Tracksoar is an open source APRS tracker

---

The Tracksoar is a small, lightweight and ready-to-fly APRS tracker that’s simplifying high-altitude ballooning. 

---

Have you ever wanted to capture your own stunning photos of Earth or collect atmospheric conditions from the edge of space? In an effort to reduce the amount and weight of electronic components required for high-altitude balloon launches, Mike Bales of the Santa Barbara Hackerspace has developed an open source, extremely lightweight APRS tracker.

Measuring just 2” x 0.75” x 0.5” in size, the Tracksoar is said to be the smallest, fully-integrated and ready-to-fly APRS tracker available today. And, it can work with just about any airborne platform capable of carrying a payload of 60 grams or more.

“We at the Santa Barbara Hackerspace have been involved in around a dozen weather balloon launches. We have had a lot of fun with these launches and learned a lot, but found some issues. Most of the commercially available APRS trackers are closed source, large, and heavy, all of which add to the complexity of launching a balloon. So we decided to do something about it,” Bales writes.

The Tracksoar boasts an ATmega328P running the Arduino bootloader, a 300mw transmitter, a GPS receiver and antenna, along with pressure, humidity and temperature sensors. The board transmits its location and sensor data once a minute over amateur radio bands (144.390MHz), although its transmission rate can be defined in its software. In terms of power, the tracker is extremely flexible — it can run on anything between 1.5V and 4.5V, ranging from a AAA battery to several double AAs.

Being so compact and lightweight, the Tracksoar requires less helium than its much larger weather ballooning counterparts and can even be employed with a model rocket, RC planes, helicopters and drone. What’s more, it’s simple enough to attach a separate camera so that you can take pics as often as you like from up above.

Not only is it ready for use right out of the box, Bales and its creators designed the tracker to be entirely customizable, hence its SPI/I2C headers for adding new functionalities. On top of that, FTDI and ICSP programming interfaces are available for modifying and updating the Tracksoar firmware.

The Tracksoar can provide near real-time location, altitude and atmospheric data straight from your airborne craft to the Internet. With sites like APRS.fi, you can also receive your data on any computer or smartphone, without a radio. Since it’s open source, the Tracksoar can be tailored for any specific project, and with its daughterboard, Makers can add almost any extra device to expand its sensors, input or output capabilities.

“The Tracksoar is built around the excellent and mature Trackuino project. We have modified their code and schematics and board a bit to make the Tracksoar as compact, lightweight, power efficient, and integrated as possible. The Tracksoar comes ready to nearly ready to fly, just add your Amateur Radio call sign and you’re ready to go,” Bales explains.

So, just how high can this baby go? To date, the team’s most successful test reached 108,000 feet in a matter of two and a half hours. Interested? Soar over to its Kickstarter campaign, where the Tracksoar is seeking $22,000. Delivery is slated for February 2016.

Jabber is a tossable talking toy for kids

---

Jabber is the first smart toy designed to be tossed, kicked, smashed, hit and more.

---

Although the concept of educational toys may be nothing new, SKWRL Design has created a new and innovative way for children to have fun while also developing their social, sensory and fine motor skills. Say hi to Jabber.

Billed as the first smart toy designed to be hit, smashed, kicked and tossed, Jabber is a durable foam ball embedded with a series of sensors and a powerful speaker that enables it to respond when played with. In an effort to combat today’s screen addiction epidemic, this friendly-looking accessory is ideal for outdoor games — whether that’s being thrown across the yard, kicked to a friend or even bounced off a wall. In any case, Jabber will sense when it is thrown, caught, dropped or shaken, and then facilitate interactive game-play accordingly.

Not only that, the Bay Area startup has given each Jabber a unique personality that kids can grow attached. Meaning, it will react to a child’s input with funny phrases and sounds. For example, you can unlock new sayings, set a high toss record or even start a dance party. The ball is equipped with a single button under its foam exterior, which allows users to exit interactive mode and choose between games such as egg toss, hot potato, tag, or perhaps our favorite, noise grenade.

