Make Technology On Your Time Vol 37 Homegrown Drones

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Build “Drawdio,” a simple electronic

sound synthesizer mounted on a pencil


Designed by Jay Silver, then a student in the Lifelong Kindergarten
group at the MIT Media Lab, the Drawdio circuit plays a musical tone
with a frequency that varies based on the resistance between two points.
The wire wrapped around the pencil handle is one point, and the pencil
lead itself is another. When you hold Drawdio in your hand, your body
becomes part of the resistive loop, and you can do all kinds of fun tricks,
like draw yourself a piano and play a little tune!

The Drawdio circuit is based on the classic 555 timer chip. To save
space on batteries, we’re using a more modern low-power version of the
555 that will run on 3 volts, but otherwise it behaves just like a standard
555. Wired like this, the 555 operates in so-called astable mode,
outputting a continuous stream of pulses from pin 3. The frequency of
those pulses can be controlled by changing the values of the resistors
and capacitors connected to pins 2 and 7. Since the contacts are
arranged to put the user’s body into the resistive loop, the frequency
output by the 555 naturally varies depending on what she or he is
touching. The transistor amplifies those pulses, which emerge from the
speaker as audible sound.
—Sean Michael Ragan, MAKE Technical Editor; Michael Colombo, MAKE
Online Contributor
ADVERTORIAL
1. Test-fit the components on the perfboard.

2. Cut and strip the grip and graphite leads.

3. Solder the components and attach the speaker to the perfboard.

4. Attach the perfboard and battery holder to the pencil.


5. Secure the graphite lead to the top with a thumbtack.

6. Secure the grip lead with electrical tape.

Learn to build an analog sound synthesizer that


piggybacks on top of a pencil!

TLC555/TLC555CP LinCMOS timer (8-pin DIP)

Parts list:
Electrical tape
Perfboard
0.1μF ceramic disk capacitor
Battery, AAA (2)
TLC555/TLC555CP LinCMOS timer (8-pin DIP)
Thumbtack, flat, metal
PNP amplifying transistor
Battery holder, 2 x AAA
Resistors 1/4W - 10M, 270K, 10K, 10 Ω
8 Ω mini speaker
Double-sided foam tape
Hookup wire, 22AWG solid
100μF 35V 20% radial-lead electrolytic capacitor
Pencil, flat with soft lead
560pF disc capacitor

2 × “AAA” battery holder

PNP amplifying transistor

Tools checklist:
Pliers, mini long-nose
Wire stripper / cutter
Soldering iron and solder
Scissors
Utility knife
Straightedge
Green florist’s foam (optional)

40 watt pencil iron

For complete instructions and details on this project visit:


radioshackdiy.com/drawdio
CONTENTS
COLUMNS
Welcome
Reader Input
All Art is Made by Makers
Hackschooling
Made on Earth

FEATURES
Shifting Gears
A student-built, world-class race car.
Radically Cheap
Building machine tools from car parts to save the world.
Inkjet Maniac
Hacking printers for the sake of art.

DRONES
FLIGHT OF THE DRONES Here's looking at you: new platforms
for aerial imaging.
Flight of the Drones
The multicopter revolution is coming. Are you ready?
Anatomy of a Drone
Find your way around a modern multirotor UAV.
Aerial Videography
Make fantastic videos from your multicopter or drone.
World of Drones
Drones are already hard at work, from the pyramids to the polar ice.
Quadcopter Photogrammetry
R/C aircraft helping restore historic buildings in Cuba.
HandyCopter UAV
Build a cheap quadrotor airframe with video and autonomous flight.
Drone Buyer's Guide
Take a peek at the new wave of drones available to buy now.

FPV Fundamentals
Pilot your drone by seeing what it sees, with first person view.
Custom-Crafted Multicopters
Homegrown drones — you can build your own!
No Man's Land
The legal gray area facing drones and their pilots.
Quad Squad
These expert drone pilots are making quadcopters even cooler.

SKILL BUILDERS
Finding Your Way with GPS
Precision location data, via satellite.
Calling Out Around the World
Communicate with your projects anywhere they can see the sky.
Sensor Smörgåsbord
All-in-one sensing devices are cheaper & easier to use than ever.

PROJECTS
Luminous Lowtops
Snazzy sneakers with full-color LEDs that respond to your moves.

Salt and Pepper Well


Woodworking with a twist — use your drill press as a lathe.

Library Box
A mobile, anonymous wi-fi file server from off-the-shelf hardware.
Zombie Flashlight
Revive a dead battery to make this powerful pocket flashlight.
License Plate Guitar
A “resonator” guitar with a hand-wound electromagnetic pickup.
Remaking History
Build the simple plane that defined modern aircraft.
Three-Day Kimchi
Piquant, fiery, and fast to make.
123: Glider Launcher
An inexpensive launcher that yields impressive flights.
The Amateur Scientist
Track heat islands with data loggers and DIY sensors.
Chameleon Bag
An interactive messenger bag that reacts to your RFID-tagged objects.
Toy Inventor's Notebook
Stop ants from getting into the hummingbird feeder with a DIY moat.

Enough Already
Use an Arduino to mute annoying celebrities on your TV automatically.
Bass Bump
Build this circuit to boost low frequencies and make your MP3s go boom.
123: Self-Filling Pet Water Bowl
Keep your pet happy and hydrated with this simple build.
Bamboo Hors d’Oeuvre Tray
A few clever cuts and you’ll be serving in style.
Mini Blind Minder
Train your blinds to automatically open when it's cold and close when it's hot.
GPS Cat Tracker
Find out exactly where kitty wanders all day.
CNC Air Raid Siren
It's loud, annoying, and fun!
Glow Plug 3D Printer Extruder
Make an extruder by hand using only a few tools and a diesel glow plug.
Howtoons
Build a nifty ripcord rotor copter with an emery board propeller.
Homebrew: Pinball Machine
One man's journey to build a pinball machine from the ground up.

TOOLBOX
Tool Reviews
MAKE's recommendations for useful maker tools and materials.
Books
Text tools for your bench or bedside table.
New Maker Tech
On the horizon for 3D printing, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi.
“One finds limits by pushing them.”

