Just like the garage computer explosion of the 70’s through the 80’s, which brought us such things as Apple, pong, Bill Gate’s hair, and the proliferation of personal computers, the maker movement is the new garage hardware explosion. Today, 135 million adults in the United States alone are involved in the maker movement.
Enthusiasts who want to build the products they want, from shortwave radios to personal computers, and to tweak products they’ve bought to make them even better, have long been a part of the electronics industry. By all measures, garage-style innovation remains alive and well today, as “makers” as they are called continue to turn out contemporary gadgets, including 3D printers, drones, and embedded electronics devices.
Making is about individual Do-It-Yourselfers being able to design and create with tools that were, as of a decade or two ago, only available to large, cash-rich corporations: CAD tools, CNC mills, 3D printers, low-quantity PCB manufacturing, open hardware such as Arduinos and similar inexpensive development boards – all items that have made it easier and relatively cheap to make whatever we imagine. For individuals, maker tools can change how someone views their home or their hobbies. The world is ours to make. Humans are genetically wired to be makers. The maker movement is simply the result of making powerful building and communication tools accessible to the masses. There are plenty of projects from makers that show good engineering: Take this Arduino board with tremendous potential, developed by a young maker, as example.
The maker movement is a catalyst to democratize entrepreneurship as these do-it-yourself electronics are proving to be hot sellers: In the past year, unit sales for 3D printing related products; Arduino units, parts and supplies; Raspberry Pi boards; drones and quadcopters; and robotics goods are all on a growth curve in terms of eBay sales. There are many Kickstarter maker projects going on. The Pebble E-Paper Watch raises $10 million. The LIFX smartphone-controlled LED bulb raises $1.3 million. What do these products have in common? They both secured funding through Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website that is changing the game for entrepreneurs. Both products were created by makers who seek to commercialize their inventions. These “startup makers” iterate on prototypes with high-end tools at professional makerspaces.
For companies to remain competitive, they need to embrace the maker movement or leave themselves open for disruption. Researchers found that 96 percent of business leaders believe new technologies have forever changed the rules of business by democratizing information and rewiring customer expectations. - You’ve got to figure out agile innovation. Maybe history is repeating itself as the types of products being sold reminded us of the computer tinkering that used to be happening in the 1970s to 1990s – similar in terms of demographics, tending to be young people, and low budget. Now the do-it-yourself category is deeply intertwined with the electronics industry. Open hardware is in the center in maker movement – we need open hardware designs! How can you publish your designs and still do business with it? Open source ecosystem markets behave differently and therefore require a very different playbook than traditional tech company: the differentiation is not in the technology you build; it is in the process and expertise that you slowly amass over an extended period of time.
By democratizing the product development process, helping these developments get to market, and transforming the way we educate the next generation of innovators, we will usher in the next industrial revolution. The world is ours to make. Earlier the PC created a new generation of software developers who could innovate in the digital world without the limitations of the physical world (virtually no marginal cost, software has become the great equalizer for innovation. Now advances in 3D printing and low-cost microcontrollers as well as the ubiquity of advanced sensors are enabling makers to bridge software with the physical world. Furthermore, the proliferation of wireless connectivity and cloud computing is helping makers contribute to the Internet of Things (IoT). We’re even beginning to see maker designs and devices entering those markets once thought to be off-limits, like medical.
Image source: The world is ours to make: The impact of the maker movement – EDN Magazine
In fact, many parents have engaged in the maker movement with their kids because they know that the education system is not adequately preparing their children for the 21st century. There is a strong movement to spread this DIY idea widely. The Maker Faire, which launched in the Bay Area in California in 2006, underlined the popularity of the movement by drawing a record 215,000 people combined in the Bay Area and New York events in 2014. There’s Maker Media, MakerCon, MakerShed, Make: magazine and 131 Maker Faire events that take place throughout the world. Now the founders of all these Makers want a way to connect what they refer to as the “maker movement” online. So Maker Media created a social network called MakerSpace, a Facebook-like social network that connects participants of Maker Faire in one online community. The new site will allow participants of the event to display their work online. There are many other similar sites that allow yout to present yout work fron Hackaday to your own blog. Today, 135 million adults in the United States alone are involved in the maker movement—although makers can be found everywhere in the world.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Digital Caliper – CALIPATRON
I design my own digital caliper based on STM32F103 blue pill (and more).
https://hackaday.io/project/194778-diy-digital-caliper-calipatron
Most of us have seen the videos and articles about “hacking” digital calipers. 99 percent of them talk about reading the caliper value out of a port on the side of the device. I don’t know about you, but using a port as per design does not represent true hacking to me.
I decided to make a digital caliper from scratch. Make my own boards and write my own code.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build a Sci-Fi Aerial Display Clever optics are behind a touchscreen that floats in midair
https://spectrum.ieee.org/diy-scifi-aerial-display
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/10/24/mini-robotic-arm-lets-you-start-your-own-mini-assembly-line/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/10/24/hacker-tactic-building-blocks/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/10/a-beautifully-illustrated-guide-to-making/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/07/mechanisms-tension-control-bolts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/191403-atomic-force-microscope-from-ground-up
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/198167-sunburst-sting-oscillator
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/27101-latch-circuits
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Cardiography Signal Measuring Device
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/open-cardiography-signal-measuring-device/
Much of the world’s medical equipment is made by a handful of monopolistic megacorps, but [Milos Rasic] built an open cardiography signal measuring device for his master’s thesis.