In terms of its hardware, the cute Pikachu-like device is comprised of three main components: sensors for detecting motion, an Atmel | SMART SAM C Cortex-M0+ MCU for deciphering the movement and deciding the output, and a built-in speaker for emitting various sounds upon command. On top of that, keeping everything safe and secure are three injection molded plastic parts that also house four AAA batteries for long lasting power.

Sound like a toy that your child (or maybe even you) would enjoy? Head over to Jabber’s Kickstarter campaign, where the SKWRL Design crew is currently seeking $45,000. Pending all goes to plan, delivery is slated for April 2016.

This AVR powered device makes growing veggies at home easier

---

Meet HUI! — the virtual garden assistant that’ll help your garden thrive with real-time environment condition updates and care instructions.

---

In the movement towards a more green and sustainable future, urban farming has become a growing trend in cities. However, these environments differ greatly from that of farm land tended by skilled farmers, and not everyone has the green thumb when it comes to gardening and plant care. The team at Grow&Help sought to solve this problem by creating a smart device that would alleviate the headache of maintaining healthy plants.

GROW & HELP — a company that aims to promote urban farming and sustainable agriculture projects — acknowledged the difficult task of growing plants, and created a technology to inform people on what soil and temperature, and the amount of sunshine and water that certain plants need to thrive. With HUI!, short for Intelligent Urban Garden or “Huerto Urbano Inteligente,” urban farmers can skip the grocery store and grow their own produce for a price as low as $50.

HUI! is a weatherproof, intelligent device, with a minimalist design, that’s simply placed into the soil. Its accompanying mobile app will indicate which plant(s) you are growing, and will send you daily updates and best practices for care, (maximum/minimum temperatures, daylight hours, water, etc.) and alerts if the plant needs attention. As mentioned before, urban environments differ greatly, so HUI! can also identify what plants and vegetables thrive best in your area at different seasons of the year. Ideally, the gadget would be installed in the place where you want to grow (garden, planter box, or pot), and after 24 hours, it will precisely measure the environmental parameters and inform you in real-time.

At the heart of the unit lies an ATmega328 along with a series of light, temperature and soil moisture sensors. With its Wi-Fi integration and the app’s artificial intelligence techniques, HUI! utilizes the knowledge of farmers and other users’ input, and pulls from a database of information to better serve your urban garden. The device has been developed with Natural Language Processing algorithms to be a voice-controlled assistant that answers specific questions about growing vegetables. For example, you can ask HUI! how to cultivate vegetables ideal for your environmental conditions, or for it to show you vegetables to fit your preferred dietary needs. If you start to see discoloration in your plant’s leaves, HUI! can even diagnose the problem and present solutions.

Are you ready to take on urban gardening on your balcony, terrace or even inside your home? Head over to HUI!’s Kickstarter page, where the GROW & HELP team is currently seeking $3,134. Preorders will be delivered as soon as December 2015. Single units are available, as well as bundles if you want to plant vegetables at your restaurant, office or greenhouse.

The Eleven is an open source desktop 3D printer

---

The Eleven is an affordable 3D printer with a large build area and high precision. 

---

Developed by Canadian startup ISG3D, the Eleven is a hackable desktop 3D printer with an open-air design. Boasting an impressive build envelope of 22cm x 40cm x 40cm, the machine is capable of creating decently-sized objects in a variety of filaments like PLA, ABS, Nylon and NinjaFlex.

Inspired by the Prusa i3 and based on RepRap mechanics, the newly-revealed gadget was built specifically with Makers in mind, not to mention hackers thanks to its open source nature. Its stripped down composition provides users with the ability to make improvements of their own, and customize it to their liking.

