Control these open-source, 3D-printable race cars with your mobile device.
As a way to get more young Makers interested in pursuing STEM-related fields, one Cambridge startup has launched a set of customizable, open-source race car kits. Cannybot Racers are 3D-printable, Bluetooth-enabled toy vehicles that can be remotely controlled using any mobile device, or even a Raspberry Pi.
Keeping in line with the burgeoning Maker Movement, the cars are super simple to create on just about any desktop printer, and can be programmed using Arduino, Blockly, mbed, Python or Scratch. Each Cannybot is comprised of several 3D-printed structural components — such as the chassis, top cover and wheels — that every school with access to a machine can construct in their lab, along with the addition of some low-cost hardware components. This includes a small yet powerful single board controller, dubbed the BlueBrain, which is driven by an ARM Cortex-M0 processor and features a Bluetooth 4.0 module and various motor controllers. The belly of the Arduino-compatible bot is also equipped with line sensor used to detect the track as it makes its way around.
“The openness of the platform enables students and those looking to begin tinkering around delve deeper — peeking behind their visual programming to see the Arduino code that actually runs on the robots — and physically taking apart and reassembling their Cannybots to see how the components fit together and communicate,” the team writes.
Not only can users purchase one of a few tracks printed on high-quality PVC material, which range from figure-eight tracks to complicated mazes, but Makers can just as easily use standard black electrical tape (or A4/A3 paper using a home printer) to design their own raceway on any hard surface.
This all-in-one personal fabricator can 3D print, laser engrave, mill and more.
While the 3D printing world has provided us with some pretty remarkable creations thus far, from robots extruding structures to machines whipping up chocolate treats, one Austin-based startup may be raising the bar even higher. That’s because the Techjango team is about to unveil one of the slickest projects yet. Even better, we’ll be able to get a firsthand look right at Maker Faire Bay Area.
Dubbed Makerarm, the gizmo is exactly what it sounds like: a personal fabrication system packed into a sleek robotic arm that sits on your desktop. The modular device, which boasts a build envelope of 32 inches and an arm reach of 30 inches, is equipped with interchangeable heads for various applications that extend well beyond just 3D printing. These include plotting, engraving with a 500mW laser, milling at incredibly high speeds, PCB assembly for electronics, among several others. Future plans even entail pick-and-place capabilities using suction, electromagnetic or gripper heads.
We first saw Techjango’s proof-of-concept nearly a year ago — you too can see it in this video. And from the looks of the clip, though in very rudimentary form, it would appear to be driven by some sort of Atmel based Arduino.
The Makerarm is being billed with many of the components one would expect from today’s desktop 3D printers, including a 10″ Z-axis. What’s more, it comes with features like auto-leveling (particularly useful as it’s meant to be mounted), Wi-Fi for wirelsss connection, and even expandability through add-on compartments. The impressive gadget is built around the versatile ATmega2560 MCU, tasked with handling the I/Os and motion control.
Safe to say after watching its teaser reel, the Makerarm is surely not what most of the DIY community has been accustomed to with conventional Cartesian or Delta-style machinery. While most of the project remains under wraps, we can’t wait to see it in action — that’s for sure!
Driven by an Arduino, this DIY system will make sure your pup gets one cup of dry food twice a day.
Whether it’s due to long work hours, frequent vacations or purely one’s absent-mindedness, it can sometimes be difficult to ensure that dear Fido is fed on time. But thanks to one Maker, it may get a whole heck of a lot easier.
Created by Maker Mark Bissey, the 3D-Printed Automatic Pet Feederis a wall-mounted device that is capable of dispensing exactly one cup of dry food twice per day. While its feeding times and the number of increments are adjustable, the amount of food is not. Meaning, if you have a smaller pup or a cat that requires only a couple of ounces of food daily, it looks like they may be getting a bit more than the recommended serving size.
Additionally, the Maker decided to implement an early feeding feature for training purposes, which can be activated through its embedded infrared or touch sensor. Bissey notes, “I firmly believe for obedience training dogs should work for their food. So if you catch the timer before it goes off you can make your dog do a trick or two and feed them manually.”