—Herbert Simon

Make:®
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Dale Dougherty
[email protected]
PRESIDENT & COO
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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EDITORIAL
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EDITOR, BOOKS
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
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Cheng, Adam Conway, Marque Cornblatt, Larry Cotton, Len Cullum, William
Grassie, Jason Griffey, Saul Griffith, Mikal Hart, Gregory Hayes, Ross Hershberger,
Steve Hoefer, Mister Jalopy, Janet Jay, Chad Kapper, Adam Kemp, Laura Kiniry, Bob
Knetzger, Tom Kuehn, Tod Kurt, Andrew Petersen, Logan LaPlante, Steve Lodefink,
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Spinrad, Matt Stultz, Skyler Tiffin, Wendy Jehanara Tremayne, Don Undeen, Marc
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Scogin, Peter Strain, Julie West

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ONLINE CONTRIBUTORS
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TECHNICAL ADVISORY BOARD


Kipp Bradford, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, Limor Fried, Joe Grand, Saul
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Copyright © 2014
Maker Media, Inc.
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Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation: 1. Publication Title: Make


Magazine; 2. Publication Number: 1556-2336; 3. Filing Date: 10/01/13; 4. Issue
Frequency: Quarterly; 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 4; 6. Annual
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Publication: Maker Media, 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol CA 95472; 8.
Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters: same; 9. Full Names and Complete
Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: Dale
Dougherty, Editor: Mark Frauenfelder, Managing Editor: Cindy Lum, all at Maker
Media, 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol CA 95472; 10. Owner: Maker
Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol CA 95472; 11. Known
Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent
or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: Dale Dougherty,
Maker Media, 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol CA 95472; Tim O’Reilly,
Maker Media, 1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol CA 95472; 12. Tax Status: [x]
Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months; 13. Publication Title: Make
Magazine; 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: July 2013 (Vol 35); 15. Extent
and Nature of Circulation, Avg. No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12
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Nominal Rate Distribution (1) Outside-County Copies 836/872, (2) In-County
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outside the Mail: 2,731/2,585; e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of
15d (1), (2), (3), and (4)): 3,567/3,457; f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e):
82,017/81,768; g. Copies Not Distributed: 36,161/32,533; h. Total (sum of 15f and g):
118,178/114,301; j. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f): 95.65%/95.77%; 16 Publication
of Statement of Ownership: [x] Publication Required. Will be printed in the Feb/Mar
2014 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business
Manager, or Owner [signed] Heather Cochran, Business Manager, 10/01/13. I certify
that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that
anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits
material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions
(including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).
CONTRIBUTORS
What fantastic contraption would you love to build?

Tom Kuehn
Author, My Own Pinball Machine, p. 112
My ultimate fantastic contraption would be to build a house from the
ground up. The house would be powered by renewables, have smart
adaptive energy control with sensors to detect and predict your
habits, and be centrally controlled and web aware. Also there would
be trap doors, bookcase levers, and rotating fireplace doors!

Skyler Tiffin
Author, Self-Filling Pet Water Bowl, p. 93
My contraption would be called the Pack ‘em Up. It would put my
homework into my backpack at school when I close my locker. When
I open up my locker again, my books would be in my bag and I could
go home without having to pack my stuff up.
Mikal Hart
Author, Finding Your Way with GPS, Use the Iridium Satellite Network
in Your Project, p. 58
In the late 1970s I was swept into the (brief) rolling ball clock fad.
Ever since, I’ve been enthralled by rolling ball and mechanical
sculptures. I want to make a big timekeeping device that involves lots
of ping pong balls being blown up into, and falling out of, arrays of
overhead PVC tubes, gated by servo-controlled arms.

Chad Kapper
Author, The HandyCopter, p. 44
I love blending old style tech with new ideas. A steam powered
quadcopter with a vintage plate camera would be a fun challenge!

Clayton Richter
Author, Luminous Lowtops, p. 66
A fantastic contraption that I would like to make is a pen that records
what you draw and displays it using persistence-of-vision if you wave
it back and forth.
William Grassie
Author, Quadcopter Photogrammetry, p. 42
As far back as I can remember I have always been enamored of flight.
I would love one day to build my own custom-designed aircraft.
Spacecraft Studios invites you to
launch to launch creativity
Allison Merrick's Spacecraft Studios is a unique blend of a workroom
studio space and retail shop with handcrafted gifts and DIY kits. The
studio offers classes including sewing, knitting, screen printing, jewelry-
making, papermaking, soap-making, glass etching, soldering, metal
stamping and many more.

The studio is equipped with the traditional tools and supplies you'd
expect in a crafting space, as well as a digital fabric printer, additive 3D
printer and digitizer — and now the Handibot Smart Tool. Allison
explained, ''I want to learn all I can about the Handibot tool so I can
help others integrate it into making.'' Her husband, Dan Bradley, a
software engineer, is fascinated by the possibilities of app development
for the Handibot tool.

"Making things is how we learn and expand our


creativity."
Allison said, "To me, there's a natural connection between making and
education. We learn by making. So as I dreamt of having my own
company, I saw a need for a place where people can gather and be
inspired and make things... I want to help empower people to start
making the things in their world themselves and see where it can take
them."

WHERE Charleston, SC
BUSINESS SpaceCraftStudios.com
SHOPBOTTOOL Handibot® Smart Power Tool
photos by Rone
What’s a Handibot?
The Handibot Smart Tool is a subtractive digital fabrication tool for
cutting in woods, plastics, soft metal and more. Unlike "traditional"
CNC tools, it's easy to take to any jobsite; you just bring the tool to
your work. And it can be run by apps from smartphones or tablets.
You can put the Handibot to work with no previous training in CAD
or CNC.

The Handibot development team is crowdsourcing app ideas now.


Submit yours for a chance to win cool Handi-swag! Visit
handibot.com.

ShopBot handibot®
Handibot® and the Handibot logo are trademarks of ShopBot Tools, Inc.
WELCOME

Mind Your Drone


WRITTEN BY DALE DOUGHERTY, founder and CEO of
Maker Media.

