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.
7,114 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/13/a-high-torque-gearbox-you-can-print-at-home/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/14/moving-fridge-magnets-make-for-unique-clock/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tensile Testing Machine Takes 3D Printed Parts To The Breaking Point
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/13/tensile-testing-machine-takes-3d-printed-parts-to-the-breaking-point/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Novasaur Retrocomputer’s TTL-Only Design Emulates the Intel 8080 Processor
Retrocomputer with serial and video built from late ’70s TTL logic.
https://www.hackster.io/news/novasaur-retrocomputer-s-ttl-only-design-emulates-the-intel-8080-processor-afe7712e29df
Tomi Engdahl says:
Redditor Minergab wanted a watch with an integrated flashlight and laser beam, and made a 3D-printed model that would make James Bond proud.
This DIY 3D-Printed Wristwatch Has a Built-In Laser, for Reasons
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-diy-3d-printed-wristwatch-has-a-built-in-laser-for-reasons-97dc8d03a11e
Redditor Minergab wanted a watch with an integrated flashlight and laser beam, and made a 3D-printed model that would make James Bond proud.
https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/iapkka/regular_watches_dont_have_lasers_so_i_made_my_own/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://wiki.ardumower.de/index.php?title=Ardumower_Sunray
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/time-machine-mark-v-is-an-open-source-retro-inspired-smartwatch-running-javascript-5f0ccb08adad
Tomi Engdahl says:
Time Machine Mark V Is an Open Source, Retro-Inspired Smartwatch Running JavaScript
Build your own smartwatch with BLE.
https://www.hackster.io/news/time-machine-mark-v-is-an-open-source-retro-inspired-smartwatch-running-javascript-5f0ccb08adad
Tomi Engdahl says:
The BicycleCompanion Is a Low-Power Computer Aimed at Bicycle Touring
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-bicyclecompanion-is-a-low-power-computer-aimed-at-bicycle-touring-36307ae56daa
Matias N.’s open source cycling device provides plenty of information, including speed, distance, temperature, altitude, compass, and more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/geek-life/tools-toys/cycle-by-wire-recumbent-trike
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/31/oparp-telepresence-robot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/31/bright-white-night-light-fights-e-waste/
Tomi Engdahl says:
100% Printed Flashlight: Conductive Filament And Melted-in Leads
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/31/100-printed-flashlight-conductive-filament-and-melted-in-leads/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/01/this-3d-printed-bladeless-fan-gets-it-done-cheap/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/02/the-b-sides-curious-uses-of-off-the-shelf-parts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/02/hacker-driven-to-build-r-c-forza-controller/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/03/3d-printed-flight-controls-use-magnets-for-enhanced-flight-simulator-2020-experience/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A 3D Printed Magnetic Stirrer For Your DIY Chemistry Projects
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/03/a-3d-printed-magnetic-stirrer-for-your-diy-chemistry-projects/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/04/the-screwdriver-you-dont-need-but-probably-want/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/05/building-a-uv-curing-station-for-resin-prints/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/169882-ultra-low-power-led
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Relay Module Saves Time
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/06/diy-relay-module-saves-time/
As any programmer could tell you, there’s significant value in automating a process that is performed often enough. The more times that process is used, the more it makes sense to automate it or at least improve its efficiency. This rule isn’t limited to software though; improvements to hardware design can also see improvements in efficiency as well. For that reason, [Hulk] designed a simple relay module in order to cut the amount of time he spends implementing this solution in his various other projects.
https://hackaday.io/project/174550-diy-relay-module
Relay modules available in the market are bundled with unlimited useless components.
I bet unless you really use them, you may always be thinking of knocking them all out before using them in your project. Well, if you feel the need of having a simple relay module, with just the basic components, you are at the right place.
In this tutorial I am going to show you how to make a simple relay module that can be used in any project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/05/incredible-soldering-in-the-name-of-hardware-support/
Tomi Engdahl says:
40% Keyboard Build Is 100% Open Source
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/07/40-keyboard-build-is-100-open-source/
3D Printed Hand Wired 40% Keyboard
https://www.ghost7.com/3d-printed-hand-wired-40-keyboard/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Gaming Mouse With Recoil Feedback
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/08/a-gaming-mouse-with-recoil-feedback/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital pregnancy testing sticks turn out to have very analogue internals when it comes to getting results
Hardware tinkerer makes odd finds, including an unusual on/off switch
https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/05/digital_pregnancy_test_teardown/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Old Microwave And What To Do With It – An Electromagnet And A Phone Charger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rozz-wbHfYM
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oscillating Tool Uses in the Woodwork Shop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prW2QdElZzg
Amazingly Cheap DIY ● Oscillating Saw Blade !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgCam8t3670
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Nobody Will Tell You About Oscillating Multi-Tools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN8dlNku0vk
Leah shows you how to easily sharpen your own multi-tool blades, saving you money!
