PLAY WITH FIRE: A PROPANE PRIMER DIY PROJECTS

Make
©Raspberry Pi
Photo Booth
• Light-Up
Monster Detector
•Touchscreen Telescope
• Arduino Can Crusher
•Tiny Tupac Hologram

.. • •'*

IRTU I1 1
O

I Z

DESIGN AND BUILD IN VRSPA(B

NASA'S
- MIXED
REALITY
. Virtually
engineering
rovers for Mars a'

• VALVE’S '
SECRET .

ni Wjcleadset.

S9 99US Sil 99 CAN

7 25274 24093
DISPLAY UNTIL Sept 21,2016

! VR
makezine.com | makerfaire.com | makershed.com Vol. 52 August/September 2016
 A A
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 1

The ShopBot Desktop

has the right touch for
prototyping Keyboardio
Who: Jesse Vincent
and Kaia Dekker
Website: www.keyboard.io
Where: Oakland. CA
Tool: ShopBot Desktop CNC

Jesse, an open-source software designer, and Kaia, “That was after paying about $1000 each time we want­
a former investment banker, are a couple who came ed bespoke milling of a prototype base from a vendor
up with an idea for a hackable, ergonomic keyboard. in Shenzen, and there was a turnaround of about two
Keyboardio Model 01 features premium mechanical weeks. We needed a better solution." Kaia added, “Using
keyswitches that are easy to type on, and our Shopbot, we can do a similar prototype project in
its custom-sculpted keycaps guide your a day. The tool quickly paid for itself."
fingers into the right place. What's most
surprising, as well as pleasing to see
and feel, is the keyboard's unique
ri i “Going into this, we had the desire to make
this product, but not all the skill sets," said
Jesse. “Working with Shopbot CNC for rapid
maple hardwood enclosure.
prototyping, we've been able to jump in and start
Keyboardio enjoyed a successful Kickstarter, and making, going from CAD to CAM relatively easily."
thousands of people are awaiting the product. To make Keyboardio is about to go into full production.
prototypes, Jesse has been using a ShopBot Desktop. Read more on the ShopBot Blog: shopbotblog.com

Learn more about the ShopBot Desktop

We make
at shopbottools.com Then give us a call.
We'll help you choose the right tool for your next big idea. the tools
for making the
-ShopBot—
Proudly celebrating 20 years of CNC innovation. future. 888-680-4466 • ShopBotTools.com
 CONTENTS
Make: Volume 52 August/September 2016

VIRTUAL
■ REALITY 24 s
COLUMNS An Open Valve 4
How a software company and Build a tiny "Pepper's Ghost "
Reader Input 06 modding " illusion to play holograms on your
Thoughts, tips, and musings future of virtual reality with the j smartphone1
from readers like you. HTCVive.
42
Welcome: Fairely Rockets and Rovers with Design, assemble, and build with
Innovative 07 Mixed Reality 30 these VR software tools
Maker Faire sheds a &jives us
light on emerging tech. a peek into the future of making. 44

bhrj32
i You need physical hardware to enter
Made on Earth 08 1 the virtual world
Backyard builds from
Build the PinSim cabinet controller
around the globe. 46
and play VR pinball with real tactile
controls and an accelerometer­ j Capture the world in 360° with these
Show & Tell 14
based nudge system! i new cameras, then explore them
The latest dazzling with your VR gear
projects from inventive
makers like you.
Cardboard Creativity
Improve your simple Google VR 47
viewer with these easy tips. i These augmented experiences take
FEATURES ■ some of the "virtual" out of virtual
38 reality setups
Laser Focus 16
Will Smith on the challenge of
As prices tumble, lidar is becoming launching FOO VR.
the go-to tool for autonomous robotic
vision.

Maker ProFile: Data Plans 22

Particle CEO Zach Supalla's road map
for navigating the loT frontier. s
Iv>
4>
OH THE COVER.
NASA's JPL is using VR tech to create the
I
next Mars rover. Illustration by Viktor Koen. 4o
&
2 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

I SKILL
BUILDER
Getting Started with
Propane and Fire Effects 48
Learn the basics and build a low-
pressure source for all kinds of
flame projects.
CNC Milling with
Fusion 360 52
Turn a vector drawing into a
wooden bas-relief in this simple
exercise.
Form with Foam 54
How to cut, glue, and finish
styrofoam for custom creations.

Issue No 52, August/September 2016. Make:

PROJECTS PiKon: Raspberry Pi Toy Inventor’s Notebook: (ISSN 1556-2336) is published bimonthly by
Telescope 76 Friendly Fake-Outs 87 Maker Media, Inc. in the months of January,
Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi Party Assemble a 120X astro-cam Use moldable plastic to create
March. May, July, September, and November.
Maker Media is located at 1160 Battery Street.
Photo Booth 56 using 3D-printed bits and the Pi great new practical jokes! Suite 125. San Francisco. CA 94111.877-306-
Make a Pi 3-powered Camera Module. 6253. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send all subscription
requests to Make., P.O Box 17046, North
touchscreen photo booth that
uploads to Google Photos! Crushin' It 78 TOOLBOX Hollywood, CA 91615-9588 or subscribe online
at makezine.com/offer or via phone at 1866]
UseanArduinoandan Tool Reviews 88
289-8847 (U S. and Canada); all other countries
call (818) 487-2037 Subscriptions are available
Monster Detector 62 H-bridge motor circuit to build for $34 99 for 1 year (6 issues) in the United
Build a kid-friendly Ipretendl an automatic can crusher. Craftsman 10" Benchtop Band States; in Canada: $39 99 USD; all other coun­
Saw. Raspberry Pi 3. Flir One
bedtime scanner to repel tries. $50.09 USD. Periodicals Postage Paid at
Electronics Fun & Thermal Imager, JackClamp San Francisco. CA. and at additional mailing
creepy critters.
System, and more useful gear. offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
Fundamentals: to Make:, PO. Box 17046, North Hollywood,
CNC an Inductive 3D Printer Review: CA 91615-9588. Canada Post Publications
Get a Grip 80 Mail Agreement Number 41129568. CANADA
Phone Charger 66 Mannequin 92 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Maker
Build a carnival midway Media. PO Box 456. Niagara Falls. ON L2E 6V2
Mill an elegant charger for your strength tester game A quirky, quick-to-assemble kit.
Qi-compatible device. using strain gauges and a
Shiny Globes of Mud 68 comparator chip. OVER THE TOP
Shape the mysterious hikaru Howtoons: Platonic From Her Majesty’s Secret
dorodango that has Japanese Solids 83
schoolchildren crazy for dirt. Service 96
Find out why Platonic solids
are so special, and make some If homemade rocket bikes,
Kid-Sized Kayak 70 grappling hooks, and stealthy
Build a tough, lightweight boat cool dice to boot!
weapons don't impress, then
from a single sheet of plywood. Rumblebots Raceway 84 we don't know what will.
Flippin- Sweet 72 Here's a hand-cranked
classroom science project
Use a servo to flick a light that's also a lot of fun.
switch mechanically, without
ever touching 110V power, with 1+2+3: Edible Paper 86
this Wi-Fi "Turner Onner." Paper is made from plants —
so why not food plants?
in
3- 32
makezine.com
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CHAIRMAN & CEO CFO & PUBLISHER VICE PRESIDENT
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that burgeoning technologies require outlaw zones,
that Night City wasn't there for its inhabitants,
but as a deliberately unsupervised playground for
technology itself.’’ — William Gibson, Neuromancer

Dale Dougherty Todd Sotkiewicz Sherry Huss

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Alasdair Allan. Jason Arnold. John Nick Dragotla. Bob Knelzger.
Baichtal Samuel Bermer. Kathy Viktor Koen. Rob Nance. Andrew
Ceceri. Laura Cochrane. Emily J Nilsen, Lucas Saugen, Damien
Coker. Jeremy Cook. Tim Deagan. Scogin, Brandon Steen
DC Denison. Noah Feehan.
Nathan Hurst. James Floyd Kelly, ONLINE CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS
Michelle Hlubinka. Chns Jones, Picugins Arsenijs. Cabe Atwell.
Bob Knetzger. Simon Monk. Jon Gareth Branwyn, Pawel Budziar,
Oakes. Kevin Osborn. Vel Pendell Niall De Buitlear, Alexander What’s something you would love to do in VR, but never do in real life?
Knsta Peryer. Nick Schade. Justin Busch. Sahrye Cohen. Don
Shaw. Witt Smith, Doug Stith, Dirk Coleman. Megan Gage.
Swart Jeremy Williams Vegard Gammes, Jonathan
Gottfried. Mike Greenberg.
Muns Halilovic. Kelly Hensen.
Will Homan. Ronald Jaramillo.
Danny Kirk, Bob Kramer, Bill
Livolsi, Noah Lorang. Berber
Luyt, Emran Mahbub, Marcelo
Maximiano. Sandeep Mistry. Goli
Mohammadi. Kasper Houmoller
Mortensen. Mads Bech
Paluszewski-Hau. John Edgar Krista Peryer Tim Deagan Jenny Ching Viktor Koen DC Denison
Park. Brett Porter, Nancy Rink. Springfield. MO Austin. TX San Francisco. CA New York. NY Cambridge. MA
Sandra Roberts. Chris Robinson. Ifhe Hollow Honda! /Getting Started with /Test Builder. Party /Cover Illustration! /Data Plans!
Hal Rodriguez. Chns Satterlee, Propane and Fire Photo Boothl
Stephan Schmidt. Andrew
I'd love to be Even though I would get tiny
Effects} I'd use VR to put
Setters, Paul Sijben. Judy Silver, a doctor and (very) deep sea and go into a
Star Simpson. Craig Smith, Will perform surgery I'd love to do myself in another wreck diving or beehive. I’ve
Strange, Andrew Terranova, Soli on a person.I aggressive person's shoes. being a medieval entered hives
Tii. Nicole Vandale, Tobias Weis wouldn't have the destructive We'd have more knight come to from the top. as a
stomach for it in testing in VR. compassion for mind. I'd rather cautious, human­
real life! Pushing flame the homeless, experience what sized beekeeper
designs past the refugees, and my grandparents WithVR (and a
fail point (without undocumented went through tiny flashlight)
risk) would let people if we during WWII I could stroll in
me build far were able to Painful, but at bee-scale for
cooler stuff. Plus experience their personally a leisurely look
explosions1 lives firsthand. significant. around.

PLEASE NOTE: Technology, the laws, and limitations imposed fry manufacturers and content owners are constantly changing. Thus, some of the projects described may not work, may be inconsistent w th c
rent laws or user agreements, or may damage or adversely affect some equipment. Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and safety gear, and determining whethe * h-U
fxperi
adequate skill and experience. Power tools, electricity, and other resources used tor these projects arc dangerous, unless used property and with adequate precautions, including safety aear Som?.
safe precautions or equipment, in order to show the project steps more clearly. These projects arc not intended for use by children. Use of the instructions and suqaest o
photos do not depictt safety ‘"uslr*”ve [MkjpRWTtD WTTHl
your own risk. Maker Media. Inc. disclaims all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or expense. It is your responsibility Io make sure that your activities comply with applicable laws ind d***** '$h '
I^ISOY INKL
4 makershed.com
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to have a dark side.
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READER makezine.com/52 I
INPUT
t

A New Perspective on Programming and IP

Make: Readers X
Show Their Skills
IN RESPONSE TO MAKE: VOLUME 50 metals are discussed, the term "temper" use. I often refer to Machinery’s Handbook,
"Use a meter to measure the resistance ... is used when describing the use of a and also Tim McCreight's book, The
which should be zero." I "Sound Squeezer," torch to restore the ductile qualities after Complete Metalsmith for guidance regarding
Volume 50, page 81.1 No. it should read work-hardening copper. I believe that annealing, hardening, and tempering.
infinity, not zero. Zero resistance is a dead the correct term should be "annealing" —Mark Simmons, Beaverton, OR
short, which you do not want in a capacitor. when you need to make a piece of metal
—Gordon Martin, Mississauga, ON malleable after it's been hardened. This is I'm writing about some concern over the
an important distinction that makers should advice given fora severe burn ("Accidents
Love your magazine, but on Happen," Volume 50, page 58).
occasion its accuracy leaves As a first-aider and community
something to be desired. Case BnBUlBnsnsoB. responder, the training given in
KNIFETOOLTIPS
in point: screw nomenclature ? the U.K. would be to irrigate the
("Turning Heads," Volume 50, DRILL ANDgl: burn with running cold water
ROTARY TOOLS Jhk
page 34). The head of the screw TIPS for a minimum of 10 minutes
is the shape of the head, not the as quickly as possible after
screwdriver shape (flat head, oval the incident. Once irrigated,
head, fillister head, button head, the injured limb should be
etc.). Flat blade, Phillips, hex head,
square or Robertson, torx, hex­
socket head, or Allen is the type
Ihi wrapped in cling film and the
casualty taken to hospital. A
burn of the size shown in the
of drive. And those are not wood picture, especially on the hand

Iffll
screws in the illustration those are (or foot) needs to be seen by a
a high root, trumpet head screw for doctor to ensure that there is
soft material. Wood screws have a no long-term loss of mobility.
larger unthreaded shank under the —Paul Whitby, via the web
head that allows the materials to be pulled understand — so often one can hear people
up tight as they are screwed together. misuse these terms and get confused as In Make: Volume 50, Digital Calipers
—Frank Wright, via the web a result. Understanding the qualities of ("Accuracy is Everything," page 54), the
metals as they are manipulated can have single most critical thing has been left out!
I'd like to point out that in a very fundamental effect on the success Before zeroing, the outside jaws must be
the article "Metal Zone” of a project during the process of making absolutely clean. The slightest bit of shop
(Volume 50, page 24), something, and even while choosing the dust can throw you off by 0.0005" to 0.002".
where the properties of appropriate material based on the intended I use only my thumb (reasonably clean, of
course), as I have found errors from fibers
INSPIRATION TO THINK This is such an interesting and uplifting when using a cloth.
COMPUTATIONALLY article; I came away with a different Also, as I have learned the hard way,
» This is an incredible write up perspective on the "art form” that stay away from dollar store versions of the
("Programming Is Expression," Volume 50, programming really is. I find it so fascinating button batteries; they are alkaline, and have
page 42). Really opened my eyes to the that I have used many of [author Tom Igoe's) about 1/1 Oth the life of the proper silver
philosophy of computational thought. I'm a basic code samples as the building blocks oxide cells.
photographer who has been flirting with the for working projects that I use every day. I love Make: magazine; I'm 72 and have o

idea of learning howto code. This just been a maker/hacker since about 3 years old.
Thank you for being a part of what I have s
convinced me to act on it, so thank you. grown to enjoy so very much. —Gordon Martin, Mississauga, ON &
— Spencer Bentley, via the web — Bob Duck, via the web

6 makershed.com
 WELCOME makezine.com/52 I

Un®
■f
iyf __
Innovative
Future BY MIKE SENESE, executive editor of Make magazine

g, BACK IN 2006,1 EXPLORED THE SITE OF THE VERY FIRST Similar progress has happened with drones and electronic
S □ MAKER FAIRE, marveling at the incredible assortment prototyping boards, and is now ramping up quickly with biohacking
of homebrew technology projects on display. Alternative and virtual reality, among others. We don't create these
energy vehicles. Telepresence robots. An electronic fashion communities, nor do we take credit for their success — that's all
show. A flame-bellowing fire truck. Those wonderful, unusual, you! But we are happy to have a venue where so many diverse
and exciting builds — versions of which can now commonly be groups can gather and celebrate what they all have in common:
found in the mainstream world (except for that fire truck, but openness and the love of sharing.
I'm not giving up hope) — each acted as a portal into a unique, In this issue of Make:, we check into one of those quickly moving
dedicated, and open community. fields, VR. The top two devices in this area, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive,
It's this discovery of new projects and groups, and watching them both heavily leveraged maker tools and ethos in their inception.
progress over time, that is one of the best parts of hosting the great We see this firsthand in our visit to the offices of Valve, the team
party that is Maker Faire. Sometimes this progress moves with behind the Vive. We also look at the hobbyists building engaging VR
exceptional velocity. Case in point: At that same event, I spotted a accessories alongside these polished products, and the software
table sporting a compact A-frame creation built from threaded rod options for designing your next project inside virtual reality itself.
and metal bars, with an apparatus holding something that looked Like computer-assisted design software that enhanced the physical
like a caulking gun. Its maker intently adjusted the device and creation process, these new tools wilt expand our options for
configured settings on a laptop as I asked what it was. He replied, creative output in everyway, and it's only just getting started.
"It's an additive fabricator" — a term I hadn't heard before. At the We re also introducing a new section in this issue — "Show &
following year's Faire in 2007,1 noticed a few extra tables with Tell" (page 14) Our magazine, like our events, is a sounding board
additional makers and their additive fabrication RepRap machines. for the incredible maker community, and in Show & Tell we want
In 2009, MakerBot formed and released its first desktop 3D printer to give you even more opportunities to share your projects in
kit. four years later, there was hardly a table at the Faire without a our pages. Go to makezine.com/contribute to submit photos of
MakerBot on it and the company was a month away from a half- your masterpiece — completed or in progress — for us to run in
billion-dollar acquisition. upcoming issues of Make:. We can t wait to see what you've built. O

makezine.com 7
 online. Using Rhino3D. he
traced parts or downloaded
them from sites like
TurboSquid. In the end I
redrew most of it to make sure
all the parts fit and were water
tight for 3D printing," he says.
At about 1mm thick, the parts
are very fragile and consist
of smaller pieces that Brand
logged many careful hours
welding together. Transporting
the piece from one art exhibit
to the next seems tricky, but
with the help of some "museum
quality foam and some seriously
overbuilt shipping crates, " Brand
says the motorcycle may be
stronger than he'd thought
— Krista Peryer
[ZZZ1VIADE ON EARTH

A string
time on

z After researching how time can be shown in

I
o applied as a template. Even with help, it took
uncommon ways, German artist Felix Vorreiter over a day to paint. The rope is long enough to
decided to make his own unique timepiece using keep time for about 120 minutes. According to
d I
string. His method, which some people said Vorreiter, it would take about .7 miles of rope to
would be impossible to build, involves a long rope display all 1,440 minutes in a day.
with a sequence of black rings painted on it. The To run the clock, a custom Arduino-based
"encoded" cord loops around bearings to form board controls a stepper motor that pulls the rope
five lines, which come together once a minute to to the appropriate position. Contacts embedded
display the time. inside of the string help align everything, and
To properly paint the string, Vorreiter wrote a when it's running, the encoded cord advances
script in Adobe Illustrator to generate a mask, once per second like a traditional clock.
which was then printed on self-adhesive foil and —Jeremy Cook and Laura Cochrane

10 makershed.com
1 1

PRESENTED BY BARNES&NOBLE

WORLD NEW YORK

HALL OF SCIENCE
7TH--ANNU
ny

o.GREATEST

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APT 1_1O 7TH ANNUAL WORLD MAKER FAIRE

ULI l+£ NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE

PRESENTING GOLDSMITH SPONSORS SILVERSMITH SPONSORS

BARNES&NOBLE Google intel) 0. Cognizant ^CYPRESS it

p------ GET YOUR""

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makerfaire.com TOYOUBY
TODAY
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 MAD^ ON E^RTH i
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Have you seen the century-old photo of Nikola Tesla
wirelessly powering a light bulb? Two Colorado-based
artists took this classic, mind-blowing experiment
and made it Technicolor. Joe Pawelski built the
Tesla coil. Aaron Ristau contributed the randomized
rainbow of color, including his collection of vintage
salesman sample tubes as well as his hand-built,
curvaceous noble gas tubes. The beautiful sculptures
at the core of this piece were a byproduct of Ristaus
explorations in building custom bulbs for his fine art.
in Ristau started working with glass lathe operators in
2011 to create sculptures that could hold the noble gases
(specifically neon, argon, and xenon). He wanted bulbs that
would last, just as classic 20th-century neon signs have
survived for decades with their careful craftsmanship
As in the original photo of Tesla, the only thing powering
o
Ristau s dozens of gas-filled bulbs is Pawelski s Tesla
s
<n
coil. Ristau thinks of his collaboration with Pawelski as a
performance piece, as each show they presented at NoCo •io
01
o (Northern Colorado) Mini Maker Faire only lasted 15-20 CD

seconds every 5 minutes or so. They didn't want to flood

2
fairegoers with too much ozone! — Michelle Hlubinka
i
c

12 makershed.com
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 MADE ON EARTH

B B /few A The latest dazzling projects

7^ [ J WW from inventive
Inventive makers
maki like you
A CosmifOdfte is a kinetic sculpture by Nick
Dong, combining motors and magnets into
From robots that swim to cars that H H ■ a mesmerizing dance recitaL
glitter with electroluminescence. M H H A Bnan Roe’s Roy the Robot is constructed
W entirely from laser-cut plywood and 48
sharing and seeing what others | BMBH HUB HMH
hobby servos, controllable from a mobile
have built is half the joy of making. device via Arduino.
A When you load up the chassis of a 2004
w Honda Cmc with found objects, recycled
steel, and literal garbage, you get Detroitus'
CarCroach.
A Andrew “Captain Redbeard" Hostler of the
Cal Poly UROV team takes a swim with their
bot Sebastian, which recently mastered
complex swimming in vector configuration.
A Obscura Digital and the Ocean
w Preservation Society collaborated to
hack this Tesla Model S. complete with an
electroluminescent paint job.
A The folks of MonkeyLectric develop bike
v lights that spin custom 8-bit images across
spokes for a safer, more awesome nde.
A Huge mechanical pendulums rotate
as their movement is recorded live and
projected back onto them in Joel Dream s
Portrait of Resonance and Chaos.
A Tyrone Hazen s Fireside Audiobox syncs a
v cheery line of flames to your favorite tunes.

A Ryon Gesink poses next to his fiery metallic

behemoth. Moloch.
A The Mona Lisa finds a new home with the
V help of Joshua Schachter s Marky Mk2 dry
erase bot. which draws an image with a
single line.
A Brave Robotics built this real-life walking
Transformer, which stands about 4 feet tall
and folds down into an R/C car.
A Lost&Found in Space is a 30 printed
suborbital spacecraft that deploys small
sensor-laden sprites for collecting and
relaying data back to Earth.
A Hacked together from an Ikea lamp and
Adafruit LED strip. Cheng Xu s Knappa Tutu
glows in response to movement
A Priyanka Gupta Sarvaiya bends and curls
paper to her will to create beautiful paper
quilling projects for Just Love Crafts.