Not everybody likes the word drone — industry and military experts
avoid using the “D word” in public. They prefer the term “unmanned
aerial system or vehicle” and associated acronyms UAS or UAV. Despite
plenty of misgivings about military and spy drones, the word drone has
become widespread and popular, used with great enthusiasm by
hobbyists who hang out on the DIY Drones site and by professional
aerial photographers like the L.A.-based Drone Dudes. So what is a
drone?
The original meaning of drone is a male bee. The body of a drone is
bigger than all other bees (except the queen), but what physically
distinguishes a drone is a larger pair of compound eyes. Yet drones have
no real work to do but reproduce. They make late afternoon flights to
what is called a congregation area, where drones gather looking to mate
with a virgin queen. Once these bees succeed, however (and they
perform this act in mid-air), the drones fall out of the sky, having left an
essential body part behind. That’s all that drones do.
The notion that a drone doesn’t have much work of its own leads to a
secondary definition of a drone as someone who lives off the work of
others — a parasite. In fact, at the end of summer, the worker bees kick
the remaining drones out of the hive. They eat too much and do too
little. They can be replaced in the spring.
This helps set up the problem. We not only need to figure out a
definition for drones, we also have to figure out what they’re going to
do — and not do. While some agree that drones are unmanned, others
point out that they’re piloted, preferring the acronym RPA for
“remotely piloted aircraft.” That wouldn’t differentiate drones from
remote-control aircraft, but it emphasizes that a human, who can be
held responsible, is at the controls. A drone can be operated manually or
it can be programmed to follow a fixed flight plan.
The distinguishing feature of a drone seems to be the promise of
autonomy. Today, a typical flight consists of switching between manual
flight and autopilot. How much further might it go? Given the right
instrumentation and the ability to process that data, could a drone be
programmed to make context-aware decisions, particularly ones that
humans are not very good at? A drone might detect problems before
they occur, such as responding to gusts of wind or avoiding unexpected
obstacles. A drone might also be able to communicate with other
drones.
Can a drone be considered a robot, able to obey Asimov’s Three Laws
of Robotics? We need drones that explicitly avoid harming humans and
can act to protect themselves from destruction. We should expect this
much from any fully autonomous vehicle. A drone then might be said to
have a mind of its own.
Until such time, however, that responsibility falls on the person flying
the drone. When you fly a drone, you aren’t just a user — you’re a pilot.
You must protect your equipment, yourself, and most importantly, other
people. A bad or incompetent pilot can injure people or invade their
privacy. It’s not a lot different from owning a pet or a car.
Good pilots, like the Drone Dudes, worry that bad or careless pilots
will garner the public’s attention, create a climate of fear, and cause
governments to restrict or eliminate drones for commercial or
recreational use. The reason we need better technology is that few of us
are very good pilots.
For makers, the most interesting challenge isn’t just building drones
or flying them. It’s discovering what drones are good for, what creative
uses they have, and what tough problems they might solve. Otherwise,
planes and quadcopters will be sold only as toys, not tools, and many
people will discard them once they lose interest in their playthings.
We’re hoping drones become platforms for developing compelling
applications that will push the technology forward and adjust the
balance between the light and the dark side of drones.

Vol. 37, January 2014. MAKE (ISSN 1556-2336) is published


bimonthly by Maker Media, Inc. in the months of January, March, May,
July, September, and November. Maker Media is located at 1005
Gravenstein Hwy. North, Sebastopol, CA 95472, (707) 827-7000.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send all subscription requests to MAKE, P.O. Box
17046, North Hollywood, CA 91615-9588 or subscribe online at
makezine.com/offer or via phone at (866) 289-8847 (U.S. and Canada);
all other countries call (818) 487-2037. Subscriptions are available for
$34.95 for 1 year (6 issues) in the United States; in Canada: $39.95
USD; all other countries: $49.95 USD. Periodicals Postage Paid at
Sebastopol, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to MAKE, P.O. Box 17046, North Hollywood,
CA 91615-9588. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement Number
41129568. CANADA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Maker
Media, PO Box 456, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6V2
READER INPUT

Nuclear Fusors, Homemade Sugar


Rockets, Hard Cider, and 3D Printing
Raves

» I CONTINUE TO BE AMAZED AND DELIGHTED WITH MAKE. I have to


commend your contributors for their ingenuity and practicality. In the
latest issue (Volume 36) I was especially fascinated by the Nuclear Fusor
project by Dan Spangler — well written, clear, and concise. I do,
though, have to take issue with his statement on page 93 regarding
Philo Farnsworth. John Baird transmitted the first televised pictures of
moving objects in 1924, the first televised human face in 1925, and the
first real-time moving object in 1926. But it was electronics inventor
Farnsworth who is credited with inventing the first completely
electronic television. So to clarify, it was Baird who invented television
and Farnsworth who invented the first fully electronic television.
Your magazine really inspires me up from my seat to get involved and
make things. I wish it would be more widely available in the U.K., as
I’m sure it would inspire many young inventors and engineers. With
this thought, I will be donating a yearly subscription to my old school.
—Christopher Glasgow, Byfleet, Surrey, U.K.

» Earlier this month my son Tucker and I followed William Gurstelle’s


instructions to build the Homemade Sugar Rockets featured in MAKE
Volume 35 (page 70). We failed, learned, failed some more, learned
some more, and through persistence had great success and improved the
recipe to our liking, and hopefully to yours, too. I hope the following
notes on the process will help you with this fast, easy, and super-fun
project.
—Wayne Arendsee, Fort Worth, Texas
+ Read Wayne's tips and tricks at makezine.com/fatherson/.

