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.
7,006 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/28/making-an-injection-mold-for-yourself/
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s A Sander! No, It’s A Toothbrush! Relax, Relax, It’s Both
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/29/its-a-sander-no-its-a-toothbrush-relax-relax-its-both/
https://www.instructables.com/Minisander-From-Toothbrush-Minilijadora-Con-Cepill/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/25/hackaday-prize-2023-jumperless-the-jumperless-jumperboard/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/25/wireless-data-connections-through-light/
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https://hackaday.com/2023/08/26/impulse-buying-a-3040-cnc-machine-what-could-go-wrong/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/26/kitchen-steganography-with-turmeric/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/27/card-io-is-a-credit-card-sized-open-source-ecg-monitor/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/28/the-healing-touch-of-magnetic-tentacles-in-photothermal-lung-cancer-therapy/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/191963-completely-analog-houseplant-soil-moisture-sensor
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/162680-silly-hardware-wishlist
Tomi Engdahl says:
WeAct Duino – Cheap and Powerful!
https://hackaday.io/project/192562-weact-duino-cheap-and-powerful
The purpose of this project is to show how to use the WeAct STM32G431 board as an ARM-based Arduino.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/04/fiery-torch-build-is-remarkably-stylish/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/04/minimalist-led-lamp-is-circular-beauty-incarnate/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/04/the-scope-of-this-kickstarter-ten-years/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/04/heat-pump-control-that-works/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/31/copper-be-gone-the-chemistry-behind-pcb-etching/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printed — Um — Hook And Loop Fasteners
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/04/3d-printed-um-hook-and-loop-fasteners/
[Teaching Tech’s] latest video discusses “3D printed Velcro.” But as even he admits, Velcro is a trademark, so we think it is more appropriate to talk about hook and loop fasteners. In fact, you can see the good-natured official video about the trademark below [Teaching Tech’s] video. Regardless, his experiments with several 3D-printed Vel… fastener designs are worth watching.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/03/modding-a-nerf-blaster-the-old-fashioned-way/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/03/bare-pcb-makes-a-decent-homemade-smart-watch/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/03/tiny-drone-racing-gate-records-your-best-laps/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/03/if-you-arent-making-your-own-relays/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Acoustic Monitoring Buoy
https://hackaday.io/project/192595-acoustic-monitoring-buoy
Underwater acoustic monitoring using a 4 element array and a surface buoy. Tether enabled by Sparkfun Single Pair Ethernet breakout
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Resistorganizer
https://hackaday.io/project/192522-the-resistorganizer
Managing resistors is a chore. Well, with the Resistorganizer, you can just jam your loose resistors into a breadboard and be done with it.
At a high level, the Resistorganizer is a PCB that you can plug into a standard solderless breadboard and it will poll the rows and determine the resistance value of the resistor which is plugged into it (across the DIP gap).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bluetooth controlled FM Tuner
https://hackaday.io/project/192617-bluetooth-controlled-fm-tuner
Simple and effective way to listen to FM radio using SIM800H module controlled by Bluetooth from smart phone, laptop, RPi, desktop etc.,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hydralift
Tracking Daily Fluid Intake
https://hackaday.io/project/25853-hydralift
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Spin Coater
A spin coater is used to spread a thin layer of liquid on a flat surface to a very precise thickness, like photoresist on a PCB.
https://hackaday.io/project/192036-diy-spin-coater
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/03/hackaday-prize-2023-gen5x-a-generatively-designed-5-axis-3d-printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/02/to-give-is-better-than-to-receive/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make Better 3D Printed Molds, For Thermoforming Plastics
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/02/make-better-3d-printed-molds-for-thermoforming-plastics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/01/hefty-3d-printed-quadcopter-meets-nasty-end/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/01/hackaday-prize-2023-10-kw-electronic-load/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/01/motorized-camera-slider-rides-on-carbon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/01/big-3d-printed-hand-uses-big-servos-naturally/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/01/an-electric-unicycle-in-minimalist-form/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/05/hands-free-compass-uses-haptic-feedback/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/05/entertain-your-cats-automatically-with-lazerpaw/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/05/hackaday-prize-2023-the-gearing-up-challenge-finalists/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/05/spooky-noise-box-has-post-halloween-potential/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/06/mining-and-refining-quartz-both-natural-and-synthetic/
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https://hackaday.io/project/190480-jetson-tracking-cam
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Minamil 3dp: another minimal CNC mill
https://hackaday.io/project/192074-minamil-3dp-another-minimal-cnc-mill
A very compact, very inexpensive, very DIYable, very precise little CNC mill. This one uses 3d printed parts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NFT Camera
https://hackaday.io/project/192538-nft-camera
A photo taken with this camera will instantly become a NFT.
This camera aims to prove with blockchain that a photo was taken with a camera.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/06/get-a-fresh-build-plate-at-the-push-of-a-button/
Tomi Engdahl says:
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https://hackaday.com/2023/09/07/2023-cyberdeck-challenge-the-best-decks-on-the-net/
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https://hackaday.com/2023/09/08/share-your-feelings-like-a-spy/