Automating your home with human-like senses

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Maker creates an entire home automation system using Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

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Over the years, we’ve seen a number of innovative projects using both Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. And, this latest convergence surely doesn’t disappoint! With the Internet of Things infiltrating nearly every facet of our life, Maker Eric Tsai recently decided to design a slick home automation platform that could do just about anything from in and around the house.

Rather than simply use the ‘duino-Pi combination to automate things such as blinds or lights, the Maker elected to outfit his home with a full range of wireless sensor nodes on everything (and everywhere) that needed monitoring. Think of it as equipping your house with human-like senses. These nodes relay the data to a wireless gateway and the Arduino Uno (ATmega328), which in turn sends the data to the Raspberry Pi. The board then uploads the collected data to the web where owners can monitor their homes directly from their smartphones.

“Using this setup, that boatload of cheap sensors can now be on the Internet. They can email you when things get too hot, too cold, too smokie, too gassy, or too bright. And your dog can email you by barking. You can also view the status of sensors on your smartphone. These sensor nodes are wireless, so you’re not constrained by the location of Ethernet ports,” he writes.

The concept first originated as a way for Tsai to be immediately notified when his dog barked; however, that idea quickly turned into a project for the entire home, which included a variety of long range wireless sensors integrated into a sophisticated open-source automation server.

On the software side, the project is based on the OpenHAB program, which makes the system available through web browser and smartphone. What’s more, the communication between the display device and the Raspberry Pi is securely accomplished via encryption and authentication.

One area in particular worth mentioning is the Uber Sensor and the washer-dryer module. For the Uber Sensor, Tsai packed everything possible into the Arduino, including a sound sensor to detect when a cycle starts ends, a PIR presence sensor to determine when a load is picked up, a water detection circuit to signify if there is a leak or overflow, a light sensor to know when a laundry room light is left on, and a temperature sensor, well, just because.

“I combined several sensors into this wireless Uber Sensor node. This sensor is powered via USB adapter, but it communicates wirelessly to the gateway, so you can place this where ever it has access to a power outlet. And you don’t have to build the whole thing, you can pick and choose which sensors you actually want.”

Using his smartphone to access the OpenHAB user interface, Tsai can enable email notifications for the sensors of his choosing. Once an alarm is activated, an email is sent the moment that a sensor detects something.

Sure, you can purchase your own home automation system, but this DIY setup will run you less than $300. You can find a pretty detailed step-by-step guide on the project’s official Instructables page here.

15 3D printers that will change how you make food

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Hungry? Why wait? You may soon be able to print food on-demand right from your kitchen. 

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Actually having to cook your meals is about to become so last year. Food may soon find its way onto your plate and into your mouth in a number of ways that never have to boil in a pot, sear in a pan, or bake in the oven. In fact, the emergence of 3D printing may one day allow these desktop machines as ubiquitous as that microwave you have sitting on your counter.

Who recalls during Back to the Future when Marty McFly’s mother pops a four-inch pizza into a hydrator that, in just a matter of seconds, came out the full size of a conventional pizza. And while such a Black & Decker machine, or a Star Trek-like replicator for that matter, have yet to go mainstream, the dream of printing your own on-demand food is inching its way closer, thanks to companies like XYZprinting, Natural Machines and 3D Systems.

More recently, innovators around the world have been exploring various ways to use 3D printers — many of which powered by AVR and Atmel | SMART microcontrollers — in order to craft edible items. Though these efforts have mostly produced chocolate, sugar, pasta and pizza, one day researchers hope that the technology may even lend a helping hand in nutrition and long-term sustainability. Take for instance, easy-to-chew meals for senior citizens who have trouble consuming anything other than things in puree form. New developments in printed food will enable the elderly in retirement and assisted living communities to enjoy tasty melt-in-your-mouth food from fresh ingredients using a 3D printer. Furthermore, these devices will be able to provide customized diet to individuals, giving them the exact dosages of nutrients. Not to mention, scientists hope that 3D-printed fare may revolutionize space travel as well, especially for long duration missions.