» Thanks for the great tutorial (Volume 36, page 132, “Kitchen-Table
Cider Making”). My notes from one batch of apple cider and two
batches of pear:
First, the filtration bag gets heavy. I made the apple cider without the
bucket with holes and the bag slipped off the larger bucket and fell in,
causing me to have to strain everything again. Second, my brewing bag
gets clogged up pretty fast. Strains really well, but requires a lot of
squeezing at the end to get all the juice out. Third, the bottled cider
flavor really reflects what you put into it. The apples, for example, were
tarter than my pears. Fourth, the sugar added beautiful little bubbles.
Haven’t sampled the non-sugared bottles, yet.
Without the suggestion of using a juicer, I might not have made any
cider this year. But your instructions provide a clear and easy path for a
first-timer. Well done.
—Matt Friedrichs, via the web
» I gotta admit, I’ve really been enjoying these practical examples of 3D
printing that you guys have been kicking out lately (Make: Ultimate
Guide to 3D Printing 2014, page 14, “10 Cool 3D Printed Objects,”).
We’ve seen years of 3D printers kicking out the same Yoda heads. I’ve
frankly been rather skeptical about the “3D Printing Revolution” that’s
been prophesized, and still am somewhat, but these posts are changing
my thinking bit by bit.
—Andy Tanguay, Ann Arbor, Mich.
IN RESPONSE TO THE B9 CREATOR REVIEW IN THE
MAKE: ULTIMATE GUIDE TO 3D PRINTING 2014 (PAGE
93):

» I own a B9 and have been absolutely blown away by the detail it is


able to produce. I use it for my business as a product designer and for
making N-scale model trains — where it is able to match (yes, match)
the detail of injection-molded parts. I had about 15 prints where I made
various mistakes but now it pretty much works every time, and Mike
Joyce [the founder] has personally helped me to overcome issues along
the way — as he has for almost everyone who has bought one of these
machines. I have no affiliation to Mike or B9, except as a very, very
satisfied customer. If you want small parts with exquisite detail (jewelers,
small scale modelers, small product prototypes), then this is the
machine for you.
— Robert Fryers, via the web
» It’s worth stressing that this entire project has been open sourced by
Joyce. I built my own printer, loosely based on his designs and using his
software, and he was incredibly helpful as I was feeling my way through.
A very generous maker, with a very cool product!
—William Fredette, Worcester, N.Y.

MAKE AMENDS: In MAKE Volume 36’s Country Scientist


column, “How to Use LEDs to Detect Light,” in the schematic in
Figure D (page 138) the LED should be reversed, with the anode
connected to ground and the cathode connected to IC1-2. Thanks
to intrepid reader Rob Kuschinsky for pointing this out.
SOAPBOX
ALL ART IS MADE BY MAKERS

Peter Strain

Museums are living forums and makers are poised to


be the power users.
Written By Don Undeen

WHY IS THIS GUY FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART WRITING


AN ARTICLE FOR MAKE?
When I started as a “computer guy” at the Met, I thought of an art
museum as a quiet place where pretty things hang politely on the wall,
and art objects as the product of a singular genius I could never
understand.
Then I learned about camera obscura, a simple box with a pinhole for
light to pass through. This device, often utilized to view solar eclipses,
was used by portraitists as early as the 17th century to create likenesses
of photographic quality. I wondered, “Isn’t that cheating?”
I started asking more questions, learning how artists availed
themselves of the latest technology and tools to push their craft to
greater heights of expression. I learned about the possibility that Dutch
master painter Edgar Degas may have used a camera obscura to aid his
genius. I then realized that all art is made by makers.
As a “museum insider,” I can tell you that many museum professionals
are thinking hard about how to remain relevant, without “dumbing
down” or compromising their integrity. I’m convinced that the answer
lies not in adding flashy new tech to their galleries, but by direct
engagement with the maker community.
Creative, curious, hands-on masters of the tools at their disposal.
That sounds like a description of both artists and makers. To the maker
definition, I’d also add a deep commitment to teaching and sharing,
which is what museums also do. This is why, in my role as the manager
of the MediaLab at the Met, I’m so interested in increasing
communication between the maker community and the museum
community. Makers could be the museum’s “power users” — returning
frequently, looking carefully, questioning bravely, and most importantly,
sharing widely.
Remembering that all art is made by makers, the museum’s rich
collections and deep expertise reward power users. I challenge every
maker to befriend a curator, conservator, or educator at their local art
museum. Cupcakes help. You’ll find that many of them are happy to
drop the art-speak to answer questions of a more practical nature: How
was this sculpture made? How did the artist achieve that exquisite
polish, that gravity-defying curve? What tools did she use?
While you’re at it, take the time to ask why. What was the artist
trying to say? What problems, technical and artistic, were they dealing
with, and how did their tools and techniques address that? I don’t doubt
that you’ll start seeing your own work in a new light. Maybe you’ll take
some of the techniques you’ve learned about and use them to add new
refinements to your projects. Maybe you’ll turn your modern making
tools to addressing those big “why” questions and produce works that
stand on their artistic merits alone.
Whatever you do, tell your fellow makers all about it. Spread the
word! Museums aren’t just repositories of lifeless objects, but a living
forum, where the creative spirit and technical skills of past artists are in
constant conversation with makers of the present and future.

DON UNDEEN
is the manager of the Met's MediaLab, which aims to explore the
impact technology can have on the museum experience by bringing
the creative technology community into close conversation with
museum expertise.
@donundeen
Seize the Moment
How I hack my education by learning hands-on skills
from the makers in my community.
Written by Logan LaPlante