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makezine.com 15
 As prices tumble, lidar
is becoming the go-to tool
for autonomous robotic vision
I II makezine.com/52

■I’ ■ • : '

you've been living on Earth this year, working in other segments of lidar I-
you've probably heard someone computer vision and control. And not all
■ ■ mention self-driving cars. If you : are targeting big, expensive vehicles; the
| were tuned in, you might have heard the CAPTURING technology is rapidly becoming more
$70,000 price tag for just one of the early ROUTES ! accessible to makers — who are in turn
lidar units used in Google’s driverless cars. making it cheaper and more accessible for
A multi-laser lidar
The devices are a bit outside the typical the masses.
unit like those from
price point for a family auto let alone a So forget self-driving golf carts. Reduce
Velodyne can quickly
hobbyist’s project. the problem even more. What about lawn
capture a three-
Lidar is at once an acronym for Light mowers?
dimensional model
Detection and Ranging and a portmanteau “We are trying to make it better than the
of a locale when set
of "light radar." Its name is fairly descriptive; average mower." says Alexander Grau, one
in a static position.
The unit bounces laser light off of objects, of five members of the Ardumower project,
The more advanced
and senses the return of that light to an Arduino-powered DIY automated-cutter.
the unit, the more
measure the distance of said object. This is "If you want average quality or average
lasers it contains,
key to object detection in a self-driving car. features, then you just can buy a normal
which in turn collect a
But forget cars for a moment. What mower, commercial mower. If you want
higher density of data,
about golf carts? something special, then you have to build
which allows for fairly
Alex Rodrigues, Michael Skupien, and yourself a mower."
detailed 3D images of
Brandon Moak built a self-driving golf cart Basically a Roomba for your lawn, right?
their location.
as part of a mechatronics engineering If only it were that simple. Roombas and
Once you start
program at the University of Waterloo in i other robotic vacuums (some of which use
moving a lidar
Ontario. Canada. The sensor that made lidar) have a couple of advantages; They
unit, however, the
it possible was a new-ish, $8,000 lidar (mostly) don’t operate in direct sunlight;
data it is capturing
unit from Velodyne called the VLP-16, they never have to go up- or downhill;
begins to overlap,
affectionately known as the Puck. After a and their environment doesn’t change
making recordings
$35,000 grant. Rodrigues. Skupien, and much. Take it outside, put a blade on it,
impossible to parse.
Moak dropped out of Waterloo to move to and you have to contend with many other
Sophisticated systems
California and attend YCombinator. They confounding factors.
overcome this by
founded Varden Labs, which just finished "If you have flat ground, just a room for
adding in positional
a round of fundraising, and has done pilot example, indoor it works nice,” says Grau.
awareness like GPS.
demos for automated shuttles, including "But outdoor it’s too difficult, because
Some of the mapping
bringing VIPs to a Sacramento Kings game. the ground is not flat. So sometimes you
vehicles from big tech
That’s not to say lidar makes automated get data, signal from the ground, and
companies couple
driving simple, but if you can take some of the processing software ... thinks it’s an
GPS with lidar units
the challenges out. reasoned Rodrigues, obstacle, but it’s just the ground."
to track the exact
you could make it a lot easier to solve. "We Grau would know. He’s a computer
point where each
intentionally chose to put constraints on scientist who is currently tackling all
moment of lidar data
the problem," he says. "We said building these issues, and more, in pursuit of the
is captured, "painting"
a fully self-driving car that can work in Ardumower. You can buy an automated lawn
their route with
all conditions, in all places, at all times, is mower, points out Grau, but it relies on a
lasers. Combined
really hard. But making something that can cable strung around the perimeter to stay in
with the location
be useful for transporting people doesn’t bounds. Lidar seemed a better option.
data, this can be used
have to be that hard. So we specifically In principle, lidar isn’t very difficult. But
to create a nearly
are targeting shuttle service on private its basic element only gives you one data
infinite 3D point cloud,
campuses." That means they could slow it point: You know that something is a certain
valuable for various
down, place it in a controlled environment distance away, but not how wide or tall it
applications such as
like a university or retirement community, is. if it’s moving, how it’s oriented, or really
providing detailed
and keep it on private property to cut down anything else. A person appears the same
street information to
on the regulations they have to deal with. as a wall appears the same as a chair, if the
self-driving cars.
chair is even tall enough to be struck by the
A CHANGING LANDSCAPE laser. To make lidar useful, you need to take
Varden Labs is just one of a number of many measurements over a period of time.
groups tackling self-driving golf carts And there’s more than one way to do that.
as people movers, and there’s still more Most simply, affix a unit on a spinning

makezine.com 17

7.
 1
W »■
I
FEATURES LIDAR makezirte.com/52

apparatus and let it go round, giving you

a 360° picture every time it spins. Grau
bought a $115 Lidar-Lite single-point ££ £
sensor from PulsedLight, mounted it on
a 3D-printed platform, and attached a DC
motor. Using the Robotics Operating System
ol
= ■£-
5 8.?
(ROSJ’s open-source hector_slam code
181
(Simultaneous Location and Mapping), Grau qt
was able to get visual maps of the lidar data,
and have the mower interpret them.
Mi
But ultimately, the rig was giving the
Ardumower too much data, at least too
much to process with an Arduino, especially
when Grau experimented with 3D, in an
attempt to address the signal interference
due to topography. A more expensive
unit, with still greater processing needs,
could accomplish this. (For comparison. 281
Rodrigues’ Velodyne-powered golf cart
requires the computing power of a desktop.) S.SS
>3

MORE DETAILED DATA 2e o

Grau’s project is similar to an apparatus
called Sweep, a small, rotating lidar
w <u E
scanning unit that also uses a Lidar-Lite.
Sweep, developed by two-person company
HI
ra 8 c
Scanse, just wrapped up a successful o
12 --
qJ c C
$273,000 Kickstarter.
Scanse co-founders Kent Williams and
W ■V -
I
Tyson Messori were biding their time as < - r ’

robotics consultants when they decided .^8

they should start manufacturing a lidar unit. § =a
"What we found is that, you're basically not
going to be able to accomplish any really
capable autonomy outside unless you’re
using lidar. ” says Williams. "The existing
cost of the sensors made that pretty much
impossible. ” They spent two years designing >253
Sweep before launching the Kickstarter,
and have now begun production thanks to H -o O
both the Kickstarter and $250,000 worth of
venture funding from Rothenberg Ventures’
River accelerator. 8 _
i The tuna can-sized device, which looks
like a little head with lopsided eyes, is on
preorder for $255 (some 30 times cheaper
2X.E.3
than Velodyne’s least expensive unit), also
runs on ROS. can take data points up to
40 meters away, and fits nicely on a drone
ifli
jgfegj-lE?’ or robot. The Lidar-Lite unit employs a fslsO V— Cj

series of micropulses of laser light; the

receiver recognizes these pulses, meaning j'
it's easier to pull the signal out of ambient t
noise, requiring less processing power and <ilf
iI giving a clearer picture. The sensor sits on a

18 makershed.com
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 FEATURES | LIDAR makezine.com/52' •
I
brushless motor, and Williams and Messori designed a one-meter-long metal tube or wheelchair for assisted guidance. Place
also developed a "spherical scanning kit" with a rotating mirror on one end and a it in a stationary position in a room, and it
that mounts the unit on a servo, oriented receiver on the other. A laser sent through can act as a security device, or as a smart
at 90° to the brushless motor, so that it can the mirror would bounce off the interior of ! light switch, or to tell how busy a room
record data in three dimensions. a space, and you can use trigonometry to I is. by recognizing movement. “All sorts of
Grau. too. was able to design a version locate the data point. As the tech advanced, 3D detection stuff that you really would
of his sensor that offered a fuller, 3D view, incorporating a time of flight measurement have a lot of trouble doing with a camera,
by adding another motor. In both cases, the based on sending identifiable packets of i is suddenly very, very simple with a lidar,"
results are limited by the frame rate of the light rather than a constant stream, it was says Rodrigues. Grau intends to combine
unit; if you're spinning it at 10Hz (the max able to achieve extremely high resolution, his scanner with other sensors — perhaps
speed for Scanse's device) and recording capturing a million points per second and a radio automatic direction finder — for a
500 samples per second (the max for recording terabytes of information. Trimble, more robust mower.
PulsedLight's Lidar-Lite), you've just cut a multinational location services company, Soubra says lidar is also useful as a
that by whatever your rotations per second purchased Mensi in 2003. scanner in conjunction with 3D printing: "It's i
are on the Y axis: You only get to see the one of those sectors that started to follow
full picture once every time it nods up and what I call the aftermath of 3D printing," he
•______ _____ __ . •»!_ OF'l _ _• *.!_____ I —
down, or goes round vertically. This means says. "One of the issues with 3D printing is
that, while the device is useful for real-time that, you play with it, and quickly get tired
scanning of a plane of an environment in 2D. of downloading objects that others have
to get a 3D representation Sweep needs to created ... sometimes you want to have a
sit still for around a minute. copy of something that you have. And you
Set on a table. Sweep rotates quietly, and want to replicate it into a 3D printing model,
a set of white dots appears on a black field The Sweep lidar unit from Scanse, a $250 maybe scale it down, or scale it bigger, or
single-laser device that rotates 360° to map a
on a ROS visualizer on Williams' laptop. It single plane of an area.
whatever it is. So that's when 3D scanning
looks like an architectural drawing of the becomes part of the toolchain of doing
room, writ in pixel art, and you can see stuff yourself."
people, visualized as a line of dots, as they Lidar is still progressing, despite
move. The 3D version is more like a pin art challenges like speed, and resolution.
toy, showing a globe of dots with recognizable ' Compared to most other sensors in this
features — trees, tables, people. price range, like sonar and infrared range
Data like this, as recorded by a Velodyne finders, this provides way more data."
unit, is naturally much more detailed. A says Messori. Along with these
"point cloud" appears in real time, colored improvements will come additional uses,
lines rolling out in succession as the device with lidar tailored to them. "This first
progresses across space, with physical Roughly the size of a hockey puck, and just over device is really intended to be a developer
a quarter pound in weight. Sweep is one of a few j
features appearing like waves in those lines. new lidar devices that hobbyists can access for product," says Messori. "We definitely intend
Velodyne manages this, with both the experiments like aerial drone mapping. on improving it for specific applications,
Puck and its larger units, by adding more or tuning it for specific applications."
lasers. The Puck has 16. arranged to Velodyne is a company with maker That could be adding accelerometers
angle upward and downward by up to 15°, roots — founder David Hall is a BattleBots or gyroscopes to make it work better on
obviating the need for the unit to spin on veteran, and developed their lidar, now drones, upping its durability, or adding
two axes. Combine this with a spin rate of used by Google and many other companies connectivity to pair with phones, and
up to 20Hz and lasers that fire every 55.296 working on autonomous vehicles, for his Messori and Williams anticipate, eventually,
microseconds, and you get 300,000 points entry in the DARPA Grand Challenge. building a robot around their device.
per second. But the units from Trimble and Velodyne Lidar is just hitting the DIY market. The
aren't designed with Makers in mind: "We cost continues to drop, and better lasers
A MATURING TECHNOLOGY would not want to give the impression and processorswill make resolution go up.
There are other ways to measure that our product is in any type of plug and enabling ever more applications.
environments with lidar. In the early '80s play," a Velodyne representative told me. The technology is starting to specialize
in Paris. France. Omar-Pierre Soubra Trimble, points out Soubra, bought Mensi into different fields." says Soubra. "Now
founded a company called Mensi based because the technology is useful for some it is well known enough that it can be
on a laser triangulation. The goal was to of Trimble's core industrial businesses, like tweaked for specific applications. That's
offer a detailed 3D model of the inside mining, construction, civil engineering, etc. how you know when a technology
of a nuclear power plant before it was
decommissioned. To accomplish this. Mensi
The uses for an inexpensive, single-laser
unit are still myriad, though. Put it on a boat
is mature. "©
1
i
20 makershed.com
 Make:

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HAVE A STORY & WANT TO TELL IT?

Calling all makers and writers with something to say!

Submit your story to Make: and get published

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 FEATURES

Data Plans
Particle CEO Zach Supalla's road map for navigating the loT frontier
=S ~ I g/ Maker ProFile
Written by DC Denison

U UI " I "
10 _nnri

Zach Supalla is the founder and CEO of □.WITH THE PHOTON AND willing to pay the monthly data fee for a
Particle, a self-described "prototype-to- ELECTRON RESPECTIVELY, cellular device?
production platform for developing an PARTICLE OFFERS TWO KINDS OF If your product is out of range of Wi-Fi,
Internet of Things product." Particle offers CONNECTIVITY: WI-FI AND you’ll need a cellular connection. Another
two wireless-enabled microcontroller CELLULAR. HOW SHOULD MAKERS consideration is reliability. If your product is
boards, the Photon and Electron, as well as CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM? mission critical, like a security system, you
software development tools and an Internet You have to identify the problem you're might want cellular connectivity.
of Things Cloud platform for both Wi-Fi and trying to solve, and your business model, One unexpected thing we discovered: For a
cellular connected products. and then work backward. Is your customer lot of commercial or industrial applications,

22 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

they have a Wi-Fi network, but they don't one to use! I don't want to wait for 5 years!" the community. It's incredibly valuable when
want to deal with the hassle of getting their But if you're sitting on the sidelines, it will be you're a startup, because it gives you
device on that network, so they use cellular. fun to watch this play out. something to build off of, it makes you robust
A lot of business decisions are made to go and self-sustaining.
around the IT department. Q. PARTICLE HAS A “HYBRID OPEN Imagine you have a product with no fan
If you make the right decision at the SOURCE” BUSINESS MODEL: A LOT base, no community, no one talks about
beginning, a lot of the rest of the technology OF OPEN SOURCE, BUT SOME you except you. Then it's really expensive to
flows from there. The way the devices react PROPRIETARY CODE AS WELL. IS get people to buy your product, because
to each other, and the way they react to the THAT A MODEL YOU RECOMMEND? you have to put up ads. Most of what we do
web — all of it becomes kind of intuitive, if The hybrid open source model can be is community generated. By working with
you figure out the business model and effective if you do it right. We believe in peer the community, our voices and their voices
strategy up front. review, and we believe that code that has are amplified.
more eyes on it will become better code. A
Q. HOW CAN A MAKER CUT big part of our philosophy is that we wanted Q. WHEN SHOULD A MAKER PRO
THROUGH THE NOISE, AND THE developers and engineers to be comfortable BOOK A TRIP TO CHINA?
HYPE, SURROUNDING THE using our hardware and software, and not to Everyone should book a trip to China. Like
INTERNET OF THINGS? perceive too much risk in working with us. tomorrow. There's a lot of value in
We used to avoid the term "Internet of Open sourcing a lot of what we do has been understanding what China is, and isn't, and
Things," because of the hype. We preferred helpful in reducing that risk. how to navigate that ecosystem. The earlier
"connected devices." But a lot of our you learn those lessons, the better, because if
customers are loT people, they've bought in, you're manufacturing electronics overseas,
so we want to respect that. For others, loT is you're going to be designing for China. Going
meaningless jargon. What they care about is on factory tours and talking with various
what problem the product is solving. people who do different kinds of services —
For instance, we work with Opti. a contract manufacturers, engineering firms,
stormwater management system. It's a great logistics firms — makes developing your
product, given the increase in extreme product a lot more intuitive from that point on.
weather and flooding. They don't say. "We
are an loT product." They say, "We have a Q. YET IF EVERYTHING IS Q. PARTICLE HAS A LOT OF
great stormwater management system." OPEN SOURCE, HOW WILL INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS. DO YOU
I have an advisor who likens the term "loT" YOU MAKE MONEY? THINK MORE MAKERS SHOULD AIM
to ' robots.” You use the term "robot" until a We don't need to make money from every THEIR PRODUCTS TOWARD
product has utility and deserves its own single customer; we need a ratio that works. INDUSTRIAL MARKETS, RATHER
word; it's not a "robotic bread warmer," it's a A maker can use 100% of our stuff and it will THAN CONSUMER ONES?
"toaster." That's happening with loT as well. all be open and free. That's fine. For an Consumer stuff is more obvious out of the
enterprise, maybe 40% of what they need is gate, but it's the less sexy, dirtier, more
Q. WHAT ARE SOME FUTURE IOT free, so that's a business that's available to industrial products and applications that
TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAKER PROS us: providing that 60%. make better businesses. If you target the
SHOULD KEEP THEIR EYES ON? consumer, you'll likely be facing five or 10 or
There are interesting and semi-related Q. SO DO YOU THINK IT’S A MODEL 20 companies that will be trying to do the
battles happening in three areas: new loT MAKER PROS SHOULD CONSIDER? same thing. But if you go down the industrial
aspects to the current L.TE wireless standard You have to be thoughtful. Don't just do open path, you'll find big areas, big opportunities,
(Cat-0, Cat-1, Cat-Mi, mesh networking source because you love open source. It with no competitors. You'll find lots of
(ZigBee, Thread, 802.15.4, 6L0WPAN), and builds a community, and it gets developers, customers with big problems they need to
low power wide area networking (LoRa, engineers, and makers involved in a way they solve and high willingness to pay. O
Sigfox). It's not clear who's going towin these wouldn't engage with proprietary products.
battles, but it will probably play out over the But you also have to build a business.
next 5 years.
Q. HAVE YOU DISCOVERED THAT
.... 7
DC DENISON is the editor of the Maker Pro
Q. THAT’S CHALLENGING IF YOU’RE CREATING A COMMUNITY AROUND Newsletter, which covers the intersection
TRYING TO LAUNCH A PRODUCT YOUR PRODUCTS HAS TURNED OUT of makers and business He is the former !
TO BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU
technology editor of The Boston Globe
THIS YEAR. L
It's frustrating, because if you have an ORIGINALLY THOUGHT?
Community is huge, and really hard to get For more Maker Pro news and interviews, visit
application that you're trying to build today, makezine.com/go/maker-pro.
you're probably thinking, "Just tell me which right. I didn't understand that before we built

tnakezine.com 23

I
 HJ Q LL on

*-*- — o 1/5

ZC LLI ZE

-z
24 makershed.com
 ________________________

makezine.com/virtually-real

I irtuat reality and augmented reality are words you'll

£ f J hear a lot this year. They'll be on the radio, on nightly
news, and even on late-night talk shows. But what do
these terms mean to us as makers?
Both refer to devices that feed information to our senses
to convince us. to some degree, that something false is real.
The only real difference between the two lies in our current
technology. Virtual reality replaces our senses of sight and
sound; augmented reality adds data to them.
As amazing as virtual reality is right now. current devices
are merely the beginning, like a single cell organism that will
eventually evolve into a race of beings. During the next few
years, all our other senses will be addressed in many ways,
from technological research to wild and ridiculous attempts to
capture the essence of "presence."
It is in this new frontier of simulation that makers will thrive.
Exploring the complexities and surprises that come along with
attempting to tackle the incredibly difficult task of imitating a
walk on a cobblestone road or the smell of an incoming storm
will fall on the shoulders of our community. Arduino-dnven
prototypes and Raspberry Pi-powered sensor systems will be
coming from all directions. This will be a very exciting time.
And we can start making it now. © ~ ©

ALL MAJOR VR HEADSETS SHARE

THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS:
• OPTICS — Most systems use a single custom
lens per eye to allow you to focus on the screen.
" DISPLAY — Either LCD or OLED. They're tiny,
but high-resolution.
0 CONTROL BOARD — The electronics for motion
tracking and display.
■ TRACKING NODES — These live on the device
housing and can use various components —
LEDs on the Rift, optical sensors on the Vive.
■ EXTERNAL TRACKING DEVICE - The Rift uses
a camera: the Vive, a laser array.

makezme.com
 <j$peclaL (faction^ VR/AR I HTC V.ve Prototypes

AN OPE Written by Caleb Kraft

Valve, a game company famous for titles

HOWAMODDING a private room, deep within
( IKi the walls of one of the most like Half Life. Portal, Team Fortress, and

COMMUNITY ' x/respected game studios in

the world, I stand before a veritable
Dola (and possibly more famous for the
sequels of each of those) has a very tight
SHAPED THE smorgasbord of electronics prototypes.
These are the primordial building blocks
relationship with makers. Valve owes its
incredible success to those who, in the early
FUTURE OF that have evolved into what we call modern-
day virtual reality. I scan the assortment,
days of computer gaming would modify and
contort games to their liking, affectionately
VIRTUAL letting my eyes find their own path through called “modding." Instead of gasping and
the wires, LEDs, motors, displays, and 3D- running scared from these adjustments,
REALITY printed shapes. One catches my attention; I revisions, and bizarre twists of their product,
can't seem to identify its purpose. the company embraced the community
CALEB KRAFT
is a senior editor for “This is the zombie machine, we put it on and it has served them very well. They re
Make: He has been a people's heads to turn them into zombies valued at several billion dollars and their
VR enthusiast since we can remotely control." employees are the envy of anyone in the
he shot a pterooactyl
in a digital nightmare I'm tempted to laugh. I look at the device, field. The games are so popular that there
in the '90s. VR a head strap with several 9-volt batteries are entire ecosystems within them where
makes him sick, attached, a circuit cobbled together on players can develop custom, virtual items <2^
as does riding in
protoboard, and a couple stick-on electrodes. and sell them for real money, sometimes
cars, but he does
it anyway because Then I realize Alan Yates, virtual reality earning enough to supplant their day jobs.
it is the future. engineer for Valve Software, is not joking.
&
I was visiting the Bellevue, Washington

26 makershed.com
 I

makezine.com/virtually-real

headquarters to see how this traditional augmenting our surroundings. The main had a chance to try the VR of the '90s will be
gaming software company ended up as the difference is that with virtual reality, the quick to admit that it wasn't ideal. The poor
creator of arguably the most cutting-edge headset completely obscures your vision performance of the machines meant that
VR hardware on the market, the HTC Vive. as opposed to showing an overlay on your your experience was laggy. poorly rendered,
Yates, my tour guide, didn't disappoint. actual viewpoint. and more often than not. nausea-inducing.
I pick up a device that looks like some It was this direction that led to what "We actually experimented for about two
kind of optician's torture tool, a set of we now know as the HTC Vive, a display years acclimating people to virtual reality,
lenses lined up to the bright and shiny end that sits on your head like a pair of ski attempting to get around nausea," Yates says.
of a dismantled pico laser projector. Yates goggles, simultaneously tracking your head There were tons of tests and different
explains that initially, the company was movement in 3D space and placing you angles approached to tackle the problem
thinking that augmented reality deserved into the virtual world it displays before your of the queasiness that occurs when your
some research as a possible direction to eyes. This unit stands apart from the others inner ears and your eyes aren't detecting
go in hardware design. This prototype was in that it also includes two controllers that the same motion. The "zombie machine,"
an exploration in that path, but not one that allow the system to track your hand position a galvanic vestibular stimulation prototype,
was pursued any further. similarly with incredible accuracy. is one example of this. The device uses
' Ultimately," he tells me, "what we electrical pulses to stimulate your inner
found was that virtual reality was an easier IN THE BEGINNING, ear to make you actually feel motion. By
problem to tackle right now." THERE WAS NAUSEA stimulating one side while someone is
The distinction between augmented In 2012 the team began collecting old walking, they'll naturally turn that direction.
reality and virtual reality is a blurry headsets and dug up old research. What By triggering this stimulation remotely, you
one; both are immersive, virtual, and they found was not inspiring. Anyone who can crudely control a person like a radio-

makezine.com 27
 dperial ^ediDfb VR/AR I HTC Vive Prototypes

controlled car, or make them into a zombie Those are really the three fundamental tools didn’t pan out — they realized there was no
as Yates puts it. Luckily, the zombie machine you'd find in a makerspace and that’s really point refining and polishing a prototype that
didn’t make it into the final product. all you would need to do most of this." they were not going to pursue.
The magic formula to stop nausea Valve’s background was in software, Since Valve was built on the makers who
ended up being a mixture of several things where you can make an update or ’’patch" modded games, the team is eager to see
all working fluidly together. The physical and distribute it within hours. Rapid how people mod the HTC Vive hardware.
display needed to be able to update at prototyping allowed them to carry this The device had only been out on the market
incredible speeds to keep your eyes from methodology over into hardware. The for a few weeks and yet people were
noticing any delay, and the tracking of engineers could create a prototype and get already customizing and altering them
your movements needed to be extremely feedback from their peers in the morning, One person replaced the elastic straps with
accurate. Any little movement had to be and have a revised physical item fresh out of the head harness from a welding mask,
translated through the system and to your the 3D printer in the afternoon. Previously, allowing for easier transition from wearing
eyes before you could perceive a change. something like this would involve weeks of to not wearing the goggles. One team
"Finally... the conversation could move waiting while a prototype was constructed of developers used a tracked controller
on from motion sickness," says Yates’ elsewhere, then delivered. mounted to a camera to overlay the game
teammate Christen Coomer. During this type of process, there are environment onto footage of a person
happy accidents that take on a life of their playing it, allowing someone to watch a
; FABRICATING PROTOTYPES own. You can be developing one experience video and see the player immersed into
Once Valve settled on a tracking technology and every tester steps inside and does the the game world. These were unexpected
and a display system, things began to go same unplanned action, but they all love modifications, and welcomed completely by
incredibly fast. Modern desktop fabrication it. That unplanned feedback ends up being the company.
tools allowed the team to try new ideas very the direction you should go. This is true in
quickly. Many of the early prototypes looked both hardware and software experiences. RECRUITING AT MAKER FAIRE
like things that someone could make at If everyone picks up a controller the same How does a person end up as a virtual
home, and Yates agreed, this tech isn’t out "wrong" way, it is your design that is wrong reality engineer at Valve? The short answer
of the reach of an enthusiast. and should be adjusted. is to get out there and make stuff. Valve has
"3D printing is core to our ability to do Sharing is integral, Coomer explains. ’’If been very open with their hiring practices.
this,” says Yates. ”1 don’t know how we could you’re doing something privately, you're Their employee handbook, riddled with
have done all of this without it. We have not learning,” he says. And what the team humor and great illustrations, is open to
3D printers, laser cutters, and a PCS mill. learned is that in virtual reality there were the public. The most striking illustration
no hard rules. "Everything we thought we in that handbook is the description of the
knew was out the window.”

h** •Hl
o
S ideal employee. They call it the "T-shaped”
l| H
2
Ji .fl
ll M
S8 Hl
S ft
Valve continued refining the design
drastically even a few weeks before the
employee — someone who has a single
area of specialty, but a very broad range of
S 3.

fi HI its K
Is <i “ii
commercial release of the VR headset. general knowledge. This is necessary, as

I is Hl Hi The team didn't have an established road you really need to be flexible and able to

in 1 JI -n map, so trying new ideas was their primary

method of determining what worked and
react to feedback, constantly pivoting toward
a better product.

