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.
7,023 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tetoroidiv [gd0152]
A 16mm diameter, BLDC servo motor with 0 cogging.
https://hackaday.io/project/195808-tetoroidiv-gd0152
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/16/displayport-hacking-and-examples/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/16/measure-three-times-design-once/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/16/customizable-bird-clock-sings-the-hours-by/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/16/is-the-frequency-domain-a-real-place/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/17/running-four-brushless-motors-with-a-single-pi-pico/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/17/betta-aims-to-bring-wire-edm-to-the-desktop/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/17/emulating-biology-for-robots-with-rolling-contact-joints/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/17/improved-3d-scanning-rig-adds-full-sized-camera-support/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/18/about-right/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/18/m1-development-board-from-scraps/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This WiFi Filament Sensor Is Unnecessary, But Awesome
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/19/this-wifi-filament-sensor-is-unnecessary-but-awesome/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/19/lost-foam-casting-in-action/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/19/diy-eye-and-face-tracking-for-the-valve-index-vr-headset/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/196135-driverino
Driverino is a pretty simple, low power, driver for BLDC sensored motors. The project target is to create a very small unit capable of driving a motor rated about 50-100W. The board is fitted with Microchip’s ATmega32U4 micro (the same of Arduino Micro Pro commercial boards) and TI MCT8316Z.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/196148-i2cdetect-business-card
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/15/designing-a-quality-camera-slider-can-be-remarkably-satisfying/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/15/a-slice-of-simulation-google-sheets-style/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/camera-lucida-drawing-better-like-its-1807/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/is-this-the-worlds-smallest-multichannel-voltmeter/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/using-a-spring-as-a-capacitive-touch-button/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/almost-breaking-the-world-record-for-the-tiniest-humanoid-robot-but-not-quite/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/turning-an-atx-psu-into-a-variable-bench-supply/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Improved Spectrometer, No Lasers Required
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/an-improved-spectrometer-no-lasers-required/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/play-giant-tetris-on-second-floor-window/
https://www.geekabit.nl/projects/tetris-window/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/spark-plug-becomes-glass-cutter/
Sometimes a hack doesn’t need to be rocket science to be useful. Take for instance [MofigoDIY] using an old spark plug to build a glass cutter.
Sure, going to grab a glass cutter at the hardware store might be easy, but there’s something satisfying about going the DIY route. [MofigoDIY]’s version of this classic hack is a bit more refined than the quick and dirty route of smashing the spark plug alumina and hot gluing it into a tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNLcMCsPqMY
Tomi Engdahl says:
With May coming to a close, let’s take a look back at the top 10 most popular Hackster News articles from this month…
// GPT Home Runs Circles Around Traditional Home Assistant Devices: https://www.hackster.io/news/gpt-home-runs-circles-around-traditional-home-assistant-devices-77d4f4d3c9e5
// The N100 Obelisk Is a Mini Tower of Power: https://www.hackster.io/news/mini-tower-of-power-368118cbffc3
// A Mind-Bending VR Experience: https://www.hackster.io/news/a-mind-bending-vr-experience-b3ca3f23fda6
// SparkFun Electronics, Inc. Delivers Ultra-Precise Location Measurements On the Go with the RTK Torch: https://www.hackster.io/news/sparkfun-delivers-ultra-precise-location-measurements-on-the-go-with-the-rtk-torch-312da2a7a5ba
// TinyML Hits a New Low: https://www.hackster.io/news/tinyml-has-hit-a-new-low-7bc6f6e7feb3
// Hands-on with the unPhone — A Compact Educational Gadget for the Internet of Things and More: https://www.hackster.io/news/hands-on-with-the-unphone-a-compact-educational-gadget-for-the-internet-of-things-and-more-460add8bc936
// Solder Ninja Pen — The Ultimate USB Soldering Iron Uniquely Featuring a Large Selection of Tips: https://www.hackster.io/news/solder-ninja-pen-the-ultimate-usb-soldering-iron-uniquely-featuring-a-large-selection-of-tips-ef64d4b4333a