Luke Jacobsen

MY NAME IS LOGAN LAPLANTE. I’M 14 AND I HACKSCHOOL. I’m taking


control of my education so it reflects who I am and what I want to do. I
don’t go to school in the traditional sense. I don’t use one particular
curriculum, and I’m not dedicated to any particular approach.
Hackschooling is like a remix or a mashup of learning. It’s flexible,
opportunistic, and never loses sight of making happiness, health, and
creativity a priority.
I’m consciously taking advantage of opportunities in my community
(in Incline Village, Nev.) and within my network of friends and family
to build my education. For example:
» I spend one full day a week interning at either Moment Skis in Reno,
Nev., or Bigtruck Brand in Truckee, Calif.
» I’m a member of the Squaw Valley Kids’ Institute, a community of
kids who study interesting world thinkers and activists, like Joel Salatin
and Sir Ken Robinson. Before these speakers present to hundreds of
Tahoe locals, we get to sit in a tiny huddle, shoulder-to-shoulder, and
ask them our prepared questions.
» With a couple of friends, I take chemistry class from a biochemist who
conducts research at the University of Nevada Reno and wants us to
learn from making. This week we made ice cream using liquid nitrogen!
» I take a Constitution class from my friend’s mom who spent her
summer taking a seminar on U.S. history in order to teach us.
» I participate in events put on by the Holland Project, an organization
of kids that brings the arts to kids.
» I ski competitively, take math online, read what interests me (like the
original Conan books), edit video, study Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and am
starting my own clothing company with some friends.
LOGAN LAPLANTE
Learn Logan's tips on internships, see the entire ski-making process,
and watch his TEDx talk, "Hackschooling Makes Me Happy:"
makezine.com/seizethemoment.
Basically, while my friends are away at school preparing for life, I’m
living it. Some people call what I do “home-schooling,” but really, I
prefer to learn and make away from home.
By far my favorite way of hacking my education is being an intern.
My internships at Moment and Bigtruck give me a clear sense of
community, depth, and pride. I get to make things I’m proud of with
people I admire.
I remember the first time I got to wear a five-panel hat I designed at
Bigtruck. I was skating to my friend’s house and when I got there he
complimented my hat and asked where I got it. I told him I made it. It
made me feel proud that someone noticed something I designed and
sewed myself.
My friend Max Louis Miller lives in New York and is a designer for
Moment. I’ve always admired his designs and graphics. They’re strange,
which makes Moment so unique. Two winters ago, I got to sit down
with Max, who was out West designing the 2012–2013 line, and we
made some weird designs together. The next year, on the hill, I looked
down at my new pair of Moment skis and saw one of my ideas from that
night. I had made my first mark on a ski.
Now, as an intern, I’m a part of the whole ski-making process at
Moment, from the computer and a plank of wood to running the CNC
saw and attaching sidewall and fiberglass and carbon fiber. I put the skis
in the heat press and cook them for 40 minutes. I participate in many
steps of the process, and then I get to click in and jump cliffs on them.
Most people think their skis are planks of wood with a plastic sheet
overlay. Because of my hackschooling knowledge I feel more deeply
connected.
Internships are a great way of getting involved in your community,
getting an education from people you admire, and having fun. What
most people don’t realize is that when you’re a kid you have a better
chance of getting really cool internships. These opportunities are time
limited and should not be passed up.
MADE ON EARTH
#madeonearth

The world of backyard technology


Know a project that would be perfect for Made on
Earth? Email us: [email protected]
Gregory Hayes

ALTARED REALITY
DAYOFTHEROBOT.COM
On a trip to Mexico, artist Chad Meserve fell for the playful and quirky
skeleton dioramas of the Día de los Muertos ofrenda — a traditional
altar with offerings for the deceased. Once home again in Burbank,
Calif., he began to extrapolate the ofrenda’s post-apocalyptic
descendents: scenes starring robots in place of skeletons. This series of
miniature sculpted figures depicting day-to-day human activities is Day
Of The Robot.
After a normal day’s work immersed in other filmmakers’ worlds,
Meserve retreats to the workbench to create his own. Starting each new
scene from scratch, he makes every figure, costume, and prop by hand.
Lamenting that the classic diorama has become “an art form
marginalized by mandatory school projects,” he knew his debut scene
had to be something universally recognizable and accessible, and so he
created the Robot Nativity. After receiving a rare positive Regretsy nod,
that first Nativity sold almost immediately, and things took off. After
that, “I focused on everyday human moments. I imagine all these robots
stuck in the world we created, the world they took from us. They didn’t
count on needing meter maids and bicycle repairmen. These otherwise
autonomous machines wind up enslaved to our inane habits and
outdated technology.”
—Gregory Hayes

AGNES THE KNIT BOT


FACEBOOK.COM/AGNES.ROBOKNIT
Agnes blinks, looks around, and drops her gaze back to the task at hand
— knitting. True to her name, Agnes Roboknit is a humanoid robot that
knits on a circular loom, periodically lifting her head to look side to side
and blink. Artist and inventor Andy Noyes, who lives in southeast
England, explains, “I wanted her to look human from a distance, but
obviously be a machine closer up, with metal parts on show.”
DC motors drive her joints, using homemade gears. In fact, almost
every part of her body was handmade, including her silicone face and
her hands — latex made from plaster casts of a real person. The original
plan had her knitting with needles, but after Noyes learned how to knit
himself — a necessary step in his design process — he realized a loom
would be easier. Agnes debuted at the 2013 Maker Faire U.K.
Why the name Agnes? “To start with it was A.G.N.E.S., and I wanted
it to be an acronym as if from the early days of computers. Though I
couldn’t think up a good acronym so it just became Agnes,” he recalls.
“Also my grandmother, who used to knit — as all grandmothers do,
don’t they? — was called Agnes.”
— Laura Cochrane

Agnes’ arms contain electric motors salvaged from old desktop printers.
Gerardo Cid

ROBOT BALLERINAS
BLACKLABELROBOT.COM
The geometric frames and Arduino-controlled servos of Brooklyn-
based Ricardo Cid’s Robot Ballerinas don’t bear a strong physical
resemblance to human ballerinas, but the concept behind them is
similar. Cid poses a question: Can writing a piece of code be equivalent
to writing a piece of choreography?
—Andrew Salomone
TRANSFORMED: Hetain Patel mutates the humble Ford into a looming 8-foot-tall
sculpture with the help of his father, Pravin Patel.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE


