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.
6,810 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.io/project/160437-noise-nugget
Noise Nugget is a compact digital synthesizer based on an 180MHz Cortex-M4 and quality audio DAC with headphone amplifier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
These Twenty Projects Won The Musical Instrument Challenge In The Hackaday Prize
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/16/these-twenty-projects-won-the-musical-instrument-challenge-in-the-hackaday-prize/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/14/diy-wire-bender-gets-wires-all-bent-into-shape/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/15/the-3d-printed-plotter-you-didnt-know-you-needed/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/16/performing-a-chip-transplant-to-resurrect-a-dead-board/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spectra: Open Biomedical Imaging
https://hackaday.io/project/159737-spectra-open-biomedical-imaging
Biomedical Imaging project using AC currents to do image reconstruction of conductive bodies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One-Legged Jumping Robot Shows That Control Is Everything
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/09/one-legged-jumping-robot-shows-that-control-is-everything/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacking The ZH03B Laser Particle Sensor
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/09/hacking-the-zh03b-laser-particle-sensor/
Laser particle detectors are a high-tech way for quantifying whats floating around in the air. With a fan, a laser, and a sensitive photodetector, they can measure smoke and other particulates in real-time. Surprisingly, they are also fairly cheap, going for less than $20 USD on some import sites. They just need a bit of encouragement to do our bidding.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is 2018 Finally the Year of Windows on the Robot?
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/09/is-2018-finally-the-year-of-windows-on-the-robot/
Microsoft is bringing ROS to Window 10. ROS stands for Robot Operating System, a software framework and large collection of libraries for developing robots which we recently wrote an introductory article about, It’s long been primarily supported under Linux and Mac OS X, and even then, best under Ubuntu. My own efforts to get it working under the Raspbian distribution on the Raspberry Pi led me to instead download a Pi Ubuntu image. So having it running with the support of Microsoft on Windows will add some welcome variety.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build Your Own LAN Cable Tester
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/10/build-your-own-lan-cable-tester/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Bells! The Bells! One Battery since 1840
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/07/the-bells-the-bells-one-battery-since-1840/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Another Drawbot Uses A Pi And Web Sockets
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/08/another-drawbot-uses-a-pi-and-web-sockets/
There’s something about art. Cavemen drew on walls. People keep programming drawing robots. One we’ve seen recently is [Andy’s] Drawbot that uses WiFi and WebSockets to draw on just about any flat surface. What’s more, the Johnson County Library has a great write-up about how they built one and if you want a go at it, you’ll find their instructions very helpful. The video below is pretty inspirational, too.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Drawbot/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacking the Meccano M.A.X.
https://hackaday.io/project/160606-hacking-the-meccano-max
Meccano M.A.X. is a 30cm tall toy robot that is fun to build. This project aims to convert it into a machine vision robot.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1-Square-Inch 20Msps Oscilloscope Designed Around a PIC32MZ MCU
https://blog.hackster.io/1-square-inch-20msps-oscilloscope-designed-around-pic32mz-microcontroller-b22cb9c00e2d
Oscilloscope, which he designed around a Microchip PIC32MZ EF microcontroller that uses internal ADCs in an interleaved mode to gain a 20Msps sampling rate. Mark found he was able to achieve a bandwidth of 1MHz in his setup.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Build Your Own Bluetooth Speaker with NFC-Pairing and a Light Show
https://blog.hackster.io/build-your-own-bluetooth-speaker-with-nfc-pairing-and-a-light-show-ca78c771fc9e
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say ‘Hi’ to Nybble, an open-source robotic kitten
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/29/say-hi-to-nybble-an-open-source-robotic-kitten/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
https://www.hackster.io/petoi/opencat-845129
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Bolt-On Peristaltic Pump
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/27/the-bolt-on-peristaltic-pump/
With the proliferation of 3D printing in the new millennium, stepper motors are no longer those idle junkbox inhabitants you pulled out of a dot matrix in 1994 and forgot about ever since. NEMA standard parts are readily available and knocking about just about everywhere. Now, you can readily turn a stepper motor into a peristaltic pump with just a few simple 3D printed parts.
https://dptechnology.jimdo.com/projects/3d-printed-peristaltic-pump/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Barb Makes Things
https://hackaday.io/project/8882-barb-makes-things
Custom DIY projects in high speed, every Tuesday.