I fil H liJ10
what didn’t. They’d push out prototypes Maker Faire, as it turns out, is a perfect
to coworkers to get feedback as early and place to find these people. Of the handful of
• ea often as possible, and cancel those that virtual reality engineers I spoke with during
in «<’

28 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

I
was April 5 of this year. My visit was on
May 2. Every person I spoke to within the MAKING
company was still giddy with the excitement
of units being shipped to the public.
CUSTOM TOOLS
The Vive and the competing Oculus Rift FOR CUSTOM
VR headset that launched on March 28
are the two major players in the high-
PROTOTYPES
I
end virtual reality device arena. Both are
my office tour, at least three told stories of just getting started and will soon have to
|
being approached by Valve while running a contend with Sony's PlayStation VR, slated
boothat MakerFaire. to arrive this October.
When asked about the engineering
degrees and education often required by THE FUTURE OF VR AT VALVE
positions in R&D, Yates explained that
© ss?—
What accessories Valve is working on next
having someone with a self-taught and are a mystery. I asked, prodded, and begged
diverse background is actually an asset. for a hint no matter how subtle, about the
He and the teammates contend that when next toys I could hope to see. Images of
When you're working with technology
someone has spent years approaching body suits ripped from the sets of science
that simply didn't exist before, testing
problems the "typical" way. they tend to fiction TV shows flashed in my mind. The
can be a real problem. There aren't
become locked into a way of thinking, and only answer they would divulge is that their
tools that you can buy to gauge how
to use standard methods R&D has not stopped
your cutting-edge virtual reality
to solve problems. When "WE EXPERIMENTED or slowed. The giant
tracking system is functioning.
someone has a more FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS grins seen across every
The engineers at Valve had to I
diverse background, they TO GET AROUND member of the team told
develop tools in parallel with the
may be missing some NAUSEA” me that whatever they're
things they needed to test. This
specific knowledge, but working on. it's cool.
pocket-sized oscilloscope was hacked
they often approach each problem with "The eyes and hands were kind of the
to add a sensor capable of detecting
a unique perspective that can result in minimum level of tracking we had to achieve
the tracking signal, and custom
some unexpected outcomes. They may for a product," Yates says. "Supplying
firmware was added so that it could
solve problems in ways that a traditionally feedback for the rest of the body is much
display data about that signal.
trained professional never would have more complex, and probably the next 10
considered, or worse, discarded as "not years of research."
the way it is done." Virtual reality is in its infancy right now.
The devices that were laid out in front of me
THE BIG LAUNCH ranged from cobbled together to completely
For shipping a hardware product of this refined, and yet this is the absolute
scale. Valve partnered with Taiwan­ beginning. These are the Atari days of virtual
based HTC. They talked with several reality, a time when the technology is fresh
manufacturers but liked the good reputation in people's homes. A time we'll look back
HTC had with their hardware construction, on, and joke about how arcane our methods
bringing years of experience to the table to seemed. I can't wait to find out what kind of
help ensure a smooth launch. cool things we'll be playing with when we
One crazy aspect about the launch is that make those jokes.
most developers didn't have final hardware, Hopefully, they won't be zombie
not because of some secretive plan to keep machines. OO O
it under wraps, but because the hardware
was being refined all the way up to the very For video and more prototypes, visit
last possible seconds. makezine.com/go/valve-virtual-reality.
The official launch date for the HTC Vive

makezine.com 29
 ■

1
J
ASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in virtual reality and augmented reality.' The
Pasadena is a small city of sleek, manifestations that we’re creating feel like
modern towers propped tight real objects that interact with the world in
between the San Gabriel Mountains and the the same way that real objects do," explains
dry arroyo landscape of Southern California. Jeff Norris, the head of JPL's Mission
Inside, the smartest minds on the planet Operations Innovation Lab, differentiating
gather daily to design, build, and launch his output from the full immersion of VR and
rockets, satellites, and rovers to explore the heads-up-display overlay he associates
space and faraway worlds. with AR. And even though it's clearly just
MIKESENESE My visit here in mid-May is to get a sneak a multicolored CAD rendering visible
is the executive editor
of Make: magazine. He peek at one of the newest rovers, launching through a postcard-sized viewing area in my
spends his spare time for Mars in 2020. It's a flagship mission, headset, the mixed-reality projection of the
tinkering with remote announced in December 2012, a few Mars 2020 rover is quickly convincing.
control aircraft and
attempting to cook the
months after the landing of Curiosity, and The program, called ProtoSpace,
perfect pizza. Find will feature a similar but slightly larger six­ perfectly tracks my movement around the
him on Twitter as wheeled craft. JPL, however, doesn't have a rover, letting me peek up top or kneel down
IBmsenese
high-tech prototype. Instead, they lead me to inspect the underside, while seeing my
into a demonstration room, have me put on actual surroundings as well. My brain buys
a Microsoft HoloLens headset, and boot up in so much that at multiple times I reach for
a CAD projection of the rover. It appears in my camera before remembering nothing
full scale and fully explorable right in front is actually there. After a point, I'm directed
of me, while they explain that this virtual to put my head through the rover itself. It is
approach to engineering is not a future part momentarily challenging to get my body to
of their organization — it's happening now. agree, but as I do, I watch the components a>

peel away layer by layer, until I am in the i

BUILDING VIRTUAL ROVERS hollow center of the vehicle.
VI
o

JPL terms this mixed reality, a relative to I think a tool like ProtoSpace allows S

30 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides NASA with everything from

spaceship and satellite construction to mission control operations.

us to access the same intuition that we OnSight, a virtual visit to the surface of Mars much as we can," he says. "Because time
have when we're stacking up a bunch using images collected by Curiosity. It’s is science."
of blocks, but we're working with far similarly believable, with a photo-realistic
more sophisticated blocks and much Curiosity in the center of the room, but this PUBLIC CONSUMPTION?
more challenging goals," Norris says. It's time the planet's terrain extends outward to NASA is opening a Destination: Mars
already shown its worth on at least one the horizon as you look up and turn around. experience at the Kennedy Space Center
project, an Earth-science satellite that was Mars data scientist Fred Calef shows in Florida to let visitors have the same
designed with tight clearance for assembly. me the details of the rocky outcroppings HoloLens Martian visit, guided by a
Upon examination in ProtoSpace, one of as I step around. He's physically in a holographic Buzz Aldrin. After that, Norris
the technicians realized it would be too different part of the building, but I see him is excited about more community access,
narrow for the tooling to fit inside. So they as a glowing blue avatar next to me on the eventually seeing ProtoSpace and OnSight
redesigned it long before a single physical planet. This is a big advantage of these coming into your home. "If you can
part was built, saving time and resources. two projects, the ability to interact with imagine a future mission on Mars where
"The field is moving so quickly right colleagues who aren't actually with you. JPL we have millions, even a billion people,
now that I feel like it's totally different from engineers can easily beam together with exploring right alongside with the vehicle
where it was a year and a half ago," Norris scientists on the other side of the world to — and maybe someday with humans —
says about the technology used. And they're examine and discuss a spaceship design, or from their living rooms with headsets on
still expanding ProtoSpace, planning new determine the next destination a rover on their heads, I think that’s a great way to
features such as the ability to pull individual another planet should head to. share this,” he says.
pieces off of a model for inspection, add A few minutes later Calef comes into the And it's not just for sightseeing, but also
animation and movement, and eventually room. 1 ask if, when Curiosity successfully for new ways of designing and building,
even create designs in the mixed-reality touched down on Mars in 2012 he had any for everyone. Norris continues. "My hope
§
< environment itself. idea that four years later, he'd be standing is that tools like ProtoSpace and mixed
OJ
next to the rover on Mars itself. He shakes reality in general can unlock a whole new
t/>

r
d>
WALKING ON MARS his head no. "It really snuck up on us." sophistication ... not just for professionals,
In the next room, Norris and his team And he's glad it did. because it makes his but for amateurs... people who are just
show off their other mixed-reality project: job easier. "It's really about saving time as enthusiastic about making things." O O O

makezine.com 31
 1
£

32 makershed.com
 J

makezine.com/virtually-real

SHAKE, RATTLE, AND --------- I

J
MATERIALS
kiATrniAIC » no hrarkotc
>• ILeg brackets
Life #144
(4) Pinna 11
Pinball
» Teensy LC
microcontroller board, >• Leg levelers (4) Pinball
with pins $15 from Life #921
pjrc.com. Mount it on » Cabinet leg protectors
a breadboard or on my (4) (optional) Pinball Life
custom PCB. #1403
» Micro USB cable » Wood screws and/or
hot glue
FOR PCB BUILD:
» PinSim printed circuit FOR OPTIONAL
board (PCB) oshpark. UPGRADES:
com/sharedjjroiects/ » Xbox rumble motors (2)
ngC13rwO about $10/pair on eBay
• Female headers, 1*14 » Transistors, 2N222 (2)___
(2) such as Amazon for rumble motors
#B00899WQ6U » LEDs, white (2) to
BUILD THE "PINSIM” CABINET CONTROLLER ••PCB screw terminals,
2 pole, 3.5mm pitch
replace lamps In Start
and Launch buttons
AND PLAYVR PINBALL WITH REAL FLIPPER (12) such as Uxcell » Resistors, 22D (2) for
#a!4122500ux0169.
BUTTONS AND AN ACCELEROMETER-BASED Amazon #B00W93KCDQ
LEDs
» Pinball shooter
NUDGE SYSTEM! FOR BREADBOARD assembly Pinball Life
#pbl_B-12445-6
BUILD:
» Solderless breadboard » Shooter mounting plate
attended the Oculus event at GDC this year, Adafruit #239 Pinball Life #535-5027-
00
where I first heard Pinbatt FX2 VR was in the ••Jumper wires Adafruit
#1957 » Shooter spring, brown
works. I tried the game and after 5 minutes I (low tension) Marco
»10 screw terminal block,
knew I wanted to build a VR interface for it! Specialties #10-148-6.
breadboard plug-in
marcospec.com
VR solves my biggest gripe with traditional type such as eBay
#400546234141 » Machine screws, #10-32
"virtual" pinball games — you can't move your head x 5/e ", pan head with
JEREMY around to get a better read on shots or the ball. •■ Foamcore board or
lock washer (3) Marco
WILLIAMS plywood I used two
Specialties #4010-
is a team member Well, now you can. And with my PinSim cabinet 01006-10
22''*28" sheets of
at Tested. He grew you can actually feel the game in your hands too. foamcore. Anthony in » Analog distance sensor
the Make: Labs used '/;" Sharp GP2YOA51SKOF.
up on an Atari 2600 I'm sharing the SketchUp files, dimension renders,
plywood, about 2'*4' Pololu #2450. pololu.com
and IBM PCjr Since
wiring diagram, and Arduino code so that anyone total »JSTZH-style cable,
graduating from
■• Arcade buttons, 30mm 3-pln female Pololu
Kenyon College, can make one. You can order my custom PCB or
(2) Adafruit Industries #2411
he has managed a just use an ordinary breadboard. part #473. adafruit.com,
LAN gaming center, The VR pinball cabinet is essentially the first 8 for flippers
started a video
inches of a real pinball table. My original cabinet
» Arcade joystick, small TOOLS
company, been an Adafruit #480 » Saw or hobby knife
editor al PC Gamer was made from foamcore but wood will provide a depending if you're using
» Accelerometer, triple
plywood or foamcore
magazine, and more lasting frame. Just make sure to consider the axis, ADXL345 Adafruit
#1231 •■ Drill
helped engineer Gore
width of your material in cutting the sides of the » Soldering Iron
on the PlayStation » Hookup wire, black and
Network. Now living cabinet. My drawings show the exterior dimensions red Adafruit #290 and » Screwdrivers and
3068. Any 2-conductor wrenches
in San Francisco, he’s and button hole placements, but the diameter
speaker wire also works » Sandpaper or sander
interested in Arduino of the drill holes will depend on the buttons you fine.
and making" stuff. » Computer with free
choose to use. » "Start” button Williams- software: Teensy Loader
He also loves pinball. Bally #20-9663-1, Pinball application (pjrc.com/
And his kids. The joystick is used to conveniently navigate Life #956. pinballife.com teensy/loader.html) and
the game menus. And an accelerometer is used » “Launch Ball" button PinSim project code
Williams-Bally #20- (github.com/jerware/
to simulate nudging the table, which can help you
9663-B-4. Pinball Life pinsim). The GltHub
guide the ball or can backfire ("Tilt!") just like the #919 page also links to the
» Pinball legs (4) Pinball Arduino libraries you
real game, if you overdo it.
Life #140. Browse the site need. You won't even
for more color options! need the Arduino IDE (or
MY FIRST BUILD » Leg bolts (8) Pinball Life
Teensyduino extension)
unless you intend to edit
One week before the Oculus release date I made #1792
the project code.
a trip to Walgreens and picked up two sheets of » 3D printer (optional)

makezine.com 33
 foamcore. I already had everything else (I've The biggest hurdle was getting the game
PINSIM CABINET collected real pinball games for years, and to recognize the gamepad. Unfortunately
BUILD NOTES I’m a compulsive Adafruit buyer). the Teensy doesn't support Xinput, and the
FROM ANTHONY LAM, MAKE: LABS I started by measuring the front body PinballFX2MP. game only supports Xbox
» To cut the plywood, a table saw is dimensions of a real pinball game and gamepads. I found a wonderful open source
ideal. You can also use a band saw or then cut a 1:1 replica from the foamcore. program called x360ce [github.com/x360ce/
handsaw; it's safest to measure exact Then I measured for button placement, cut x360ce) that converts gamepad signals to
dimensions and cut at a ’/a" offset, then those, and glued the whole thing together Xinput, and later I upgraded to the incredible
sand the excess down to the marked overnight. Then I measured accurate body MSF-XINPUT library by Zachery Littell
dimensions so everything fits precisely. (github.com/zlittell/MSF-XINPUT ). It fools
height and attached legs using off-the-shelf
» Test-fit the leg bolts and brackets. The buttons and the computer into thinking the Teensy LC
corners together joystick are pretty generic (Figure @). It is an Xbox 360 gamepad, thus minimizing
using the cabinet
was important that the flipper buttons don't latency and maximizing compatibility. It even
leg protector. This
not only helps you ''click,'' so it would feel realistic. I thought I'd supports force feedback rumble! Zack spent
plan a butt joint have to install real pinball leaf switches, but time improving his library to assist with this
for the boards, it these silent 30mm translucent buttons from project, so major thanks to him.
also lets you trace Adafruit work great.
the drill points for
the leg bolts.
Everything ties into a Teensy LC BUILDING YOUR PINSIM
microcontroller connected via USB to Here’s how to make the upgraded version of ™
» The front panel's top edge is cut at a the computer. The Teensy has a mode the PinSim controller (Figure 0).
C.‘ (Portions
' 5 gg
14” angle to match the rake of the top.
that conveniently fools a computer into of this guide appeared previously on Tested.) £
And the top panel's front and rear edges
thinking it's a generic gamepad. so the code
are cut similarly to fit flush with the
other panels. simply turns grounded pins into emulated
gamepad button presses. There's also an
1. CONSTRUCT YOUR CABINET I
in
Cut the panels and drill holes for your &
» We left our top panel free floating
X
for now, resting on short wood screws accelerometer that converts X/Y movement buttons, joystick, and legs, following the </»
as stops, in case we want to make into an analog gamepad stick for nudging SketchUp drawings on the project page j
upgrades. You can also screw it directly the table. The Start and Launch Ball buttons at makezine.com/go/pinsim-vr-pinball- §
to the other panels and then touch up have lights pre-installed, so I just connected cabinet (Figure Q). The holes for the leg
>-
<v
the paint these to the USB 5V line. bolts can be tricky, because they enter at the A<1>

34 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

corners at 45° angles. I recommend drilling the associated libraries). Then flash your
these from the inside out. Paint your cabinet board using the Teensy Loader application.
(optional! before bolting the legs on. You can find instructions on the GitHub page.
You're done! Plug in the Teensy LC using a
2. WIRE THE ELECTRONICS USB micro cable and it will power up (Figure
Follow the wiring diagram (Figure ©land ©I. You can test the PinSim by launching
Teensy pinout (Figure @). After I showed the Windows USB Game Controllers app
off my first PinSim cabinet on Tested from the Control Panel.
(youtu.be/18EclxywXHg), I created a custom
PCB at OshPark to replace the breadboard; THE UPGRADES
just solder the female headers and screw LED LIGHTS
terminals to the board where indicated. Or If you replace the light bulb inside the Start
you can stick with the breadboard build. button with a white LED and wire it up
(through a 220 resistor) to pin 16 on the
3. MOUNT THE ELECTRONICS Teensy (terminal LED-1 on my PCB), it will
Mount the joystick on the top panel blink 1-4 times when powered up, mirroring
according to its mounting plate, wherever the 4 LEDs on an Xbox gamepad. This is a
you think it fits best. (You could use a useful indicator since game software often
gamepad for this instead.) requires controller #1.
Install your breadboard or PCB on Do the same with the Launch Ball button
the underside of the top of the cabinet and connect that LED to Teensy pin 17 (or
m_ so that the accelerometer is positioned
a PCB terminal LED-2). It will remain steady
? horizontally at center, toward the front on (Figure ®). If you have a 3D printer, you
§■ (Figures © and ®). This will give the most can print my 555 bulb LED holders [Figure
accurate readings. @) from thingiverse.eom/thing:1537176.
.2
I 4. PROGRAM THE TEENSY RUMBLE MOTORS
| Download the compiled firmware from For haptic feedback. I added 2 Xbox rumble
" github.com/jerware/pinsim (and install all motors. (I didn't want to use solenoids,

makezine.com 35
 tfpaciaL <$ectuui VR/AR I VR Pinball and Customizing Google Cardboard

Vm (3.7V to 5.5V]
GND
3.3V (100 mA max)
23
22 Rumble small
21
20 Rumble large
19 SCL
18 SDA
17 LED-2
16 LED-1
15

Why not add more buttons and use PinSim

A WORTHY CABINET
as an upright arcade controller too? Just
After the electronic upgrades. I convinced
I drill more holes beside the joystick and
my carpenter friend Christopher Mann
connect them to the labeled terminals on
to cut the cabinet from something more
the PinSim PCB. For the breadboard crowd,
beautiful than foamcore. Here's my new
the Teensy LC pinout is shown in Figure ©.
wooden PinSim cabinet (Figure @|.
Then James Burke and Anthony Lam at
LAUNCH PLUNGER
Make: created a plywood cabinet with the
I also decided to replace the Launch button
most beautiful paint job I could imagine.
with a real pinball shooter. I had all the
Absolutely outstanding. I'm still stunned!
parts, I just needed to decide how to convert
Eventually I did swap my flipper buttons
the shaft movement to a consistent analog
for real pinball leaf switches. These buttons
signal. 1 played with bendable resistors and
have slightly more travel, for that extra 10%
sonar but ultimately 1 mounted a 3D-printed
of authenticity — but they don't really affect
disc to the end of the shooter, directly in the
game play. Build the PinSim as described
path of a Sharp IR distance sensor (Figure
here, and I think you'll be overjoyed. I'd love
©]. Get the details at Tested (makezine,
to hear how yours turns out. O O ©
com/go/tested-pinsim). It works brilliantly,
but 1 have to warn you it's a lot of extra work
for minimal payoff. The plunger is important Download complete drawings and diagrams
for hitting skill shots, but not much else! and share your build on the project page at
makezine.com/go/pinsim-vr-pinball-cabinet .
> ----------------
36 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

IMPROVE YOUR SIMPLE GOOGLE VR VIEWER WITH THESE EASY TIPS

or dabbling in VR and 360
video, the cheapest and most
accessible option by far is
Google Cardboard, a fold-together
headset that houses your smartphone
to display VR content. Google started
producing these in June of 2014 and
has sold over five million since. Not
only are they reasonably priced at $15
directly from Google, you can find a
plethora of variations ranging from a
r° HANDS FREE Google Cardboard is designed to
be handheld, but holding the device to your face
can be annoying. Add an elastic strap to keep
yours on your head like a pair of ski goggles. A
second strap over the top of your head will help
secure it and make it feel much lighter. You can
use any elastic strapping from a hobby store and
staple it into place (isn't cardboard great9). Using
two straps and a section of velcro will allow for
more adjustments for multiple head sizes.

STAIN FREE As soon as you try a Google

Cardboard, the oils from your face will discolor
the material. Decorate the faceplate of your
device to help hide this unfortunate aspect. A
dirt-cheap $4 kits (less than buying piece of cloth glued to the surface can not only
look better, but feel better as well. Choose a
the parts!) up to full, fancy injection-
dark and soft cloth and secure it in place using a
molded versions that look fantastic. No glue stick — liquid glues will soak into the fabric,
matter what model, they all offer similar making it hard and abrasive on your face. You can
also use self-adhesive, or regular craft foam with
VR experiences, changing only the
a glue stick to pad sharp edges.
ergonomics of the device.
As great as Cardboard is, it is HUNGER FREE All variations of Cardboard work
off of the same basic design: a pair of 45mm
lacking in some areas. Here are a few
focal-length Biconvex lenses is set 40mm from a
modifications that can really improve cellphone screen. The rest is simply something
the experience. OO O to hold it all together. You can download Google's
plans or go completely nuts and design yours
from whatever you want. We even made an edible
CALEB KRAFT version from graham crackers and icing, piecing 3>_
has a tendency to customize and modify things
far beyond any necessity to do so. Extra straps,
it together just like a simple gingerbread house s
in
— you can watch your VR, then eat everything but
fabric, and aesthetic changes are not uncom­ 3-
the lenses!
mon in his personal collection of VR tools.

makezine.com 37
 I

<$peM vr/ar i fog vr

BUILDING VR SOFTWARE MEANS CREATING NEW

SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS WE HAVEN'T EVEN IMAGINED YET

WILL SMITH "

is the founder and
CEO of FOO VR and
the host of The FOO
Show, an interactive,
3D-rendered VR talk
was in a small room at a game language cues that are lost in other forms of show. In addition to
convention last year the moment I communication, like video or phone calls. The FOO Show, FOO is
first understood the power of virtual That's the moment that I realized that VR building software to
reality. It was my first time trying a social VR make production of
would be able to do everything we use video

il
interactive, television-
experience, my first time in a virtual space for and much, much more. like VR content faster

* 1 that I shared with another person. Despite

my cohabitant being represented as just a
wireframe rendering of a head and hands,
If I could read body language from
an avatar with no limbs, no eyes, and
no mouth, a more realized avatar could
and easier than ever
before. You may also
know Will from his
work on Tested.com,
the experience was transformative. Within convey real human emotion. TV, film, web the Tested YouTube
moments, I was interacting with the other video, and more were all about to change. channel, or as the
editor of Maximum PC. a
person's avatar as if it was an actual person, It took a while for me to realize it, but that
You can find him on o
noting and interpreting the small body was the moment that lead to me quitting Twitter fowillsmith.

38 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

my amazing job at Tested, and starting a to add the illusion of depth to those 20 entertaining in VR. People love exploring VR
company to build VR software. That was the projections, but when you look at a 3D object environments, picking up and inspecting
moment I realized that you'd be able to tell on a 2D monitor, it's still akin to looking at props and set dressing, and performing
incredible stories in virtual worlds. a shadow and trying to determine the 3D even the simplest of physics-based actions,
I wanted to build those worlds. That's shape that cast it. like throwing a paper airplane.
what we do at FOO VR, with our first being a I've always had trouble working in the At this point, I've demoed our software
virtual talk show called The FOO Show. traditional CAD interface, or using the to hundreds of people. Because of that. I've
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though. XY/YZ/XZ window convention of most 3D given many people their first taste of real
At the lowest level, VR is transformative modeling programs to create the object I'm VR, and boy is that fun. However, the big
because it represents a more natural way visualizing. The first time I used a sculpting lesson from those demos is that...
for humans to interact with computers. or drawing program in VR, I didn't have
The human brain innately understands to make that mental leap anymore. I was HAVING HANDS IN VR
three-dimensional worlds because 3D is interacting with a virtual object in exactly IS IMPORTANT
our native environment — every conscious the same way I could interact with actual Using a gamepad or mouse and keyboard
moment of our lives is spent in a three objects in the real world, but with the benefit to control a VR experience is kind of like
dimensional world, the real world. of multiple save files, copy and paste, and an trying to write your signature using a
''But," you say, "I've used 3D applications undo/redo chain. mouse. It's clumsy, doesn't work the way
on my computers for 20 years." That's The upshot: It is much easier for me to you'd expect, and can leave you frustrated
absolutely true ... from a certain point manipulate objects in VR, using my hands, at the whole process. On the other hand,
of view. When you use a 3D application, than it is to do the same in a CAD-like people immediately grok how to use
whether it's a game or a CAD program, on a window in a more traditional 2D application. hand controllers to interact with virtual

I traditional computer monitor you're actually

| looking at a 2D projection of a 3D scene.
One of the unexpected, but interesting
side effects of the 3D-native nature of your
environments. If you have them squeeze
and hold a trigger to pick something up.
co
We've built 2D interfaces that work around brain is that things that aren't particularly then you've taught them more than just
ib this limitation, and we use some tricks fun in traditional games are much more how to grab something; you've also shown

makezine.com 39
 <^p£daL (^edijOfl VR/AR I FOO VR and CD Case Hologram

1
For The FOO Show's pilot, recording three
them how to hand it to someone else or participants together meant squeezing everyone, making their customers hurl, but I don't
along with three gaming PCs and three Vives, into ever want to be responsible for ruining
throw it across the room, and you've set up
a tight 20'm20' space.
the opportunity to layer on more advanced someone's day. Because VR software has
tasks, like sorting many objects, hiding such an intimate connection to your user's
them, or even shrinking or enlarging them. brain — it takes over two senses entirely
For VR developers, the downside of giving — developers have a greater responsibility
your users hands is that the users expect VR than with most traditional software or
environments to be more interactive than a games. I'm not suggesting that there's any
traditional game. When we populated our Lawnmower Man-style reprogramming
test world with some small props, the first possible with VR, but bad or malicious
thing people tried to do was pick them up. software definitely can make users feel
When we let people pick those objects up, extremely uncomfortable.
they tried to throw them. When we let them When most people sense a disconnect
Watching a hundred people figure out how to grab
throw them, they expected them to bounce things gave much-needed insight into designing a between the movement they see and the
and interact with other objects. We wouldn't way to pick up objects that makes sense to most movement (or lack thereof) they detect with
users. Even simple tasks are complex in VR.
have figured out that people expected all their inner ear, they start feeling motion
this, but luckily, we ... sickness. That discomfort builds the longer
you stay in the headset — the only way to get
TEST EARLY AND TEST OFTEN a reprieve is to take a break.
Remember when I said I've run a few The good news is that VR-related motion
hundred people through our VR demos? sickness is avoidable for almost everyone. As
That wasn't just for fun. Every time we a developer, it's your responsibility to ensure
showed someone new what we'd built, we your application never sags below the target
used that as an opportunity to get feedback frame rate for your platform and to avoid
on our software. It's good to set up so you moving the player's camera in ways that will
can see both the userand the monitor with make them feel ill. To be safe, we never take
what they're seeing on it. Using VR, Smith was able to interview the people control of the camera from the user.
behind the game Firewatch inside their creation,
Sessions in VR can be long, and I don't Every question about VR we answer just
something never before done. More importantly,
like to interrupt anyone to ask questions viewers at home could step inside too. begs another dozen questions Many of
when they're in the goggles, so it's really the lessons we've learned from decades of
important that you take good notes as you traditional software development don't
watch the tester. This lets you prompt your apply to VR, so we need people who are
testers with specifics about their experience excited about the possibility and ready to
once they've taken the goggles off. create new solutions to problems we haven’t
The big takeaway here is that everyone even imagined yet. If you'd like to know
reacts differently to different experiences
more, we regularly share our findings at
in VR, so get as many people to try your
foovr.com/blog.
software as you can. And above all...
If you'd like to check out what we’ve
built, search for The FOO Show on your VR
DON’T MAKE PEOPLE SICK headset's storefront, we re on Oculus and
Many people had trouble understanding the talk a
Our number one rule is: Avoid making show concept, so Smith and team mocked up an Vive right now, and may be on Gear VR and o
people sick, at all costs. Yes. the alcohol and episode where he interviewed himself about his
new company. It turns out interviewing yourself is PlayStation VR by the time you read this.
theme park industries have made bank by tough, ” he says.
©O O

40 makershed.com
 makezine.com/virtually-real

cfyotog/tam.
BUILDATINY
"PEPPER S GHOST”
ILLUSION TO PLAY
HOLOGRAMS ON
YOUR SMARTPHONE!
Written by Anthony Lam
I
I

Jf holographic appearance of the late Tupac Shakur

- /A? fl onstage at Coachella in 2012 blew minds because
of how lifelike and detailed he appeared. The
dancing illusion used a technique first described by 16th-century
Neapolitan scientist Giambattista della Porta, and later developed
by Henry Dircks and John Henry Pepper, from whom it got its
name; Pepper's Ghost.
This illusion originally required almost a whole dedicated room
to perform. Nowadays you can make a tiny hologram using just a
small acrylic pyramid and your smartphone. Here's how.

1. MEASURE AND MARK

Draw a trapezoid on a piece of paper with a bottom length of
61.5mm, top length of 12mm, and side lengths of 43mm. Trace the
shape on the acrylic CD case with your pen. repeating it 4 times.