How to Choose the Right Blade for an Oscillating Tool or Multi-tool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPJhjSITLnk
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/09/building-an-affordable-press-for-heat-set-inserts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/09/wooden-tanks-movement-hinges-on-hinges/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/09/third-times-a-charm-for-this-basketball-catching-robot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital Pregnancy Tests Use LEDs To Read Between The Lines
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/09/digital-pregnancy-tests-use-leds-to-read-between-the-lines/
[Foone] saw a tweet a few weeks ago alleging that digital pregnancy tests are a rip-off. Regular, cheap tests have an absorbent strip running the length of the plastic, with one end exposed for collecting urine. A few excruciating minutes later, a little plastic window in the middle will show one line, two lines, or a plus or minus sign depending on the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the urine.
As it turns out, at least two digital tests out there are the exact same thing, but with more steps. Instead of a window, they include circuitry that interprets the lines and publishes the result to a little screen in plain English. It can even tell you if you’re doing it wrong by flashing a little RTFM icon.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1301707401024827392.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Relativty Is an Open Source VR Headset You Can Build for $200
This open source headset design runs on a Microchip SAM3X8E Arm Cortex-M3 and works with SteamVR.
https://www.hackster.io/news/relativty-is-an-open-source-vr-headset-you-can-build-for-200-cfe0bd1ec522
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Fully 3D-Printed FPV RC Tank That You Can Build Yourself — Complete with Controller!
MorrisI4 has a tutorial explaining how to build your own 3D-printed FPV RC tank that includes a controller.
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-fully-3d-printed-fpv-rc-tank-that-you-can-build-yourself-complete-with-controller-53468662749e
First-person view (FPV) cameras are one of the best improvements to RC technology. This makes it possible to transmit a live video feed from a camera attached to the RC vehicle to your controller or ground station. Considering how long the range is for modern transmitters, an FPV setup can be very helpful when the vehicle is out of sight. That does, however, mean that your camera has to be capable of transmitting a signal and your ground station or FPV goggles need to be able to receive that signal. The actual vehicle control is handled by affordable transceiver modules. The nRF24L01 transceiver modules used in this project cost less than $6 each and have a range of up to 800 meters.
To tackle this project, you will need a 3D printer, as virtually all of the mechanical parts, including the tank tracks, are 3D-printed. The tracks are driven by a pair of geared DC motors, which are controlled by an Arduino Uno through an L298N dual H-bridge motor driver. The Arduino receives commands from the nRF24L01 transceiver module. The Arduino also controls a small hobby servo motor that is used to pan the camera. That camera is a cheap FPV camera that has a built-in radio transmitter and antenna.
https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Arduino-FPV-RC-Tracked-Car-With-Control/
Tomi Engdahl says:
With a Little Help From My Robot Friends
This open source $250 robotic arm, that you can build, will lend you a hand at your workbench.
https://www.hackster.io/news/with-a-little-help-from-my-robot-friends-37cc18cea810
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sourino Entertains Kitties and Kiddies Alike
11-year-old maker Electrocat designed a robotic device that scurries around the floor in autonomous or manual mode.
https://www.hackster.io/news/sourino-entertains-kitties-and-kiddies-alike-29fab513b803
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Develops $50 3D Printed OpenBot to Advance Robotics Accessibility
https://3dprint.com/272365/intel-develops-50-3d-printed-openbot-to-advance-robotics-accessibility/
Researchers at Intel Labs have developed a smart robot that anyone with a smartphone can build, using open source code, a 3D printer, and $50. What is different with this 3D printed robot is that the smartphone isn’t just used to control the robot, as with devices such as MobBob or Qualcomms Micro Rover, but is used directly as the ‘brains’ of the bot, leveraging the advanced features and operating systems in today’s smartphones to enable high-quality sensing and computation, while improving affordability, accessibility and scalability—all within a $50 budget (not including the smartphone).
