This week on Maker Update, a supersized BMO,
the return of Maker Faires, a new life for soda cans.
Wooden robots, gift guides.
And a collection of fish friendly filaments.
Hello, and welcome back to Maker Update.
I'm Tyler Winegarner, and I hope you're doing well.
We've finally got some great autumn colors going on around here,
and I hope you're finding some great
leaf piles to stomp around in as you think about your next project.
We've got a fun show for you, so let's check out the project of the week.
Octoprint is one of the most useful additions you can make to your 3-D printer.
It allows you to remotely operate your printer, monitor it,
record time lapses and plenty more.
But it's not much fun to use, just functional,
which is why Allie from Geeky Faye Art is giving
Octoprint the personality it deserves: by giving it a touchscreen,
some chunky clicky buttons, some bendy arms,
and oh right, it's all going into the body of BMO from Adventure Time.
Because the design is based around the Raspberry Pi touchscreen display,
This BMO is... pretty big.
But it's not just super sized for the sake of it.
Allie also wanted to use this as an exercise in Accessible Design.
It sounds like a fancy term, but Accessible Design just means
that you've approached your design
with the idea that lots of different people will be able to use it.
In this case, they set three design rules for the project.
The project will be easy to print,
The project would be easy to assemble,
and the project can be completely disassembled.
In an earlier video in this project,
they discussed the electronic components they'll be using in BMOctoprint,
and then they did some breadboard and python prototyping
just to make sure that everything was talking to each other.
This video goes in a much more detail about the hardware design,
with plenty of engineering considerations like how to make a D-pad
so you don't press all the buttons at once, or how you make a durable,
3D printable and satisfyingly snappy latch for an access door.
There's a lot of iterative design that goes into a project
like this and a lot of successful failures.
You can see them all over the table.
This is just the first
two parts of what's hopefully a three part video series.
The electronics hardware assembled and the enclosure has been designed,
but the last thing to do is all the programing to make sure the touchscreen
and the hardware are all working harmoniously with the Octoprint server.
In the meantime, it's great to see all that they've managed to accomplish
so far, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.
Time for the news, and I apologize that this won't do
you much good if you don't live in western New York, but Maker Faire is back!
Last weekend we saw the return of Maker Faire Orlando as an in-person event.
Make: Senior Editor Caleb Kraft shared a number of livestreams from the event
that you can check out on the Make Magazine Facebook page.
But this weekend is Maker Faire Rochester.
There's over 80 makers that will be showcasing at the Rochester
Riverside Convention Center, and I can't tell you how excited I am
to be seeing makers and projects in person again.
Not that I didn't love putting together
all the virtual events last year, but they're just not the same.
If you're in the area, come check it out.
More projects.
Chances are, if you've ever built a project out of 2x4's,
you had a handful of scrap pieces left over.
But you probably didn't build a robot out of them like TogleFritz did.
Over on Instructables, I found this guide
for making a super simple robot out of a scrap of lumber.
The center part has been hollowed out to create a space
for the Sparkfun Redboard.
A pair of Qwiic stepper motor drivers and two NEMA 11 stepper motors.
The two motors each drive their own smaller
scraps of wood that act like flippers or wheels.
But I haven't even gotten to the best part, which is how the robot is controlled.
Instead of a radio or a Bluetooth app from your phone,
the Red Board uses a piezo sensor to detect knocks from a mallet.
You control the robot by bonking it on the head.
It's a clever use of scrap wood and a fun expression of out-of-the-box thinking.
Also on Instructables, I found this guide to making this wall
ornament out of aluminum cans from AnitaH25.
It's a simple enough idea with a clever execution.
After removing the top and bottom of the cans,
she rolled the sides into a flat sheet
and then used an embossing roller to impress a pattern into the thin metal.
You don't necessarily need the roller.
You can just use your own bodyweight to make the impression, but
the depth of the embossing will be a lot less consistent if you do that.
After the addition of some Rub'n'Buff and a wooden frame,
it's ready for wall hanging.
Also, check out this steampunk mannequin
she made using the same process.