The project is comprised of seven 3D-printed parts, including its housing, a top, internal and bottom funnel, a cylinder and two caps. Meanwhile, enclosed within the system are an Arduino Uno (ATmega328), a stepper motor, a touch and infrared sensor, an SPDT switch, a 10K Ohm resistor, among a few other electronic components.
At the brains of the operation, the Arduino is tasked with checking to see if the opening of the cylinder is upright. The mechanism will continue to turn until it hits a limiting switch, thereby letting the food fall. A four-digit seven-segment display is also employed to reveal an ongoing countdown in between feeding times. When it reaches zero, a stepper motor starts to rotate and the food dispensing process begins. If the early feeding feature is used, the system will take the remaining time and add it to the next feeding cycle. This way, it will never be off schedule.
This DIY GPS tracker will let you know when a loved one with Alzheimer’s wanders off.
Anyone who has ever had a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease is all too familiar with the significance of taking the necessary steps to ensure that person’s well-being. As the disease progresses, those with the disease experience worsening memory loss, difficulty in responding to their environment, and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. In fact, a number of patients tend to wander from places of safety.
So in an effort to help solve this problem, Maker Logan Prasser — in collaboration with Sean Halloran and Gvozden Suvajlo — has devised a GPS device that can track a sufferer’s movements and send an alert to a caregiver if and when they leave a pre-defined range. The gadget, which consists of a 3D-printed case, can be easily slipped inside a pocket by a caretaker, who can then monitor the patient’s movements from afar. While there are a few commercial solutions on the market today, most are a bit complex and costly when compared to this DIY project.
Housed within the device’s 3D-printed shell is an Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4), an Adafruit FONA board, a GPS breakout board and antenna, along with a 9V battery. The Maker programmed the Micro to communicate with both the cell and GPS modules. When the GPS module is not within its specified boundary, the tracker notifies the caretaker via text.
Though not required, Prasser suggests using a solar board for charging the 3.7V battery and using solar panels. Another optional step includes adding a button and LED to the device.
UC Berkeley engineers develop a new smartphone microscope that can detect infection by parasitic worms.
Access to a hematologist is not something that is all too common in many parts of Africa. That’s why a research team led by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley has developed a new mobile phone microscope that uses video to automatically detect and quantify infection by parasitic worms in a drop of blood. The latest iteration of UC Berkeley’s CellScope technology could potentially revive efforts to eradicate debilitating diseases in Africa, such as river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, by offering critical information to health providers in the field in a more accurate and efficient manner. This would allow workers to make potentially life-saving treatment decisions right on the spot.
River blindness, which is the second-leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide, is typically transmitted through the bite of blackflies. Meanwhile, the second-leading cause of disability worldwide, lymphatic filariasis, is spread by mosquitoes and leads to elephantiasis — a condition marked by painful, disfiguring swelling. Both are endemic in certain regions in Africa.
Treatment often revolves around the drug ivermectin, or IVM. Yet, public health campaigns to administer the medication have been halted, and rightfully so, due to potentially fatal side effects for patients co-infected with Loa loa — a common cause of African eye worm. When there are high circulating levels of microscopic Loa loa worms in a patient, treatment with IVM can ultimately lead to severe or fatal neurologic damage.
The standard method of screening for levels of Loa loa involves trained technicians manually counting the worms in a blood smear using conventional laboratory microscopes, making the process impractical for use in field settings and in mass campaigns to administer IVM. That’s why the team of UC Berkeley engineers joined forces with Dr. Thomas Nutman from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and collaborators from Cameroon and France to develop the incredible, Arduino-based gadget.
For their most recent version of a mobile phone microscope, the aptly named CellScope Loa, the researchers paired a smartphone with a 3D-printed plastic base where the sample of blood is positioned. Fortunately, the parts housed within its base were relatively easy to allocate. These include an Atmel poweredArduino board, a Bluetooth module, LED lights, a USB port, as well as some gears and circuitry.