While there have been efforts previously at making robot technology affordable and scalable, compromises have been made either in design, functionality, or performance. Relatively expensive robots in this area of research can cost between $2,000-$5,000, while mobile-based robots are significantly less expensive, yet still fall between $250-500 in cost, such as the AWS DeepRacer, DJI Robomaster S1, Nvidia JetBot, and DukieBot.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rick Flash SSD Project Uses an ESP8266 to Never Give You Up, Let You Down, Run Around, or Desert You
It won’t provide much high-speed storage, but you will likely get a grin from this novelty PCB project.
https://www.hackster.io/news/rick-flash-ssd-project-uses-an-esp8266-to-never-give-you-up-let-you-down-run-around-or-desert-you-6eb7149484c4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connect a Pair of USB Hosts via Serial Connection with the Isolated USB Null Modem
The device features a pair of USB CDC chips, creating a USB serial port for each attached computer.
https://www.hackster.io/news/connect-a-pair-of-usb-hosts-via-serial-connection-with-the-isolated-usb-null-modem-5a1616750ec5
Tomi Engdahl says:
First There Was Holst, Now There Is Bleeptrack
PicoPlanets are a set of procedurally generated PCBs that function as a beautiful board of buttons.
https://www.hackster.io/news/first-there-was-holst-now-there-is-bleeptrack-2c5a59dab96c
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB Bell Rings In Custom Terminal
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/13/usb-bell-rings-in-custom-terminal/
Old TeleTypes and even typewriters had bells. Real bells. So that ASCII BEL character is supposed to make an honest to goodness ringing sound. While some modern terminals make a beep from the computer speakers, it isn’t the same. [Tenderlove] must agree, because the turned a Microchip USB to I2C bridge chip into a HID-controlled bell.
The only problem we see is that you have to have a patch to your terminal to ring the bell. We’d love to see some filter for TCP or serial that would catch BEL characters, but on the plus side, it is easy to ring the bell from any sort of application since it responds to normal HID commands.
https://github.com/tenderlove/analog-terminal-bell
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digging In The Dirt Yields Homebrew Inductors
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/13/digging-in-the-dirt-yields-homebrew-inductors/
Let’s say you’re stranded on a desert island and want to get the news from the outside world. You’ll have to build your own crystal radio, of course, but your parts bin is nowhere to be found and Digi-Key isn’t delivering. So you’ll need to MacGuyver some components. Capacitors are easy with a couple of pieces of tinfoil, and a rectifier can be made from a pencil and a razor blade. But what about an inductor? Sure, air-core inductors will work, but just because you’re marooned doesn’t mean you’ve abandoned your engineering principles. Luckily, you’ve read [AC7ZL]’s treatise of making inductors from dirt, and with sand in abundance, you’re able to harvest enough material to put together some passable ferrite-core inductors
http://www.hpfriedrichs.com/radioroom/inductors/inductors.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
portable_spectro
new kind of portable spectrometer with efficient LED illumination(SFH4736), and miniatured spectrometer(C12880MA, or AS7260x)
https://hackaday.io/project/169059-portablespectro
Tomi Engdahl says:
Budget-Friendly Bend Sensor Deforms With Precision
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/14/budget-friendly-bend-sensor-deforms-with-precision/
Bowden-cable Actuation with Dual-Wire (BoASensor)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pna2ue7zv3I&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Soft LEGO: Bottom-up Design Platform for Soft Robotics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqj2QQZ8PMs
Soft LEGO: Bottom-up Design Platform for Soft Robotics
This video introduces soft LEGO for bottom-up design platform of soft robotics that can be used for various purposes, ranging from research and fast prototyping of soft robots to toys and entertainment. We integrated the interlocking mechanism of LEGO into a modular soft robot. With this design, soft robots could be built by a simple and play-like assembling process.
The paper about our Soft LEGO is published on 2018 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2018).
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8593546
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Echosounder
Creating a real echosounder from scratch
https://hackaday.io/project/174731-diy-echosounder
When building my autonomous boat ( https://hackaday.io/project/166552-small-autonomous-survey-vessel ) I soon found that I would like to have some kind of echosounder on it to map the depth and prevent it from running aground.
Unfortunately echosounders are still rather expensive. Only recently with the introduction of the Ping sonar by Blue Robotics it seems to get into the realm of hobbyists like me. At US$280,- it is still a considerable investment. And for years I’ve been looking for DIY sonars since I just wanted to make one myself. But these are rare, not to say virtually non-existent.
Since I’ve been working with Sonar based instruments for years I also know where the problems are. Let’s see if we can get it done this time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rex: open-source spot clone 3D printed using a Creality Ender3, with PLA and TPU+.
[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3445283](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3445283)
[https://github.com/nicrusso7/rex-gym#robotic-arm](https://github.com/nicrusso7/rex-gym#robotic-arm)
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/16/a-walking-robot-with-a-single-servo/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/16/digital-cribbage-board-saves-scores-marriage/
https://www.hackster.io/ccooper/digi-crib-a-digital-cribbage-board-cfc18c