What’s more, the Eleven features a sleek open-air body, resembling that of the Prusa, and can easily fit on any desktop or workbench without taking up too much space. The printer is equipped with a heated bed, a user-friendly LCD screen for menu navigation, a resolution of up to 100 microns, and can precisely extrude layers as thin as 0.1mm. With a print speed of up to 100mm/second, objects can be spit out relatively quickly with a great degree of accuracy. In terms of hardware, the desktop device is driven by the mighty combination of an Arduino Mega (ATmega2560) and RAMPS 1.4 along with a set of NEMA 17 stepper motors, and runs Repetier Host software.

The Eleven’s simple design makes it convenient to swap out filament spools, accessible for quick repairs or tune-ups, and pretty portable with a weight of roughly 30 pounds. Meanwhile, its frame is comprised mostly of aluminum, which offers enhanced stability and reliability during a print job. Plus, to give the gadget a little personality, the team has even added a series of LEDs that lets users choose from up to 15 colors and for different effects.

• Printer size: 33cm x 60cm x 60cm
• Build volume: 22cm x 40cm x 40cm
• Layer resolution: <100microns
• Nozzle: 0.4mm
• Filament: PLA, ABS, Nylon (1.75mm)
• Print speed: 100mm/s
• Power supply: 240W
• Connectivity: USB
• OS: Windows, Mac, Linux
• Software: Repetier

Sound like a 3D printer you’d like to have in your Makerspace? Head over to its Kickstarter page, where ISG3D is currently seeking $8,402. The first batch of units is expected to ship in February 2016.

Makerarm is a versatile robotic arm for Makers

---

Makerarm is a complete personal fabrication system crammed into a single, beautifully-designed robotic arm for your desktop. 

---

While a handful of robotic arms have emerged onto the scene recently, we’ve been holding out for one that was brought to our attention back in May. And the time has finally arrived! Now live on Kickstarter, the aptly named Makerarm is a complete personal fabrication system packed into a sleek robotic arm that sits right on your desktop.

The affordable gadget, which has an impressive work area of 378.5 square inches, is equipped with interchangeable heads for various applications. These include 3D printing both filament and resin, plotting on any surface, CNC milling at high speeds, engraving with a 500mW laser and soldering PCBs, among countless others. What’s more, Makerarm boasts a reach of 15.7 inches and is capable of assembling electronics by picking parts up and placing them down using either vacuum pump coupled suction cups, electromagnets or grippers.

Makerarm is being billed with many of the components you would expect from today’s most popular 3D printers, namely a 10″ Z-axis and the ability to extrude an assortment of materials. The modular tool also comes with features like auto-leveling to ensure consistency and Wi-Fi connectivity for wireless control. Plus, it can work in coordination with other Makerarms to accomplish specific tasks.

The impressive SCARA robot is built around an ATmega2560 responsible for handling the I/Os and motion control, as well as another MPU that serves as its brain. Makerarm comes with its own browser-based software, which allows remote management from any device via Wi-Fi. This means you’ll be able to do things like view Makerarm in 3D, train it to perform repeated actions, load designs and models for one-click 3D printing, milling and engraving, connect third party apps, and even create custom apps of your own through its hardware development kit and API.

On top of all that, Makerarm’s UI can detect which head is attached and will only display options and information relevant to that particular function. And, should you wish to use your favorite CAD/CAM and tool path generation program such as Autodesk Fusion 360, you can go right ahead!

Is this the piece of machinery you’ve been dying to have on your workbench or desktop? Then head over to Makerarm’s Kickstarter campaign, where the team is currently seeking $349,750. Units are expected to begin shipping a year from now.

Take a black and white selfie with the Qduino Mini Photo Booth

---

The Qduino Mini is an ATmega32U4 based board with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that’s just as affordable as an Arduino, but a quarter of the size. 

---

Hot on the heels of a rather successful Kickstarter campaign, Quin Etynre continues to amaze us with his pure ingenuity and passion for creating things. As the quintessential example of what it takes to go from ‘MakerSpace to Marketplace,’ earlier this year the 14-year-old CEO introduced what he calls the Qduino Mini — a tiny Arduino-compatible board equipped with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that can let a user know when their LiPo needs a little more juice.