2. SCORE AND CUT

Slowly score the lines drawn on your CD case with a box cutter, and
Time Required: repeat carefully until it cuts through. Take care when removing the
20-30 Minutes cut pieces, as the acrylic has relatively sharp edges.
Cost:
$10-$20 3. ASSEMBLE THE PYRAMID
Place the 4 pieces next to each other along their 43mm sides, and
You will need: attach them using a thin strip of cellophane tape at each shared
» CD case Fun fact: The proper
name for these is CD jewel case or
ANTHONY edge. When 3 of the edges have been taped, fold them into the
LAM is a lab shape of a pyramid and tape the remaining edge.
jewel box. because designer Peter
Doodson. who created the case assistant and
for the Philips company, "specified engineering intern
polished ribs because they pick up USE IT. Simply lay your phone on a flat surface, place the
for Make:. An
the light and shine." industrial designer pyramid upside-down on the center of the screen, and conjure up
» Paper, plain white by trade, he is easily any of the content that's widely available on YouTube — search for
I
» Tape, transparent excited by anything
» Smartphone "pyramid hologram" to find videos specially made for this trick. Like o

» Utility knife
regarding technology.
DIY projects, or
video games.
magic, you'll have dancing holograms floating in midair. OO O I
» Pen

makezine.com 41
 ( ) team. He o
was an early backer of
the Oculus Rift and a
VR developer. He now
heads up business
development helping
VR startups get up
and running.
I
42 makershed.com
 r

makezine.com/virtuaUy-real |

DESIGN, ASSEMBLE, AND BUILD WITH THESE VR SOFTWARE TOOLS COMING i

SOON
VIRTUA >!|

Written by Jon Oakes

There are a few titles
in the pipeline that you
can t get your hands
on yet. but should be
available later this year.

Virtual reality is more than just games and interesting experiences. Every piece of creative software
we use today is likely to have a VR equivalent that puts you in the same space as your design, and
some are already allowing you to bring those digital works out into the real world via 3D printing.
Here are some of my current favorites, and a couple of the new titles coming soon.

fainting cuuL $cutting themselves — up to the size of a giant or down to that OCULUS MEDIUM
These take you off of a flat canvas or screen, letting of an ant — to add as much detail as they want. youtu.be/lreEK-abHio
you create digital masterpieces in immersive 3D. Some simple physics and object interactivity is Oculus is working on
supported, and they've also added fun elements such an input system called
1. TILT BRUSH as a rocket gun that you can shoot at your worlds to Oculus Touch, which will
tiltbrush com blow them up. Last but not least, you can export your let Oculus Rift owners
Tilt Brush was the first VR art application to have creations to print them on your 3D printer. get their hands into the
an avid following. The program puts a drawing virtual world. Medium is
implement in one hand and a palette of tools, a sculpting application
brushes, and colors in the other. It allows the artist to ^figALCA (fiaflcLbMCQA. designed by artists to
sweep their artwork not only along a plane in front of If you want to hack around in virtual space or are new behave like real material
them but in all directions — up, down, left, right, and to VR, there are a couple of apps you should check out might under the hands
behind them too. It's quite an experience to create a to learn what you can do. of a sculptor No release
drawing and then take a step into it to continue date has been set. but
working on it from a totally different angle. 4.M0DB0X Oculus has shown it
Art shows have already featured live exhibitions of alientrap.org/games/modbox at events and it looks
artists creating wild 30 landscapes, and YouTube is a Modbox is like the ultimate physics building block promising
good place to find "replays" of these sessions. Even set for VR. While still very early in development, a
untrained artists seem to have a great time with it. community of users has already shown some amazing
The tools also serve as a rapid 3D sketchpad for other concepts for games built within it. There's no game
MAKEVR
sixense.com/makevr
ideas such as roughing out a design for a new chair or in the product itself, it's strictly a set of tools you can
MakeVR has been in
table, or any scale object, so you can see how it might use to do things like build a bowling alley or archery
development for some
look in 3D before you get more detailed. range, or re-create a haunted mansion in 3D and
time and will provide
walk around in it. The developers promise support for
the ability to create
2. PAINTLAB mods and different tile sets in the coming months.
highly detailed VR CAD
pamtlabvr.com While not completely accurate physics, I could see
designs It s easy enough
A relative newcomer to the VR art scene, PaintLab this being used by makers to quickly sketch out
for a novice to use but
currently has a distinct appeal: it’s free. While it simple machine concepts or a room-size experiment
powerful enough to
boasts a wide range of features for 3D painting, it to see how it functions. But perhaps the greatest
do real 3D CAD work.
may take a more determined user to get all they can value is the workout it gives your imagination.
MakeVR promises to
out of it. The developers are very active in adding
allow the user to create
new features and smoothing things out for users. 5. FANTASTIC CONTRAPTION any 3D shape using
One nice option is the ability to "spray paint” on your fantasticcontraption.com
all the tools of a CAD
sculptures, making PaintLab useful for trying out In this puzzle game, the wearer builds 3D machines
engine, but in VR From
different color schemes on 3D models. to deliver a pink glowing ball to a goal. It sounds easy
there, because it s built
but the challenges get hard fast. The great thing
3. SCULPTRVR on a professional grade
about this game from a maker perspective is that it
CAD software engine, the
£ sculptrvr com rewards experimentation. Many sessions abandon
SculptrVR bills itself as a world-building game and user can export those
the stated goal and instead players make musical
s uses "voxels," scalable 3D blocks that look like designs for printing or
xylophones, imaginary helicopters, or any Rube
use m other applications
T something out of Minecraft, to paint the space you Goldberg-inspired assemblage they can dream up.
c? inhabit. It has a unique ability to let the users scale oo o

makezine.com 43
 the market. Rift uses a small sensor placed joint venture from HTC and Valve and uses

ti
from Oculus and Samsung. Instead of a
in front of the user to track the position two sensor stations to establish a 3D space high-end computer, GearVR runs on recent
and rotation of a series of infrared LEDs and help the headset s 32 sensors track its Samsung Galaxy phones, which snap right
embedded in the headset. Currently, Rift position and rotation. Vive comes with two into the headset. It's similar to Google
includes an Xbox One controller, and handheld controllers to track your hand Cardboard in that software and a set of
</) while it's familiar to the gaming crowd, it movements in real time Blue lines overlaid lenses fool, your eyes into seeing a virtual
won't track body movements. Trackable onto the virtual space by the OS keep you world, but GearVR includes additional

Q
controllers, called Touch, will be sold from roaming outside your designated area. sensors that augment the phone's motion
separately by the end of 2016. tracking and onboard touch controls in
"PRICE: $799 addition to gamepad support.
c PRICE: $599 B INCLUDES: headset, two wireless
" INCLUDES: headset, sensor, remote, controllers, two base stations, accessories “PRICE: $99
cables, Xbox One controller ° CONTROLLER: wireless Vive controllers, n INCLUDES: headsei (compatible Samsung
B CONTROLLER: Xbox One controller, set of 2 phones sold separately)
optional Touch controllers (available ■ TETHERED? 3-cord bundle from headset c CONTROLLER: touchpad on the side of
late 2016) to computer the headset, optional game pad (sold
HURDLES: Like Rift, Vive too requires separately)
some hefty computer specs. Download the ■TETHERED?no
HURDLES: only works with a selection of
new Samsung Galaxy phones

I
L-’-
__ ____ HBHHB
I makezine.com/virlually-reat

teak
i

PHYSICAL HARDWARE

I*
YOU NEED TO ENTER
THE VIRTUAL WORLD

r
( <

LEAP MOTION
The Leap Motion controller debuted
in 2012 to much fanfare, but little
mainstream adoption. However,
\ with the expanded Orion software
update and the resurgence of
interest in VR, the company is
poised to make our dreams of
cyberpunk virtual worlds a reality.
A The small USB-connected sensor
can interface with a variety of VR
systems and tracks hand and finger
positions to give you a virtual set of
hands to interact with what you see
XI ZSPACE inside the headset. - - ------
ZSpace is targeting education
with their blend of AR/VR for the - PRICE: $80 (or less online)
classroom. Four onboard cameras
track head movement using a
special pair of glasses and create a
DIMENSIONS: 5"«5 "*2"
CONTROLLER: hands! I
1V
Lx parallax effect as you move around.
Meanwhile, a stylus can be used
to manipulate objects and interact

ti
</> re. .1
with a 3D space that jumps off the
screen. Focusing on education, the
early killer app is Newton's Park,
where students can design Rube
Fl Goldberg-esque experiments to
learn basic physics principles
CORSAIR BULLDOG
While many systems can drive your
r PRICE: contact zSpace for pricing
VR experience, the Corsair Bulldog
DIMENSIONS: 25.4'x 16.5'x2.8"
elegantly blends in with your current
(footprint)
I A/V setup and is well ventilated
CONTROLLER: stylus
and spacious enough to house
high-end. HG10 bracket-equipped
graphics cards. A DIY kit is currently
available and includes an Intel-based
motherboard with DDR4 support,
but Corsair also plans to release

i -
Ji
© zSpace
fully built Bulldog units for sale this
summer, plus an upgraded DIY kit for
self-builds.

PRICE: $399 (DIY kit; GPU not

K ■ included. See corsair.com for
recommendations
DIMENSIONS: 15"x18"«5W
M0B0: Mini-ITX with Intel Z170
Chipset
COOLING: Hydro Series H5 SF
Liquid. r'Ol
CPUI Cnnlar
Cooler

— ——-
____________________ ___________________
makezine.com 45

■Hi
■

■ ■
___________ ——
 $12001 $2211221 VR/AR I ioO Cameras

■BBSBfli ■ CAPTURE THE WORLD IN 360° WITH

Hrw S1B ■ THESE NEW CAMERAS. THEN EXPLORE
SL JB fflUh THEM WITH Y0UR VR GEAR

meMuui
S
1
.S'
5
l _
ne of the fun. new experiences that software. Unfortunately that ease is offset
VR equipment has brought us is by the lack of resolution.
immersive 360° video and images.
' These can be enjoyed by simply holding MULTI-CAMERA RIGS
up and moving around your mobile device, Professionals tend to use rigs that include
using Google Cardboard, or even the latest multiple cameras, commonly GoPros, facing
and most advanced virtual reality headsets. different directions. You can buy these, or
Creating these, like any video or photo­ assemble your own with a 3D-prmtable 360° image of a 2012 Ferrari FF engine. Peek around

il graphy piece, can span from exceedingly

easy to complex high-quality systems.
frame found on Thingiverse or elsewhere.
There is a lot of variation in the number
12 cylinders and 600HP of beauty at carsupclose.com.

Currently there are two main types of and arrangement of cameras used, usually
360 VIDEO TIPS
cameras for this kind of imagery. Point-and- depending on the quality desired. Each Keep these notes in mind when filming 360
shoot units function like normal cameras; additional camera adds to the overall video or images.
more complicated rigs synchronize resolution captured, which translates into ■ Get out of the way1 We can see you standing
multiple cameras for richer detail or even there; remember that your audience can
clarity for the viewer. You can find some with
see everything
stereoscopic recording. as few as 6. and others with more than 16. ■ If you're doing a scripted video, don t go
When recording with a multi-camera crazy with trying to divert people's attention
POINT AND CLICK array, it is necessary to synchronize the in 360° Turning your head back and forth
gets annoying very quickly. Try to keep the
In the pomt-and-shoot-style arena, you'll cameras so that they all share exposure and
action in a 120° section and slowly transition
find that most options cost less than $500. shutter speed settings. The resultant video from one area to the next
Most popular are the 360 Fly, Kodak is then all brought into a software package
SP360, and the Ricoh Theta S. These and "stitched," giving a final high-definition
allow you to simply record and upload to video of the entire scene.
the 360-capable platform of your choice. An added benefit to the multi-camera
The ease of use is fantastic since you setups is the ability to double your cameras
don’t need to mess with multiple pieces of up for recording stereoscopic or 3D videos,
hardware, multiple batteries, or complex oo

ro

ro
o

rtf

5
3
i

360 Fly
Ricoh Theta S
KodakSP360
 makezme.com/virtually-real

LET’S
n(atT
/ our VR experience doesn't have to FEEL THE HEAT
v / J. be limited to twisting your head to whirlwindvr.com/pages/vortx
look at things and moving around Haunted houses have used pressurized air
joysticks on a game controller. Makers and to create fast scares for ages. The same
VR companies alike are already pushing the effect can add an exhilarating element
boundaries of where the virtual world ends to VR gameplay — short bursts of air for
and the real world begins. We re talking near-miss gunfire, larger for explosions.
temperature changes, creative controllers, At this year's Game Developer Conference
ambient wind, motion. Here are some ideas we spotted the Vortx (Figure @1. created
you can try to recreate in your VR setup. by Whirlwind VR. It goes further by adding
a heating feature, which lets you feel a
TAKE THE LEAP campfire's glow — or that dragon's breath.
revresh.com/paraparachute
Eward Hage and Kevin Derksen have A KICK IN THE BUTT
you strap on a real parachute harness If you just want an extra kick in the pants, try
to enhance their parachute simulator mounting a "tactile transducer'' (aka bass
(Figure ®). The finished rig, dubbed Para shaker) directly to your couch. These work
Parachute, uses a winch to lift the user by transmitting low frequency vibrations
off the ground, and then drops them from through whatever it's attached to. You can
a horizontal position to vertical dangling buy bass shakers (Figure ®). but it's easy
position when the parachute is released in to make them from scratch by hacking a
the game. With the Oculus Rift on your head subwoofer (there are some good tutorials
and your feet off the ground, it feels like the for this on YouTube). To get the most boom
£ real deal. This is just one example of how for your buck, mount your bass shaker to
| an item can be hacked into a controller with the biggest, most central piece of wood
S- the right sensors in order to completely
I transport the user. 3 in your couch or chair. Or for a standing
experience, you can build a simple wooden
o platform and attach the shaker to that.
m FLY LIKE A BIRD
o. somniacs.co GET UP AND GO!
I A team of interactive artists from the Zurich
S. University of the Arts wanted to capture
Systems like Infinadeck, Virtusphere
(Figure @), and CyberWalk are taking
X the firsthand experience of a bird flying steps to create platforms that will allow
f through a city, so they built Birdly (Figure
@). What really makes this special is the
you to actually walk around your virtual
environment. The basic principle is
f
8. motion platform that acts as both controller simple: You move in one direction and the
> and feedback. Lying on top of it, the user platform beneath you moves in the opposite

1 controls the direction and speed of their

flight through a simulated metropolis by
flapping and twisting a pair of outstretched
wings. As a fan blows in your face and the
direction, like a treadmill. Once you factor
in more than one direction you'll need to
get creative. So far we re seeing conveyor
belt systems that have an X- and Y-axis
s platform dips and leans along with your movement, and oversized hamster balls on
s? flight path, the game uses movement to
«■ wheels. No one has a perfect system (yet),
s create a full-body experience. Of being a so falling down should be something you
& bird, that is. take into consideration.© OO

makezine.com 47

i
 kill Builder £
TIPS AND TRICKS TO HELP EXPERTS AND AMATEURS ALIKE ■■I
Getting Started with Propane and : •

IRE EFFECTS 1
Learn the basics and build a low-pressure source for all kinds of flame projects!
WRITTEN BY TIM DEAGAN

PROPANE IS A WONDERFULLY COMMON FUEL SOURCE. You don't need extensive chemistry or engineering knowledge.
Blacksmiths and metal casters use propane to power My book Make: Fire will provide you with everything you need
torches; artists and makers use it to create flame effects to know to safely make use of this amazingly useful fuel.
like flambeau torches, flame cannons, Rubens' tubes, and Here's how to build a simple low-pressure propane source
other visual displays. It's available almost everywhere, is for all kinds of fun fire projects — along with an overview of
nontoxic and, given simple precautions, very safe to handle. the key equipment and some critical mistakes to avoid.

TIM DEAGAN
likes to make things. He casts, prints, adapted from Make:
screens, welds, brazes, bends. Fire, available at
screws, glues, nails, and dreams the Maker Shed
in his Austin, Texas, shop. A career
troubleshooter, he designs, writes,
(makershed.com) and
and debugs code to pay the bills. He fine bookstores.
has written for Make: magazine and
Nuts & Volts, Lotus Notes Advisor, and
Database Advisor.
 make<ine.com/52

ft
PROPERTIES OF PROPANE
Chemically, propane is extremely safe — nontoxic and noncarcinogenic. It’s colorless ■

and odorless. If you think you smell propane, you’re really smelling an additive like
ethyl mercaptan, put there so you can detect leaks.
(
Mechanically, propane is extremely dangerous because of the pressures and A propane cylinder
temperatures involved. Propane accidents can cause explosions, burns, frostbite, contains liquid
and asphyxiation. But compared to other fuels, these accidents are relatively easy to and vapor.
avoid with safe practices.

LIQUID AND VAPOR

FUEL-AIR MIXTURE At normal pressures, propane boils at -HQF I
.^■•'1 At normal temperatures and pressure, propane liquid will expand 270 times to l-42.2°CL So ordinarilyyou'll only encounter
unpressurized propane as vapor. Inside the cylinder
become vapor (Figure ©I. However, that vapor will mix with air (a combustible mix
at room temperature, the propane boils just until
is around 5% propane and 95% air) so that the amount of combustible vapor is much
it fills the empty headspace with enough vapor
larger than the propane vapor alone (Figure ©I.
to pressurize the system and keep the rest of the
propane liquid.
i

i;
o w
Comparing unpressurized vapor to cylinder sizes A 20 gal.
of liquid expands to 721ft3 of pure vapor. A 5 gal. of liquid
expands to 180ft3 of pure vapor.

© Mixed with air, the combustible mixture is 20 times larger than

propane vapor alone. A 20 gal. of liquid propane mixed with 5% air
creates 14,556ft3 of combustible vapor. A 5 gal. of liquid propane
mixed with 5% air creates 3,639ft3 of combustible vapor.
HEAVIER THAN AIR ' • • • • * ’•
Propane vapor is 1.5 times heavier than air. This causes
it to sink rather than rise. This is important. If an indoor
COMBUSTION
propane system leaks, the propane will pool in the bottom For most readers, the point of working with propane is to burn it!
of the room, potentially asphyxiating people or causing an » Propane requires a spark to ignite in air, unless the temperature is
explosive hazard. above 920°F (493°C],
» Propane will only burn in a specific propane-air percentage,

►l STRONG SOLVENT
generally between 2.1% and 10.1%.
» For propane to burn cleanly it must be 4.2% in proportion to
Liquid propane is an excellent solvent of
petroleum fractions, vegetable oils and fats, air. This is complete combustion, producing only carbon dioxide
natural rubber, and organic compounds of and water as byproducts (or stoichiometric combustion for you
sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Acetylene red chemists and word lovers).
> welding hose and other natural rubber hose
Less propane results in a lean burn, where the flames lift from the
■- is not appropriate for propane use due to its
composition, nor is any equipment with burner and try to go out. This is an oxidizing flame that introduces
rubber O-rings or seals. extra 02 into the atmosphere.
Propane does not corrode or dissolve
h 1
0J More propane gives a rich burn that creates large, yellow flames.
metals, polyvinyl chloride (PVCI, or polyethylene (PE) — but
its pressure and temperature may cause these materials to This is a reducing flame that will pull oxygen from the air. creating
tn

I fail (perhaps catastrophically). carbon monoxide (CO) and possibly soot [carbon).

makezine.com 49
 “Skill Builder r Getting Started with Propane and Fire Effects
■

n
4

BUILD>
A LOW-PRESSURE

PROPANE
SOURCE
Vs FFL

High Pressure
Gas Rated 10 Feet
Hose Minimum

'/* MIP

Pressure
2 % FIP
Outlet
Brass Bushing

¥• MIP

’/• FIP

’A Turn
Ball Valve
Shutoff
psi and allow you to safely build low-pressure O low-pressure source schematic diagram.
fire projects that will introduce you to skills dr I y. fip
like correctly assembling gas-rated fittings
CONSTRUCTION £ y. mip

I
and brazing.
Brass Adapter
I'm specifying high-pressure hose even You'll assemble the low-pressure source before
though this is a low-pressure source, because I attaching it to the cylinder. % MIP
believe it's dangerous to have a mix of high- and V. FIP
low-pressure hoses in your propane gear. The 1. Start by taping and threading both ends of the
Low Pressure
high-pressure hose works fine for low pressure 3/a" male-male brass adapter I®). Tighten one Regulator
but the reverse is most definitely not true. So end into the outlet of the low pressure regulator QCC
it's better to invest a little more and know that
your hoses work for all situations.
I® I and the other end into the ball valve (©I.
Ur OPD
a
Throughout my book, I present a schematic
and block diagram for every project. The
2. Tape the male-female brass bushing (@) with
yellow Teflon tape and thread it into the ball valve. I
f
Propane
schematic (Figure Ol conveys the essential Cylinder
function; the block diagram the specific parts 3. Tape the male threaded end of the hose I® I
(Figure 0).You can also use the block diagram and thread it into the bushing on the end of the e
I as an assembly guide ball valve. © low-pressure source block diagram.

50 makershed.com
 t

makezine.com/52 1 I'

LEAK TESTING Materials

1. Put your safety glasses on. Verify that the ball Propane cylinder, standard 20lb
(5gal)
valve is turned off. Propane regulator, low pressure
such as a gas BBQ regulator
2. Attach the regulator's QCC fitting to the propane Ball valve, gas rated, %" FIP *
%" FIP
cylinder without Teflon tape. If your regulator has a Propane hose, high pressure, '/<"
large plastic grip around the fitting, it is threaded by MIP x %" FFL
Brass bushing, %" MIP x FIP
hand. If there's no hand grip, tighten with a wrench, Brass bushing, W MIP x i/»" FIP
but do not overtighten; some regulators won't Teflon tape, yellow (gas-rated)
supply propane at all if overtightened. W flare plug fitting (optional)
to fit hose end. for leak testing

3. Open the cylinder valve alt the way and then back Tools
off about a half turn. Adjustable wrenches (2)
Safety glasses
Spray bottle
4. Using a little soapy water in your spray bottle, Dish soap
spray the fittings from the cylinder to the ball valve Towel

(Figure © ). Check for bubbles. If you see any,

depressurize and tighten the joint until they stop. A
valuable addition is a 3/e" flare plug to cap the end of TAPING AND TIGHTENING
the hose; this will allow you to test the ball valve-to- THREADED FITTINGS
hose connections as well.
TAPING JOINTS
5. Close the cylinder valve all the way and then I'm a taper, not a doper. Therefore, most of
open the ball valve to vent the line. the joints in my book, other than the flare
That's all there is to constructing a low-pressure fittings, rely on yellow Teflon tape to become
source for all kinds of fun flame projects. gas-tight. Taping a joint correctly is easy to
do. Four wraps of tape clockwise around the
fittings will do the job. Use your thumb to hold down
CAUTION
dontuse
the first wrap so it doesn't slip. Wrap with enough
tension to allow the threads to make a sharp
crease (but don't overdo itl, and don't let any tape
hang over the inner passageway of the fitting.
WHITE TEFLON TAPE. It's too thin, so it
When the wrapping is completed, pull the tape
shreds and clogs your valves and fittings.
until it breaks itself off at the back of the threads.
Use yellow gas-rated Teflon tape.
If you take apart a taped joint, use a wire brush
to get all of the old tape out of the threads (on both
CAST IRON BUSHINGS. They're too brittle;
the male and female sides of the joint). Never
they'll crack under torque, then leak gas.
retape over old tape. Tape is relatively cheap. Pull
Use brass bushings.
a joint apart and retape if you need to; it's better to use a
little extra tape than to have an unsafe joint.
HOSE CLAMPS. They're not rated for gas
pressures. Use pre-fitted propane rated
TIGHTENING
hose instead.
How tight should you tighten threaded fittings? Unfortunately,
the answer is. "Tight enough to stop the gas from leaking."
PLASTIC VALVES. Typically designed for
This isn't typically described in terms of torque — it's
water or other liquids at pressures far
something you develop a feel for. I typically tighten a taped
below gas ratings. Plastics may also be
NPT fitting until it starts to feel like it won't turn much more,
corroded by propane. Use brass valves.
I I and then I give it a turn or two more. That's vague, because the
difficulty varies tremendously between fittings (and people's
COMPRESSED AIR FITTINGS. They're
ideas of difficult). So tighten it and then leak-test under
5 I unrated for gas pressures, and they
pressure to get a feel for it.
f frequently have rubber seals that will
The important tip here is to always use a wrench to brace a
6 corrode under contact with propane. Use
gas-rated fittings with appropriate seals.
£ part you don't want to have move. Use the second wrench to
tighten the next part into it.

makezine.com 51
 ISkill. Builder
- -. - '
Fusion 360

.--j

Makey in red
MDF, milled on
SAMUEL BERNIER
is the creative director of Inventables' Carvey
le FabShop, a French design CNC machine.
and innovation firm. He's
also the designer behind
the popular elephant and
articulated Makey printables.
His first book. Design for 3D
Printing, is published
by Make:.