HETAINPATEL.COM
U.K.-based artist Hetain Patel’s first car was a 1988 Ford Fiesta handed
down from his father, Pravin Patel. In his first sculptural work, a
collaboration with his father and engineer brother, Pritum Patel, he
reconstructs a similar vehicle into an unexpected Transformer-like
figure in a comfortable squat.
Patel writes, “This posture is a recurring image in my work and
forges a link between the lower classes in India and my immigrant
family in the U.K., both of whom sit comfortably this way.”
The build took three months and uses only parts from the Fiesta,
with the exception of the springs, which ironically were sourced from a
Rolls-Royce. Patel’s father, who converts cars into hearses and
limousines, was responsible for the welding, cutting, and advising what
was structurally possible.
Patel’s work regularly addresses issues of identity and perception, and
Fiesta Transformer is no exception. He explains, “For me, these ‘robots in
disguise’ (as per the cartoon’s theme tune) stand as a metaphor for the
other, in a fantasy world where they can transform out of a marginal
position into one of empowerment. … Unlike the popular toys and
films, the car here is not a high-powered sports car or truck transformed
into a powerful warrior, but rather a small inexpensive Ford Fiesta.”
—Goli Mohammadi
THE CALM IN THE MACHINE
VIMEO.COM/52541217

Photo ECAL/Nicolas Genta

The circular knitting machine, used in World War I to produce fresh


socks quickly to combat troops’ trench foot, can now be used to keep
our heads warm while we relax, thanks to an ingenious contraption
called Rocking-Knit by Damien Ludi and Colin Peillex, created
during their studies at École cantonale d’art de Lausanne in
Switzerland. While its whimsical appearance is akin to something
conjured up by Dr. Seuss, its use is completely functional.
Consisting of a modified circular knitting machine mounted above
a rocking chair, Rocking-Knit produces knitted fabric tubes that are
turned into hats by simply rocking in it. The device channels the back
and forth motion through a series of gears, and the crank-operated
mechanism, which causes the circular knitting machine to knit, is
slowly turned and the fabric is knitted, stitch by stitch.
Although Rocking-Knit may not improve the efficiency of knitted
hat production, it does utilize time and energy that would be wasted
otherwise. Perhaps the most successful aspect of this imaginative
project is that machine knitting tends to lack the cathartic relaxation
that has made hand knitting such a popular and enduring activity;
Rocking-Knit seems to add the catharsis factor back into the
experience of machine knitting.
—Andrew Salomone

MAGNIFICENT MAZE
ORIGAMATA.COM/PROJECTS/BIGBALLMAZE
If you visited Maker Faire Bay Area the past two years, you may have
happened upon this amazing Big Ball Maze Game by locally based
maker David Thomasson. The game gives the defamiliarization
treatment to the traditional handheld maze game by making it too big
to be handheld and, to give the user a whole new experience, there are a
multitude of Arduino-controlled interfaces, including: video game
controller, smartphone, body position, brainwave headset, and visual
feedback.
—Andrew Salomone
BRICKS FROM THE BEYOND
WORLDOFODAN.BLOGSPOT.COM
New York-based graphic designer and artist Mike Doyle is a Lego
master known for thinking outside the brick. He first caught our
attention in 2011 with his beautifully rendered, black-and-white, eerily
dilapidated Lego Victorian houses.
His latest piece, titled Contact 1: Millennial Celebration of the Eternal
Choir at K’al Yne, Odan, employs more than 200,000 bricks, took over
600 hours to build, and stands 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Images of the
piece are so unreal that they leave the viewer wondering if they aren’t
renderings. Doyle responds, “The project is built and then
photographed. 90% of the saucers are connected to the model with
black Lego hoses. These mostly disappeared against a black screen.”
Contact 1 is the first in Doyle’s Contact Series, large-scale, sculptural
storytelling based around the mythical world of Odan, “celebrating
spirituality, peaceful ET contact, and fantastical worlds.” Doyle is
currently working on the next piece in the series: The Great Temple of
Odan. He navigates Lego like such a lifelong pro, it’s hard to believe he
began working with Lego as an alternative art medium merely three
years ago. Doyle’s new book, Beautiful Lego, takes an in-depth look at
exceptional works born out of the Lego artist community.
— Goli Mohammadi
Nemo’s fish tank home is controlled by a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino.

MACQUARIUM
HAYDENKIBBLE.COM/THE-INTERNET-ENABLED-FISHTANK
What has your fish tank done for you lately? U.K.-based Hayden
Kibble decided to transform an old Mac G5 into a super-smart home
for his goldfish, Nemo. After exhibiting it at Manchester Mini Maker
Faire in 2012 and getting feedback from fairgoers, he made
improvements.
Now, the futuristic fish tank has automatic feeding, timed LED
lighting, water depth monitoring, a digital thermometer, an underwater
fish-cam, an LCD status display, a servo-controlled filter and bubbles,
and best of all, can display your text message on the scrolling matrix
display or read it aloud with a computerized male voice. A tidy web
interface allows Nemo’s caretaker to monitor the system from afar.
—Laura Cochrane

VIDEO SANS-VIDEO GAME


POMP.COM/VSVG

Throughout childhood, Michael Newman could usually be found


doing one of two things: racing through a video game or drawing
levels he wished were playable.
His adult creation, Video Sans-Video Game, allows players to
dream up a world, draw it, and then play it using a joystick to navigate
a spaceship. It works by outfitting the ship with light-sensitive sensors
scavenged from multi-use printers, combined with custom 3D-
printed parts and an Arduino Mega microcontroller.
“It turns the idea of a video game level on its head, making it into
this amazing analog contraption,” says tech icon Veronica Belmont of
Newman’s creation, which won the “Show Your Stuff to Veronica
Belmont” contest at the 2013 Maker Faire Bay Area. “It takes the
trope literally: it’s a side-scroller game, but the joke is that it’s a real,
physical scroll.”
Newman, who’s from Vero Beach, Fla., plans to add a point system
and build a smaller version. The game accepts levels drawn by
anyone, so he looks forward to others’ creations. “Just because as a
little boy I drew spaceships doesn’t mean that you couldn’t draw
robots or sea horses.”
—Janet Jay