As the researchers explain, control of the device is automated through a custom app that was designed solely for this purpose. With just a touch of the screen by a healthcare worker in the field, the phone wirelessly communicates over Bluetooth to controllers in the base to process and analyze the sample of blood. Its gears move the sample in front of the camera, and an algorithm instantly analyzes the telltale “wriggling” motion of the worms in captured in the video by the phone. From there, the worm count is displayed on the screen.
Impressively, the entire procedure takes under two minutes, starting from when the sample is inserted to displaying its results. According to UC Berkeley associate chair Daniel Fletcher, this processing time enables health workers to quickly determine whether or not it is safe to administer IVM on site.
“The availability of a point-of-care test prior to drug treatment is a major advance in the control of these debilitating diseases,” added fellow UC Berkeley professor Vincent Resh. “The research offering a phone based app is ingenious, practical and highly needed.”
At the moment, the engineers are looking to expand the trial of the hardware to around 40,000 people in Cameroon. If successful, there’s a hope that the kit could one day be used to screen out those infected with Loa loa and assist countless others who would otherwise suffer.
This sleek, unibody and affordable 3D printer comes in three different sizes.
Amid the countless 3D printers that have entered the market in recent years, there are always a handful of startups that truly captivate our attention. Toronto-based NEA is one of those, and rightfully so. In an effort to provide Makers with an FFF 3D printing device that is affordable, accessible and easy-to-use, the team has unveiled a set of sleek, stylish machines in various sizes. After all, additive manufacturing isn’t always a one-size-fits-all sort of thing.
Not only pleasing to the eye, each of the NEA printers — the Pro Mini, the Pro, and the Pro+ — boast an impressive build-volume-to-footprint ratio for their class. Driven by an ATmega2560 MCU, the versatile desktop gadgets combine small incremental stepper motors and custom slider blocks to handle all axis of movement. Meanwhile, their robust cylindrical, unibody metal frame, along with the help of NEA’s proprietary vibration dampening technology, allow Makers to experience incredibly precise print jobs.
While their overall size and print volumes may differ (Pro Mini: 250 in³, Pro: 1,100 in³, Pro+: 2,612 in³), the entire family features a print resolution of 25-300 microns, customizable LED lighting, a 150mm/second print speed, a dual-fan cooling, and a Wi-Fi module for wireless connectivity.
Most printers waste space by moving their print heads up, down and around an immobile print bed. With efficiency in mind, NEA’s print bed actually moves back and forth along the Y axis, while its head moves left and right as it climbs upwards on the Z axis. Meaning, no more wasted space around the outside of the print bed. The machines all come loaded with a self-leveling bed, non-proprietary filament ranging from PLA to nylon to a metalized plastic hybrid, and open source Repetier software. However, NEA is also compatible with other programs, including Cura, Autodesk Spark and Simplify3d.
“With each iteration of our prototype stages, NEA 3D printers have improved overall print quality. Early on, we were excited just to get something printed, but since then our focus has been on reaching the perfect balance between accuracy, speed, reliability and repeatability,” the team writes. “Maintaining a standard of quality can only be achieved by acquiring and designing the most precise components with the entire printer in mind.”
As we’ve seen with other Maker projects, modularity is becoming increasingly more important by the day. With technologies like 3D printing constantly evolving, having to keep up with latest advancements can time-consuming, let alone costly. Instead, NEA has been designed to be entirely interchangeable with a range of upgrades in the works, including multi-color, multi-head, and even full-color printing.
“Expect us to tackle higher print speeds and multi-mediums as well. Gone are the days of buying a brand new printer every time a new feature comes along. Your investment in NEA won’t leave you behind,” the startup urges.
Each NEA is equipped with a detachable head, a removable head cover, a drop-and-lock shelf, a sub-assembled unibody, as well as an easy-access core drawer for viewing, cleaning and upgrading its components. Should any mechanical or electrical component on a NEA break or malfunction — which is bound to happen, of course — simply pop it off and snap in a new module.
What’s more, the team has introduced a custom filament cartridge. The so-called “Cool Spool” automatically lifts, providing users with an additional two inches in the Z-axis once the drop-and-lock shelf reaches its vertical limit.
