We’ve launched what is probably our most ambitious project yet — The Exosuit. The goal is to create a powered exoskeleton capable of lifting at least 200lbs with little or no effort on the part of the wearer.
June 2014
Sam and Joseph are producing a video series called Sam and Joe’s Corner, containing tips and tricks for makers as part of this summer’s Maker Camp. Each week of Maker Camp they will demonstrate techniques they have learned in a wide variety areas, including Lego stop motion animation, electronics, woodworking, and spray painting.
Featured Projects
| 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. | |
| 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.
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| 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. | |
| 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.
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| 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! |