These sort of gadgets don’t stray too far from regular 3D printers either. Instead of extruding plastic filaments, these next-gen systems will emit edible ingredients. At the moment, however, a vast majority of these gadgets are only designed to take care of the tedious and time-consuming parts of meal preparation, not so much a “just press the button and magically appear” sort of thing we can all hope for… yet. Future models, though, will likely be able to complete the process so that the extruded items are ready to eat.

“I don’t see this as a novelty. I see it as something that really will become a part of the culinary fabric for years to come,” Liz von Hasseln of 3D Systems summed it up best in a recent interview with the Washington Post. “I think the way that happens really powerfully is when it impacts kind of the cultural ritual of eating which is actually a really powerful part of being a person in the world.”

Here are some of the machines leading the way…

Natural Machines’ Foodini

Designed for both home and professional kitchens, Foodini comes with empty food capsules. Users simply prepare and place fresh, real ingredients inside, which are then dispensed from the machine. Other than being capable of creating complex designs, such as very detailed cake decorations or uniquely-shaped gourmet items, the Foodini can be useful for recipes that require precision and mastery, like homemade pizza or filled pasta. The printer takes on the daunting parts of making meals, therefore streamlining some of cooking’s more repetitive activities.

3D Systems’ ChefJet

The ChefJet is an entirely new, kitchen-ready category of 3D printers for food. The first two printers in the series, with expected availability in the second half of the year, are the monochrome, countertop ChefJet 3D printer and the full-color, larger format ChefJet Pro 3D printer. These machines were designed with the professional baker, pastry chef, mixologist and restaurateur in mind, enabling the creation of custom edible geometries for every cake, cocktail and dinner celebration. The printer can also create 3D candies in a variety of flavors such as mint, sour cherry, and vanilla, as well as sugar objects that resemble expensive china.

F3D

Designed by four undergraduate students from the Imperial College in London, F3D (pronounced “fed”) is the latest food printing research project that has set out to revolutionize the way we prepare our food. Unlike some of the more commercial-ready devices on this list, the Makers modified existing RepRap 3D printing technology to create a food printer capable of 3D printing and cooking a complete dish. F3D proved its potential by 3D printing an entire pizza – dough, sauce, cheese and all – in under 20 minutes. Beat that Domino’s! Though still in its prototype phase, this student-made project is impressive, nonetheless.

XYZprinting’s Food Printer

The latest machine from XYZprinting allows users to create various 3D shapes out their food. The company says it has worked with a food specialist, and devised a proprietary recipe that can be used in single or triple material versions. The machine is equipped with a touch display that lets home chefs select a pre-set design for the shape of their edible item. Those who rather import their own designs may do so online or via a USB drive. Even more, the printer can output one cookable object at a time, before going ahead and making an entire batch.

NASA-Funded Food Printer

Back in 2013, NASA funded a 3D food printer project by Austin, Texas-based Systems and Materials Research Corporation (SMRC), in an effort to one day offer astronauts some freshly cooked food up in space. Using an open-source RepRap 3D printer, the team of Makers replaced its existing ink cartridges with printable ingredients comprised of powdered bases mixed with oil and water. These were then printed with modified extruder nozzles, while a heated plate as its bed cooked the food as it is printed. Impressively, it only took about 12 minutes to put together the dough, sauce and cheese.

Choc Edge’s Choc Creator

With aspirations of “creating chocolate in style,” the UK-based Choc Edge team has been a notable pioneer in the industry. In fact, the company released the world’s first commercially available chocolate printer back in 2012. At the time, the machine was capable of printing both two- and three-dimensional cocoa creations. Now, it has returned to the chocolatier scene with a new model. This printer boasts an easy-to-use syringe head that allows users to easily install and remove units, as well as refill the syringe with fresh chocolate within 10 minutes. The latest version also boasts a new automatic temperature control system, ensuring optimal flow in the printing process along with a closed compartment to help maintain consistent temperatures.