It's always great to see more uses come out of materials
that we probably throw out way too often.
From EvilRooster,
I found this guide for turning a classic Altoids tin into a portable LED light.
How long has it been since you saw a project made from an Altoids tin?
In addition to being a refreshing throwback,
it's also a beautiful expression in minimalist design.
The LED strip are attached to a piece of cardboard
and small pieces of jumper wire continue the circuit around the back.
Some plastic bottle
caps act as spacers to keep the circuit off the back of the tin.
Evil Rooster opted for blue lights to use the light
as a therapy lamp for seasonal affective disorder.
And so far, it seems to be working for them.
And finally, if you haven't already, be sure to check out The Beacon,
a short film produced by the team over at Tested. Starring Adam Savage
and Kevin Pereira, and with Joey Fameli as the director of photography.
This is a great little film celebrating the relaunch of the G4 network,
but it's chock full of references to classic sci fi films
and with all the talents packed into the team there.
It's hard not to imagine all the work that went into creating the props,
the costumes and the sets.
But it's a good thing you won't have to imagine
because in true Tested fashion, they'll be releasing
video builds from throughout the production of the film.
So look for that coming soon.
Time for some tips and tools.
There's no getting around the fact
that plastics are pretty terrible for the environment. And as makers,
not only do we consume our fair share but make plenty of our own.
Which is why Zack Freedman from VoidStar Labs
published this addendum to his lengthy filament guide to shed some light on
five filaments that might ease your carbon footprint a little.
There's PolyTerra, which is made of 100% bioplastic,
so it should break down a little easier than your standard PLA.
There's Greengate PETG, which has made entirely from Post-Consumer
PETG and Porthcurno, a nylon
filament made from recycled nylon fishing nets.
There's a few more, and it's an informative video.
Go check it out.
I've heard of makers using classic seatbelt buckles
to craft everything from bag straps to tool hangers.
Maybe you've wanted to play around with them as a design element,
but didn't feel like salvaging them from a junkyard. Over on Thangs,
I found this printable seatbelt buckle from Electrosync.
It doesn't require any additional hardware and all snap fits together.
It's a great mechanical design and should be fun to use in a few projects.
Over on the Adafruit blog, I found this guide from John Park
on hacking holiday props to add sound, lights,
or interactivity to store-bought electro mechanical decorations.
This is an open ended guide that leaves the creativity up to you.
I know we just got done with Halloween, but there's plenty
of similar props for the winter holiday season.
What if that inflatable Santa could greet people coming to your door? Or those
light up reindeer could pivot their heads to creepily track people who walk by?
Like I said, the guide is just here to spark your creativity.
The rest, it's up to you.
Speaking of holidays, the Make magazine staff just released
their holiday gift guide video, And there's tons of great ideas in here.
Everything from pizza ovens to weather stations,
battery powered chainsaws, sanding blocks and pocket knives.
You'll hear from a ton of different kinds of makers
on the staff, with gifts at just about every budget.
Personally speaking, I think I need some of those leaf claws.
They look really useful.
For this week's Digikey Spotlight,
We're checking in again on the Potentially Genius crew
who are exploring the air quality of commercial airline cabins.
Apparently, commercial airliners have a tendency to draw oil
and hydraulic fluid into the cabin, which can make folks really sick.
And since the airlines aren't already monitoring for this,
the Potentially Genius crew are developing personalized editions
to allow fliers to do their own reporting.
They're using CO2 sensors for the early alert
and then trigger deeper sampling for external testing.
It's a cool project, but hopefully hasn't made you too worried
to do any traveling for the holidays.
All right, and that is going to do it for this week's show.
I didn't really plan on it, but this show ended up exploring
how to be more mindful of our consumption and waste.
Hopefully, it's inspired you to think of how you could use
that last little bit of scrap,
Instead of tossing it out; and I'd love to hear about it
if it did otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the show.
And if you did give us a thumbs
up hit, subscribe and sign up for the Maker Update email list
so you never miss a show.
Big thanks to our pals at Digikey for making this whole show possible.
Take care and I'll see you soon.