TURNING TIDES
PROJECT: BUILD YOUR OWN PEPPYTIDE AT
MAKEZINE.COM/PROJECTS/PEPPYTIDES
To make it easier for students to understand the protein folding
pathways of polypeptides, scientist Ronald Zuckermann and his
colleague at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Molecular
Foundry, Promita Chakraborty, created Peppytides — physical models
of polypeptide chains made of 3D-printed parts, screws, and magnets.
“Although computer graphics provide beautiful 3D representations,”
says Zuckermann, “you really lose the sort of tactile feel and the
intuitive sense of the flexibility of these chains, which fold into
structured proteins, without something you can hold and play with.”
In a hands-on session at a nearby college, “four out of five students
were able to fold it,” says Chakraborty. “It’s a big achievement given that
the chain is so complex.”
The two are now looking at human-computer interaction. “With
some augmented reality-type hardware and software,” says
Zuckermann, “you may soon be able to link a Peppytide to a computer
so that as you twist and fold it, the computer can be tracking your
movements and then use that information to perform calculations or
compare its similarities to say, hemoglobin.”
—Laura Kiniry

GIVING NEW LIFE TO A HANGMAN


GAMES.UCLA.EDU/GAME/BINARY-GALLOWS
Relays and multiplexing chips let one small Arduino control dozens of inputs and
outputs.
David Elliot

Although the game of hangman has traditionally been played by


drawing shapes reminiscent of 0s and 1s to make a stick figure on the
gallows, Los Angeles-based artist, hacker, and teacher Chris Reilly has
devised a new way to use 0s and 1s to play the game.
Binary Gallows is a handsome contraption consisting of an Arduino-
based electromechanical interface outfitted with an eight-button binary
keyboard. The player uses these buttons to guess the letters of a word
by inputting their binary sequence, using a chart displayed on the
interface. Once the player has entered their guess a knife switch is
pulled to submit it. Correct guesses are represented by a row of five
green light bulbs, which individually light up to represent a letter.
Incorrect guesses result in a mechanical buzz. If the player doesn’t guess
the word within the allotted number of tries, the loss is signaled by a
loud MIDI version of Chopin’s funeral march.
Perhaps a more civilized ending than seeing a representation of a
dead man on the gallows, but then again, throwing a knife switch like
that does suggest there could be a dead man in an electric chair
somewhere.
—Andrew Salomone
FEATURES
Written and photographed by Alex Carrillo and Joseph
Zinter

HOW A DEDICATED TEAM OF STUDENTS BUILT A


WORLD-CLASS RACE CAR AGAINST ALL ODDS.
Each year, dozens of collegiate teams flock to the New Hampshire
Motor Speedway to compete in the International SAE Formula
Hybrid Competition, a grueling four-day event where students
race formula-style gas/electric hybrid race cars that they've
designed and built.

REWIND: It’s April 29, 2011, two days before the competition.
The Yale University team, Bulldogs Racing (BDR), is at an off-campus
site testing their race car one last time. Tears of joy stream as thousands
of man-hours from a small but dedicated team of about a dozen students
is finally realized — the beast is in motion and it’s looking good!
Minutes later those tears shift from joy to despair. In the most
improbable of scenarios, a single bolt had come loose, jamming the
engine, and tearing the transmission to shreds. With not enough time
left to source a new transmission, a year’s worth of work is gone. Game
over. Sorry, Yale.
Unfortunately, the 2012 season wasn’t much better for the Bulldogs.
Long story short, they didn’t even come close to making it to
competition. The team was a little light, and in a way it’s
understandable. Not only did Yale have a poor history of even getting a
car to the competition, they never did very well when they did make it
there. Getting students to trade every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
night of their college experience for something that has a strong
likelihood of failure is a pretty tough sell. Imagine the recruiting poster:
“Compromise your grades, miss out on social opportunities, sleep less
than you ever thought was possible! Join Bulldogs Racing!”

PAUSE: So why do they do it? Because it’s not about winning, or


even the race for that matter — it’s about the experience. Ivy-league
prep assumptions aside, many Yale students would rather don safety
glasses than a bow tie. They may not know anything about suspension
geometry, laying carbon fiber, or tuning an engine when they sign on,
but they join to learn.
THE CHAMPIONS: (Back, left to right) Alex Villarreal, Hari Vasudevan, Alex Carrillo,
Joe Belter, Joseph Zinter, (front) Chinmay Jaju, Yusuf Chauhan, and Adam Goone.
ALEJANDRO (ALEX) CARRILLO
is a sophomore electrical engineering major at Yale University, and
hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. In his spare time he builds robots, explores
NYC history, and teaches people how to do the same.

DR. JOSEPH ZINTER


is the assistant director at the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation
and Design (CEID), a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering and Materials Science, and the proud faculty advisor for
the Bulldogs Racing Team.

For most students, it’s both empowering and humbling. Empowering,


in learning how to transform hunks of metal and plastic into functional
parts. Humbling, in that the former is much more difficult than it
sounds. Mostly though, it’s about being part of something bigger than
themselves. In 10 years, most students probably won’t remember their
linear algebra course, but they’ll never forget the feel of brake fluid on
their hands, the sweet smell of an angle grinder ripping through steel,
and more than anything, the late night camaraderie and laughs.
It goes without saying that building a race car is a pretty lofty
endeavor, especially for students who have likely spent more hours
playing video games than turning a wrench. A race car is thousands of
carefully designed, machined, and welded parts, all working in unison to
tear around some type of course without falling apart. Here, we’re
talking about a hybrid vehicle, so now add to the mix a complex
electrical system consisting of high-power circuits to drive a motor and
low-power circuits to control everything else.
The Formula Hybrid Competition consists of three dynamic events:
an acceleration run, an autocross event, and an endurance race. Each
team is limited in the amount of “energy” they can carry, and they’re
free to distribute it between gasoline and batteries as they see fit to
maximize their performance in the three events.