PancakeBot

The very first version of the open-source PancakeBot was designed way back in 2010 by Miguel Valenzuela. At the time, Valenzuela was inspired by a MAKE: Magazine feature on a British Maker who devised a Pancake Stamping Machine using LEGO. Since then, the machine has become a Maker sensation, claiming the hearts and stomachs of everyone — including President Obama himself. The original bot was simply a CNC for a kitchen table, comprised of LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO bricks and a pair of ketchup bottles for the batter. As you can imagine with any automated device whipping up tasty treats, the initial video of Valenzuela’s PancakeBot 1.0 went viral, which encouraged the Maker to continue tinkering with the design. The next iteration of the platform – which debuted at Maker Faire Bay Area 2014 – consisted of an acrylic body packed with Adafruit motor shields, an Arduino Mega (ATmega1280), two stepper motors, a pair of belt drives and a vacuum pump. The improved PancakeBot could be programmed to draw out any flapjack design, ranging from an Eiffel Tower to a self-portrait. The printer simply squirts batter onto a hotplate so that, once the pancakes are done extruding, they’re ready to eat. While earlier models are not available for sale, the PancakeBot team has partnered with StoreBound to bring the robotic contraption to market.

Hershey’s CocoJet

During CES 2015, 3D Systems revealed its latest chocolate printer, the CocoJet, in collaboration with Hershey. The device, which was particularly aimed at candy makers and bakers, dispenses delicious liquid chocolate just as any other 3D printer would extrude filament. Users can choose between dark, milk or white chocolate and between pre-programmed designs or confections of their own creative devising.

Biozoon’s Smoothfood Printer

One German company has produced a 3D printer capable of printing out dozens of different meals, all made of a gelatin base, for senior citizens and others who have difficulties chewing food. Fortunately, this food will literally melt in a person’s mouth. With funding from the EU, the project uses 48 nozzles, liquified food and a gelling agent to recreate the shape and taste of something that would otherwise be difficult to swallow, ranging from chicken to broccoli to lamb. The project, called PERFORMANCE, is intended to give elderly people better access to appealing and nutritious food. Since its inception, Biozoon’s devices have been adopted in over 1,000 care homes throughout the country.

Dovetailed’s Fruit Printer

Unlike a number of other projects on this list that focus around sweets, Dovetailed revealed a new approach to 3D-printed food last spring: fruit. Using spherification technology, the Cambridge-based firm combined strawberry flavoring with a sodium rich gel to deposit little balls into a cold calcium chloride solution to create something that resembled the likeness of a raspberry. The device is programmed to print blackberries and was in the process of working on apples and pears as well.

Open Electronics’ 3Drag

As we experienced (and tasted) first-hand back at World Maker Faire 2014, the 3Drag has officially made three-dimensional chocolate shapes a reality. Modified with a real pastry bag for precision bakery work or a heated syringe, 3Drag is suitable for plotting lettering and lines using any type of chocolate like milk, white and dark. All this, with the advantage to design the object or the pastry directly in computer graphic. Based on an ATmega2560, the device is fitted a special extruder (which replaces the one typically used for extruding plastic materials) with a very common 60 ml syringe. A NEMA17 stepper motor drives its piston and a heater to maintain the chocolate contained in the syringe at its appropriate temperature.

Structur3D’s Discov3ry Extruder

Structur3D launched a 3D printer add-on, which could create a paste from all sorts of materials such as plastic, silicone, wood filler, and even Nutella. In fact, at last year’s Maker Faire Bay Area, the startup demonstrated how it could print the Maker Faire logo with the delicious hazelnut spread.

Barilla’s 3D Pasta Printer

One of, if the top, pasta seller in the world is in the process of developing a 3D pasta printer for restaurants. The machine would be able to print 15 to 20 pieces every two minutes, getting a pasta dish to a patron in a matter of minutes. It would also allow for custom-designed pasta shapes, ranging from roses to moons.

Cornell Creative Machine Lab’s Food Printer

One of the earliest on the scene back in 2011, Cornell Creative Machines Lab developed 3D printer that could generate tiny space shuttle-shaped scallop nuggets as well as cakes or cookies that, when cut into, reveal a special message — whether a wedding proposal, someone’s initials or even a logo for a corporate event. Additionally, the CCML team could make a solid hamburger patty, with liquid layers of ketchup and mustard, or a hamburger substitute that’s made from vegan or raw foods.

Zmorph’s Cake and Chocolate Extruder

The ZMorph Personal Fabricator embodies a modular makeup, which enables a user to easily detach and swap out a number of extruders. The various toolheads let Makers to print with everything from pastry to chocolate to marmalade. What’s more, the add-ons can fabricate signs on cakes or their own food design in a matter of minutes.