CNC MILLING WRITTEN BY SAMUEL BERNIER

with Fusion Turn a vector drawing into a wooden

bas-relief in this simple exercise

SOFTWARE IS A KEY PIECE OF DIGITAL like CNC milling with its computer-aided prepare complex designs for CNC milling.
FABRICATION. Numerous programs manufacturing (CAMI module. First create a Setup, where you select
exist that let you design digital models, If you want to learn Fusion 360 and are the type of milling you wish to do (Fusion
and others convert those models into coming from a 3D-modeling environment 360 also supports turning), specify the
commands for your specific machine, such as Inventor, Pro-Engineer, Catia, or stock's dimensions, and place the bit's
allowing it to produce physical builds. Solid Edge, the switch shouldn't be too starting point.
Autodesk's Fusion 360 has become one of painful. The biggest difference is using Next, apply a different type of
the go-to software options for makers that A360, Autodesk's cloud platform which successive milling operation (pocket
offers both of these elements. It is light houses and shares your designs. I like clearing, parallel, 2D contour, etc.I to clear
and intuitive while integrating computer- this feature, and even wonder now how the excess material. For each of these

I
assisted design (CAD) modules such as I lived without it, especially when I work operations, the proper tool (bull nose mill,
free-form modeling, rendering, assembly, with a team. ball end mill, chamfer mill. etc. — learn
and physical simulation. And you can Let's review the CAM module, which can more at makezine.com/go/endmills)
even use it to aid in fabrication processes export toolpaths in a variety of formats, to needs to be selected. If your tool isn't on

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Overall, Fusion 360 gives a great "design to manufacturing” experience. Here is a
the list, you can create a profile in the tool
library to add it. From there, you'll need
to make some choices, from the height
and tolerance of each pass, to the use of
i
simple exercise showing how I turned a vector drawing into a wooden bas-relief.
tabs — which keep your model in place
until you manually saw it out, rather than it
While you can easily import a large selection of 3D files directly into the Fusion 360 being carved loose and compromising its
workspace, it is currently very difficult to use embedded mesh volumes, such as STL
position while underway.
I or OBJ with the CAM module. While tools to convert mesh into solids do exist in the
Satisfied with the simulation of the
software, they won't work with large or complex files. Don't despair! Mesh modeling is
on the 2016 improvement schedule, but until then, it might be tricky to mill your favorite
Thingiverse designs.
generated toolpaths? Then just send it
to post-processing in a format your CNC
machine will recognize.
I
52 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52 I

O Fusion 360 can insert

an SVG drawing as a
sketch from a selected
plane. Here, I used a
vector drawing of our
beloved Makey.

c
0
'■■■ ..-I;
'^1 I-?.
fc.
MV
In this case, the second
toolpath is a 2D Contour
following the part's bottom
outline, using the same mill as
The first 3D toolpath the previous action. To keep
generated is an Adaptive the model locked in place
Clearing with a Vs" flat end until the end of the milling,
• r r. mill. The robot measures 6V2". you can enable the Tabs and

i
choose their shape, thickness,
The modeling tools are fairly and position. I set mine to
straightforward: You'll use triangular, 3mm wide, and with
0 Extrude, Revolve, Fillet, and a thickness of 0.75mm.
Mirror to create this 3D Makey.
Before importing your vector
file, create a sketch and draw
a line measuring the length
you would like your drawing
to be. This will facilitate more
accurate scaling. All closed
areas will appear in clear O
orange, which means they can
be used for 3D functions.
After the 2D Contour and the
Parallel pass, following the
Xaxis.

◄ o
4 For this milling, I used a
ShopBot Desktop with a board
of Valcromat MDF dyed red.
Here's the result after the
Adaptive clearing.

The last toolpath applied to

finish this model is a Parallel A little bit of sandpaper, clear
pass using a '/e" ball end mill. varnish to bring out the color,
The closer the passes, the and a laser-cut ''M'' is all you
better the result, but also the need to finish this awesome
longer it will take. An SBP file MDF Makey!

I was exported directly from

Fusion 360's Post
he Makey was easily
removed from the board,

1 Processing tool. using the tip of a flat

screwdriver to cut the Tabs.

makezine.com 53
 ^SkillBuilder [ Form with Foam

FORM WITH
FOAM
r . i.

Cl
I 1

I
I
A O
. 5a
How to cut, glue, and
finish styrofoam for F 1
custom creations
WRITTEN BY CALEB KRAFT

IN THE CUSTOM DRONE COMMUNITY,

THERE ARE FUN BODY MODIFICATIONS
MADE OF FOAM CALLED "FOAMIES."
These are shaped, lightweight bodies that
slips over your drone to give it a stylized
appearance. We've seen everything from
imaginative one-off aircraft to crazy
recreations of ships from Star Wars.
To build your own foamie for your drone,
you'll need to know how to cut, glue, and
finish foam. These guidelines are useful >■ . -I
not only for drone modifications, but for \' ◄ CUTTING AND SHAPING
any forms you'd like to create with foam.
For any custom body type, you're going to have to cut some foam.
For extruded polystyrene such as the blue foam board insulation,
you can cut it well with any sharp blade. Often it isn't even
necessary to cut all the way through, you can simply score it and
then snap along the scored line.
If you're going to cut a lot of foam, or desire to work with
expanded polystyrene, you'll want to get a hot wire cutter.
(Build your own at makezine.com/go/5-minute-foam-factory.)
These use a bit of electricity passed through a wire to produce
enough heat to cut smoothly through the foam. Cutting expanded
polystyrene without one is a nightmare — the knife will rip the
tiny balls loose, resulting in a jagged and messy cut.

CHOOSINGS
A FOAM
Walk into a hardware store, EXPANDED
and you'll be faced with
two main types of foam:
POLYSTYRENE POLYSTYRENE §
is easy to identify is typically pink or blue, and
extruded polystyrene and because it looks like comes in large sheets. It S.
expanded polystyrene. tons of tiny balls pressed cuts easily and can be sanded and §
together. It is lighter but much in
painted very well. It can be slightly heavier, a.
harder to shape and finish, so I will mainly but much easier to work with at home.
focus on extruded polystyrene.

s 54 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

'I

CALEB KRAFT .4 FINISHING

. - has created an assortment After you've cut the foam to your desired shape,
of foam bodies for R/C cars
and drones. None are pretty you can further refine things with simple
enough to share, but he's sandpaper. You can get very nice results sanding
teamed many lessons along extruded polystyrene with medium grit sandpaper.
the way.
Start with a low grit, like a PI00 to shape the body,
then work your way upward to a higher grit to get
the surface smoothness you want.
After your surface is reasonably smooth, you
can apply a material to it for proper aesthetics and
protection from bumps and bangs. While a prop
builder might go at this job with Bondo or other
automotive body putty, a drone customizer needs
to consider weight above all else.
Cl
C),

PEN/MARKER fl
mfWMmw
mam mimes
1 Sometimes you're perfectly fine
with it looking like a piece of foam.
School Sometimes the shapes themselves
GklCn AU-FUMFOJI
are enough to convey the custom
i
PAINT form you want.
GLUING A layer of paint can give the visual
appeal you're after without much
addition to weight. This option offers
two pieces of foam together can be more difficult the least protection, so rough
than it sounds. Do not use any glue that contains landings may leave your custom
a solvent. Solvents will eat through your foam, drone with some battle scars that
leaving visible dents and craters. Some glues aren't easily repairable.
also struggle to dry when not exposed to air.
which is exactly what happens when you're
sticking two sheets of foam together. 4
Gorilla glue dries quickly and adheres foam
together quite well. It expands as it dries,
so expect to clean up some edges. Don't be
surprised if you have big bulging yellow globs
I A LAYER OF
GLUE OR RESIN
around the perimeter after a few hours. Painting on a layer of PVA glue and
A neat trick that has surfaced in online forums - letting it harden will create a shell.

is to use a paint primer called "Gripper" by This won't be unbreakable armor, but
c
Glidden. It dries quickly and bonds sheets of will be slightly more robust than a
m simple layer of paint, at the expense
</<u» foam together as well as any glue. The resultant
bond can be sanded and cut just like normal. of a tiny bit of weight. You can then
§
paint on top of this.
No matter the method, you should apply
3
ch pressure to the two pieces of foam being joined
& to avoid any gaps that will become visible as you
cut shapes from your block.

makezine.com 55
PROJECTS rRaspberry^TWi^Fj Party Photo Booth

A Weekend

$15O-$2OO

o' Written by Kevin Osborn and Justin Shaw (Wyolum)

and Jenny Ching (Water tabs)
 I
—
makezine.com/52 I

Y... ", - »rf-;..-:.... ?■,,

Materials
» Raspberry Pl 3 single-board
computer with microSD Card
EVERYBODY LOVES CLOWNING IN A DIGITAL as the TouchSelfie, and tied it alt together with If you use an older model you'll
PHOTO BOOTH AT PARTIES AND WEDDINGS, need to add a Wi-Fi dongle.
a minimal set of mounting brackets you can 3D
» Raspberry Pi Camera Module
THEN SHARING THE PHOTOS ONLINE. But print lor laser-cut) to mount the whole thing on v2 (8MP) orvl (5MP)
who wants to risk a laptop getting doused with a tripod. You can also design and build your own » Raspberry Pi Touch Display,
margaritas or champagne? 7" with included standoffs,
amusing enclosure if you prefer. screws, and jumper wires
These days, cheap single-board computers » Mlcro-USB power supply tike
make it easy to roll your own standalone photo BUILD YOUR TOUCHSCREEN a wall phone charger or battery
pack — providing at least 2A
booth that can connect to the internet with no WI-FI PHOTO BOOTH at 5V for the Pi 3. or 700mA at
help from your precious PC. Here's a simple build First you'll set up the Pi with the right software, 5V for earlier, lower-powered
Pi models.
that's based on the Raspberry Pi mini computer then connect all the hardware. I like to use a » Machine screws, M2 5:
and Pi Camera Module. It's touchscreen- wireless keyboard for setup, but you can use a 10mm (2), 6mm (2) for the
controlled by partygoers, and it automatically tripod mount. Substitute two
wired keyboard, or after initial configuration, you 14mm and two 16mm If you
emails your photos (if you wish) and uploads can use SSH. make the tabletop mount.
them to Google Photos where anyone with the » Machine screws, M2 x 6mm
(4) for mounting the camera.
password can see and share. All the software is 1. CONFIGURE THE PI'S OPERATING You could also use double­
open source. SYSTEM sided foam tape, or M1.5*8mm
screws with nuts
Our gang at WyoLum originally made a If this is your first Pi project, follow the Quick Start » Mounting brackets and/or
Raspberry Pi photo booth to write custom images Guide at raspberrypi.org/help/quick-start-guide. enclosure (optional) You can
for E Ink badges at the Open Hardware Summit 3D print our desktop stand or
Download the latest version of Raspbian, the
tripod stand, and print or laser­
in 2013, pairing the Pi with our popular AlaMode official Linux operating system for Raspberry Pi, cut our camera mount: get the
files at github.com/wyolum/
Ardumo-compatible development board. The from raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian. TouchSelfie/tree/master/
touchscreen display we used (also used in the Then copy the Raspbian-Jessie.img file onto fabricate. Or mount the project
‘ PiPad" tablet in Make: Volume 38. makezme.com/ yourSD card (Figure @], using Apple Pi Baker your own way in an enclosure u
of your choice.
go/pipad) was nice, but expensive. Since then, (Mac) or Win32Disklmager (PCI. » Hex nut, ¥4-20 (optional)
the official Raspberry Pi Touchscreen has been Place the SD card in your Pi, and plug the Pi for the 3D-printed tripod
stand. For bigger enclosures,
released, and the new Raspberry Pi Model 3 has into a monitor and keyboard. Plug in your camera try a speaker tripod mounting
■ integrated Wi-Fi. Perfect for this project! module too (you'll connect the touchscreen later). bracket tike Yamaha #ADP138.
So we redesigned our OpenSelfie photo booth Now power up the Pi, open Terminal, and run
the command: Tools
» Computer with Internet

o
sudo raspi-config connection for initial setup of
ApplePi-Baker
c.
Follow the Setup Options [Figure @) to: the Raspberry Pi. You'll also
need free software to flash
a) Expand Filesystem, b) Enable Camera, the SD card: ApptePiBaker
W ni W> c| Change User Password, and d| set your for Macs (tweakmg4all.com/
software/macosx-software/
IW mad • Internationalization Options (locale/time zone). macosx-apple-pi-baker) or h
Now reboot the Pi. Win32Dlsklmager for PCs
(sourceforge.net/projects/
win32dlskimager).
’I
» Monitor, keyboard, and
[1 Expand Filesysten Ensures that all of the SD card storage is available to the OS mouse for setup only. Once
2 change User Password Change password for the default user (pi) the project's done, you can E
3 Enable Boot to Desktop/Scratch Choose whether to boot into a desktop environment, Scratch, or the command-' operate It using just the
4 internationalisation Options Set up language and regional settings to match your location
5 Enable Camera Enable this Pi to work with the Raspberry Pi Camera touchscreen.
6 Add to Rastrack Add this Pi to the online Raspberry Pi Hap (Rastrack) » 3D printer or laser cutter I t
7 Overclock Configure overclocking for your Pi (optional) if you're making our
{^Advanced Options Configure advanced settings custom brackets
/fSrlbout raspi-config Information about this configuration tool

______

r
F
KEVIN OSBORN lives JUSTIN SHAW JENNY CHING
in Boston. Massachusetts L cofounded WyoLum and studied at Loyola | ■
He started messing around ■FT > now lives in Washington. Marymount University
with computers when they Ka qc His training is in where she got her bachelor s
i! were still in big buildings , jj. - mathematics but lately in mechanical engineering
and soon after college was Wr he's been enamored with and minor in Chinese
making office appliances, interacting with the ’real (Mandarin) She is passionate
video games, and enterprise software. He about designing and building, and loves
1
world.' After experimenting with BASIC Stamp
ten
builds prototypes by day. and spends his nights and PIC microcontrollers, he came across the spending time working in the wood shop with
creating open source electronics Arduino platform and has never looked back. her dad. jennifeithing weebly.com
■f
makezine.com 57
 PROJECTS Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi Party Photo Booth

2. INSTALL THE REQUIRED like (Figure ©1.

PLATFORMS ON THE PI While your new project is selected, click on
Connect the Pi to your network (Wi-Fi or Credentials on the left menu, and then select the
Ethernet) and type the following commands: “OAuth consent screen" tab. You'll need to create
sudo apt-get update a "Product name shown to users." which can be
sudo apt-get install python-imaging anything you'd like (Figure ©).
sudo apt-get install python-gdata Now select the Credentials tab, select "OAuth
sudo apt-get install python-imaging- client ID." and click the "Create credentials"
tk pulldown. Select “Other" for Application type,

G sudo pip install --upgrade google-

api-python-client
name it "Installed," and click Create (Figure ©I.

»op £>□«<• otI

sudo apt-get install luakit
sudo update-alternatives --config
NOTE: You don't have to explicitly enable any
additional APIs; here you're dealing with basic
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx x-www-browser authentication and authorization which is used
This will provide you with a menu of browsers by every API, and the photo APIs haven't been
explicitly added Io the console.
to pick as the default; set it to luakit.
« Kaevn <•>«>«>•>*■* v4< rw ■»

NOTE
.:.t »■* r» •*.» uv

I We’re using luakit because Raspbian's Now you'll be able to see it in your list of
default browser doesn't work with Google 2-part credentials for this app. Select the "Installed"
authentication.
credential. Click the Download JSON button,
3. DOWNLOAD THE TOUCHSELFIE SCRIPTS and a file named something like client_
Still in Terminal, run: secret_ 90328409238409238xxxxx.json should
mkdir git download to your computer (Figure ©).
cd git Once it's completed downloading, rename the,
git clone https://github.com/wyolum/ file OpenSelfie.json (Figure ®), then drag and
g?
TouchSelfie drop it into the/home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/scripts
directory.
NOTE; Be sure that for the following steps

G you're continuing to use lhe web browser on your

Raspberry Pi / monitor setup.
7. CONNECT TOUCHSELFIE TO GOOGLE
PHOTOS
If you haven't already, connect the camera
RPI API Manager Credentials
4. SET UP YOUR GOOGLE PHOTOS ALBUM board to the Pi. Power up the Pi, open Terminal,
Go to google.com and create a Google account and run:
(or use your own account if you have one already]. cd /home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/scripts
a ctm
Then go to photos.google.com and create a new python ,/photobooth_gui.py
Album. You'll have to upload at least one photo to Since this is your first time running the photo
create it (Figure ©I. booth interface (GUI), it doesn't yet have the
proper credentials to connect to your Google
5. GET AN APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORD account. Your web browser will pop up; sign in
Visit myaccount.google.com/security and enable to Google (with the same email address and
Q 2-Step Verification. Then return to the same
page and click on "App passwords" to generate a
password you used to configure everything in the
previous steps], and then it will ask you whether
= Go g!c APIs Q. 16-character application password (Figure©]. your Pi photo booth can manipulate your photos
Write it down in a safe place. You'll use it later to (Figure©).
RPI API Manager Credentials
connect your photo booth to Google Photos. Click on Allow, and then it will display a long
string of numbers and letters. Copy this string
Create clem ID NOTE : If you lose the app password or forget and paste it into the Terminal window after the
it, don't worry; you'll just have to generate a prompt that says "Enter the Authentication Code"
ttpxuwi rn«

Web
new one. (Figure ©). Hit Enter, and if all is well your photo
Az>3r»a Ucxr
C**tXT* App • f 5 « booth will snap a photo and upload it to the album
FUyStMiOn 4
6. CREATE API KEYS WITH you have previously configured! (Or fail if you
GOOGLE DEVELOPER haven't set it yet.)
Km
While logged in to your account, visit console. An Album ID error will pop up, indicating that
...© developers.google.com. Click on Select a project
-> Create a project, and name it whatever you'd
you have not yet selected an album in your Google
photos account to send your photos to. Open

i 58 makershed.com
■

I
 r

makezine.com/52 j

__

another terminal window on the Pi and run: 9. ENABLE FULLSCREEN AND Credentials

cd /home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/scripts TOUCHSCREEN KEYBOARD

python ./listalbums.py Reopen the photobooth_gui.py file and remove the Ccwrloid JSOrO Reset secret Delete

Copy for write downl the ID number of the # symbol from the beginning of the line #root. Client ID for Other

album that you want to use. attributes("-fullscreen”,True) Now the

In the/home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/scripts folder, photo booth interface can run fullscreen on the
open up the openselfie.coni file. Here you will be Touch Display. 1
able to enter the album ID number: albumid = Once you connect your Pi 3 to the touchscreen,
XXXXXXXXXX (Figure 01. You can also use the you won't want to be lugging around your
configuration dialog from the main screen of the USB keyboard to type commands. To install a
photo booth GUI. touchscreen keyboard on your Pi, follow the step-
Fortunately, you only have to do this once! by-step instructions by ModMyPi at makezine,
After this it will remember the credentials and com/go/matchbox-keyboard.
periodically refresh them. The cached credentials
Go g‘c
are stored in a file called credenhals.dat, so if you 10. MAKE THE MOUNTING BRACKETS I
delete it, you'll have to do the web dance again, as (OPTIONAL)

b I
0 —„ — ,
long as your JSON file is still there. We created simple brackets you can 3D print
for standing your photo booth on a tabletop or
TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS mounting it on a standard tripod (Figure ©,
If you get an error that says "cannot connect to following page). You can also laser-cut the
Google Account," it's probably because Google camera mount from ’/u" acrylic if you prefer that Go.gle
periodically invalidates the credentials. To refresh look, but the 3D-printed version seems to hold
■VBFQ5xyEaB5tVJvnv9»WRr” '.'
them, try the following: up longer. Download the files from github.com/
» Double-check that you're connected to the wyolum/TouchSelfie/tree/master/fabncate.
internet » Tabletop mount Print the files camera_mount.
Fi.e Ecu Tabs Help
» Remove the file credentials.dat from the stl and PiTouchScreenStand.stl. This requires
scripts file folder using two M2.5x14mm and two M2.5x16mm
» Run:cd /home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/ screws. K
scripts » Tripod mount Jenny Ching at Make: created
» Run:python ./photobooth_gui.py an updated version of our tripod mount
» Allow access to Google Photos that's a great improvement. Print the files
» Re-enter credentials in Terminal window PiTouchScreenMount.stl and PiCameraMount.stl.
and use 10mm and 6mm M2.5 screws instead.
8. CUSTOMIZE MESSAGES AND LOGOS
While you're still in openselfie.conf (or the GUI 11. ASSEMBLE YOUR PHOTO BOOTH
configuration screen) you can also create a Fasten the Pi 3 and the Touch Display together
customized message for your event. Just edit the using the included screws and standoffs. Connect
text shown in italics here: the touchscreen's ribbon cable to the Pi headers
emailsubject = Subject Line of your marked "Display." Use a red jumper wire to
IM<«4
=
emaiL connect the touchscreen's 5V pm to the Pi's GPIO
emailmsg = Message that accompanies pin 2. Use a black wire to connect touchscreen
emaiL GND to Pi GPIO pin 6 (Figures 0 and Q).
photo caption = Photo caption on Thread the camera's ribbon cable through the
GoogLe Photos account slot in the camera mount. Plug it into the camera,
logopng = logo.png and affix the camera to the mount with the M2
albumid = XXXXXXXXXX screws (Figures 0 and @) or double-stick tape.
To customize the logo that's stamped on each Plug the camera cable into the Pi (Figure 0).
Maker Camp
photo, just save a new PNG file (1366x235 pixels, Fasten the tripod stand to the touchscreen . '.J
with transparency if you wish) in the folder/p// with M2.5x6mm screws (Figure Ol through the
git/TouchSelfie/scripts. Then run the photo booth 2 bottom holes. Then fasten the camera mount
again lphotobooth_gui.py] and click the Customize 2r«4i*v >'

button. In the pop-up window, next to "Logo File" TIP: If you use tape, be sure to connect the
br«<t>y
click the Browse button. Select your file, and click
cable first; at the Make: Labs our tape some­
Open. You should see a preview of your new logo.
times interfered with detecting the camera.
When you're done, click Done (Figure ©).

makezine.com 59
Ill

PROJECTS Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi Party Photo Booth

using M2.5*10mm screws through the top holes

c
in the stand (Figure ©).
5
Next, press-fit the ’/4-20 hex nut tightly into the
stand’s base and mount it to any standard camera I
tripod (Figure Oh
Finally, connect the Pi 3 to the wall charger or a
portable battery pack using the Micro-USB cable.
Your photo booth is complete!

NOTE: The portable battery must be

able to output 2A at 5V to power both the
touchscreen and Pi. It should also be rated at
least lO.OOOmAh to last through a long party
or event.

STRIKE A POSE
Your Raspberry Pi Photo Booth is ready for all
manner of festivities. Here's how to use it.

START UP
Open Terminal and run:
cd /home/pi/git/TouchSelfie/scripts
python ./photobooth_gui.py
When the photo booth launches, it will
automatically take a photo and upload to Google
Photos, to check that everything’s working. (If not.
you probably just need to refresh the credentials
— see "Troubleshooting Tips” page 59.)

TAKE AND SEND PHOTOS

To take a photo, tap the touchscreen anywhere on
the image. The photo booth will count down from
5 and then snap the picture (Figure ©I. Then
it will automatically upload the photo to Google
Photos on your Google account (Figure ©).
If you want to email the photo too, touch the
■white box next to the Send Email button. The
■touchscreen keyboard will pop up. Enter an email
[address, press the Close KB button to close out of
I the keyboard, then press Send Email to send the
I current photo to that address (Figure ®l
Touch the screen again to initiate the next
photo. And so on.
When your party is all said and done, log into
your Google account and view all your party
photos in Google Photos!

CUSTOMIZE MESSAGES
You can also edit thephotobooth_gui.py script to
display different on-screen messages during Your
party. For example, we uncommented line 165
(remove the # symbol from #can. create_text)
and edited it to prompt users "Tap here when
ready — but this could say anything you like'
60 makershed.com

k
 makezine.com/52 i

I 1 I————

BUILD YOUR OWN ENCLOSURE

Our 3D-printed mounts are very handy, but you
r ScndEm;

might prefer to build a fun enclosure to house

your new Raspberry Pi photo booth! To help you
design it, you can grab dimension drawings of
the Touch Display and the Camera Module on the
project page at makezme.com/go/raspberry-pi- Uploading Image
3-photo-booth. Jenny Ching at the Make: Labs
built an awesome jumbo SLR-style enclosure for
our photo booth, using plywood and round gift ________ ’.—I

boxes from The Container Store. ;tomee Open KB I YouiEmail@ gmail.com CSenclEmaPh
MORE FUN ENHANCEMENTS
Of course you’ll want to have props and masks
handy, but why not take it further? You could
add your own lighting effects, modify the code to
take multiple pictures in a row, or even add face
detection. We’re excited to see where you'll take
this project. O

See more photos, screenshots, and diagrams,

and share your build at makezine.com/go/
raspberry-pi-3-photo-booth.

Ml

makezine.com 61
 PROJECTS Monster Detector

Monster i
s
1

Detector
JAMES CHRIS
FLOYD JONES is
KELLY is a a software
<z>
CXJ
technology engineer in
writerand San Francisco,
—3
maker living who likes
in Atlanta with chess, cats,
Build a (pretend) bedtime scanner to repel
creepy critters - so easy a kid can operate it
i his wife and
two sons In
summer he
andcode

teaches tech
camps for kids

Time Required:
2-4 Hours
I Cost:
$30-$40

Materials
» Trinket microcontroller board,
5V version Adafruit Industries
#1501, adafruit.com
» NeoPixel Ring, 16 LED Adafruit
#1463
» Plastic project box, approx.
3"W x6”L « 2"H or make your
own enclosure
» Switch, momentary
pushbutton (normally open)
A big red one for tittle hands.
» Battery box, 3xAAA Adafruit
#727
» Batteries, AAA (3)
Hookup wire, or female
jumper wires (6) with
male headers (11) such as
Schmartboard #920-0007-01,
schmartboard.com
» Velcro tape or double-sided
tape
» Heat-shrink tubing or
electrical tape (optional)
» 3D-prlnted shell for NeoPixel
ring (optional) Download
the free STL file for printing at
makezlne.com/go/monster-
detector.

