The AJAX Exosuit is a powered exoskeleton designed to allow the wearer to life 400lbs with little or no effort. It is currently in progress (visit exosuit.org) and will debut at Maker Faire 2015.
The control board for the Arc Reactor was the first custom PC board we built, and it was the first project we did with an ATTiny85. In preparation for Maker Faire 2014 we thought it would be fun to use similar techniques and parts to build possibly the nerdiest watch ever. Here’s what we came up with.
The Nerd Watch displays the time in binary by flashing two LEDs, a green one indicating a binary 1, and a yellow one indicating a binary 0.
Once we finished the entertainment center that sits in our living room, we realized we needed to update the rest of the furniture to match. We decided to replace the end table in our living room with this modern, mixed-media table.
This table is made out of a solid hardwood table-top (made out of cherry and maple) which sits on top of a recessed frame. The frame is connected to a shelf with polished stainless steel tubes.
This is a great project if you know some basic woodworking and like seeing results fast! The simplicity of the legs really speeds up the construction process, because unlike most furniture this design doesn't require any complex joinery. We spent only about 40 hours total on this project.
This is a piece of furniture that houses equipment necessary for a home entertainment center. The cabinet is made of cherry and bird's eye maple in a modernized shaker style. We wanted to be able to control the devices with the doors closed, so we created an Arduino-based control system that communicates with a custom iPhone app over Wifi. The website contains full step-by-step instructions for how to build one or your own. We'll be exhibiting this and a few other projects at Maker Faire 2013. Be sure to stop by and say Hi.
A first attempt at building the Arc Reactor from the Iron Man movies. Specifically, this is the MK1 Arc Reactor, the one that Tony Stark makes in the cave in the first movie. Out of all the different versions of the Arc Reactors in the four movies, this one is my favorite. It looks awesome, yes, but it also looks like Tony Stark actually built it, which is something that really can't be said for anything else he supposedly makes. Whereas his other versions and his suits look like the equivalent of Apple products, the MK1 Reactor has copper wire-coils, visible solder joints and screws, some irregularities, etc, all of which make it seem more realistic.
This summer we refurbished our arbor and outdoor sitting area, and one improvement we made was investing in some high quality patio chairs. The complete set included a matching coffee table, but it was so expensive that we just got the chairs. This got us thinking about making our own coffee table to accent the chairs.
After some brainstorming, we decided that a natural rock table would look nice. The frames of the patio chairs are black metal, so we figured a simple black steel stand made out of square tubing would look good.
This rock coffee table is a great weekend project because it only takes a couple hours of work, and the result is functional and extremely professional looking.
Another great thing about this project is it only cost about $60 in materials!
I go to a pretty geeky engineering college (Harvey Mudd) where most people use some type of wheeled transportation, ranging from longboards and unicycles, to scooters and free lines. The geeky part is many people build their own versions, customize them with engravings and stencils, and occasionally add LEDs, accelerometers, and other cool electronics.
When I visited the campus in my senior year in high school, I saw a guy who made his own longboard out of aluminum and clear acrylic, with custom machined trucks and all. For the next week I was obsessed with making my own once I came to Mudd, but then I realized I'd have to learn how to longboard, which proved to be more of a problem then I originally guessed. So, I abandoned that idea and decided to apply the same basic design motif to a scooter, cause even I can ride a scooter (I think, at least). Also, as far as I know, no one has made their own scooter here at Mudd, so it's a little more original too.
The Viper is a full motion flight simulator inspired by the TV show Battlestar Gallactica. It is capable of rotating a full 360 degrees on both the roll and pitch axes.
It was built by 5 high school students (Sam and Joseph DeRose, together with John Boyer, Sam Frank, and Alex Jacobson) along with adult mentors (Tony DeRose, David Jacobson, Jessica Cole, Paul Novak, and Mark Boyer).
It was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2012 where it received 7 Editor Choice ribbons, and garnered considerable media coverage, including being named in Popular Mechanics' "Backyard Genius" awards.
Sam's high school English teacher said he could do anything he wanted for his final project as long as it related to the material they studied in class.
For his project he decided to do a recreation/adaptation of the art piece The Birth of a Jalapeño. The original sculpture depicts the action of stereotyping, and it forces the viewer to reflect (literally) on how they stereotype certain things as well.
The piece he created introduces a more personal aspect to this theme because it allows for customization of the objects being stereotyped and viewed by others. The object in the forceps is interchangeable, and the mirrored box-top opens, and inside there is a place for an object that represents the true nature of the object being stereotyped by the forceps. Also, the mirror is half silvered, so when a light is turned on inside the box (a light sensor automatically turns on the light when it is dark enough to be effective), the mirror becomes transparent and the object inside can be viewed.
Project Varia is a wearable recreation of the Varia suit worn by the character Samus Aran from the Metroid video game series. It required over 8 months of effort and was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2011.
It has been featured in numerous blog posts, as well as on the PBS Newshour.
Saphira is an 8 ft tall animatronic fire breathing dragon that was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2010. She was created in collaboration with Alex and David Jacobson as part of the first year of the Young Makers program.
Originally conceived of as Halloween prop, we named it Saphira after the dragon from the book Eragon. The project was a great opportunity to learn a bunch of new techniques, including welding, oxy-acetylene cutting, pneumatics, flame effects, and it was our first project to use an Arduino for low level control.
Saphira was well received at Maker Faire 2010 and 2011. In 2013 she returned to Maker Faire after having been significantly improved by the Silicon Valley Young Makers.
A shaker inspired kitchen table made of solid cherry. This was the first piece of furniture we were willing to put in a public place.
This is a Gatling gun version of the classic potato cannon as published in the book Backyard Ballistics written by William Gurstelle.
It is capable of auto-firing all six barrels in well under a second, and will launch potato about 400 ft. It was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2009, and was featured in a Weekend Projects video that has been viewed more than 2.5 million times!
It was built by 5 high school students (Sam and Joseph DeRose, together with John Boyer, Sam Frank, and Alex Jacobson) along with adult mentors (Tony DeRose, David Jacobson, Jessica Cole, Paul Novak, and Mark Boyer).
It was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2012 where it received 7 Editor Choice ribbons, and garnered considerable media coverage, including being named in Popular Mechanics' "Backyard Genius" awards.
For his project he decided to do a recreation/adaptation of the art piece The Birth of a Jalapeño. The original sculpture depicts the action of stereotyping, and it forces the viewer to reflect (literally) on how they stereotype certain things as well.
The piece he created introduces a more personal aspect to this theme because it allows for customization of the objects being stereotyped and viewed by others. The object in the forceps is interchangeable, and the mirrored box-top opens, and inside there is a place for an object that represents the true nature of the object being stereotyped by the forceps. Also, the mirror is half silvered, so when a light is turned on inside the box (a light sensor automatically turns on the light when it is dark enough to be effective), the mirror becomes transparent and the object inside can be viewed.
It has been featured in numerous blog posts, as well as on the PBS Newshour.
Originally conceived of as Halloween prop, we named it Saphira after the dragon from the book Eragon. The project was a great opportunity to learn a bunch of new techniques, including welding, oxy-acetylene cutting, pneumatics, flame effects, and it was our first project to use an Arduino for low level control.
Saphira was well received at Maker Faire 2010 and 2011. In 2013 she returned to Maker Faire after having been significantly improved by the Silicon Valley Young Makers.
It is capable of auto-firing all six barrels in well under a second, and will launch potato about 400 ft. It was first exhibited at Maker Faire 2009, and was featured in a Weekend Projects video that has been viewed more than 2.5 million times!