This week, on Maker Update, vaccine fashion Intel kills their Kinect killer,
laser cut led neon casting key caps and the Eye of Agamotto.
Hey, everyone, I'm Donald Bell.
And welcome back to another episode of Maker Update,
not just another episode, but the five year anniversary episode.
Can you believe it? It was September of 2016...
I was unemployed and I thought I'd do what most makers do,
which is to start putting out project videos.
I didn't get too far with that, but I did have this other idea
of making a weekly show, rounding up other people's cool projects.
And I gave it a shot. And here we are five years later.
And I'm not about to screw up the formula this time.
So let's get started with the Project of the week.
Check out this PCB badge by Paul Klinger.
The front shows a schematic of the MRNA vaccine nanoparticle at the center.
A series of LEDs blink out the RNA sequence of the Moderna vaccine,
but a long press, the button on the back will switch the sequence
to the Pfizer vaccine.
The back is also where you'll find the coin cell battery
an atTiny microcontroller and a little key
to the biological elements in the schematic in the LED colors.
Paul has the code, PCB files and bill of materials
all posted on a GitHub link that I'll include in the description.
It's a great little project and a literal badge of honor
for a scientific achievement that is saving lives around the world.
Now for some news.
Intel has announced that they're closing their RealSense camera division.
If you're unfamiliar,
these RealSense cameras offer varying degrees of 3D computer vision.
You can think of them as an evolution of the Microsoft Xbox Kinect camera,
and they've been
a useful substitute in DIY projects ever since the plug was pulled on Kinect.
I think it's a real shame, especially now that A.I.
and computer vision projects are gaining momentum.
Hopefully there will be other products that swoop in to fill the gap.
More projects ! On Tested,
Norm Chan has a great guide on how to design and laser cut custom neon
led signs. Norm is using these neon style led strips,
which have been around for a few years now
and are available in different colors or even in addressable neo pixel options.
What a lot of people miss is that these strips can be
cut down to size, just like regular LED strip.
So long as you trim it down at one of the breaks marked on the side
to plan out a design, Norm shows a great trick in Adobe illustrator
that can probably be replicated in other programs, too.
He's drawing his design into the program and then using the offset
path tool to create room on either side of the line.
By knowing the exact
width of the strip, he can offset the width of his lines
to create the perfect channel for the strip to fit in.
From designing to cutting and wiring,
there's a lot to learn from this guide and the results look great.
On Adafruit, I also love seeing how the Ruiz Brothers created these custom resin key caps.
Using silicone molds that you can buy direct from Adafruit,
They experiment with encapsulating
different things like googly eyes or electronic components.
You can add glitter to the mix or mica powder or paint or tint.
Helping the process along is Becky Sterns 3D printed UV
lamp project, used here to quickly cure the resin between pours.
It's a cool idea. If you want to get a jump on a fun little Halloween project,
Check out this mechanical
Eye of Agamotto from Doctor Strange made by Bradley Campbell.
This is a wearable project that combines a 3D printed animatronic eye
with a servo and an RGB LED and an Arduino nano.
What I like most about this design is how he was able to gear the eye
using the servo positioned on its side.
This allows it to stay relatively flat while still providing a convincing
animatronic effect.
Now for some tools and tips on cool tools,
I've got a new video on using stainless steel zip ties.
They're honestly kind of a hassle compared to a typical plastic zip tie.
But if you need something that will hold up in the outdoors
or extreme temperatures, they're useful to have around.
On Tested, Adam Savage offers a candid look at what he admits are
rudimentary techniques for working with electronics in cosplay projects.
Let's be honest.
A lot of us have our own specialties and then a ton of areas
where we have just enough knowledge to hack something together.
I think for real beginners who are just learning, it can be inspiring
to see someone of Adam's stature show off his own shortcuts
and goodnough solutions for wiring things up
from prewired LEDs to using wire nuts for temporary connections.
This 43 minute video
is a lighthearted introduction to the kind of practical electronics
that beginners and non engineers will find inspiring. o
Over on Adafruit, Jeff Epler explains how to give your Circuit Python
projects the ability to scan QR codes.
This is a trick that you can only use on a circuit python seven or later.
And one of the coolest things about it is that you can use it with Iot projects.
So when you wave a QR code past the camera, it can communicate
a specific online input on something like Adafruit.io
and then trigger any number of connected events.
For this week's DigiKey spotlight, Lady Ada has a video on how to use DigiKey
search to find the perfect DC to DC regulator.
Maybe you have an Iot device that's drawing three point three volts from the battery,
but needs to output five volts
and do it as efficiently as possible to preserve battery life.
It's a common dilemma, but with thousands of different converters to sift through.
How do you find the right one?
Lady Ada will show you all the tricks for narrowing down your search.
All right, and that does it for this week's show.
I just want to give a huge thanks to anyone
who's helped encouraged me to keep this show going over the years.
It's meant a lot, especially to Tyler Winegarner, who whose help early on
allowed me to keep this show going and hold down a day job.
It wouldn't have been possible without Tyler.
Big thanks to Garreth Branwyn, Mark Frauenfelder, Caleb Kraft, too.
But they made blog posts about the show early on that really helped
corral people to it and give the attention it deserved.
At anyone who's left a comment on the show or supported it on Patreon,
and especially, of course, Digikey electronics, who came in a few years back
and put their faith in the show
and in me and Tyler and trusted us not to ruin their brand.
So thank you all.
It sounds like I'm saying goodbye,
but I promise I'm just going to keep on doing the show
until they pull the plug. All right.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you soon.