Tools
Computer with internet
connection and Ardulno IDE
software free from arduino.cc/
downloads
Soldering Iron s
Wire cutter/strlpper £
Drill or drill press s
V

» Drill bits: W and ’/a" o

m
» Solderless breadboard ra
(optional) s
3D printer (optional)
s
I

62 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

iki DO YOU HAVE A CHILD WHO WORRIES

ABOUT LURKING BEASTS IN HIS OR HER
BEDROOM? Are you weary of inspecting
closets for fanged creatures? Are your
knees sore from examining beneath the bed
for clawed critters?
and female jumper wires to connect all
electronics components. The flexible
jumper wires can easily be inserted onto the
headers and pulled off during programming
and testing. For this reason, the first
task I recommend is adding headers to
If so, then the Monster-B-Gone is just the the Trinket, the NeoPixel Ring, and the
solution you need to confirm a fiend-free pushbutton.
room for your youngster. Even better, it's The 3xAAA battery box also needs its V+
easy for kids to operate, requiring no adult and GND wires cut and trimmed. You can
supervision. just solder these trimmed wires directly
Just push the button — the swirling to their desired locations, but I prefer to
blue lights let your child know a scan of the add female jumper wire ends onto these
surroundings is taking place. Of course, the exposed wires to make them plug-able too.
blue light combines with a beyond-human­ The Trinket comes with its own set of
hearing ultrasonic wave (um. yeah, that's it), headers. Figure @ shows the Trinket
unpleasant to any monster's eyes, ears, or sitting on top of 10 non-soldered headers.
antennae. So any monsters within, say, half a To solder them, I used a small breadboard
mite (800 meters) will immediately disperse to hold the headers so the Trinket could be
—------- | and return to their places of origin. When the aligned on top.
light turns green, the room is clean. Next, add 3 headers to the NeoPixel Ring
If you so choose, the Monster Detector (Figure ©) at the following locations (they're
will occasionally detect a monster — red labeled on the backside): Power 5V DC,
alert! — but a subsequent scan will green­ Power Signal Ground, and Data Input.
light the room again. Whew. Children, Soldering headers to the pushbutton and
sleep tight. the battery box wires isn't required, but I
really find them easier to work with during
BUILD YOUR MONSTER-B-GONE the wiring stage: Figure © shows 2 male
The Monster-B-Gone is easy to assemble headers soldered onto the 2 legs of the
in a couple of hours, and costs less than pushbutton. Figure © shows the battery
$40. Basic soldering skills are required; an wires with female jumpers soldered on. I
understanding of simple circuits and basic used some shrink tubing to cover up the
electronics is useful, but not necessary if the solder joint, but electrical tape will work
steps are carefully followed. A drill press or just as well.
handheld electric drill is needed for part of Finally, add a glob of solder to two 3-pin
the assembly. headers to short them (Figure ©I. These
The NeoPixel LED ring used in this project are used to create shared connections for
can be mounted directly on the top of the 5V and GND that are needed for both the
project box, or you can 3D-print an optional NeoPixel Ring and the Trinket, as well as
shell for the LED ring. Holes will still need to a method for plugging the pushbutton into
be drilled through the top, but the shell gives the circuit. You can wrap the solder glob in
the project a more finished look. electrical tape, but leave the longer pins
Most of the project's parts can be exposed for connecting the jumper wires.
purchased from any local electronics
supply store, but a few will need to be 2. 3D-PRINT THE NEOPIXEL SHELL
ordered online. You'll also need an (OPTIONAL)
internet connection to download the free If you have access to a 3D printer, you
software used for the Monster-B-Gone's can print out the mounting shell for the
microcontroller (an Adafruit Trinket), and NeoPixel Ring. Download the STL file for
the Monster-B-Gone logo if an adhesive the shell from the project page at makezine,
sticker is desired. com/go/monster-detector. Figure © shows
the shell printed in purple.

I NOTE I If you don't have access to a 3D 1. PREPARE ELECTRONIC

COMPONENTS
>t
printer, services such as ponoko.com, 3. PREPARE THE PROJECT BOX
i.materialize.com. and shapeways.com For easier assembly and disassembly, I You'll need to drill a few holes in the project
will print the shell for you and ship it to
you for a fee. typically use a combination of headers box. Carefully place the NeoPixel Ring (with

makezine.com 63
 PROJECTS Monster Detector

headers) on the project box lid and make 3 5. ASSEMBLY 6. FINISHING TOUCHES
small marks where the headers touch the Before you assemble the Monster-B-Gone I created my own graphics for the top and
lid. Drill a ’4” hole at each mark, then test- in the project box, I highly recommend sides and had a local print shop print them
fit the NeoPixel Ring (and shell, if you're wiring everything up outside the box and for me on a vinyl sticker sheet. Then Make:
using it) and ensure the headers fit into the testing first. Pay careful attention to the illustrator Brandon Steen came up with
drilled holes (Figures 0 and ©). wiring; one misplaced wire could result the awesome purple monster design you
If the headers can be reached from in a damaged Trinket or NeoPixel LED, so see here. You can download the monster
beneath the lid. glue the shell to the project double-check all your connections against graphic from the project page at makezine,
box lid and set the NeoPixel Ring aside the wiring diagram (Figure 0). com/go/monster-detector.

i until final assembly. (If the headers can't be

reached, you may need to drill the holes a
Once everything is wired up. flip the
battery box switch to the On position (after UPGRADES
little larger.) inserting the batteries, of course) and Where to go from here9 An obvious choice
Next, decide where to place your press and hold the pushbutton (it takes a would be to add a sound effect. One easy
I pushbutton. I drilled a ’/z" hole in the left few seconds for the Trinket to boot up). You way would be to use an inexpensive sound
side of the project box (Figure O), but it should see a short animation of spinning recording module (such as RadioShack
could easily be mounted on the box lid blue lights, followed by the all-green "coast #2761323). Drill some tiny holes in the
beneath the location of the NeoPixel Ring. is clear" lights. project box, hot-glue the speaker in place,
If you're not seeing any animation, you’ll and wire the module's Play button directly
4. PROGRAM THE TRINKET want to check all your wiring again. If the to the Monster-B-Gone pushbutton so it
To program your Trinket, first you must Trinket is powering up (a solid green-yellow triggers your sound effect.
install the latest Arduino development LED stays lit when it's powered) but the And I've always liked the moving arms on
environment (IDE), version 1.6.9 at the time NeoPixel animation isn't playing, you've the "P.K.E. Meter'' in the movie Ghostbusters
of this writing, and update it to recognize the likely got a wire connected to the Trinket — a couple small servos could be easily
Trinket. Adafruit has detailed instructions incorrectly. Verify the Data Input header added, one per side, with holes drilled into
for this task at learn.adafruit.com/ on the NeoPixel Ring is connected to pin the project box for the shafts. Create an
introducing-trinket/introduction. Be sure to 0 on the Trinket. If you're still not seeing eye-catching "antenna" for each motor and
follow those steps related to your specific any animation, verify you've uploaded the you've got sound, lights, and motion.
operating system (Mac or Windows); MonsterBGone sketch to the Trinket. I hope you like the Monster-B-Gone.
Windows userswill also need to download Once you've got the animation playing Even better, I hope some children will find
special Trinket drivers. on the NeoPixel Ring, it's time to pull peace at night when their parents introduce
Once you've got your Trinket blinking everything apart and reassemble inside the them to this useful device. Imagination is
using the Flash test program, you're in good project box (Figure ©). Wire everything up a powerful thing, and giving a child a tool
shape. All you need to do now is replace the as before and use velcro or double-sided (and letting them help you make it!) to help
Flash sketch (program) with the modified tape to secure the battery box inside the combat an imaginary monster can turn a
Monster-B-Gone sketch. Download the file project box. You might also want to use a parent into an instant hero. Have fun1 O
MonsterBGone.ino from the project page at dab of hot glue (in place of tape) to secure
makezine.com/go/monster-detector, open the Trinket to one of the inner walls as well.
it in the Arduino IDE, then hit the Upload Use the project box's screws to secure the Download the project code, optional 3D file,
button to load it onto the Trinket. lid in place. and graphics, and share your build at
makezine.com/go/monster-detector.
64 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

>■

*• T
Pushbutton
switch
cuuitrh 3-header
CUSTOMIZE YOUR
II MONSTER SCAN
ANIMATION!
Trinket The Monster-B-Gone sketch is a modified version of the
C C Kaleidoscope Goggles sketch created by Adafruit. You can
red
;gnd,*0E easily open the sketch in the Arduino IDE and experiment with
different colors, patterns, and timing! To adjust the behavior of
Battery box c c the LEDs, just change the following values, found near the top of
black the source code, then upload your new version to the Trinket.

Female jumper wires 16) Scan Time

NeoPixel | Power By default, the "searching" spinner will be blue for a random
Power k ring 5VDC duration between 5 and 8 seconds, then will always change
to solid green. Lines 11 and 12 can be adjusted to make this
Data Input duration longer or shorter. Setting these to the same value will
effectively fix the duration.

11: #define MIN_SEARCH 5 // min possible

search animation (secs)
12: ftdefine MAX_SEARCH 8 // max possible
search animation (secs)

Finding Monsters!
Line 13 sets the probability of ’finding monsters." which will
cause a bright, solid red instead of green when the animation
finishes. To avoid terrifying children, this is set to a default of 0.
r
Setting it to 50 would cause monsters to be found half the time.

13: #define MONSTER_PCT 0 // chance of finding

monsters (percent [0-100])

Customize Colors
Lines 15 through 17 define the colors for each state. These are
RGB hex values similar to HTML/web colors, but do note that
the order is GRB (green-red-bluel, so 0xff0000 is green rather
than red. You can find HTML color tables online and experiment
with customizing all 3 colors.

15: ttdefine COLOR_SEARCH 0x0000ff // color of

search spinner (GGRRBB hex)
16: #define COLORJDKAY 0xff0000 // color
indicating NO MONSTERS (GGRRBB hex)
17: #define COLOR_NOTOK 0x00ff00 // color
indicating MONSTER FOUND (GGRRBB hex)

Spinner Animation
Lines 19 through 21 adjust various aspects of the spinner such
as its rotational speed and how long the "taper" of the spinner
extends across the ring. Note that the speed values here are in
milliseconds, so 1000 would be one second. Foot around with
these for your own custom animation style.

19: #define SPIN_SPEED 128 // search

animation speed (ms)
20: ttdefine SPINJ3ELAY 20 // timing delay
£ (ms)
21: Sdefine TAIL_LENGTH 33 // length of tail
§
"O of total ring (percent [0-100])
m
m SieEN —Chris Jones

makezine.com 65
 PROJECTS CNC a Qi Phone Charger

NOAH FEEHAN
(aka AKA) makes stuff with
hardware, software, and
spaces. He lives and works in
Brooklyn. New York, with his
lovely wife and pet dog.

Time Required: 4-6 Hours

Cost:$25-$45;
Materials
■ Hardwood, approximately 7" «4"xl"
such as walnut or mahogany
>. Wireless charging transmitter, QI
Standard, PCBA such as Adafrult #2162

CNC an Inductive or Deal Extreme #298892. PCBA just

means It's a bare circuit board ready to be
built Into your project.

Phone
» Wood finish I like mineral oil because it’s
nonconductive and easy to renew.

Tools
» Ruler
» Calipers Inexpensive, with depth
measurement

Charger
» CNC mill, with hold-down bolts or
clamps If you use bolts, you’ll also need a
drill to make bolt-holes In your workpiece.
» End mill, flat nose I use a 4-flute end
mill, which gives a slightly better finish.
» Handsaw
» Soldering Iron
» Sandpaper, fine I used 320 grit.
Design and mill an elegant charging » Hot glue gun
» Computer, with CAM and G-code
block for your Qi-compatible device software This project is very basic, so
you can use most any CAM you like. I find
CamBam to be a great balance of ease-
2.
m
JiQ.
of-use and depth-of-control. And I use
the excellent, open-source, free Universal I
G-code Sender.

66 makershed.com

i
 makezine.com/52 |

I MADE THIS LITTLE INDUCTIVE 5. PART AND REMOVE PIECE

CHARGER FOR MY QI-COMPATIBLE Finally, select the polyline that defines
PHONE in a few hours using basic tools the boundary of your charger and “part
and a mini CNC mill. Not having to plug off' the entire piece with another profile
and unplug my phone every time I get cut (Figure ©). I use the feature that
to work, or go to bed, is delightfully creates perimeter tabs to keep the piece
convenient! in place during this operation, then I
This project is ideal for honing your finish up by cutting the tabs manually.
skills if you're just starting out with
your CNC mill. It gets even easier the 6. SAND AND OIL
second and third times you try it, and Sand the edges, wipe clean, then soak a
these chargers make great gifts — clean rag in mineral oil and gently wipe
beautiful, unusual, and useful. Here's it into all visible surfaces and leave it to
an overview; you'll find complete soak in. Mineral oil is nonconductive, so
instructions online at makezine.com/ you can oil the board side too.
go/cnc-qi-phone-charger.
7. INSTALL THE COIL AND BOARD
1. DESIGN YOUR CHARGER Place the coil into the cavity, with the
Carefully measure your wood lat its gray ferromagnetic side facing you,
thickest point], phone, Qi coil, and PCB and route the wires up through the
to make sure they'll all fit. Input the channels you milled. Gently press the
dimensions into your CAM program. coil flat and run a bead of hot glue
around the edge (Figure ©).
2. FACE THE WOOD Next, re-solder the coil wires to the
First is a facing operation: mill 0.25mm charging board, and then glue the board
off the top and bottom surfaces of your in place.
workpiece. Repeat if necessary to get Finally, plug a cable into the USB
level, smooth faces. connector (to keep glue outl, then glue
the connector in place. Press the wires
3. MILL THE POCKETS flat into the channel, glue them in place
Next come the pocket cuts — removing (Figure ©), and re-solder these wires to
material inside an outline [Figure @J the board too.
For the coil pocket, calculate the center
of your workpiece in the CAM program 8. CHARGE UP
and place a circle slightly larger than Plug the USB cable into power, and
the coil, plus 2 tiny circles overlapping place a phone on top. If you see the
it, to accommodate the wires. "charging" animation on your phone,
The board pocket overlaps the coil congratulations — you're done!
pocket, but I didn't want to waste time
cutting air. So I used the Break at GOING FURTHER
Intersections function to select only Once you've modeled this project in your
the polylines that comprised the actual CAM of choice, it’s easy to experiment
material I'd need to remove on either with different woods, different shapes,
side of the coil pocket (Figure ©I. making the charging LEDs visible, and
Finally, mill the pocket for the USB port. so on.
And if you make a really cool one, I'd
4. PROFILE FOR FIT love to see a picture of it — please let me
Test-fit the components. If they're a bit know in the comments on the project
snug, create a new outline by joining page online! O
the perimeters of all your pockets.
Then use the profile operation — cutting
S on an outline — and set a "roughing
Get the complete how-to
clearance" or “offset" (I used -0.1mm) instructions, including detailed CAM
to mill all around the inside of the cavity tips, and share your build on the
and smooth rough edges (Figure ©). project page at makezine.com/go/
cnc-qi-phone-charger.

makezine.com 67
 EVERYONE ENJOYED PLAYING IN THE
MUD AS KIDS, RIGHT? Well, that's what you
get to do with hikaru dorodango ("shining
mud ball" in Japanese!. Except that instead
of washing the mud away, you create
something beautiful and unique with it — an
earthen sphere that can be polished to an
amazingly high shine. You may also form
a surprisingly strong affection for your
artwork despite its mundane origins.
Professor Fumio Kayo of the Kyoto
University of Education has published
an easy method that anyone can follow.
He used dorodango to study children's
developmental psychology, and found that
they would become attached to their mud
>'•
.i and put tremendous effort into shaping and
I polishing their dorodango.

1. MAKE YOUR MUD

Choose dirt that's free of rocks and twigs.
| Different textures or colors can create a very |
different final product. Mix your dirt with a I
little water in a clean bucket until you create
mud about the consistency of dough. I
 makezine.com/52

2. FORM YOUR CORE longer for moisture to condense Time Required:

Take a handful of mud and on the sphere's surface. A Weekend
jostle, roll, and gently Cost
shake it to bring water / k 5. DUST YOUR $0
to the surface as you / a DORODANGO
shape it into a smooth, | ■ Now you need a finer Materials
» Dirt
round core with a ■ ' -ii particulate of dirt. To
■ see if your dirt is fine » Water
diameter of roughly ■
» A display stand (optional)
4" (Figure ©I. Fix any 1 f enough, pat it gently.
protrusions or depres­ If your hand has a fine Tools
layer of dust on it, you're » Buckets or containers for your dirt
sions, or they will affect the
and mud
final shape. Add more dirt as good to go. If not, keep » Screen or sifter if you don’t have dirt
needed to help absorb some sifting. With the layer of dust of a fine particulate
of the moisture. Your sphere on your hand, apply it all » Plastic bags

should become sticky to the TIP: over your sphere's surface.

» Soft cloth

touch, like paste. A refrigerator can Use the thumb-and-mdex-

speed the "sweat"
process, but be careful finger technique used in
3. ADD A LAYER not to over-chill — it Step 3 to remove excess
Take a handful of fine dirt could turn the bottom dirt. Gently rub dust into the
of your dorodango
and sprinkle it over the back into mud. For the surface until it becomes dry.
sphere's surface. Continue first few sweats in the The sphere should now
to shape it as you rub the fridge. 20-30 minutes feel dry and dusty. Place
is enough After the
dirt onto it. which helps to third or fourth sweat it in a new, dry plastic bag
pull moisture out. While you can up the time to and leave it for a longer
rubbing the dirt in, I use the 1-2 hours. If you need sweat; try putting it in the
an extended break, bag
curvature at the base of my your sphere and store it fridge overnight.
thumb to brush off excess in a cool, dry area on a Continue dusting
dust, rolling the ball with soft surface. until you've removed all
the left hand, shaping it with moisture from the sphere's
the right (Figure ©). Don't rub so much surface. You can tell you've achieved this
that you remove the added dirt or top layer once dust no longer sticks. Afterward,
already there. Continue this process to dry place your sphere in a new bag for one
out the surface. final sweat.
Now it becomes harder to fix depressions
and protrusions, so take care not to drop or 6. MAKE IT SHINE
smack your sphere. If the surface cracks, Remove the sphere, add another layer of
add a bit of water to smooth it over. Once it dust, and gently rub it in. Now grab a nice
is dry and firm enough to retain its shape, soft cloth and proceed to very gently polish
it's ready for the sauna. it. If this creates scratches or marks, your
sphere is still too wet. Repeat Step 5. If it
4. CREATE A DORODANGO SAUNA looks fine after polishing for 10-20 minutes,
Put your dorodango in a plastic bag (Figure you can apply more force.
©I and lay it on a soft surface such as a I had to polish my sphere for over an
folded towel. Leave it in the bag for about hour before it shone. But the next day, it
half an hour — enough time for moisture to lost some of its luster because it still had
condense on the surface of the sphere and I moisture that had surfaced overnight. I
the bag. repeated this step and ended up with a
Remove the ball from the bag and repeat beautiful hikaru dorodango (Figure ©). And
Step 3, drying out the surface again. Then it has retained its luster. I am now addicted
replace it in the bag for another "sweat.” to making dorodango. Every chance I get, I
Do this about 10 times, until it feels right. love teaching my friends and family how to
Each time you repeat Steps 3 and 4, it takes make them.©
Q.

s
Si
in
To see more step-by-step photos and share your own hikaru dorodango, visit the project
page at makezine.com/go/hikaru-dorodango.

makezine.com 69
 I’M A BOATBUILDER, SO WHEN MY
OLDEST NEPHEW WAS ABOUT 5 YEARS
OLD I DECIDED HE REALLY NEEDED A
KID-SIZED KAYAK. I wanted it to be fun
to paddle, easy to handle, lightweight,
inexpensive, and straightforward to build,
using "real" boatbuilding methods and only
a single sheet of marine plywood.
I used a "stitch and glue" building
method, where plywood panels are wired
together then glued with epoxy and
reinforced with fiberglass. The result is
lightweight, strong, and durable, and shows
off the wood nicely.
Of course, kids this young should
never be on the water without close adult
supervision, so think of this project more as
a pool toy than a mode of transportation.

THE DESIGN
I design in Maxsurf naval architecture
software, which can "unroll" 3D surfaces
into flat 2D panels. I transferred the panels
into a CAD package, arranged them on a
single 4'x8' sheet, and laid out the holes for
 makezine.com/52

the wire stitches. The resulting DXF file was the deck, and let it cure overnight.
NICK SCHADE
------ sent to a CNC shop to cut out of plywood. You'll want to get the fabric as smooth as likes to go out on the big
The cockpit is relatively big so there's no possible — I use a dry chip brush to remove ocean in small boats,
2=2 risk of getting trapped. I made the front deck wrinkles — before adding the resin. Once so he started Guillemot
Kayaks, where he designs
■ high for legroom, and gave it a bit of "V" to mixed, the resin starts to cure, so it's best
small, car-toppable.
222Z22Z shed water. I left the back deck simple and to mix small batches and use them quickly. wooden boats for DIY boat builders and
Z2TZ22 flat, extending it up in front of the cockpit Spread the resin evenly with a plastic makes custom boats for those who don't
= a little to make it easy to add a coaming, squeegee [Figure ©), and scrape off any want to do it themselves.
■ — which serves as reinforcement and gives excess into a "grunge cup" receptacle. Use
222222= the kayak a more finished look. With a little a brush to smooth any bridges in the cloth.
= upward sweep at the ends of the sheer to Properly saturated fiberglass should have Time Required;
---- cut through waves, I had a cute, classy little a distinct weave texture with only enough 2 Weeks (of Evenings)
= kayak that's made from only 6 panels: the resin to completely wet the fabric, not leave Cost
=2 bottom, 2 identical sides, 2 identical front it shiny. Too little resin and the layup will lose $15O-$3OO
^22= deck pieces, and the back deck. strength, too much and it will gain weight.
Next, align the deck on the hull using Materials
= THE BUILD strapping tape (Figure ©), then attach it » Okoume marine plywood, 4mm, 4' * 8'
sheet This Is standard thickness, but 3mm
You'll find detailed instructions and a PDF using fiberglass tape and epoxy along the would be lighter and probably strong
222=22 of the plans at the project page online. inside seam. Finally, round over all the enough for a kid's boat.
» Wood board, 2"x3"x60" to make a
■ makezme.com/go/kid-sized-kayak. Here's sharp exterior edges using a block plane, paddle
------ an overview of the key steps: then lay the exterior fiberglass — hull first, » Epoxy resin
then deck — and let cure (Figure ©). » Copper wire
STITCHING » Scrap wood
» Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue and accelerant
The kayak is assembled with copper wire FILL COATS
» Wood flour for the "dookie schmutz"
serving as temporary clamps. Push lengths After installing the raised cockpit coaming mixture
of wire through the pre-drilled stitch holes, (I describe two methods on the project page » Fiberglass cloth, 4oz, 50" wide, about
6 yards
then twist them to tighten the pieces into online), I gave the whole kayak a "fill coat" of
» Fiberglass cloth tape, 3" wide
place (Figure ©I. Before stitching. I chose epoxy resin. Creating a smooth finish is all » Varnish or paint
to stain my kayak, followed by a quick in the prep work: sanding. Start with coarse » Upholstery foam
protective coat of epoxy, but this is optional. 60 grit sandpaper to quickly level the epoxy, » Stain, alcohol based (optional)

GLUING
without actually sanding into the fiberglass
Tools
itself. Then move on to 120 grit, then 220. » Jigsaw or CNC router (optional)
To "spot-weld" the panels together, apply or send the plans to a CNC shop to cut
With a couple of fill coats I quickly got a nice them for you
several small dots of cyanoacrylate (CAI surface using a random orbital sander. » Pliers
glue between each wire stitch (Figure ©I. » Wire cutters
followed by a light mist of glue accelerant. PAINT OR VARNISH » Zip-lock bag, Igal
» Plastic spoon
Then remove all the stitches by clipping Ultraviolet light will eventually break down
» Plastic squeegee
them with wire cutters on the inside and epoxy resin, exposing the fiberglass and
» Chip brush
pulling them from the outside. You now have ultimately delaminating from the wood. » Utility knife or scissors
the 2 basic pieces: the hull and the deck. Prevent this with paint or varnish. I built up 3 » Disposable cups
coats of varnish with light sandings between. » Stirring sticks
JOINT FILLETS » Packing tape, filament style
» Masking tape
To strengthen the hull's sharp-angled joints, FINISHING TOUCHES
» Permanent marker
you'll use liquid joinery to create a structural Chunks of foam were glued in place with » Waxed paper
fillet that transitions stresses smoothly contact cement to make a seat, and more » Block plane
between the panels. To do this, make the foam shoved into the ends for flotation. I » Sandpaper: 60,120, and 220 grit
mixture of epoxy resin and wood ''flour" — also made a quick little Greenland inuit- » Random orbital sander
» Dust mask or respirator
very fine sawdust — known to boat makers style kayak paddle out of a piece of 2x3.
» Disposable gloves
as "dookie schmutz." Squeeze a ’A" bead of » Drill (optional)
schmutz (I use a gallon zip-lock bag with a UPGRADES » Cotton swabs (optional) for touching
corner cut off) into each seam and shape it I found that the kids were sliding sideways up stain
with the back of a plastic spoon (Figure ©I. in the seat, which threw off their balance,
so I created a horseshoe-shaped seatback
FIBERGLASSING to keep them centered. I also updated the
Get the PDF plans and step-by-step
Apply the fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin in coaming design to make the boat easier to instructions, and share your build, at
sections, starting with the hull interior and build. Let me know how yours goes! O makezine.com/go/kid-sized-kayak.

makezine.com 71
 PROJECTS Light Switch Turner Onner

Flippin’ Sweet ■■ ^Hi Written by Oifk Swart and Vel Pendell

Use a servo to flick a light switch mechanically - without ever
touching 110 V power - with this Wi-Fi "Turner Onner”

© Si

' it
_ J

0
o
0

___________ _____
72 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52 |

HERE'S THE PROBLEM: You have a light web page to your local network. You flip DIRK SWART is a
co-founder of Wicked
switch on your wall that you want to control the switch by accessing this web page and Device LLC. a maker of fun
over the internet. But you don't want to pushing On and Off buttons there. If you electronic kits
mess with the house wiring — scary! — or want to control it outside your local network
damage the switch. What do you do? (over the internet from anywhere) you need
Answer: Use a mechanical, motor-driven to set up port forwarding on your router. VEL PENDELL has
"finger" to flick the switch for you. As a
bonus, you can still flip the switch normally,
and can easily remove it when you're done,
(For security reasons this may or may not
be a good idea; we leave that to you.)
Here's how to make it.
ft a bachelor's degree in
engineering physics from
Cornell University and
enjoys tinkering with
— essential if you rent your home. As with electromechanical toys
many engineering problems, it's a tradeoff 1. RIG THE PLEXIGLASS SLED FOR
— you have an "internet thing" externally YOUR SWITCH
Time Required: 2-3 Hours
attached to your light switch. But if you don't You can buy our kit. or cut your own parts
Cost $25-$4O
want to mess with house current or open from '/e"-thick acrylic; just download the
up the light switch to conceal the apparatus, templates (Figure ©I from the project page
this is the way to go. It's fun to have a at makezine.com/go/light-switch-turner-
Materials
» Turner Onner kit $30 from
tiny robot dedicated to flipping a switch onner. There are 2 common types of light wickeddevice.com/turneronner.
Includes all the following parts.
whenever you say! switch, the flat rocker and the vertical lever
— OR-
You control the Turner Onner over or toggle, and we provide templates for each You can easily source the parts
your smartphone or computer, using the type. The principle is the same in both cases separately:
provided code. And it's self contained — it (Figures© and 0). » Mini servomotor, Turnigy 9g
Don't use knock-offs — they're not
doesn't use a base station, and you don't Assemble either the rocker sled (Figure powerful enough.
need to sign up to any services (or hope that ®) or the lever sled (Figure ©), using » NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi
microcontroller board
any third party remains in business) for your the two M3 screws and captive nuts. For
» Mini breadboard, adhesive backed
switch to continue working! the lever sled, also check which pair of » USB power supply with Mlcro-USB
The Turner Onner simply publishes a mounting holes is the correct distance cable
» Plexiglass cutouts, '/a" (3mm)
for lever style switches and/or flat
rocker style switches. The kit includes
both. Or you can cut your own; we're
sharing the cut flies on the project page
at makezme.com/go/bght-switch-
turner-onner.
» Machine screws, M3 xlOmm, with
nuts (2) for assembling plexi cutout
» Small cable ties (2) or machine
screws, M2xl0mm, with nuts (2) for
mounting servo: kit includes both

o » Switch faceplate mounting screws

(2) a little longer than your original
screws

Tools
» Phillips screwdriver, small
» Super glue aka or cyanoacrylate
(CA) glue
>> Computer with Internet connection
and free software:
■ Arduino IDE Get the latest version
from arduino.cc/downloads.
• ESP8266 support for Arduino IDE
from github com/esp8266/Ardumo
• Turner Onner project code
from github.com/WiCkedDevice/
TurnerOnnerFirmware