Mondelez International’s Oreo Printer

And who could forget 3D-printed Oreos? At SXSW 2014, Mondelez International had 3D-printed custom Oreo cookies based on what was trending on Twitter with the hashtag #eatthetweet. Attendees could choose from 12 flavors, ranging from banana to mint to lime, and then select either a chocolate or vanilla base for the cookie. The cookie would then be printed in a couple of minutes.

Can 3D printing replace traditional upholstery?

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Dutch designer claims 3D-printing can replace traditional upholstery techniques to produce spongy-surfaced furniture.

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Lilian van Daal, who recently graduated from The Hague’s Royal Academy of Art, has created a conceptual chair unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Inspired by plant cells which are capable of performing several different tasks, the Dutch designer has sought out to make soft seating more sustainable through 3D printing. In fact, she hopes that the next-gen technology can one day replace traditional upholstery techniques to produce spongy-surfaced furniture altogether.

“In nature a material grows in different structures and this is how functions are created. 3D printing is also a way to ‘grow’ material, so I’ve used this solution to create a new way of soft seating with several different functions in one material,” van Daal explains.

The designer developed her “Biomimicry: 3D-printed soft seat” as an alternative to conventional upholstered furniture, which typically requires various materials and processes in order to create the frame, padding and covers. The chair is comprised of nylon, allowing for different zones of flexibility yet with a rigid base.

“3D printing however does make it possible to reproduce complex structures. In this way a product can be created from one material in one factory, although it has the properties of various materials. Pollution caused by transport can be minimized and the product is completely recyclable,” she adds. “I was testing the flexibility and the stiffness you can get from one material by 3D-printing various structures.”

“Soft seating usually consists of several different materials [and] it’s all glued together, which is a problem for the recyclability of a product,” she explained in a recent Dezeen documentary. “You need five or six different factories [to produce conventional upholstered furniture]. But with 3D printing you can produce very locally and you don’t have material waste in the production process; you only use the material you need.”

Reducing the density of the material would create more flexible areas for seating, while the amount of material could be increased where greater structural strength is required. The shape of the chair was modeled manually using 3D computer modeling software, but the designer highlighted that there is more sophisticated optimization and stress analysis software available that could enable her to create forms that distribute material in the most efficient way.

While she had devised a series of prototype structures printed from polyamide, van Daal is currently researching the potential of using biological materials that would be more sustainable.

Intrigued? Watch the clip from Dezeen below!

Arduino Day 2015 set for March 28, 2015

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Mark your calendars! One of the biggest Maker ‘holidays’ is just around the corner. 

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As Makers, there’s one special occasion that we just can’t help but love: Arduino Day! It is a 24-hour celebration – both official and independent – where hobbyists, tinkerers and even some experienced engineers from all over the world come together to share their DIY experiences. This year, the second annual ‘holiday’ is slated for March 28, 2015.

2014 saw more than 240 user groups, Makerspaces, hackerspaces, fablabs, schools, studios and educators throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia involved in planning activities, workshops, and events for a wide range of audiences and skill sets. Those needing a refresher can tune-in to Massimo Banzi’s official announcement from last year here.

“You can attend an event or organize one for your community. It doesn’t matter whether you are an expert or a newbie, an engineer, a designer, a crafter or a Maker: Arduino Day is open to anyone who wants to celebrate Arduino and all the things that have been done (or can be done) with it,” the team writes. “The events will offer different types of activities, tailored to local audiences all over the world.”

As far as official events are concerned, the company has organized five of them in Torino, Malmo, Bangalore, Boston and Budapest. Meanwhile, local events are put together by the community, just supported and curated by the Arduino crew. If you’re interested in creating a get-together at your Makerspace, you can do so by submitting an application.

Like we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel is at the very heart of nearly ever Arduino board on the market today, thereby helping tinkerers bring their wildest creations to life.

Indeed, as our resident Wizard of Make Bob Martin noted, our 8- and 32-bit MCUs have been the chips of choice for Arduino since the boards first hit the streets way back in 2005 — as you can see in the first prototype below. More specifically, he attributes the success of Arduino to its easy-to-use, free cross-platform toolchain and simple do-it-yourself packages with Atmel MCUs.