// Waveshare’s Latest Sensor Adds a Thermal Camera to Your Raspberry Pi — or Any Device with a USB Port: https://www.hackster.io/news/waveshare-s-latest-sensor-adds-a-thermal-camera-to-your-raspberry-pi-or-any-device-with-a-usb-port-2a28a84854b3
// Arduino Unveils Opta Digital, Analog Expansion Modules for Bigger PLC Projects: https://www.hackster.io/news/arduino-unveils-opta-digital-analog-expansion-modules-for-bigger-plc-projects-d44d7588431d
// Fobos SDR Is a High-Quality Radio for Hobbyists, Researchers, and Professionals: https://www.hackster.io/news/fobos-sdr-is-a-high-quality-radio-for-hobbyists-researchers-and-professionals-80e25e00b1e1
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/pixel-graphics-from-an-hd44780-by-cutting-wires/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/can-you-hear-me-now-try-these-headphones/
When you are young, you take it for granted that you can pick out a voice in a crowded room or a factory floor. But as you get older, your hearing often gets to the point where a noisy room merges into a mishmash of sounds. University of Washington researchers have developed what they call Target Speech Hearing. In plain English, it is an AI-powered headphone that lets you look at someone and pull their voice out of the chatter. For best results, however, have to enroll their voice first, so it wouldn’t make a great eavesdropping device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/31/intels-anti-upgrade-tricks-defeated-with-kapton-tape/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/clock-mixes-analog-digital-retrograde-displays/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/2024-business-card-contest-a-game-for-two/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/03/attiny85-mouse-jiggler-lets-you-take-a-break/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/03/gears-are-old-and-busted-capstans-are-cool/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/03/a-human-sized-strowger-telephone-exchange/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/04/glowblaster-uses-405-nm-laser-to-make-its-mark/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/05/gamma-ray-spectroscopy-the-pomelo-way/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/05/usb-dongle-brings-python-controlled-gpio-to-the-desktop/
Add Python Programmable GPIO Pins to Any Computer
Add Python programmable GPIO pins to any computer with USBgpio.
https://hackaday.io/project/196434-add-python-programmable-gpio-pins-to-any-computer
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/06/is-that-a-triboelectric-generator-in-your-shoe/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/06/2024-business-card-challenge-tiny-midi-keyboard/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/06/linamp-the-irl-winamp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/07/an-mxm-take-on-the-3dfx-voodoo/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/08/gas-tight-fdm-3d-printing-is-within-your-grasp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A3 Audio: The Open Source 3D Audio Control System
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/07/a3-audio-the-open-source-3d-audio-control-system/
Sometimes, startups fail due to technical problems or a lack of interest from potential investors and fail to gain development traction. This latter case appears to be the issue befalling A3 Audio. So, the developers have done the next best thing, made the project open source, and are actively looking for more people to pitch in. So what is it? The project is centered around the idea of spatial audio or 3D audio. The system allows ‘audio motion’ to be captured, mixed and replayed, all the while synchronized to the music. At least that’s as much as we can figure out from the documentation!
The system is made up of three main pieces of hardware. The first part is the core (or server), which is essentially a Linux PC running an OSC (Open Sound Control) server. The second part is a ‘motion sampler’, which inputs motion into the server. Lastly, there is a Mixer, which communicates using the OSC protocol (over Ethernet) to allow pre-mixing of spatial samples and deployment of samples onto the audio outputs. In addition to its core duties, the ‘core’ also manages effects and speaker handling.
A3 Audio
Dj Mixer and Panning FX Engine for 3d-Audio
https://hackaday.io/project/195204-a3-audio
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/16/3d-printing-a-bottle-labeling-assembly-line/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/16/siping-a-vintage-phone/
Using a 1965 Dutch Rotary Phone via VoIP (T65) in 2024
https://raymii.org/s/blog/Using_a_1965_Dutch_Rotaty_Phone_T65_via_VoIP_in_2024.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/16/new-part-day-a-hackable-smart-ring/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/15/an-enigma-machine-built-in-meccano/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/13/pcb-design-review-a-5v-ups-with-ltc4040/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/17/magic-cane-is-the-secret-behind-lightsaber/