I
i
3-

makezine.com 73
 PROJECTS Light Switch Turner Onner

apart for your switch plate; these come in Now go to Go to Tools -> Board -> Boards
a "home" size, where the holes are closer Manager. Scroll down to the ESP8266
together, and a larger “office" spacing. listing, click anywhere in that block, and
then click Install (Figure ©I. That takes a
2. ADD A SERVO AND "FINGER” few minutes. When it's done, click Close and
For the flat rocker switch, the servomotor restart the Arduino IDE so the settings can
lies flat, parallel to the wall; mount it to the be refreshed.
sled using the two M2 screws (Figures ©
and ©). For the lever type, you'll mount 5. PROGRAM THE
the servo vertically using 2 small cable ties MICROCONTROLLER
(Figure ©I. This means the flat switch ends Download the Turner Onner project
up looking nicer than the lever kind, but you code from github.com/WickedDevice/
probably can't choose your switches. TurnerOnnerFirmware. It's based on a
Super-glue the acrylic servo ''finger" simple ESP8266 Web Server program. To
to the servo horn (Figures O arid @). modify the sketch to add your own Wi-Fi
Again, there are 2 different kinds of finger, network, just open it in the Arduino IDE and
depending on your switch. find these 2 lines:
const char *ssid =
3. INSERT MICROCONTROLLER const char *password = '
You could use a service that proxies to and add your network name (SSID) and
the internet for you, but we prefer using password inside the quotation marks.
a super simple web server on your own Change the board type to NodeMCU 1.0
local network. So we chose the ESP8266 wth Tools -» Board -> Node MCU 1.0 (ESP =
NodeMCU, a nifty little $4 microcontroller 12E Module). Hit the Verify button and it
with built-in Wi-Fi. Plug it into the mini should compile with no problems. Be aware -------
breadboard, peel the adhesive, and stick the that doing this erases the NodeMCU, and if -------
breadboard to the sled next to the servo. you want to use Lua to program this board, -------
The only thing you need to wire up is the you'll need to reflash it. The board is now ____
servomotor. You can cut the end off the Arduino-ized (cue maniacal laughter!). ___
servo cable, split the wires apart, and just Finally, connect your board to your ZZZZ
poke them into the breadboard. Or add a computer using the Micro-USB connector. ZZZZ
3-pin male header to the connector (Figures If you have a Mac or Windows 10, it should ZZZ
© and ©1 — lucky for us, alt 3 pins are next register within a few seconds. (Windows 7 IZ/Z
to each other. It's really simple: can take several minutes.) Eventually you'll
see the relevant port under Tools -> Port. TZZZ
MCU SERVO
Select it. 2ZZZ
Ground Ground Hit the Upload button and wait for it to say ZZ2ZZ
li------- 3v3 Power "Upload complete."
I____
;__ D4 Signal
6. CONNECT TO THE INTERNET
4. ADD ESP8266 SUPPORT TO YOUR You're all set. The only problem left is
ARDUINO IDE finding out the IP address that your router
The final step before testing is to add your has given to your tiny new web server. In
network credentials to the code and upload the Arduino IDE, click the Serial Monitor
it to the NodeMCU. That requires the button at top right, and make sure the
Arduino development environment (make speed is 115200, or you'll just get garbage.
sure yours is up to date) with the ESP8266 Connecting the serial port automatically
board package. resets the NodeMCU.
To install the Arduino ESP8266 support Stuff will be printed to the serial port,
files from github.com/esp8266/Arduino, including the IP address (Figure ©I —
just open the Arduino IDE, go to File -> probably something like 192.168.1.3 (the
Preferences and look for “Additional Boards last two digits are probably different).
Manager URLs." Enter the URL http:// Point your web browser to that IP address
arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_ by cutting and pasting it into the address bar
esp8266com_index. j son (Figure ©) and just like a normal URL. Voila — the Turner
then click OK. Onner web page (Figure ©I! You should be

74 makershed.com
!
 makezine.com/52

Prt<er»ncei
O Boards Manager x
location
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00*0 far uoi>v> cn icarlo

Click in this block, then click install
Generic ESP0264 Module. Ohm«x MOD-Win-l$P0246(-OEV). NodoMCU 0.9 (ESP-12 Modulo). NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-121 Module).
osTTi 1*1 S tew rsmcr'cn w-e (pd» •> no) Adefrurt HUZZAH ESP0244 (ESP-12), ESPreno Ute 1.0. ESPreno Ute 2 0. SperkFun Th ng. SweetPee ESP-210. WeMoi DI.
d -rm vw *. rr) v trfradng WeMot DI mini, ESPino (ESP-12 Module). ESPmo (WROOM-02 Module). WJInfo, ESPDuino.

1*03tmi: CcurOi MjrjQer (.Pci htfa //jrOuro •spftXA cc-Vi’JCb.tzc*rtiti ,-scn

C WMrVW»WcOJ'J'UX*'WO.rol5\ja'crC’Xoi t»t
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Mo*e info

Instating...

& COM4
I 0
<- C . 10.00.14
I
c 1 let; I El a IlEEDEDL ICb 1I, DIET r bGCt-Zc nnz 1 n.iz A iCbC? i Z1 r 1 r IponftOTD.OlCG^rEt
Welcome to the Amazing Turner Onner!
Connected to NT78
IP address: 10.0.0.14 ElEliSl
MDBS responder started
HTTP server started
servo attached
©

— all set. Go ahead and try out your new On

and Off buttons.

7. ADD POWER AND START

FLIPPING
We have to get power from somewhere.
Since we don't want to get it from the 110V
supply, there are two choices: battery or a
0
wall-wart power adapter. The wall-wart is a
0
little unsightly, but it will operate indefinitely.
Plug it into the NodeMCU (Figures © and
Whoo! You're off to the races.

- KID FRIENDLY
— Because the Turner Onner draws only
-------- minimal power from USB, it's safe for kids'
-------- rooms. Try decorating the servo finger
-------- with a robot hand, dragon claw, superhero,
-------- or other favorite character that will move
-------- when the Turner Onner flips. Or just get HOME AUTOMATION TRICKS
-------- a fun robot switch plate, like this one
-------- that we found at Maker Faire Bay Area,
-------- made by Natalie McKean, etsy.com/shop/
-------- natalierobots.
Questions? Ask us at supportOwicked-
device.com. And have a great time flipping
§ your Turner Onner. ©
>.
o
/V
f OPENHAB HOME
AUTOMATION SYSTEM
VOICE CONTROL WITH
RASPBERRY PI
BLUETOOTH SMART
LIGHTSWITCH
Build a Raspberry Pi touchscreen Bark orders and behold, as your Don’t wanna Wi-Fi? Control lamps
<p Get the templates for cutting and share computer, your Roomba, even
command center to control “smart and other AC devices directly via
in your build at makezine.com/go/light- home” products and your own Wi­ your light bulbs obey your spoken Bluetooth, using your phone and a
£■
switch-turner-onner. Fi projects (like the Turner Onner). commands. PowerSwitch Tail.

Find these and other home automation projects at makezine.com/projects

makezine.com 75
 PROJECTS PiKon Telescope
r
THE PIKON TELESCOPE IS A DIY ASTRO­
CAMERA YOU CAN EASILY BUILD AT
home, based on two disruptive technologies:
3D printing and Raspberry Pi cameras.
Andy Kirby and I started it as a project for
Sheffield University's "Festival of the Mind”
in September 2014 (with much duct tape and
over-engineering!). We wanted to show how
these technologies could put a homemade
reflector telescope within the reach of anyone.
The response was fantastic, with national
press coverage in the U.K., and a successful
Indiegogo campaign partnering with Darren
Barker and WeDo3DPrinting in Sheffield.
We're now offering everything from 3D files
to a complete kit with 3D-printed components
and optics. We even offer fully built PiKons for
those who just want to create Raspberry Pi
programs for astronomy. But we're sharing
our design and 3D files freely because we
hope to establish a community where makers,
astronomers, Pi programmers, and educators
can share information, experiences, and of
course, images.

HOW IT WORKS
Written by Mark Wrigley The PiKon telescope is based on the Newtonian
reflecting telescope. This 350-year-old design
uses a concave mirror (objective) to form an
image, which is examined using an eyepiece.
The objective mirror is mounted in a tube and
a secondary mirror is placed in the optical path

A 3D-Printed Telescope at a 45° angle to allow the image to be viewed

from the side of the tube.

if with Raspberry Pi The PiKon telescope is similar, but the image

formed by the objective is focused onto a digital
camera sensor instead (Figure ©I. Because of
Build your own 12OX astro-cam using printed the small size of the Pi camera board (25mm x
z components and the Pi Camera Module 25mm), we can mount it directly in the optical
path at prime focus. The amount of light lost
by doing this is similar to the losses caused
by mounting the 45° mirror in a conventional
Newtonian design.

f BUILDING YOUR OWN PIKON

The PiKon telescope consists of two main
assemblies based on 3D-printed parts. At
the bottom of the scope, the mirror assembly
(Figure ©) holds a standard 4W diameter
spherical mirror.
At the top of the scope, the spider assembly
(Figure 0| supports the Pi camera and lets
f
you move it back and forth along the telescope 5
axis to focus the image, using a rack and
pinion setup. The camera sensor is exposed by
I
unscrewing the lens on the Pi camera.

76 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52

The two assemblies are mounted into a MARK

simple telescope tube made of 6" plastic pipe. Aperture Reflecting telescope WRIGLEY
In the U.K. we use ventilation duct; in the
if
is a commercial
tl ’ Ir physicist who
U.S., Scott Miller of San Francisco Amateur Eyepiece Image Objective stepped out
Astronomers worked with Make: to modify the
3D parts to fit standard PVC pipe.
Finally, we 3D printed an astronomical
o PiKon telescopej
of the world
of high-tech mobile phone
technology to set up his own
company evangelizing the
dovetail wedge mount that's also fitted with a value of physics, science, and
standard '4-20 \'/i" Whitworth! thread, so you Raspberry Pi camera
technology.
can mount the telescope on either astro or (lens removed) Objective

photo tripods.
Time Required:
Images captured by the Pi camera 1-2 Hours
(Figures Q and @) can be viewed on a Cost
monitor plugged into the Raspberry Pi, $15O-$3OO
then transferred to PC or Mac from the Pi's
microSD card or uploaded from the Pi straight
to Dropbox (or similar) using an internet
Materials
>■ Raspberry PI single-board
connection. (We re excited to try it with the new computer with microSD card
and power supply
Raspberry Pi 3’s built-in Wi-Fi!) » PI Camera Module, vl or v2
with ribbon cable
MIRRORS AND MAGNIFICATION » 3D-printed parts: spider,
camera mount, Raspberry
The PiKon telescope has a magnification factor PI mount, focus knob, mirror
of about 120X (based on the 600mm focal mount, mirror base, and
tripod mount You can buy a
length and 3.6mmx2.4mm camera sensor) and complete kit at the PiKon shop,
a field of view of about '4 degree. The moon pikon.online. Or download
the free 3D files at makezine,
subtends '/? degree at your eyeball, so the com/go/pikon-raspberry-pi-
PiKon can see about half the moon at a time. telescope and print them out.
» Plastic duct or pipe, 6"
Spherical or parabolic mirrors can be (150mm) diameter, 610mm
used. Different focal lengths may also be long for the telescope tube
used; just cut the telescope tube to length » Spherical mirror, 4W"
(114mm) diameter, f5, focal
accordingly. To determine the focal length length 600mm Get them from
of a third-party mirror, simply image a the PiKon shop or try eBay.
» Raspberry Pi case (optional)
distant object onto a piece of paper and
» Self tapping screws,
measure the distance between mirror and 3.5mmxl0mm (8)
paper. The PiKon is designed with a long » Bolts, 8mm«25mm, with
nuts(3)
travel on the focusing rack so it's forgiving
» Compression springs (3)
of small inaccuracies in measurement. » Double-sided tape
» Nylon bolts, M2«12mm (4)
TOUCHSCREEN CONTROL with nylon nuts
» Timing belt, T2.5 (2.5mm
Brett Porter built the PiKon kit and wanted to pitch), 6mm wide, 110mm
make his telescope portable for field trips, so length
he baked his own touchscreen controller with a - » Cog, 20 teeth, 2.5mm pitch,
5mm shaft
2.8" TFT display, 4 programmable buttons, and » Threaded rod, 5mm, 100mm
a 5200mAh lithium-ion battery that also powers length
the Pi and camera (Figure Q). You're looking at » Square nuts, 5mm (2)
» Dome nut, 5mm
his moon photos on these pages. Learn more
» Camera bushing, ’A-20 thread
at makezine.com/go/pikon-touchscreen. for tripod mount
One member of Newcastle Maker Space » Bolts, M4xl6mm, with nuts
(2)
even mounted an accelerometer on the
» Paint, matte black (optional)
telescope to synchronize with a star map —
I weTe excited to hear more about that idea.
Tools
I Build one and share with the community! O » USB keyboard, mouse, and
monitor

i Get the complete PiKon build instructions

and step-by-step photos at makezine.com/
» Drill and bits: 2.5mm and
4mm

i go/pikon-raspberry-pi-telescope.
» Allen wrench, 1.5mm
» 3D printer (optional)

makezine.com 77
 PROJECTS Arduino Can Crusher

Make; This project is

Action excerpted from
Make: Action by
Simon Monk,
available at the
Maker Shed
(makershed.com)
and fine bookstores.

crusnin it
Written by Simon Monk A

Use an Arduino and an H-bridge motor circuit to build an automatic can crusher
i-
<
LINEAR ACTUATORS CONVERT THE FAST length of 2x4 wood. At one end, the actuator void setup() { // @
ROTATION OF A DC MOTOR into slow linear is anchored using the fixtures supplied with pinMode/inlPin, OUTPUT);
movement, and they can provide quite a it. The actuator's shaft is then fixed to a pinMode(in2Pin, OUTPUT);
strong pushing or pulling force. You can block of wood that crushes the can against crush/);
easily control these actuators using a simple an end stop. Two plywood sides help prevent stop/);
H-bridge circuit — put it together with an the can escaping while it's being crushed. delay(1000);
Arduino and a bit of woodwork, and you can I haven't used exact dimensions, because reverse/);
make yourself an automatic beverage-can your actuator is likely to be a little different stop/);
crusher — no soldering required! in size than mine. The best way to get it }
right is to place the actuator on the 2x4 and void loop/) {
1. WIRE THE CIRCUIT then calculate the spacings. Remember }
Figure © illustrates the wiring diagram for to leave a bit of a gap between the fully void crush/) {
the project, and Figure © shows a close-up extended crushing surface and the end digitalWrite/inlPin, LOW);
of the Arduino and H-bridge module. stop; otherwise, the machine might push digitalWrite(in2Pin, HIGH);
The L293 module has jumper pins that by itself apart. delay/crushTime);
default keep its H-bridge circuits enabled, }
and so only the two Arduino outputs 3. PROGRAM THE ARDUINO void reverse/) {
connected to IN1 and IN2 are needed. Download the project code file can_crusher. digitalWrite/inlPin, HIGH);
Conveniently, the H-bridge module ino from makezine.com/go/arduino-can- digitalWrite(in2Pin, LOW);
includes a voltage regulator that provides a crusher and upload it to your Arduino. delay/crushTime);
5V output that you can connect directly to the Here's how it looks: }
5V pin of the Arduino to supply it with power. void stop/) {
const int inlPin = 10; digitalWrite/inlPin, LOW); —
2. BUILD THE CRUSHER const int in2Pin = 9; digitalWrite(in2Pin, LOW); >
The basic structure of the crusher is a const long crushTime = 30000; // O } &
X

78 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52
DIO IN1

D9 IN2 12V SIMON MONK

(simonmonk org) writes books
L298
Arduino H-bridge
12V DC about electronics for makers,
5V module
power supply including Programming
Arduino (Maker Media)
GND
GND and TheRaspbeny Pi Cookbook. He

o
and his wife. Linda make and sell kits to
accompany his books at monkmakes.com.
0UT1 0UT2

CAUTION: Time Required:

Linear aclualors are 2-4 Hours
strong. This project Linear actuator Cost:
is about crushing
beverage cans, but
S40-S60
the actuator will quite
happily crush a hand or
anything else that you
Materials
» Arduino Uno microcontroller board
put into the crushing » Linear actuator, 6" stroke, 12V 3A Find
area. So be careful, them on eBay.
especially while you're » H-brldge module with L298 chip from
getting it to work, when eBay. If your actuator's maximum current
there is a temptation to is not 3A. choose a different H-bridge
adjust and intervene module (and power supply) that will cope.
>> Jumper wires, female to male (2)
Adafruit #826
» Jumper wires, male to male (4)
Adafruit #758
Be Nice to Your Motors » Adapter, female barrel jack to screw
terminal Adafruit #368
Imagine a car driving along and then suddenly bearings of the motor.
» Power supply, 12V 3A Adafruit #352
being thrown into reverse gear — that's pretty This is something to bear in mind when
» Wood, 2x4
much what you're doing if you suddenly reverse designing control software for larger motors.
» Plywood, scraps
the direction of a motor. For small motors One way to be nicer to your motors is to precede
» Wood screws
without a great deal of mass attached to them, any change in direction by setting the control
this isn't normally much of a problem. But you
may find that if you're using a Raspberry Pi or
lines to let the motor stop, pausing for enough
time for it to actually stop before setting it
Tools
» Woodworking tools
Arduino board that's powered from the same running again in the opposite direction.
power source as the motors, then the Pi may In Arduino, setting up this kind of delay
crash or the Arduino may reset. This happens
as a result of the large current that flows when
function might look something tike this:
forward(255);
H-Bridges
An H-bridge is a simple circuit that
you suddenly switch directions, causing the delay(200); uses 4 switches to change the
board's power supply voltage to dip. reverse(255); direction of a DC motor (forward or
For larger motors that are driving something reverse) +v-
with a lot of inertia, sudden changes in speed or In our can crusher code, you can see we've set by simply
An >1
1
\s>
direction can cause big problems. The resultant full stops and also a delay of 1 second (1000 reversing the
H-bridge A
large currents may damage the H-bridge, milliseconds) between crushing and reversing. polarity of using M >“
the motor's switches.
and there's also the mechanical shock to the
connections.
With all -V- X
@ Although the actuator will automatically to trigger the crushing action (Figure 4 switches
open, no current can flow through the
stop when it gets to the end of its travel, ©). Whenever the Arduino resets, it motor. However, if switches SI and S4
this crushTime period (30 seconds for automatically starts to move the linear are closed, but S2 and S3 are open (as
my motor) sets how long the motor actuator. Smoosh! shown here), current will flow from
the positive supply to terminal A of the
should be on, before reversing. motor, through the motor and S4 to
O The setup function controls the whole GOING FURTHER the negative supply, and the motor will
operation of the project. After setting H-bridges can be used to control other turn in one direction.
If S1 and S4 are now opened and
both control pins to be outputs, it types of motors, including stepper motors. S3 and S2 closed, the positive supply
immediately starts the crushing action They can also be used to switch power to will be applied to terminal B instead
using the crush function. other devices, such as Peltier heating and and flow out through the motor and S2
to reverse the direction of the motor.
cooling elements. You'll learn all this and a Interestingly, you can brake the motor
4. SMASH CANS! lot more in my book, Make: Action. O by closing S1 and S3 simultaneously
Push the Reset button on the Arduino (or S2 and S4). Just don't close SI and
S2 at the same time lor S3 and S4) or
-X
you'll cause a short circuit!
Watch the prototype crusher in action at makezine.com/go/arduino-can-crusher and The L298 chip in your H-bridge
s learn more about making movement, light, and sound with Arduino and Raspberry Pi in module contains 2 miniature H-bridge
E circuits that work in exactly this way.
tn the book Make: Action, available at makershed.com.

makezine.com 79
 PROJECTS Electronics Fun & Fundamentals

Get a
Grip
Build a carnival-
midway strength
tester game using
strain gauges and a
5 comparator chip
Written and photographed by Charles Platt

THE GRIP CHALLENGE USED TO BE A POPULAR Time Required:

GAME IN CARNIVAL MIDWAYS, encouraging A Weekend
guys [mostly] to flaunt their strength by squeezing Cost
a pair of handles together. Figure O shows a $40-$50
. version you can still find in some amusement
arcades. It sells for almost $2,000 new — so I
decided to build my own.
To measure the gripping force, I used strain
gauges, which work on the principle that the
resistance of a conductor increases fractionally
when you stretch it. A typical strain gauge uses
the configuration shown in Figure 0, in which
parallel conductors multiply the effect.
When 4 strain gauges are glued to the topside
and the underside of a bar of aluminum, you have
a load cell of the type shown in Figure The
i
pairs of gauges are wired in a configuration known
as a Wheatstone bridge, in Figure 0.
An actual load cell is shown in Figure 0.
Almost always, the power input wires are red and
black, while the output wires are green and white.
..J
Load must only be applied in the direction of the
arrow printed on the bar, and causes the voltage
on the green wire to increase while voltage on the
white wire decreases. The voltage difference is the
output from the cell, expressed in millivolts per
volt at maximum load. For example, if a 50kg cell Figure
i
80 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52~]

Strain Strain CHARLES

gauge gauge PLATT is
, A the author
Downward
force of Make:
Stretching effect Electronics, an
I / i introductory
Clampj^^_
\ aiE£k/-il guide for all
__ [
ages, and its sequel Make:
More Electronics, makershed
com/platt
]

Compressing efect
Materials
» Load cell using strain
gauges, rated ZOkg

© © Strain
gauge
Strain
gauge
or higher e g.. eBay
#281926816093 or
RobotShop #RB-See-414
C D or RB-Phi-119
» Op-amp IC chip, LM741
type
Strain Strain » Quad comparator IC chip,
gauge gauge LM339 type
A » , C
» Resistors: 4700 (4), 1.5k0
(1), 2.2k0 (2), 10k0 (1),
33k0 (2), 47k0 (1), lOOkO
(1), 330k0 (1), 680k0 (1)
-rao-zo*0 » LEDs: generic (4), 3mm (1)
» Switch, mini toggle
Strain Strain » Battery, 9V alkaline
o. » Sotderless breadboard
gauge gauge
□ B 8 » Hookup wire
» Oak or maple board,
W*3'/2", 6' total length
Figure © A typical load cell. For this project, use one with a maximum » Wood screws, pan head
rating of 20kg to 50kg. with a pair of holes at each end. as shown here. #6x11/4" (4)
» Washers, #8 (4)
» Wood glue or epoxy glue
9VDC
is rated at 1.1mV/V, and you energize it with a 9V » Plywood or ABS plastic,
Q © 1/4" or'/B" thick, 6"x6"
battery, the output will reach 9.9mV when the load
increases to 50kg.
Breakout boards are available to interface a
Tools
» Wire strippers
load cell with a microcontroller, but it's cheaper » Pliers
and easier to use a couple of analog chips. A basic » Soldering Iron
LM741 op-amp can amplify the voltage from the » Multimeter
» Woodworking tools
cell, while a quad-comparator LM339 will light 4
LEDs in succession as the load increases.
Figure © shows the schematic laid out for easy I Figure b ; Resistance between the con­
breadboarding. The pinouts of the LM339 make it
nections to this strain gauge increases
when it is stretched horizontally. Vertical
convenient to place at the top of the circuit. I also
flexing makes very little difference.
added a toggle switch and 3mm “power on" LED
with 1,5K current-limiting resistor (not shown). Figure c -.Pressing down on one end of
I chose a 20kg load cell for this project, but a load cell stretches the strain gauges
higher values up to 50kg can be used by adjusting attached to the top while reducing
the mechanical leverage in your Grip Challenge 33K 47K
tension on the strain gauges attached to
design. Test the cell by screwing one end into a the bottom.
hefty piece of scrap wood, including washers to 330K
- --- WvV Figure o: The strain gauges are wired as
allow room for the cell to flex. Most load cells
2 voltage dividers that respond oppositely,
have metric threads, but you can drill them out to
creatiog a voltage between the green and
provide room for your choice of screws or bolts. 10K-
white output wires.
Apply 9VDC to the red and black wires, set your
meter to measure millivolts, and use a screw ' — Load Figure f : Grip Challenge schematic.
§ clamp to increase the force on the free end of the
cell
Input from the load cell is amplified by the
load cell (Figure 0, following page). If it is rated
LM741 at the bottom. The lEDs light up in
around 1mV/V (which is typical), tighten the clamp G sequence from right to left.

makezine.com 81
 PROJECTS Electronics Fun & Fundamentals

il till you measure 9mV. This tells you that the cell
is now experiencing its maximum load.
Leave the clamp in place while you disconnect
your meter and connect the green and white
wires to the op-amp. Using the component
values in my circuit, the output from pin 6 of the
LM741 should be around 6.3V. If you measure
less than that, substitute a larger value for the
--- 1OOK feedback resistor. If it’s more than 6.5V,
-- use a lower-value feedback resistor, because
II = the comparators in the LM339 cannot compare
--- voltages that rise too close to the power supply.
--- To provide reference voltages for the Figure O Use a screw clamp to calibrate the Grip Challenge
--- comparators, I put 5 resistors in series as a voltage Figure © Vou can adjust the leverage by moving the
= divider. The values 680K, 33K, 47K, 33K, and 330K round dowel that works as a temporary pivot point.
--- provide reference voltages of approximately 5.0V,
Figure O; The completed Grip Challenge, ready for the crush.
5.3V, 5.7V, and 6.0V. As the output from the op-amp
--- increases from 4.5V with no load to 6.3V with
— maximum load, it passes each of the reference
--- voltages and triggers the next comparator, which
lights another LED. You can experiment with
—— different resistor values if you wish.
ZZZZZ; Because the LM741 is sensitive to stray
——; electromagnetic fields, twist the wires from the
. .. load cell together to prevent unwanted flickering
of the LEDs.
To mount your circuit permanently, you’ll
I need hardwood to withstand the forces involved.
It
I made a heavy-duty oak box. shown under
construction in Figure @. One handle is fixed
while the other pivots around the round doweL
I moved the dowel up and down to adjust the
leverage of the handles until I needed all my
strength to trigger the fourth LED. After that, I
made a permanent pivot for the handle and glued
the box together using a biscuit joiner (Figure ©I.