Born out of his own frustrations of having to guess when a project was running out of power, the open source dev board is based on an ATmega32U4 — the same MCU that can be found at the heart of the Arduino Leonardo, which the Maker has used to tinker around with for quite awhile. The small device isn’t only packed with a charger circuit and fuel gauge, but possesses a lightweight, ultra-thin form factor as well. This allows for it to be programmed and have its energy restored simulatenously via USB. On top of all that, each Qduino is also breadboard-friendly and has two RGB LEDs: one for status, another that’s user programmable!

The Qduino Mini measures just 0.8″ x 1.5” in size and weighs a mere fraction of an ounce, making the shrunken down Arduino ideal for drones and high-altitude balloon projects, as well as a wide range of other gadgets like Etnyre’s incredibly popular B&W Photo Booth that had been on display inside our Maker Faire New York booth.

How the selfie machine works is pretty straightforward. A user stands before a webcam mounted to a monitor, presses a button, and 20 seconds later, a thermal printer spits out an instant photo on receipt paper. The best part? It doesn’t require any ink! As you can imagine, this would be a perfect novelty item for any birthday party, prom, wedding or just for some fun around the office. (Heck, even AVR Man seems to enjoy it!)

The system itself is comprised of a monitor and two green 3D-printed parts: a button and a thermal printer, both embedded with an Qduino Mini. Pressing the round button triggers a sketch, which in turn, processes the captured image from the webcam and sends it over to the thermal printer.

Pretty cool, right? But don’t just take it from us. Watch Etnyre explain it himself in the video below! Plus, those wishing to pre-order a Qduino Mini of their own can now do so over on SparkFun.

Buzz is the cutest DIY electronics kit you’ll ever see

---

This adorable educational kit builds STEM skills as it grows from a simple project to a programmable friend.

---

If you’re looking to get your child or student interested in the STEM fields, the Soldering Sunday crew has got the answer. Not only is it probably the most adorable DIY kit we’ve ever seen, but Pixel Pals are an extremely easy and fun way to learn about electronics. Following in the footsteps of his friend Chip, Buzz is the latest addition to the ‘Planet M’ bunch.

“Many electronic kits do not offer anything more than a battery and a LED. Once completed, those kits end up in a drawer, never to be used again,” the team writes. “At the other end of the spectrum, there are electronic kits that are really interesting but have so many parts and instructions that they are intimidating. That is why we designed Buzz and the Pixel Pals to be simple to assemble, easy to use, and to be compatible with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and dozens of other platforms.”

What’s really nice about Buzz is that he grows with the user. Like the rest of the Pixel Pals, the platform is designed in such a way that it enables a young Maker to develop their skill sets, despite their experience level, transitioning from simply an instructional kit to a soldering tutor to a friend that you can code.

Each Pixel Pal comes with an open source, ATtiny85 based board that Makers can build and program themselves. It is equipped with a USB interface and uses the familiar Arduino IDE. Simply plug Buzz into the aptly named Brain Board, connect it to your PC, and program away. On top of all that, it includes touch and light sensors to add an extra layer of interactivity to your Pixel Pal. When not connected to USB, it can still work off a single coin-cell battery.

It is also worth mentioning that the Brain Board has a header, meaning Buzz can be plugged directly into a Raspberry Pi or Arduino. The ATtiny85 is pre-loaded with the Micronucleus Bootloader, allowing the Brain Board to be programmed just as you would any other Arduino, whether that’s controlling his LED eyes or adding sound to your cute character.

“The Arduino and Raspberry Pi are excellent next step to work on larger projects and to dive deeper into the world of circuits and hardware,” its creators add. “Just as with all the Pixel Pals, Buzz grows with you in your skill and interest level and plugs into Arduino and with the Pixel Pi Adapter, plugs into Raspberry Pi as well.”