This is a series of videos showing my process of making a new project every week, using a wide variety of media, including electronics, 3d printing, wood, concrete, shrink plastic, gingerbread, etc.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Simonite / Wired:
As AI-building frameworks get open-sourced, DIY tinkerers use them for tasks like identifying plant diseases, automating dry-cleaning, making art, and more
The DIY Tinkerers Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence
https://www.wired.com/story/diy-tinkerers-artificial-intelligence-smart-tech/
Tomi Engdahl says:
8BitRobots Module
https://hackaday.io/project/152729-8bitrobots-module
A common hardware, software and 3D printed module to enable fun, educational robots anyone can print and program.
I started to build robots for fun at the end of 2015 when I built an underwater robot (https://hackaday.io/project/8343-borgcube-rov). In the last few years I’ve built a few more, including a car, another ROV, a rabbit, a rolling ball, and a robot arm. Some of these have used custom hardware, some just assembled Adafruit and Sparkfun boards, some Raspberry Pies(?!), and some Beaglebones. Through this process I’ve built and rebuilt the software to control these things until I have a common, Javascript platform running on everything. In parallel I’ve refined what hardware the robot use until I have a common hardware platform with all the essentials they share. Together this makes the 8BitRobots module.
Tomi Engdahl says:
reMi Converts Sound into Pulsating Origami Art
https://blog.hackster.io/remi-converts-sound-into-pulsating-origami-art-ec395fe683d5
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microbial Bioreactor © CERN-OHL
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/open-bioeconomy-lab/microbial-bioreactor-d7f61b
An open microbial bioreactor for growing cultures of about 1L.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spectra: An Open Source, Two Square Inch Biomedical Imager
https://blog.hackster.io/spectra-an-open-source-two-square-inch-biomedical-imager-f3a3111a36d2
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linear movement with Arduino and 3D printing
https://blog.arduino.cc/2018/10/29/linear-movement-with-arduino-and-3d-printing/
Hobby Servos Converted to 3D-Printed Linear Actuators
https://blog.hackster.io/hobby-servos-converted-to-3d-printed-linear-actuators-40fa4c9c81e2
Tomi Engdahl says:
First IC
http://sam.zeloof.xyz/first-ic/
I am very excited to announce the details of my first integrated circuit and share the journey that this project has taken me on over the past year. I hope that my success will inspire others and help start a revolution in home chip fabrication.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mug-O-Matic Plots On Coffee Mugs
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/25/mug-o-matic-plots-on-coffee-mugs/
[EngineerDog] bills Mug-O-Matic as a tiny CNC, we think it is more of a plotter for coffee mugs. It’s still fun to watch though, as you can see in the video below.
Mug-O-Matic: A Modular Tiny CNC
https://hackaday.io/project/158014-mug-o-matic-a-modular-tiny-cnc
Open Source Reconfigurable Robot Arm for Learning STEM. Make It Your Way!
Mug-O-Matic is a one of a kind DIY toy, a real 3-axis Tiny CNC drawing robot that can customize coffee mugs!
Mug-O-Matic Tool Path Summary:
1. Create or find an image file you want to draw and convert it to an STL that is 0.1mm thick.
2. Use RepetierHost + Slic3r to convert the model into gcode.
3. Use Processing to send commands line by line from computer over usb.
4. Use Arduino with the Mug-O-Matic Gcode_reader sketch to decode commands.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supercon: Designing Your Own Diffractive Optics
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/16/supercon-designing-your-own-diffractive-optics/
Kelly Peng is an electrical and optical engineer, and founder of Kura AR. She’s built a fusion reactor, a Raman spectrometer, a DIY structured light camera, a linear particle accelerator, and emotional classifiers for likes and dislikes. In short, we have someone who can do anything, and she came in to talk about one of the dark arts (pun obviously intended): optics.