As an added bonus to its campaign, NEA has revealed that for every Pro and Pro+ printer that is pre-ordered via Indiegogo, the startup will donate $25 to $30 to the e-NABLE Foundation that supports volunteers using 3D printing to make life-changing prosthetics for children.
Interested? Head over to its official Indiegogo page, where the team has exceeded its initial goal of $75,000 in less than 24 hours. Delivery is slated to begin in October 2015.
Generally speaking, 3D printers can be quite bulky. And, the objects they are capable of printing are often limited to their own build volume. That is unless you’re a group of Rio de Janeiro researchers who have set out to put the wheels in motion, literally.
A collaboration between two labs from PUC-Rio’s design program, the team developed a solution that may very well pave the way for future printers.3&Dbotis billed as being the world’s first autonomous 3D printing robot. Tethered to a base with four omni wheels, the entire printer can move to and fro in any direction, depending upon the print data it is fed. The device is driven by an Atmel basedArduino board and can be wirelessly controlled.
The robot still requires a flat surface to work on, however the size of a part or object it can create is nearly limitless. TUIO fiducial markers are used to ensure pinpoint accuracy of its mechanism and position within a field of motion. Though the machine’s extruder is not heated, it can easily be modified to include one. It is capable of printing in a variety of materials including ceramics, modeling clay and other paste-like substances.
Once a model is too tall for the robot to add layers to, unlike other printers, 3&Dbot can easily 3D print a temporary raised structure around it to drive up onto and continue working.
Turn yourself into a Sim by building your own Bluetooth-controlled, 3D-printed plumbob.
As many of you probably know, the plumbob has become the iconic symbol of the super successful The Sims franchise, typically used to denote a character being controlled and to convey its mood. If the Sim happens to be in a good mood, the plumbob will be a bright, deep green; whereas, if a Sim is on the grumpier side, it will become a shade of red. The intensity of the color varies based on how the extremity of their feelings.
Inspired by the life-simulating game, Maker Daniel Harari decided to devise a Sims plumbob of his own, which displays his happiness for the world to see. The accessory consists of a headband, an aluminum tube and a crystalline shape that was 3D-printed using translucent filament.
The Maker packed the 3D-printed enclosure with an Arduino Pro Mini (ATmega328), six RGB LEDs, a Bluetooth module for communication with an Android app, and a step-up converter so that the entire device can be powered by a pair of AAA batteries. At the moment, this battery pack is mounted along the side of the aluminum pipe. However, Harari notes that for his next iteration, he would probably install a rechargeable LiPo with a small switch and charging port instead.
Unfortunately, Harari reveals that he didn’t have time to write an Android app of his own, but was able to discover a free one on the Play Store that was able to satisfy his project’s needs. Beyond that, the Maker also used the Arduino Software Serial Library.
Harari reveals that in the future, he is thinking about modding the plumbob with an EEG reader, like the ATmega328P basedOpenBCI platform, which would enable the LEDs to actually reflect the wearer’s mood.
When you’re just too tired to play with your pets, this automated gadget can help.
If you’re a cat owner, you know this situation all too well: You’re sitting on the couch or in the office chair, and suddenly good ol’ Whiskers comes over. With a ball in month, he suddenly drops it in front of him and begins to meow. As he continuously gazes up at you in hopes of throwing the ball, you have no choice but to succumb to that cute little face. However, no matter how much you love your pets, sometimes you’re just too tired from a long day at work to give them the attention that they deserve and often require. Faced with a similar dilemma, Maker Miska Karvonen took it upon himself to devise an Arduino-based solution that would take care of the tedious task itself. And so, the Cat Laser Entertainer Robot was born.
The automated machine has one job and one job only: To keep your cat occupied by chasing every feline’s favorite device, the low-power red dot laser pointer. The Maker employed an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) along with a simple shield, two 9G mini servos, and of course, the 5mW laser to complete the project. The Arduino runs on either a 9V battery or a USB port. Meanwhile, the Maker produced the robot’s parts using his own AT90USB1286 drivenPrintrbot 3D printer. The entire printing process took him just over an hour, all while costing no more than 15 cents.