Each Pixel Pal character kit ships with four sets of LEDs — blue, red, green and yellow — along with a battery board and display stand. Intrigued? Head over to Buzz’s Kickstarter page, where Soldering Sunday is seeking $5,000. Delivery is expected to begin in November 2015.

Meet Easy Drone XL Pro, the quadcopter that can fly for 45 minutes

---

This modular, plug-and-fly drone is said to last three times longer in the air than any other quadcopter.

---

Looking to take the UAV experience to new heights, Brooklyn-based startup Easy Aerial has developed a lightweight, modular quadcopter that can last three times longer in the air than others on the market today. Not to mention, its price tag and simplicity will make Easy Drone XL Pro accessible to just about everyone.

Following a successful Kickstarter launch for their Easy Drone, its creators have spent the last year listening to customer feedback and designing a new addition to the lineup. Arguably its greatest selling point is that Easy Drone XL Pro can stay in the sky for 45 minutes on a single battery charge. What’s more, the ‘copter boasts a 28-inch span from motor to motor, diagonally, and with its size can effortlessly lift a combined weight of up to three pounds — particularly great if you’d like to attach a GoPro to it.

The flying device features the same modular, plug-and-fly design as its predecessor, along with the same control unit and travel backpack. Easy Drone XL Pro comes in kit form, which includes a sturdy frame, powerful 400KV motors and foldable 15-inch propellers, a proprietary modular command unit with a built-in video transmitter, a remote, a video receiver, a USB telemetry module, an 8,000mAh battery, a charger, and a convenient bag that makes storage a cinch. And not unlike others, a set of versatile AVR MCUs can be found at the heart of this remarkable UAV — in both the video and RC signal receiver boards.

Impressively, Easy Drone XL Pro is capable of carrying a GoPro and a FPV camera for 45 and 50 minutes, respectively, while streaming video to the screen on the ground. However, it should be noted that the weight and flight time are directly correlated — as the weight increases, the flight time shortens.

Sound like a drone you’d love to have? Fly over to its Kickstarter campaign, where Easy Aerial is closing in on its $30,000 goal.

Design, build and race your own 3D-printed cars with Cannybots

---

The next generation of toys is here! Cannybots can be assembled like LEGO and programmed from your mobile device.

---

Since their inception back in the 1950s, Matchbox cars have become an iconic accessory that can be found atop any child’s holiday wish list and in just about every playroom. However, in this day and age, kids are overexposed to the latest and greatest smart devices, which have seemingly replaced those good ol’ toys of the past. This is an issue that the one London-based startup is looking to solve, realizing that the toys that we have today are not engaging enough compared to the media accessible through our mobile gadgets. And so, Cannybot was born.

The creators of Cannybot are hoping to better bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds with their smartphone-controlled toy that enables kids to build and program their own race car sets. The DIY kit contains all of the parts necessary for someone to bring their car to life, such as a base, a top, a spoiler, motors and motor brackets, wheels, a switch, a rechargeable battery, a USB cable and a screwdriver. Aside from all that, Cannybot will come with stickers that let users personalize their vehicle along with a six-foot-long track to ride it on.

Geared towards the young Maker community, each Cannybot can be assembled in LEGO-like fashion and boasts several capabilities, which range from color detection and line following to autonomous navigation. Impressively, the kit’s default motors allow a vehicle to reach a straight line speed of up to 1.2m/sec (4ft/sec), and the robot has independently powered wheels that give it the agility to spin on the spot and quickly accelerate.

And that’s just the beginning. Billed as the next generation of toys, Cannybot gives children the opportunity to design and 3D print their own plaything, and then engage with them in ways like never before. There are different ways to interact with the robot. Using its accompanying joypad mobile app, users can race against others, throw it into freestyle mode and drive it around the living room like an RC car, as well as do battle in sumo and jousting fights. It even features a Bluetooth interface that enables Cannybot to be controlled from almost any BLE device, including a Pebble watch. Plus, users can chat with Cannybot via its own CannyTalk app, which is based on a proprietary Natural Language Processing interface.