Hackaday Supercon – Kelly Ziqi Peng : Diffractive Optics for Augmented Reality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYr_f2rx3hM
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video Details Construction of Transparent Wood
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/27/video-details-construction-of-transparent-wood/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Applied Science Rolls An Electroluminescent Controller
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/26/applied-science-rolls-an-electroluminescent-controller/
After LEDs and TFTs and OLEDs and liquid crystals, there’s another display technology that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Electroluminescent displays have been around for ages, and there still aren’t a whole lot of applications for them. That might change soon, because Applied Science a.k.a. [Ben Krasnow] figured out an easy way to build EL displays on anything, and created a simple circuit that’s capable of driving video on a remarkable blue phosphor EL display.
For this build, [Ben] is using a specialty product from Lumilor consisting of a copper-ish conductive base layer, a clear dielectric, the ‘lumicolor’ phosphor, and a clear conductive top coat. All of these layers are applied with an airbrush, and the patterns are made with a desktop vinyl cutter.
Electroluminescent paint and multi-channel control circuit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUUupR-ongs
Tomi Engdahl says:
AGOpen DIY Conversion Gives Your Tractor the Ability to Steer Autonomously
https://blog.hackster.io/agopen-diy-conversion-gives-your-tractor-the-ability-to-steer-autonomously-b479fd0f8dca
Tomi Engdahl says:
PCB fixtures improve component measurements
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/si-pi-masterclass/4461243/PCB-fixtures-improve-component-measurements?utm_source=Aspencore&utm_medium=EDN&utm_campaign=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
Image Objects Using a DIY Configurable IR Tomography System
https://blog.hackster.io/image-objects-using-a-diy-configurable-ir-tomography-system-7698a683ed5f
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/03/andersons-water-computer-spills-the-analog-secrets-of-digital-logic/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Entering the World of the Mini Makers
https://www.electropages.com/2018/11/entering-world-mini-makers/?utm_campaign=&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=article&utm_content=Entering+the+World+of+the+Mini+Makers
In a time where there are increasing concerns all across Europe about filling the growing number of STEM-related jobs and how to go about addressing the widening skills gap, there is more impetus than ever to encourage both young children and teenagers to become more engineering savvy. Consequently, we have seen a considerable surge in the educational toy market over the last few years, with a plethora of exciting new product offerings coming to the fore.
Getting ‘hands-on’ with technology is not actually that new of course. I grew up in the days when Meccano was at the height of its popularity – with most boys my age owning kits. Things have moved on significantly though. Back then, Meccano solely catered for would-be mechanical engineers and was predominantly male-focused. Now the objective is to encompass a broader spectrum of engineering disciplines – and also appeal, in equal proportions, to both males and females alike.
Produced by a mixture of established brands and newer firms, a diverse range of child-friendly maker platforms has emerged. Despite each one taking its own distinctive form, all of them tend to share common goals. These are to make technological creativity more accessible, elevate the levels of engagement (whether this is in a classroom environment or back home) and, as much as possible, keep the barriers to entry low (so kids that aren’t put off at an early stage, because everything looks too complicated).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adorable Desktop Disc Sander Warms Our Hearts and Our Parts
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/04/adorable-desktop-disc-sander-warms-our-hearts-and-our-parts/
Electrically the build is a simple as can be. It’s just a brushed DC motor plugged into a wall wart with a barrel jack and a toggle switch. But what else does it need? This isn’t a precision machine tool, so applying the “make it out of whatever scrap” mindset seems like a much better fit than figuring out PWM control with a MOSFET and a microcontroller.
There are a couple of neat tricks in the build here.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keep Both Hands on the Probes With This Oscilloscope Footswitch
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/02/keep-both-hands-on-the-probes-with-this-oscilloscope-footswitch/
This multipurpose oscilloscope footswitch interface makes so much sense that we wonder why such a thing isn’t standard equipment on more scopes. [Paul Roukema]’s interface relies on the USB Test and Measurement Class (USBTMC) protocol that allows most modern scopes to be remotely controlled, somewhat like the General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) protocol of old.
https://github.com/MegabytePhreak/scope-footswitch
Tomi Engdahl says:
Etch-a-Sketch 3D Printed With Cell Phone
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/03/etch-a-sketch-3d-printed-with-cell-phone/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Circuit Sculpture Contest
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/04/the-circuit-sculpture-contest/
This is Hackaday’s Circuit Sculpture Contest and we bet you already have everything you need to enter. Leave behind the drab flatland of 2D PCBs and break out into the third dimension! Or break away from the PCB entirely.