“These factors helped initially steer the Arduino team to choose our AVR microcontrollers – and today, both our AVR and Atmel | SMART ARM-based MCUs,” Martin explained.

In addition to young Makers and educators, it’s no surprise that the open-source electronics platform has even become increasingly popular among experienced designers, architects and engineers as well.

Now just a few weeks away, you can follow along with Arduino’s official countdown and locate an #ArduinoD15 meet-up near you! In the meantime, as you get started on your next project to celebrate the occasion, you can find out which Atmel based ‘duino is right for you here. Of course, we’ll also be celebrating Arduino Day at Atmel with extra project coverage, so be sure to stop by and check out our upcoming blog posts around the Maker favorite platform!

This smart umbrella stand lets you know the forecast

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This doorway accessory lights up depending on the weather, helping you know when to use your umbrella.

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Have you ever been in such a rush on the way out to work that you forgot to grab an umbrella? And then, just to make matters worse, the sky opens up as you walk the city sidewalks. There, you’re left soaking wet in the middle of a downpour with no cover in sight. Well, thanks to this ambient umbrella stand, that won’t happen again.

Integrating the power of real-time data and connectivity into everyday objects has become a big trend in product development, more than ever before with the emergence of the Internet of Things — as demonstrated by one team of Makers’ recent project as part of a Penn Product Design class. Nimbus is a fully-functional stand that not only serves as home to your umbrellas, but can pull weather information via Wi-Fi and inform you of the day’s weather as well.

The stand is comprised of several RGB LEDs, a Wi-Fi module, an IR sensor and an Atmel based Arduino, all enclosed in waterproof housing. Nimbus boasts a dual-shell structure, in that all electrical components are kept clear from any wet umbrellas inside the inner case. While the inner case can easily be removed for cleaning, the outer shell can be stands a tad off the ground to allow for airflow through its holes. This enables the umbrella to dry much more efficiently.

Nimbus uses different light motion to interpret future weather. When its embedded IR sensor detects a user approaching, colored LEDs mounted in between the pair of shells are powered, changing in color and hue. The case’s surfaces emits various patterns and sounds indicating how much and for how long it will rain, based on real-time data acquired from its wireless connection. Otherwise, the umbrella stand will remain on standby and update weather information without interruption.

Inspired to add some enchantment to another everyday object? Submit yours to element14 for a chance to win a trip to World Maker Faire 2015. In the meantime, you may also want to check out this ambient weather display or this lamp that alters color based on the weather.

 

Open-source hardware is eating the world

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Our good friend and Hackster.io founder Adam Benzion explores the latest advancements in open hardware and what it means for our future.

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Open-source hardware has been making headlines in industry publications and tech communities for years, but only now is it finally enjoying the same mainstream adoption that the Creative Commons and open-source software have enjoyed for over two decades. With growing numbers of hardware designs publicly available to study, modify, distribute, and replicate, resistance is futile!

Move Over Patent Trolls

Much like its immediate software relative, open-source hardware uses existing hardware design licenses rather than creating new ones, to co-innovate and share it forward. In a stark shift from the usually guarded patent world of hardware, we find a new environment for the sharing of ideas. Literally hundreds or thousands of hardware designs—circuit design, component integration, machines, tools, processors and practically anything that can be physically invented—are getting published and made available for anyone to use. There are many upsides to this, although it also seems to be encouraging more red-faced patent trolls to sue unsuspecting users of open-source hardware on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, because someone, some time ago, was already awarded a patent. (It’s just my opinion, but if you filed without the intention to ever build or share your invention, you deserve to get out-innovated.)

You’re Either In Or On The Way Out

Right now it seems like everyone is joining, but you might be less enthusiastic if you’re a Fortune 100 that established itself on the grounds of proprietary technology. Remarkably, however, many of the companies I would have bet on being slow in adapting into this new world are actually fully endorsing it. From Intel, to Atmel, Freescale, and TI, these silicon tankers have proved agile and responsive, powering most of the kits we all know and love (and maybe by doing so, they will start opening up some of their core chip designs?) Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising: They’ve been publishing reference designs for their boards for decades as a way to make it easy for customers to get started. And now they’re also learning from open-source electronics royalty like Arduino, while juggernaut creative hits like SparkFun, Seeed Studio and Adafruit, show how to further adapt, share more, and be part of a community.

