to help create electronics and of a software package and designers have already mastered it.
for designing projects. The program includes many
common electronic components, as well as micro- OPENFRAMEWORKS
controllers, popular shields, and accessory boards
you can drag and drop into your designs. Fritzing FREE \\ openframeworks.cc
lets you switch between three views of your project: OpenFrameworks is a collection of C++ libraries
breadboard, schematic, and printed circuit board. for “creative coding“ that work on all computer
platforms and mobile devices. It presents a fairly
CIRCUITS.IO unified interface for doing multimedia, computer
vision, Arduino, and more. Think Processing for
FREE \\ circuits.io production.
Circuits.io is a web-based electronics design tool,
but it’s also an online marketplace. You can design PURE DATA
your board using their free editor, order copies of
the board from them, or share your project for oth- FREE \\ puredata.info
ers to order. Circuits.io includes design verification, Pure Data (or Pd) is a visual programming environ-
so it’s very unlikely that you’ll design something ment for musicians who want to synthesize sounds
that can’t actually be manufactured. to create new interactive instruments and environ-
ments. Pd “patches” are programs created by link-
CIRCUITLAB ing audio inputs and outputs to graphical blocks
that perform digital signal processing functions on
FREE \\ circuitlab.com the sounds flowing through them. Pd is an open
CircuitLab is both a circuit design tool/schematic source work-alike to the Max/MSP environment.
editor and a circuit simulator. After you lay out
your circuit, you can set the parameters of each
component and run a variety of simulations and
visualizations right in your browser. When your
design is complete, you can easily share it with
other users.

46

CINDER

FREE \\ libcinder.org
Cinder is a C++ framework for “creative coding“
by artists and designers. It's comparable to
Processing or openFrameworks but is targeted
at a professional audience. Coding in Cinder tends
to be a bit more complicated with the benefit of
better performance and higher quality results.

3D CAD

Useful and inexpensive software for
designing 3D models, for printing
or otherwise.

SKETCHUP drawing objects with your
mouse, you program their
FREE to $495 \\ sketchup.com shapes using lines of code. For
Previously a Google project, SketchUp is now example, cube([10,10,10]) will
owned by Trimble. It’s a design tool for modeling make a 10mm cube appear on-screen.
and presenting 3D objects. Out of the box, the free Using Boolean operators, you can combine,
version isn’t suitable for generating output for 3D subtract, and intersect objects to create much
printers, but there are many tutorials online for more complex models using constructive solid
installing a plugin that lets you export your designs geometry. OpenSCAD can export your scripts
to the req uired STL format. SketchUp presents a as STL models for 3D printing.
nice balance between ease-of-use and power.
3D PRINTER
123D DESIGN FRONT-ENDS

FREE \\ 123dapp.com Utilities to control your 3D printer
This is part of the free 123D suite of tools from and to prepare your 3D models
Autodesk. You can model objects using its easy-to- for fabrication.
learn interface, prepare your models for printing,
export them to STL files, or send them directly to
many popular fabrication companies.

TINKERCAD REPLICATORG

$20+/month \\ tinkercad.com FREE \\ replicat.org
Tinkercad is a web-based modeling program. With
a WebGL-enabled browser such as Google Chrome ReplicatorG is a front-end for RepRap-based
or Firefox, you can run Tinkercad’s 3D user inter- 3D printers such as the MakerBot Cupcake CNC,
face directly in your browser. Build up your design, Thing-O-Matic, and Replicator. It was originally
save it online, and share it with others. You can also created to support MakerBot printers, but can also
send files directly to popular 3D printing services or be used with other RepRap-based printers. You can
download STL files for printing yourself. use ReplicatorG to load an STL model, then rotate,
move, and/or resize it before “slicing," which pre-
OPENSCAD pares the model for printing. Once you’ve sliced the
file, you can send it directly to the printer or save it
FREE \\ openscad.org to an SD card for printing later.
If you like programming languages more than drag-
ging and dropping, you might prefer OpenSCAD
to the other modeling tools out there. Instead of

makezine.com 47

FEATURES SOFTWARE FOR MAKERS

MAKERWARE WEBSITE DESIGN

FREE \\ makerbot.com/makerware Slick tools and tutorials to create
MakerWare is the latest front-end printing soft- attractive and highly functional
ware from MakerBot. It’s specifically designed websites.
for their newer models: the Replicator and
Replicator 2. However, MakerBot has indicated TREEHOUSE
that it may support the older Thing-O-Matic in a
future upgrade. Unlike ReplicatorG, MakerWare is $25–$49/month \\ teamtreehouse.com
not fully open source, but the parts that do the Earn achievement badges as you take interactive
heavy lifting (the mathematical calculations needed lessons in web and iOS design and development.
to “slice” the model) — the slicers Miracle Grue and Treehouse offers 700 instructional videos along
Skeinforge — are. Unlike ReplicatorG, MakerWare with accompanying quizzes and code challenges,
can load more than one STL at a time. with the goal of bringing affordable tech education
to the masses.
REPETIER-HOST
POPCORN MAKER
FREE \\ repetier.com
This is a unique front-end for RepRap printers. Like FREE \\ popcorn.webmaker.org
the others, you can load STLs and arrange them as The goal of Mozilla’s Webmaker platform is to turn
you’d like, and then slice and print an entire “build web consumers into web makers. They’re working
plate“ all at once. Repetier-Host can slice models on several tools to make this happen, but Popcorn
using either Skeinforge or Slic3r. Unlike other front- Maker really hits the spot; it’s a tool for remixing
ends, Repetier-Host gives you three visualizations and remashing web video. If you think about how
of your model: the 3D STL view, the layer-by-layer much learning and skill sharing is moving into
view of the G-code instructions that comprise the video form, you’ll quickly realize the value of
sliced model, and the real-time build view of each Popcorn Maker.
line of material as it’s laid down. If you want to
explain how 3D printing works, give the demo PAPER.JS & PROCESSING.JS
using Repetier-Host.
FREE \\ paperjs.org, processingjs.org
PRINTRUN/PRONTERFACE If you want to draw animated graphics on a web
page, you’ve got quite a few options. If you want
FREE \\ reprap.org/wiki/printrun to avoid Flash and have your animations work on
Easy to use and very fast, Printrun is a front-end for mobile devices, the field narrows considerably: the
RepRap 3D printers. It doesn’t have all the bells and JavaScript frameworks Paper.js and Processing.js
whistles of Repetier-Host, but its simplicity is quite are good options. Use Paper.js if you want interac-
appealing. You use Printrun to slice your model tivity; use Processing.js if you already know how
(by invoking Slic3r or Skeinforge), then send your to program in Processing.
model to the printer. In addition to a graphical user
interface, Printrun includes command-line tools for
working with print jobs.