With the build just about done, Karvonen programmed his Arduino so that the servos randomly move along the wall, and not so much the ceiling or floor. After all, as he explains, “Cats are not interested in red dot on the ceiling where she can’t reach.”
So does it work? As you can see at the tail-end of the video below (around the 0:50 mark), the Maker’s exhausted cat appears to be pretty content as it lies on the floor and the robot continues to move. Cat lovers everywhere, rejoice! Need one of your own? Find a step-by-step breakdown of the pawesome project here.
As an engineer, or any geek for that matter, there’s just something in our DNA that requires us to become a die-hard Star Wars fan. And while many of us may pay homage to the George Lucas franchise on a regular basis, May 4th has emerged over the years as a full-fledged “unofficial” holiday — especially with the advent of the Internet, social media and other grassroots celebrations. Plus, the occasion couldn’t come at a better time as we eagerly await the upcoming trilogy.
According to its origin story recognized by Lucasfilm, and as legend has it, the phrase was first used on May 4, 1979 — the day Margaret Thatcher took office as UK prime minister. The Conservative party allegedly placed an ad in the London Evening News which read, “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.” Since then, movie buffs from all over the world have come together to honor everyone’s favorite space saga set in a galaxy far, far away.
Some things go together like peanut butter and jelly. Star Wars and the DIY crowd is one of them. From Makers rigging their own R2-D2s to hacking their own BB-8 droids to 3D printing their own lightsabers, we’ve highlighted some memorable out-of-this-world projects.
While you’ve likely already created your very own Imperial Army of miniature Stormtroopers with a 3D printer, many of you probably haven’t rigged that same machine to play their anthem. Reddit user “silviustro” decided to trick his Printrbot Simple Metal into performing quite a spectacular rendition of the theme song by converting a MIDI file into a G-code that the device could easily understand.
When industrial designer Christian Poulsen first laid eyes on the adorable ball rolling around, it didn’t take long before he realized that he needed to build a BB-8 of his own. And what better way to accomplish that feat than by employing an AVR powered Sphero 1.0. The Maker divided the rolling robot with a hacksaw, used polyurethane foam surfaced with spackle for its head and added a neodymium magnet disc to connect the two halves. From there, the only other thing left was to don its exterior with an empire-approved paint job.
Winters can be brutal. Having to wear multiple layers to keep warm can be annoying. However, if you’re going to have to do so, you might as well do it in style. That’s why a Maker by the name of “Malarky” developed a Chewbacca coat that sounds the saga’s infamous tune whenever its collar is flipped up and turns off when put back down. The wearable piece is based on an Arduino Lilypad (ATmega328) along with a light sensor, a small LiPo battery, a few feet of conductive thread and a LilyPad buzzer that serves as its speaker.
As a followup to his Millenium Falcon project that went viral, French RC hobbyist “Olivier C” crafted yet another quadcopter — this one inspired by the TIE Interceptor from Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. The build, which the Maker says took just about 15 hours to complete, actually consists of a light, foam insulate shell placed over a custom-built, ATmega2560 powered drone. In the end, Olivier had removed the transmitter, GPS system and GoPro camera from the copter to achieve its authentic look, while at least 14 propellers were sacrificed for the cause by the time it was done.
The brainchild of Christopher Connell, this ambient Darth Vader poster can wirelessly react to music playing in a room with various LED color-changing effects. Comprised of chrome and black paint, flooring underlayment and some other traditional art supplies, the 4’ x 5’ piece is embedded with an Arduino Uno (ATmega328), a sound impact sensor, three MOSFETs, three 220k Ohm resistors, an LED strip, a pair of mini breadboards and a 12V battery pack.
While countless 3D printable lightsabers may have already been available for download online, France-based Le FabShop figured it was time to make one that would be completely customizable. And so, the team devised their own modular system that opens the door to hundreds of lightsaber configurations from Yoda’s to Darth Maul’s to the latest “crossguard” design.
Julius von Brunk has pieced together a full-size replica of Han Solo’s iconic blaster using nothing but 400-plus LEGO bricks and an Arduino Uno (ATmega328). The slick gadget is equipped with a fully-functional trigger that sets off the DL-44’s lights and sounds, which of course are made possible with the Arduino.