I’d rather build on the shoulders of giants, share everything we’ve learned, and learn a thing or two from others. At the end of the day, SparkFun is successful because of the products, value and service we deliver, not our IP portfolio.

Nathan Seidle Founder & CEO, SparkFun Electronics

And it doesn’t stop with electronics. Just take a look at Toyota’s CES 2015 announcement. The company is following the example of Tesla Motors, making all of its 5,680 patents related to fuel cell technology available, royalty-free, to anyone in hopes of driving more innovation. Sure, you can argue that all of this is done in the name of self-servitude: They save on R&D resources while broadening the market, and eventually sell more products as a result. Autodesk is also working on a similar initiative with Spark: an open platform that allows any hardware manufacturer, software developer or material scientist to automate, simplify and improve 3D printing. Regardless of the motivation, this is happening, and the beauty of it is that it taps the collective crowd for exponential brainpower and innovation.

A Freeway Without Speed Limits

By distributing hard earned engineering IP via the Creative Commons Attribution and the GNU General Public License and a widespread “Copylefting” attitude, innovators are transforming the world of hardware creation at speeds we’ve never seen before. The implications reverberate across the playing field, affecting everyone from hardware hackers to major players, and beyond.

1. Startups. With little to no hardware engineering experience, startups can now hack their way into building hardware prototypes, fully capable of connecting to the “internet of things”, skipping months and thousands of dollars traditionally associated with such creations.
2. Community. Open-source hardware is creating new communities that share recipes of creation. For me this became a personal obsession. Myself and Ben Larralde, co-founders of Hackster, are helping people everywhere co-create and learn open-source hardware. We see a massive wave of hardware innovation resulting from this movement, with firmware, schematics and inventive combination of electronics being developed, shared, redesigned and shared again from every corner of the planet in speeds we never seen before.
3. Kids. If you are a parent like me, you are starting to see how this movement is accelerating your child’s abilities to design complex creations. My daughter who is only 4 years old can assemble strangely beautiful hardware creations using littleBits and thinking through “what if” scenarios. What happens when she’s 10 and can actually build complex blocks using LittleBits version 8.0? Does she even buy hardware at Best Buy or just build it herself because it’s more fun and possible better? When everything is open, big changes are inevitable.

Hardware innovation is driven by demand chain not supply chain, and open hardware provides the creative engine.

Eric Pan, Founder and CEO of Seeed Studio

Why Is This Happening Now?

We’ve lived through many decades since the computer revolution, the invention of the microprocessor, and the mainstream Internet. Maybe it’s not a surprise that all of the technology required to create software and hardware has finally come together, simplified and affordable to almost anyone on earth. Today, all you need is free cloud computing account from Microsoft’s Azure, an Intel Edison or Spark’s new Photon, basic programming skills and an access to a 3D printer. Voila, you are well on your way to creating a basic, functioning, piece of hardware. Unfathomable even 5 years ago. When I built my first hardware company in 2010, much of the above was generally unavailable.

Disrupted Again

Built on the heels of open-source software and the new sharing economy, open hardware is a disruptive evolution. It will create massive changes to how hardware innovation is co-created and monetized in rapid new cycles. It will shift the tight hold of old power that was jealously guarded by the few, to the new power which is open, participatory, and peer-driven, forceful as it surges.

But the real change in open-source hardware will come when you see a consumer product released as fully open-source — not something for programmers, hackers and hobbyists. The day that Samsung release a phone or a GE a washing machine that ships open will be the signal that the value in hardware openness is here to stay.

This post was originally published on LinkedIn by Adam Benzion along with the help of Nathan Seidle, Tom Igoe, Sean Geoghegan and Eric Pan. You can also learn all about Hackster.io and explore a wide-range of the latest Maker projects here.

Polyes Q1 may be the safest and coolest 3D pen yet

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Polyes Q1 is a brand new 3D printing pen that enables Makers to draw in the air without danger. 

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While 3D printers may have stolen the buzz as of late, 3D pen makers aren’t too far behind in meeting the successes and mainstream appeal of their much larger siblings. In fact, handheld gadgets like the 3Doodler and Lix have already experienced multi-million dollar backings on Kickstarter over the last two years.