Using a Pi Pico W for the brains, [Rasic]’s device can record, store and analyze the data from an arm cuff, stethoscope, electrocardiograph (ECG), and pulse oximeter. This data can be used for monitoring blood pressure in patients and he has results from some of his experiments to determine the optimal algorithm for the task on the GitHub if you really want to get into the nitty gritty details.
https://github.com/MilosRasic98/OpenCardiographySignalMeasuringDevice
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Vintage Radiator Core, From Scratch
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/a-vintage-radiator-core-from-scratch/
There are sadly few 1914 Dennis fire engines still on the road, so when the one owned by Imperial College in London needs a spare part, it can not be ordered from the motor factors and must be made from scratch. Happily, [Andy Pugh] is an alumnus with the required metalworking skills, so in the video below we see him tackling the manufacture of flattened brass tubes for its radiator core.
Experiments in Tube Drawing – Radiator Tubes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZALnd4zbfjQ
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/homebrew-ph-meter-uses-antimony-electrode/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/a-handheld-gaming-pc-with-steam-deck-vibes/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/a-very-fast-camera-slider-for-the-glam-shot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/crowdsourcing-ionosphere-data-with-phones/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/microfluidic-motors-could-work-really-well-for-tiny-scale-tasks/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple Stack Of Ferrites Shows How Fluxgate Magnetometers Work
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/simple-stack-of-ferrites-shows-how-fluxgate-magnetometers-work/
Have you ever wondered how a magnetometer works? We sure have, which was why we were happy to stumble upon this article on simple homebrew fluxgate magnetometers.
As [Maurycy] explains, clues to how a fluxgate magnetometer works can be found right in the name. We all know what happens when a current is applied to a coil of wire wrapped around an iron or ferrite core — it makes an electromagnet. Wrap another coil around the same core, and you’ve got a simple transformer.
Now, power the first coil, called the drive coil, with alternating current and measure the induced current on the second, or sense coil. Unexpected differences between the current in the drive coil and the sense coil are due to any external magnetic field. The difference indicates the strength of the field. Genius!
Building a fluxgate magnetometer
https://10maurycy10.github.io/projects/fluxgate/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/a-cyberpunk-pocketwatch/
Tomi Engdahl says:
CNC Wood Joinery Exploration
Open-source tools and techniques for creating complicated wood joints with a CNC router.
https://hackaday.io/project/199364-cnc-wood-joinery-exploration
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/22/learn-about-robot-arms-by-building-pedro-2-0/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Custom Mouse Rocks Neat Thumbstick Design
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/custom-mouse-rocks-neat-thumbstick-design/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/25/experimental-drone-flies-like-a-bird/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/25/keebin-with-kristina-the-one-with-the-tron-keyboard/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/25/an-over-engineered-basement-monitor/
https://www.scd31.com/posts/overengineered-basement-monitor
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/30/building-a-miniature-rainbow-sand-table/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/30/thanks-for-hacking-2/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/30/making-a-stool-from-clay/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/30/the-many-reasons-for-putting-microphones-in-rainforests/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/03/oshw-battery-tester-aims-to-help-tame-lithium-cells/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/03/torque-testing-3d-printed-screws/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/03/3d-printing-threaded-replacements/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/04/rolling-your-own-ball-screws/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/05/a-brief-history-of-teleportation/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/05/split-flap-clock-flutters-its-way-to-displaying-time-without-numbers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/05/open-source-robot-transforms/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/05/ubiquitous-successful-bus-hacking-usb-2-hubs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/12/automated-rig-grows-big-beautiful-crystals-fast/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/12/good-lighting-on-a-budget-with-cordless-tool-batteries/
Tomi Engdahl says:
I did not know you could make polymer mixtures permanently statically charged.
Full video here if interested:
https://youtu.be/oTNXXiMO3e8?si=qoKhH5wJNybPajyn
I like that this guy mixes science (mostly high voltage) with electronics.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Ly0Xo6JlZAo
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/16/robot-air-hockey-player-predicts-your-next-move/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/16/building-the-spectacular-fibonacci128-simple-add-on/
https://squidgeefish.com/projects/fibonacci128-sao/
Tomi Engdahl says:
PCB Motor Holds Fast, Even After 1.6 Billion Spins
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/17/pcb-motor-holds-fast-even-after-1-6-billion-spins/
If you aren’t up to date with [Carl Bugeja]’s work with tiny brushless PCB motors, his summary video of his latest design and all the challenges it involved is an excellent overview.
Back in 2018 we saw [Carl]’s earliest versions making their first spins and it was clear he was onto something. Since then they have only improved, but improvement takes both effort and money. Not only does everything seemingly matter at such a small scale, but not every problem is even obvious in the first place. Luckily, [Carl] has both the determination and knowledge to refine things.
Hardware development is expensive, especially when less than a tenth of a millimeter separates a critical component from the junk pile.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/19/where-this-xmas-cards-going-we-dont-need-batteries/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/20/watch-a-3d-scan-become-a-car-body-model/