As part of last year’s Star Wars Day festivities, John Edgar Park of DisneyToon Studios designed a Stormtrooper helmet music box. Dubbed the Imperial Melody Discharger, the Maker’s creation was based on an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) with a prototyping shield, some soldered cable interconnects, a piezo buzzer and a Pololu Pushbutton Power Switch for power management. To perfect his build, Park programmed the Uno with a small sketch that instructed the board to wait for a button press, open the right half then the left half of the mask, play the Imperial March theme on the piezo buzzer and close the two mask halves.
Up until now, most of us Star Wars fans could only stare wistfully at the holocron rendered on our HDTV screens. Fortunately, NoMuse has meticulously created an ATtiny85 based holocron thumb drive replica for the masses. Housed in a laser-cut acrylic shell fitted with translucent plastic and laminated the diffused panels, the Maker added some LED lighting effects and a LiPo battery for power. And to throw in some extra interaction, he included capacitance sensing to transform the entire top surface of the device into a button.
Electroencephalography toys, such as the Star Wars Force Trainer, record the electrical activity along a wearer’s scalp. What’s more, turns out they’re not only inexpensive, they’re super easy to hack, too. A few years ago, Instructables engineer “Frenzy” was able to take some code from Frontier Nerds and use an old Arduino Diecimila (ATmega168) to read the output of the EEG toy on his computer. From there, the rig could be used to make a mind-controlled musical instrument, a wearable TV remote, or even let a user surf the web with their thoughts.
Many may argue that the Death Star is one of, if not, the coolest super weapons to ever spawn from human fantasy. So, in true Maker/movie buff fashion, creative technologist Simone Giertz whipped up a plush version that compensates for its smaller radius by playing the Imperial March theme and illuminating in a green LED when rolled. The project itself employed a LightBlue Bean (ATmega328P), an LED, a piezzo buzzer, two resistors and a pair of AA batteries — all sewn into the toy.
Want to ride into work like a Stormtrooper? While hoverbikes may not be ready for your daily commute just yet, thanks to UK-based Malloy Aeronautics, we’re now closer than ever. After successfully completing its Kickstarter campaign last year, the firm has debuted a one-third sized version of its design to help fund the full-sized prototype. The 1.15 meter-long mini replica can carry payloads of around 1.5kg and weighs in at 2.2kg unladen. While in the sky, the ATmega32U4 powered drone can not only be commanded remotely, but can follow predetermined flight paths automatically as well. Meanwhile, the mini-hoverbike also comes equipped with a third-scaled, 3D-printed humanoid ‘pilot’ complete with a space on its head specifically-designed for a GoPro camera. Impressively, the futuristic prototype has the potential to travel up to 92 miles or for about 45 minutes on a single tank of fuel, with a 3,048-meter maximum altitude and a top speed of around 45 MPH.
Thomas Hatley removed the inner electronics of the highly-popular Hasbro toy, and replaced with an Arduino Mega (ATmega1280) in addition to a custom PCB in its back to help drive the motors embedded within the droid. Ultimately, this enabled the droid to spin its head and its extremities. The R6 is juiced up with a 6V battery, while a 5V regulator provides the connection up to the Arduino in its brain.
James Bruton 3D-printed a slick R6 robot using his Luzlbot machine. Packed with an Arduino Uno (ATmega328), some Adafruit NeoPixels and a number of other electronics like a standard transmitter and receiver, the astromech droid is capable of driving around at various speeds, emitting LED lights and producing other Star Wars-eqsue effects. The Maker used standard R/C car electronic speed controllers to drive the wheels and an L298 Dual H-bridge board to drive the head. The servos are mixed using the Uno, while two batteries are tasked with powering the lights and animatronics.
Just when you thought you’ve seen every project possible, one Instructables member “caitlinsdad” comes up with an undergarment that generates R2-D2 beep-boop noises whenever anybody comes close. The bra is packed with several LEDs, an Adafruit FLORA (ATmega32U4), a photocell detector and an ultrasonic range sensor. The wearable is designed to react like a theremin, so the sound varies based how the proximity of others