However, many of today’s products rely on a feed of ABS/PLA plastic that is heated up and extruded through a hot nozzle. The Future Make crew looks to change all of that with the launch of the Polyes Q1, a 3D pen that doesn’t involve any hot parts or melting plastics. Instead, photo-polymer ink is extruded out of a cool nozzle, and when exposed to blue LED light provided by the device, immediately solidified. What this means is no more nasty smells or burns! Not to mention, its colorful ink is sure to be more attractive than the traditional ABS/PLA filament.

“The 3D printing pens currently available in the market aren’t easy to operate and safe — take for example, all pens using ABS/PLA materials that give off unpleasant odors and the risks of getting burned by high temperatures,” the team writes.

Based on what we believe to be an AVR microcontroller, Polyes features a USB port for convenient charging and an easy-to-read display for ink levels. To further enhance the child-safety aspects of the device, the Q1 is embedded with a tilt sensor that, when combined with a child-safety switch, will automatically shuts off the light if the pen is turned beyond ground level.

What’s more, the gadget is equipped with integrated control buttons that allow a user to be in total control while doodling. Especially designed for children who look to explore their creativity without supervision, parents and instructors can take comfort in knowing that there’s no need to worry about any eyes being damaged.

“Polyes has all the capabilities of 3D printing pens without the pitfalls. From the totally safe and cool nozzle to sleek, optimally-proportioned white body, the pen is as easy to use as it is versatile. Do you want to play tic-tac-toe without having to waste paper every other game? You can draw the grid and symbols in minutes. You can even color-code them,” its creators write. “Are you the sort of person who likes to think big? Are you a fan of architecture maybe? You can build anything from a small house outline to the Medieval Castle!”

Unsurprisingly, Future Make recently concluded what was surely a successful crowdfunding campaign. The innovative device nearly tripled its initial goal on Kickstarter, garnering just shy of $150,000. Interested in learning more? You can head over to the product’s official page here. Shipments are slated to begin sometime this month.

Make your houseplants smile with ATtiny85

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This simple sensor can tell you exactly how your plants “feel.”

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Faced with hectic schedules, it is often easy for us to forget to water our favorite plants. Typically the strong and silent type, plants likely won’t notify you when they are in need of a drink or some nutrients. However, that may all change after one Maker’s clever Atmel based design which now provides plant owners with a visual representation of just how their plant is feeling.

“Thanasisloi7” hooked an ATtiny85 to a soil hydrometer sensor that analyzes the current moisture within the plants soil. When the soil is properly watered, an LED matrix displays a happy face. Conversely, when the soil moisture falls below a specified level, the smiling face disappears. Thus, any plant owner with common sense can know when to replenish the pot’s water supply.

Though just a simple project, this quick design will make sure you never let your plants go thirsty again. As they say, a smile is worth a thousand words. Looking to build a better bond with your plants? Check out his official project page here.

This isn’t the first time once-ordinary objects have been transformed into “sentient beings.” Last summer, digital agency Soap Creative launched Cars That Feel, an interactive festival installation designed with Toyota. The project featured a number of cars, each of which boasted their own personality and connected with people via light projections, color and sound. The vehicles were equipped six internal BenQ projectors, Atmel powered controllers and high intensity LED light rigs. Meanwhile, a custom app was tasked with controlling internal projection mapping, lighting, sound and animation.

Bare Conductive’s Touch Board is bringing stories to life

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Isn’t reading much more fun when it’s interactive? 

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Who remembers the 2008 flick Bedtime Stories starring Adam Sandler? The movie centered around a hotel handyman, whose life changes when the lavish nighttime tales he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true. And while literally bringing fantasy to life may be impossible, Bare Conductive is helping to enable the next best thing with its Touch Board (ATmega32U4) with a pair of recent exhibits.

First, Dataflags is a narrative series of artwork created by Fabio Lattanzi Antinori that explores the financial troubles of corporations as they head towards bankruptcy, while highlighting the pivotal role data plays in today’s society. The piece, which was originally displayed in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum back in September 2014, was brought to life through Bare Conductive’s incredibly-popular ATmega32U4 MCU Touch Board and some Electric Paint. The printed sensors were concealed by a layer of black ink, and when touched, triggered a selection of financial trading data theatrically sung by an opera performer.