Circuit Sculpture Contest
https://hackaday.io/contest/162559-circuit-sculpture-contest
Show us how beautiful those wires can be!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wonderful Sculptural Circuits hide Interactive Synthesizers
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/29/wonderful-sculptural-circuits-hide-interactive-synthesizers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reverse Engineering With Sandpaper
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/29/reverse-engineering-with-sandpaper/
Tomi Engdahl says:
SauceBot Uses G-Code to Apply Condiments with Precision
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/29/saucebot-uses-g-code-to-apply-condiments-with-precision/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Collecting, Repairing, and Wearing Vintage Digital Watches
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/28/collecting-repairing-and-wearing-vintage-digital-watches/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Advances In Flat-Pack PCBs
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/28/advances-in-flat-pack-pcbs/
Right now, we’ve got artistic PCBs, we’ve got #badgelife, and we have reverse-mounted LEDs that shine through the fiberglass substrate. All of this is great for PCBs that are functional works of art. Artists, though, need to keep pushing boundaries and the next step is obviously a PCB that doesn’t look like it has any components at all. We’re not quite there yet, but [Stephan] sent in a project that’s the closest we’ve seen yet. It’s a PCB where all the components are contained within the board itself. A 2D PCB, if you will.
a DIY flat christmas decoration with a ATtiny25, 20 led´s and a coin cell battery
https://github.com/designer2k2/2d-xmas-tree
Tomi Engdahl says:
Treasure Trove of Projects Provides Endless Examples
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/27/treasure-trove-of-projects-provides-endless-examples/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Guide For Driving LED Matrices
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/27/a-guide-for-driving-led-matrices/
https://hackaday.io/page/5596-driving-led-matrices-conveniently
Tomi Engdahl says:
This 3D-Printed Electric Screwdriver Is Powered by a Micro Servo
https://blog.hackster.io/this-3d-printed-electric-screwdriver-is-powered-by-a-micro-servo-67cbea2fa70d
The tool uses an Arduino Nano for control, and the driving mechanism is a small 9g servo modified for continuous rotation. User interface is provided by a gaming-style joystick, and the modded servo allows for variable speed control.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Intro to Circuit Bending
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJfTdD_5XyE
A short intro on how to get started with circuit bending toys, specifically musical instrument toys.
ELECTRIC WHOOPEE CUSHION, CIRCUIT BENT MINIONS. PIEZO MICS HOW TO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPlhNmMR63w
Tomi Engdahl says:
Milling and Polishing acrylic glass – Marble Machine X Marble Carrier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdV9b4N0BVo
make some acrylic parts for Martin from Wintergatan and his Marble Machine X project.
That was a new experience
really happy how this turned out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Naomi Wu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Wu
Naomi Wu, also known as SexyCyborg, is a Chinese DIY maker and internet personality. As an advocate of women in STEM, transhumanism, open source hardware, and body modifications,[1][2] she challenges gender and tech stereotypes with a flamboyant public persona,[3][2][4] using objectification of her appearance to inspire women.[5] She has one of the largest, if not the largest, English language presences of any southern PRC citizen (she lives and works in Shenzhen) on YouTube and Twitter.
Naomi ‘SexyCyborg’ Wu YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh_ugKacslKhsGGdXP0cRRA
DIY and Tech enthusiast from Shenzhen, China. Check out my channel- I’ve got a lot of cool and unique videos!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kitty Yeung On Tech-Fashion Designs and the Wearables Industry
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/20/kitty-yeung-on-tech-fashion-designs-and-the-wearables-industry/
If there is a field which has promise verging on a true breakout, it is that of wearable electronics. We regularly see 3D printing, retrocomputing, robotics, lasers, and electric vehicle projects whose advances are immediately obvious. These are all exciting fields in which the Hackaday community continually push the boundaries, and from which come the astounding pieces of work you read on these pages daily.