“CannyTalk is really clever; it understands the commands irrespective of the way they are written. For example, if you want to instruct the robot to move forward, you can use any of the following commands: Move forward, step forward, go forward, etc. All these result in the same action of Cannybot moving forward,” the team explains.” It is even robust to typos – Mvoe Forwards, Mov Forward, Move fkrwad will also result in the same action. You can use CannyTalk to control all high level aspects of Cannybots and even use it to create the Logic to solve a complex maze.”

In terms of electronics, each Cannybot is driven by a small yet powerful Arduino-compatible ARM Cortex-M0+ core, and is packed with BLE, a dual channel motor controller, LEDs, IR and RGB sensors. The robot’s hardware supports a number of programming options from the more simple CannyTalk to more advanced languages like Python and Java using either a Raspberry Pi, a smartphone, a tablet or PC. Each Cannybot design can be customized through Autodesk’s browser-based TinkerCAD software, and employ a 3D printer to produce the chassis of the robot in various shapes and colors.

If you think about it, Matchbox was invented in the UK and went on to revolutionize toy cars. Coincidence that Cannybot originates from there as well? The future of playtime has arrived! Interested? Race over to its Kickstarter page, where the team is currently seeking $40,000. Delivery is slated for February 2016.

MixStik will help you make the perfect cocktail in seconds

---

MixStik is an interactive wand that guides you through cocktail recipes using color-coded LEDs.

---

Admittedly, some of us are just not cut out to be bartenders. The idea of having to mix various ingredients, let alone measure the right amounts, can be overwhelming. But what if there was a simple tool that could help ease this pain and have you whip up the perfect cocktail every time? Thanks to Magnified Self, that may soon be a reality. Meet MixStik.

From the creators of the B4RM4N smart cocktail shaker, this lightsaber-like device works by guiding you through the mixology process with variously-colored LEDs that light up to the level which you need to pour. Essentially a less bulky, more user-friendly iteration of its predecessor, MixStik goes inside a glass and connects with its accompanying smartphone app via Bluetooth. From there, you can choose your desired drink, calibrate it from a selection of different glass sizes, and then proceed to follow the instructions on your phone and the wand.

Beginning at the bottom and working your way up, the MixStik’s LEDs will illuminate instructing you to add the right amount of each ingredient, respectively. For instance, it will glow yellow for an ounce of tequila, green for a lime juice, blue for ice and red for some grenadine, until you’ve completed your delicious concoction, whether that’s a Tom Collins, a Mojito or a Bloody Mary. MixStik will even suggest which cocktails you can make based on the bottles of alcohol you have handy.

Aside from its 24 embedded RBG LEDs, the gadget features with an ARM Cortex-M0+ core, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and a USB port for recharging its Li-ion battery. Impressively, one smartphone can drive up to five sticks — certainly great news for the sociable sort who likes to throw parties. MixStik even also has small rubber spikes at its bottom tip to provide you with a a better grip and act as a muddler to squish mint and other soft ingredients. It can, of course, be used to stir the mix as well.

Streamlining a drink’s recipe is only one of MixStik’s capabilities, though. The developers have created an open API, which will enable users to tinker around with the wand’s light functions and motions sensors. Equipped with a three-axis accelerometer, this opens up endless possibilities from interactive lightsabers to drinking games to fashion accessories. Not to mention, simply enter text and use the in-app camera settings to capture some beautiful light painting.

Sound like your cup of (Long Island Iced) tea? Head over to Kickstarter, where the Magnified Self team is seeking $39,000. From the look of things, MixStik has already experienced much greater success than B4RM4N and is well on its way to surpassing its pledge goal. Delivery is expected to begin March 2016.