“Dataflags is a series of works I am creating that deal with the notion of failing; they represent fragile corporate flags that celebrate the ups and downs of those corporations that were thought to be invincible but went bankrupt. Lehman Brothers, in this context, made up for a very good candidate, yet there are others which will be explored in the next artworks,” Antinori told Bare Conductive.

In order to program the Touch Board to announce various sets of numbers each time the sensors were touched, a series of voices were prerecorded ahead of time. The code then reassembled each sample in real-time depending on the set of figures that corresponded to the daily history of the company’s share prices.

Similar to a number of other forms of art which require engagement from a participating audience, the ATmega32U4 based board would only trigger sound when a passerby interacted with the exhibit. “One could say that there would be no work at all without the intervention of the public, which is a continuation of the metaphorical aspect of the piece,” Antinori added.The flags themselves were comprised of somerset paper, as it “preserved a sense of heritage to which we all relate.” According to the Maker, it was the perfect material to represent a flag, given that it appears solid and eternal, yet it fragile and ephemeral, especially when it is meant to be touched by hundreds of people.

Next, The Northwood’s Childrens Museum in Wisconsin recently created a storytelling tree capable of reading along with you. The old computers inside the the museum display were retrofitted with an ATmega32U4 based board. In fact, this was a welcomed replacement as one staff member said that the computers “broke constantly and hogged power, keeping us from updating sounds files periodically throughout the year.”

Unlike its embedded predecessor, the Touch Board allowed sound files to be changed in an expedited manner, and was slim enough to nestle neatly into the trunk’s design. And what would a treehouse-like exhibit be without a makeshift walkie talkie comprised of cans strung together? Creatively, a set of headphones were also placed inside the can to make it exciting for participants to listen to the story.

As previously explored on Bits & Pieces and seen inside Atmel Maker Faire booths around the world, Bare Conductive continues to inspire and enable Makers to transform touch into sound in countless ways. We can only imagine what Makers will think of next! Interested in learning more? You can head over to the team’s official page here.

High-tech robot draws on the walls

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This Roomba-like bot climbs gallery walls to create giant abstract murals. 

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Michael Haas and Julian Adenauer comprise the German artistry duo Sonice Development. Last fall, the innovative collective created a wall-clinging robot that remotely produces vibrant art on the walls of Berlin’s Metropol Park. Inspired by the high-tech futures of films like Minority Report and Blade Runner, their device — which they call “the Vertwalker” — is capable of crawling on interior walls, taking a walk on buildings and exploring the city in ways humans were incapable of. The duo also contend that our ‘up’ is its ‘forward’ promoting a notion that the vertical reach of the machine is opening the door to a new frontier of art.

In the Vertwalker’s installation at MetroPal Park, dubbed “Rising Colorspace,” the robot continuously produced sweeping curves of various colors. After running eight hours a day, the lines being drawn were bound to intersect and overlap quite a bit — a movement pattern that created an illusion of a lush field of psychedelic grass on every wall the Vertwalker traversed.

Despite its bucolic vision, the production is entirely predicated on algorithms and actuators. Controlled by Arduino-based hardware and programmed with color protocol software, the gadget is instructed to draw parabolic, bow-like lines using a graffiti paint pen onto a shiny metallic wall. The pancake-shaped Vertwalker sports custom silicone wheels for sleek movement and a laser cut shell to assure a vacuum keeps the project fixed to whatever it is attached.

“All turns and falling movements are left out. Thereof derives a wickerwork of lines in rich botanic coloration. This condenses to a colorspace. Each line grows like a bending culm and modulates the colorspace after a daily color-protocol.
 Rising Colorspace is an evolving system continuously overwriting itself,” the duo writes.

The Makers’ latest iteration of the Vertwalker is equipped with a 3D-printed case that showcases the robot’s design. The duo describe their recent Rising Colorspace installment as “an evolving system continuously overwriting itself.” They liken the robot’s technique to the way society often overwrites its own past. With the precise mechanics and brilliant displays, it will be intriguing to see what the artistic tandem comes up with next for their wall-climbing robot.

Interested in learning more about Rising Colorspace? View more of the installment here.