GOING FURTHER
If you build your own version, you can challenge
people to a strength contest — which can be
serious or not-so-serious. To fool your friends,
add a hidden switch connecting a second 100K

I feedback resistor in parallel with the first. This

will reduce the power of the op-amp, making
I it physically impossible for anyone to light the
fourth LED (except you, of course). I think people
should expect a bit of trickery when they play
carnival midway games.
In addition to load cells, many other types of
force sensors exist. You can learn more about
them in my Encyclopedia of Electronic Components,
Volume3, published by Maker Media. O

See more photos and share your Grip Challenge

build at makezine.corn/go/get-a-yrip!

82 makershed.com
makezine.com/52
PROJECTS

makezine.com 83
 PROJECTS Racing Rumblebots

Rumblebots
Raceway
Inspired by a Make.- article, here’s a
hand-cranked classroom science
project that’s also a lot of fun
Time Required: 4-5 Hours

I Cost $3O-$5O

Materials
» Poster board, about ’/is " thick and 30 "
long I used Staples illustration board,
20"x30".
DOUG STITH » Plywood, ¥« ": 32 " X 6 " (2) for sides
isa29-year » Plywood or MDF, 32" x7", any thickness

I
! I
veteran middle
school science
teacher He loves
for the base
» Square dowel, l"xj",30" lengths (2)
» Wood strip, about 32" long straight and
creating things smooth, for lane divider
for his students » Gear with medium-sized teeth Try 20-
in his woodshop, or 40-tooth gears from Ajax Scientific
l (e.g. Amazon #B00EPQMI2S) or cut your
and is currently
own out of thin plywood. A laser cutter (or
setting up a 3D printer) makes it even easier.
home metal » Axle I used a bolt with 4 lock nuts.
shop.
» Various bits of wood for hand crank,
cantilever block, etc.
» Wood screws

Tools
» Table saw
» Drill
r » Screwdriver
» Clamps
»Sandpaper or sander

H ? ! N /J "COOL! BUT WHAT THE HECK MAKES

THEM MOVE FORWARD?'"
When I first read about Bob Knetzger's
"Hog Holler" toy in Make: Volume 41
(makezine.com/2014/11/04/how-to-get-
your-toy-made), I was captivated. I knew I
had to make something similar for my 6th-
grade science students to investigate. The
concept seemed simple: vibrations from the
player's voice jiggled a platform, causing
little plastic "hogs" to move down a path
ra,
(Figure ©). But wouldn't their movements <0

be random, not directional? Perhaps the </>

path angled slightly downhill? Hmmm. £
J
84 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52 |

I contacted Bob and he explained that students. I encouraged them to work with
angled "legs" are the key to directional friends or family members. I made them
movement. Folk toys often used broom a video to explain the project, at makezine,
bristles or thin wooden strips, he explained. com/go/rumblebots-explainer.
Aha! Progress. Nineteen students built rumblebots.
The next problem was devising a new Two of our custodians even participated.
source of vibrations. Initially, I banged (Their first design featured porcupine quill
drumsticks on a large plastic pan, which legs1) Many of my students, taking my
did move my critters forward. Still, I sought suggestion of researching "bristlebots,"
a more consistent vibration. I considered used toothbrushes. To my dismay. I finished
speakers playing set tones, or motors with second to one of my students! Here is Alex
off-center weights attached to their shafts. with her winning rumblebot (Figure ©).
After making little progress, I again reached
out to Bob. He sent me a video in which the HOW DO STUDENTS BENEFIT?
teeth of a gear turned by hand engaged the Here's what Alex had to say about the
edge of the track. How simple! Here's my project: "I watched the video and made a
classroom version of Bob's invention. list of materials I needed. I followed your
suggestion on the video and researched
MY RUMBLEBOT RACEWAY Bristlebots. I saw they were made from
The vibrating track is a 6"*30" piece of toothbrushes and motors. I tried using
poster board, about Yu" thick (Figure @1. some old, used toothbrushes, and also
This track rests in table saw blade hairbrushes. Toothbrushes worked best.
grooves cut into 2 wooden sides made The toothbrush tipped over easily, so I
from %" plywood, 32" long and 6" tall. attached a cardboard top to keep it upright.
The grooves begin about V/2" up from the To test my rumblebots. I placed a piece of
bottom and are about 3/e" deep. (None of cardboard over two pencils and tapped on
these exact dimensions are crucial.) the cardboard. Once I knew they worked,
A wooden strip, cantilevered over the my mom bought some new toothbrushes.
track, creates 2 lanes for the racers. I tried connecting two and three together,
A single gear about 2'/z" in diameter, but one by itself worked best for me. I liked
mounted on an axle, grates against one beating Mr. Stith!"
end of the track to drive my Rumblebots. A Another student, Felicia, built a bot that
freestanding base allows adjustment of the did not move forward, only bounced up and
gear's position on the track (Figure ©). down (Figure ©). Her design problem?
Vertical legs. Did this mean Felicia's effort
THE RUMBLEBOTS was a waste of time? "I still had fun thinking
For the bots themselves, I settled on two up my own design, and I'm glad I did the
basic designs. In the first, I cut a block project. I saw that when we put the Q-tips
of styrofoam to fit in a given lane. On its into the block at an angle, it did move
bottom, I cut angled grooves with a razor forward!" (Learning achievement unlocked!)
saw, perpendicular to its length. Into these The world our students inhabit grows
s grooves I placed paper, cardboard, pine more and more virtual every year. Much of
needles, pins — most anything imaginable what they experience is through a screen. I

s
J — to serve as legs (Figure @). love seeing students manipulate materials
In the second design, I took index cards according to their own designs (as opposed
2 and angled the front and back in similar to fitting one Lego into another). You can
directions. I then cut wedge-shaped legs on see all the student rumblebot designs and
I the front and back (Figure ©). watch actual races at makezine.com/go/
rumblebot-races.
J
'uj RUMBLEBOT RACERS — Next, I'll challenge my students to create
<5 A FAMILY SCIENCE PROJECT Rumblebot Sumos (push opponents out of
I offered Rumblebot Racers as a Family a central zone) and a Rumblebot U-Turn
Is
" Science project to my 6th graders. This (execute a half-circle turn, and exit the
c
means it was not required, nor were any surface on the same edge as they started).
o
cm rewards (candy, extra credit) given. Rather, Who knows what projects my students may See race videos, more photos, and
the joy of learning was the motivator for soon be designing for others? O share your rumblebots at makezine,
com/go/rumblebots-raceway.

makezine.com 85
 PROJECTS makezine.com/52

1*2*3 Edible
Paper
PAPER IS COMMONLY MADE FROM PLANT
MATERIAL — SO WHY NOT FOOD PLANTS?
Written by Kathy Ceceri
Illustrated by Andrew J. Nilsen

Every plant's cells are surrounded by a <1

tough, fibrous material called cellulose. When
chopped up and soaked, the tiny fibers connect
with each other, bonded by an intermolecular
pull called the van dec Waals' forces.
LL. a
Those photos you see on birthday cakes are KATHY CECERI
(craftsforlearning.
printed on wafer paper made from vegetable
com) is the author
starch. In China rice paper is used for edible of kid-friendly
candy wrappers, and in Vietnam a different books like
j rice paper is used to wrap spring rolls. MakingSimple
Robots and the
You can use edible paper to create place upcoming Afate
cards for fancy dinners, takeout boxes to hold Edible Inventions.
sweets — or for secret messages. (Devour This project is
after reading!] Here's a quick and easy recipe excerpted from
Make Paper
for Vietnamese-style rice paper. Inventions.
available now from
1.MIX Maker Media.
Whisk rice flour, potato starch, salt, and cold
1) Time
water together. It should be about the same
Required:
I thickness as white glue. 10-15 Minutes
Cost:
2. POUR $l-$2
Stretch plastic wrap across the plate, tight
like a drum. Pour the mixture onto the plastic
wrap. Tilt the plate to spread the mixture into
a circle at least 7" across. <t) You will
need:
»1 tablespoon
3. COOK rice flour
Microwave on high for 45 seconds. The paper »1 tablespoon
puffs up as the water steams. Use oven mitts potato starch

SHL to turn the plate upside down on the wax

paper. Remove the plate, then carefully peel
» V/2 tablespoons
cold water
» Pinch of salt
the plastic wrap away. Your edible paper will (optional)
curl as it cools. Cut it into a square to help it » Small mixing
bowl
stay flat. Store 1-2 days in a zip-lock bag. » Whisk or fork
»Spoon or
To add color and flavor: Try a little vanilla, spatula
» Microwavable
cinnamon, orange juice, maple syrup, plate
coconut milk, mashed banana, or berries. » Plastic wrap
Adjust ingredients to get the right thickness. » Microwave oven
To write notes on your edible paper: Buy » Oven mitts
» Wax paper
edible-ink markers or make your own ink by
» Cooling rack
boiling grape or cranberry juice untilthick. Or (optional)
try edible paint made of melted chocolate! O » Knife or shears

86 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52
PROJECTS

Toy Inventor’s Notebook

FRIENDLY FAKE-OUTS Invented and drawn by Bob Knetzger
USE MOLDABLE PLASTIC TO CREATE GREAT NEW PRACTICAL JOKES! Time Required:
1-2 Hours
I’VE WRITTEN ABOUT MAKING PROJECTS Cost:
USING SUGRU BUT HERE’S ANOTHER versatile
$5-$10
and easy-to-use plastic you should know about:
Friendly Plastic. Its unfriendly chemical name is Materials
» Moldable plastic pellets such
polycaprolactone. It’s sold under other names, too, as Friendly Plastic. ShapeLock.
like InstaMorph, ShapeLock, and U Mold. It's a InstaMorph. ThermoMorph, or
biodegradable polyester with a low melting point.
Just soften the material in hot water, then
shape and form it by hand. When it cools, it
solidifies into a tough, nylon-like material that
you can cut or drill. And you can add dye pellets
to blend any color you'd like. Strong plastic parts
instantly molded in custom colors: very practical!
Here are some new versions of classic practical
jokes you can quickly make with polycaprolactone.
Sure, there's the iconic doggie doo. but check out
these other updated fun fakes:

@ FAKE KETCHUP AND MUSTARD BLOBS

Add a real empty pouch and put one on
mom's iPad!

O CHEWING GUM SMARTPHONE EASEL

Looks gross, works great!

G OOPS SPILLED CREAMER

Surprise someone on their issue of Make:'.

O CRAZY CRAYON
Won't color no matter how hard they draw.
Pack some softened, colored Friendly Plastic
into a tube. When cooled, use a pencil
sharpener to make a point and wrap it with
the paper label from a real crayon. O

makezine.com 87
 Gadgets AND GEAR FOR MAKERS
Ljell us about your faves: [email protected] |------

a
o
§■6 COis
Es C/)

ju2m

$220 craftsman.com
The Make: off ice’s Craftsman 10" band saw definitely
met the high expectations I’ve come to have for
Craftsman tools. Even after repeated use, I'm
pleasantly surprised with its smooth cut and relatively
low noise level.
Like many band saws, its 13 %"x12 W build platform
has an adjustable angle for cutting at different
degrees. You can attach a shop vac to keep dust to a
minimum, then remove it for better portability.
The only issue is the work fence; its locking
mechanism is similar to a bike cam lock, which isn’t
the most secure design. It has a tendency to skew
slightly, so I use a 90° straightedge to ensure true cuts.
This band saw is great for anyone working in small
spaces. It's a decent investment if you’re looking
for an efficient, cost-effective shop tool.
—Anthony Lam
 ■W- makezine.com/52
|ggggg»;gi'~

Bi
I ARTISAN™
bi METALWORKS
|gi

ARTISAN
METALWORKS
SILICONE MAT
$10-$35 for set of 3
artisanmetalworks.biz
Silicone work mats are useful
for holding projects steady
while protecting your bench top.
JACKCLAMP SYSTEM
$125 (pair) jackclamp.com
Unfortunately, they tend to be
pretty pricey. We spotted these These versatile, beefy bar clamps resemble super-sized quick-grips with ISW clamping
silicone baking sheets that are capacity Thanks to patented parallel, removable bars, you can reassemble the clamp
similarly made and realized they'd around tricky work pieces or reconfigure it entirely. You can reverse the upper bar to make
be a useful alternative for a much a spreader for gaps from 32" to ’A" (wish I'd had these when I rebuilt my kitchen deck) or a
lower price. Great for electronics vertical jack using the foot attachment. Use two together and you can easily jack a cabinet,
projects, the silicone surface helps microwave, or sheet of plywood siding into precise position on the wall — ordinarily two-
keep parts from sliding away, and person jobs. This configuration will even hoist up to 300lbs, as holes in the ends of each rail
is rated for temperatures up to let you attach hooks. V-jaw attachments let you clamp round pipes, and you can also invert
480°F, so those blobs of solder the lower bar to create an offset clamp or offset spreader.
won't pit your desk. The three-pack JackClamps are strong enough to align warped 2x4s or lift a quad ATV off the garage
includes small, medium, and large floor, and guaranteed not to slip or fade, thanks to four internal braking jaws (where most
mats and lists for $35, but can be bar clamps have only two). Integrated bubble levels seem useful mostly for keeping the
found online for less than $10. Just jacks in vertical plumb, but who knows what uses you'll find for them? They're heavy and
be sure to mark "not for food" on spendy — $55 bare, or $125 for the pair with all the accessories — but they're USA-made
it before yours accidentally gets guaranteed for life, and frankly they look and feel like they'll outlive us all. Now if you'll
used for a batch of cookies. excuse me I have a deck to go level.
— MikeSenese —Keith Hammond

BOUTON TRADITIONAL
SAFETY GLASSES
$10 safetyglassesusa.com
I 1] Reminiscent of the retro specs of Buddy Holly and Woody Allen,
k JJ these frames put the fashion back in safety. Aside from making
you the coolest person in the shop, they block 99.9% of the sun's
ultraviolet rays, with lens transmission of UV-5, VL-20 and lR-7. The
polycarbonate lenses are anti-scratch/anti-fog, and the frames are extremely
comfortable, with a molded nose bridge design that fits most wearers. They also have
foldable side-screen protection aiding in anti-fogging, while making them safety compliant.
I ve worn these foryears, using them at home, in the shop, and in large manufacturing
facilities. Simply put, they look good, are comfortable, and last a very long time.
— Emily Coker

makezine.com 89
■
TOOLBOX
tonsil "

“I
FLIR ONE
THERMAL
IMAGER
$250 flir.com
One of the troubles with thermal
cameras is that details in heat
emission visuals aren't always simple ' KERSHAW KNIFE
to distinguish. The Flir One imager
overcomes that by merging the video SHARPENER
output from your iPhone or Android's $25 kershaw.kaiusaltd.com
camera with the heat imaging from I decided to sharpen my beloved Kershaw
the clip-on Flir sensor. The result is a
blade myself, and found that the company
unique and fascinating display of the
sells a handy on-the-go sharpener. I was
scene you're investigating, with clean,
immediately impressed with its quality. The
clear lines between objects. It's useful
case is made of 6060-T6 anodized aircraft
for everything from finding spots in
aluminum — it's ultra-lightweight, and
your house where insulation might be
doubles as a screw-on handle. The sharpener
lacking, to detecting moisture leaks,
unfolds to 9" and offers a 600-grit, diamond-
or just making and sharing awesome
coated oval shaft. This grit is perfect for a
dance videos with your friends.
knife that is in good shape, not a severely
— MS
damaged blade. It requires no oil or water to
use. To get a wicked sharp edge, simply pull
the blade at a 20° angle from bottom to tip.
-EC
L J

n
'(DEVICES Z1 SMOOTH-C SMARTPHONE
GIMBAL
OUTDOORSWITCH $230 zhiyun-tech.com
$80 idevicesinc.com When documenting your latest and greatest build, sometimes
After adding some string lights to the backyard the movement of the camera can make more of a difference
recently, I wanted a way to turn them on and off in quality than the camera itself. Smoothing out the footage
without having to go outside to unplug the cord can make even an iPhone shot look incredibly professional.
from the wall socket. I considered having an Three-axis electronic gimbals, like those seen on
electrician run an inside switch to the socket, quadcopters, are now showing up for handheld use. I've been
but then saw iDevice's Wi-Fi-enabled Outdoor using the Zhiyun Smooth-C,
Switch. The weatherproof box with two sockets which takes most of
connects to your home network, letting you A the shake and wobble
instantaneously click the power on and off 0 out of my footage. Solid
with the tap of an app. But I also discovered construction, compact
that this works with Apple's HomeKit service, size, and a price tag under
meaning I can voice-control my lights with Siri. $250 make this a smart
I'm now certainly driving my neighbors crazy by tool for the videographer
constantly commanding the lights on and off, on the go. And you're
and I'm also discovering a world of DIY HomeKit not locked into using your
projects I can add to my network. cellphone either. This device can work
-MS just as well with a small point-and-shoot
camera, a GoPro, or even a 360° camera!
L J — Caleb Kraft
90 makershed.com
 makezine.com/52 I

RASPBERRY PI 3
$35 raspberrypi.org ^fadafruit

1
While it keeps the same $35 price tag. a lot has changed under the
surface of the latest Raspberry Pi. Dropping the ARM v7 architecture
of the previous Pi, the RPi3 has a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53
clocked at 1.2GHz, which is fast enough to replace a standard Ji
desktop PC for most people. It’s the first 64-bit Raspberry Pi, but
perhaps the biggest change is that it comes with built-in Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth 4.1, making it perfect for an Internet of Things project. ADAFRUIT METRO AND
Interestingly the BCM43438 that provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also
has an FM receiver, so building an FM radio with an RPi may have
METRO MINI
$19.50/$14.95 adafruit.com
just gotten a lot easier.
If you said the Adafruit Metro fills the same space as the
Running in headless mode the board is well suited as the hub of
Arduino Uno, you'd be right and wrong. More accurately, it
a sensor network, however watch for unresponsiveness in this mode
duplicates the Uno, but adds so much more. At first glance
if the board is only connected via Wi-Fi. You can enable keep-alive
it's an Arduino-sized PCB with an ATmega328P in the center
in your SSH client to avoid this problem with the power-saving mode.
and rows of GPIO pinouts on the top and bottom. Adafruit says
With more than 8 million Raspberry
all of their shields work with the Metro just like any Uno.
Pi boards sold, the size of the
However, the company has added some appealing hardware
community behind the board is
tidbits, such as a much-needed power switch. You can also
k really reassuring, as is the
solder closed a jumper to change the logic level to 3.3V from
backwards compatibility
the usual 5V. They've swapped in a micro USB socket for
that the Foundation
powering and programming the board. Finally, they offer the
believes to be vital to
Metro with or without female headers. I used the Metro recently
the platform.
for a client project, leaving off the headers and soldering
— Alasdair Allan
wires directly into the board. When the project changed and I
needed to add a shield, I simply desoldered the wires, added
female headers, and mounted the shield as slick as any Uno.
Adafruit levels up the Metro by adding a Mini version
offering the same capabilities as the full-sized board, lacking
only the power switch. If you're not expecting to use a shield,
the cheaper Mini offers the full ATmega328P experience as
welt as the same FTDI USB-to-serial converter. Contrast
this with SparkFun's Pro Mini 328, which requires that
IS Make:__ _ you buy a separate FTDI board to program the board.
_?j Getting Started — John Baichtal

MAKE: GETTING
aas THE MAKER'S
STARTED
WITH 3D PRINTING
J
Ml i THE MAKER'S GUIDE
GUIDE TO THE
ZOMBIE
by Liza Wallach Kloski and
TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Nick Kloski
$20 makershed.com APOCALYPSE
When I started reading Make: by Simon Monk
Getting Started with 3D Printing, by Liza $25 nostarch.com
SIMON MONK0
Wallach Kloski and Nick Kloski of HoneyPoint3D, I felt fairly If you're a tech nerd with a penchant
knowledgeable about how to use, maintain, and repair a 3D for zombie survival tactics, this book is
printer. But even as an experienced user, I found a surprisingly super fun. Even if you're not into zombies, you'll find some great
useful breadth of tips and information on topics including how to projects for Arduino and Raspberry Pi — although the awesome
optimize your prints and how to handle and store filament.
illustrations keep the theme running even through the technical
One of the most useful sections is the guide that covers open ! sections. The various chapters cover everything from home
source 3D modeling software — namely Tinkercad, Autodesk
defense and monitoring to how to obtain power for survival (and
Meshmixer, and Fusion 360. With the authors' guidance. Fusion
360 was a lot less scary and difficult to use for the first time. for building projects). I especially enjoyed learning how to link car
I highly recommend GSW3D Printing as exceptional reference batteries together to create a power bank, and the book covers a
material to everyone who tinkers with 3D printing, regardless of great range of problematic scenarios and survival skills that the
skill level. I only wish it had been available when I was in college! whole family can learn from and enjoy.
-AL -EC

makezine.com 91
 TOOLBOX 3D Printer Review " PRINT
Vertical Surface Finish
Horizontal Finish

MANNEQUIN Dimensional Accuracy

Overhangs
Bridging

A LITTLE COMMUNITY SUPPORT COULD GO A LONG WAY Negative Space

FOR THIS QUIRKY 3D PRINTER KIT written by matt stultz Retraction

Support Material (fail)
Z Wobble (pass)
WHILE WALKING AROUND THE TIGHTLY made from cardboard. There’s even a door
PACKED BOOTHS OF WORLD MAKER FAIRE with a clear plastic film for a window that's I totalB
last fall, I ran into the OpenCreators team and magnetically attached to the front of the

I found something just quirky enough to catch

my interest: a cardboard 3D printer.
machine. The cardboard skins come in
multiple colors and make for a lightweight
shell that helps reduce the shipping expense
MANUFACTURER OpenCreators
PRICE AS TESTED $670 USD
BUILD VOLUME 200-200«200mm
SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED and most definitely the production costs of the BED STYLE Non-heated textured plastic
The OpenCreators Mannequin comes as a printer. If you have access to a decently sized FILAMENT SIZE 1.75mm
C
. mostly flat-pack kit and hails from South laser cutter you could have some fun cutting OPEN FILAMENT? Yes
Korea. The X/Y gantry is a pre-built H-bot your own custom exteriors. TEMPERATURE CONTROL? Yes. tool head O
PRINT UNTETHERED? Yes (SD card) CD
system, which drastically reduces the amount (D
ONBOARD CONTROLS? Yes (LCD with
of work it takes to assemble. The rest of BUMPS IN THE ROAD control wheel) bc
the parts are fairly intuitive to put together The onboard LCD is full color and diverges HOST/SLICER SOFTWARE Custom Cura (J
CL
from the standard menus often found on OS Windows only (but Cura profile can be
with keyed rods and only a couple of plates. imported into versions on other OS’s)
O

OpenCreators only provides instructions in most printers, but is still very easy to navigate FIRMWARE Marlin
Korean, but I was still able to assemble the and use. I encountered one error when the OPEN SOFTWARE? Yes
printer in about 3 hours (a record for a kit bed-leveling probe failed to retract after the OPEN HARDWARE? No
MAXIMUM DECIBELS 48.9
machine), thanks to the excellent diagrams measuring script completed — although I had
included in the manual. selected English as the operating language,
The base structure of the Mannequin is the alert still showed in Korean.
all steel and aluminum, making for a rigid My test prints showed lots of problems with PRO TIPS WHY TO
machine. The outer shell, which is mostly the Mannequin, but many of them felt like
Wrap the X- BUY
carriage ribbon
While this quick-
■ for aesthetics and to minimize drafts, is they could be adjusted in a better Cura profile cable around the
: to-assemble
or by possibly using their optional Simplify3D Bowden tube to
machine is rough
keep the printer
profile (or a custom one). Many of the issues around the
from crunching it
edges, it has a lot
came from too much ooze from the hot end, when homing.
, of potential for
something that could be fixed by adjusting the I needed to
hacking.
power cycle my
retraction settings. machine between
Some problems are harder for the user to each print to keep
change. The two fans attached to the hot end the bed probe
operation from
blow across the heat break, helping to prevent jamming.
1
the machine from jamming, but there are no
fans pointing at the print to help cool it. The CO
extruder temperature fluctuates wildly and
seems to need a PID tuning to bring it into tine. 2D
The bed-leveling script stalls on the second 00
Ld
print after a power cycle, requiring a new QL
power cycle to continue.

CONCLUSION
A little community support could go a long
way for this machine. The Mannequin’s simple
build, decent print space, and fun cardboard
shell make it appealing, but until some of
the issues with this machine are worked out, Matt Stultz is the
3D Printing and Digital
OpenCreators will have a hard time finding a
Fabrication lead for Make:.
market here in the U.S. © He is also the founder and
organizer of 3DPPVD and
Ocean State Maker Mill, I
For more reviews and testing procedures, go to makezine.com/go/3dp-comparison.
where he spends his time
tinkering in Rhode Island. i
92 makershed.com
 Make:

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