FAST-FORWARD: In September 2012, two sophomores, Alex


Villarreal and Chinmay Jaju, decide to turn BDR around. Neither had
much experience, but they weren’t short on gumption. With a few
thousand bucks and a poorly outfitted garage (which incidentally
doubled as a loading dock), they set out to revamp BDR. The first stop
was a new faculty advisor to mentor the team and supervise the build.
Dr. Joseph Zinter, assistant director of the Yale Center for Engineering
Innovation and Design (CEID), was the logical choice: a serial maker
and gear head who feels more comfortable in welding leathers than a
tweed coat. Zinter agrees under one simple rule: “If we do this, we go
all in.”
Using old fashioned boat-building techniques and laser-cut plywood cross sections,
Alex Carrillo creates the plug for the race car body.
Months of designing, calculating, planning, and sourcing parts were
followed by long hours in the garage and machine shop transforming
piles of raw materials into a chassis, drivetrain, steering system,
suspension, electrical system, body, and finally, a race car. It was one hell
of a year — each student pushed further than they’d ever been, with
many unforgettable stories, travesties, and successes along the way, but
the best part of this story comes from what happened at the race.

PLAY: On the morning of the 2013 competition, BDR rolls into


the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, passing dozens of professional-
looking race-car trailers from schools across the country. They park and
assemble to lift their race car from the back of a rented U-Haul truck.
Yale already didn’t have a great reputation at this race, and the U-Haul
didn’t help, so a few snide remarks were expected (and received). It was
all good, though, and the team is just happy to be there — even days
before the race, they weren’t sure they would make it.
The first, and sometimes the most challenging, part of the
competition is inspection, where professionals spend hours going
through each car to make sure the vehicle is safe and mechanically and
electrically sound. Each team is given a list of things to change and fix,
then it’s off to the pits for frantic repairs and modifications. Here, every
minute counts. If a car doesn’t pass inspection in time for an event, it
isn't allowed to compete. About a quarter of the teams never pass
inspection and are relegated to watch the other schools race from the
sidelines.
Despite minor modifications, the BDR car is the first to pass
inspection, and the other schools start to give Yale a second look. The
Yale team is one part stoked and one part haunted by their history,
assuming something will inevitably go wrong. They prep for the first
event, the acceleration run, just hours away. The car is ready, every bolt
double-checked, and it exudes confidence, but the team seems far less
poised.
Then, the chaotic pits come to a screeching halt when it’s announced
that the autocross course is open for a walkthrough. Autocross would be
the second event of the day, and crew members from all schools run
over to see what they’ll soon face.
Yale had done their homework, studied the previous years’ courses,
and designed their gearing accordingly. Historically, the autocross
course was tight, favoring quick acceleration and high torque, but you
could have driven a dump truck through this layout. It was wide open
and much more designed to favor high speeds.
1. Joe Belter and Chinmay Jaju CNC-machine the uprights.

2. Belter and Jaju test-fit the uprights on the welded chassis.


3. The plug gets a final release coat before being used to make the fiberglass
molds, which are then used to create the carbon fiber body.

4. The bare bones BDR race car on day one of testing.


5. The Bulldogs Racing Team performs some final tuning on the car.

6. On the final day of testing, things are looking solid for the BDR team.
In talking with other teams, the Yale race car had one of the lowest top
speeds around.
The competition requires teams to maintain the same gearing for all
events, so the Yale team quickly recognizes they're in serious trouble,
since autocross accounts for twice as many points as the acceleration
run. After a quick team huddle, they decide to change their gearing, but
at this point, they only have about 45 minutes to do it. The adrenaline is
seriously pumping, and a year’s worth of work in on the line.
“It was like a NASCAR pit stop without the tools you need,” said Alex
Carrillo, a freshman who wore two important hats on the team: control
systems lead and comic relief. In an absolute fury they jack up the car,
and remove the body and the sprockets on the engine and motor. They
are organized, ready, and on track to make it to the line in time. They
shorten the chains and loop them around the newly installed sprockets.
“We have a problem,” says Joe Belter, a graduate student in
mechanical engineering and the resident mechanical guru. It only takes
seconds for the gravity to set in. The new sprocket configuration is such
that they can’t get both the motor and engine chains to be safely
tensioned. “Half link,” barks Zinter. “We don’t have one — they don’t
exist for this size chain,” says another team member. “I know, make a
half link,” says Zinter. In true MacGyver fashion, with only a vice and
angle grinder, sparks fly. In less than five minutes, greasy, shaking hands
create and install the fix. After a quick reinspection, the team dashes the
car to the starting line of the acceleration event, with only seconds to
spare before disqualification.
Fingers are crossed, and the team is praying the car makes it down
the track in one piece. Belter is behind the wheel. He rolls to the line,
gets the thumbs up, and roars down the straightaway. The crowd is
cheering, and all eyes shift from the car to the clock. The collective jaw
of BDR drops as they hear the announcer: “At 5.283 seconds, Yale resets
fast time for the day.” The unlikely Yale would end up winning the
acceleration run.
The elation was short-lived, as the autocross event was just around
the corner. After having calmed the butterflies, a quiet confidence is
starting to set in on the BDR team, the type you would expect from a
well-oiled machine that has been running nonstop for a year.
They roll the car to the line. Adam Goone, a senior in mechanical
engineering, is behind the wheel. Goone is one of two seniors who had
stuck with BDR for the entirety of his college career, and the day he’d
dreamed of is finally here. Despite having been through a physical and
emotional roller coaster in those four years, he's as cool as ice, a born
driver.
He gives the crowd and thousands of people watching online quite
the show when the rear end slips out from behind him around a tight
turn. He loses it and is headed for the grass. Hearts stop, but after an
amazing recovery, he continues to tear up the track, and ultimately
claims victory in the autocross event.
Yale would end up winning the endurance event as well, sweeping the
competition and coming in first place overall: International SAE
Formula Hybrid Competition champions. Oh, and the custom half link
held up just fine.
It was a motley crew if ever there was one. Quite a few team members
didn’t know the difference between a nut and a bolt when they started,
the engine tech and welder was an anthropology major, and the chief
engineer didn’t have a driver’s license. When you think Yale, you
probably don’t think engineering or making, but this small team on a
shoestring budget (while dodging deliveries on a loading dock) was able
to build a world-class car. It just took a little gumption, a few sacrifices
along the way, and a strong desire to make.
Pat Delany

Radically Cheap
TEXAN BUILDS MACHINE TOOLS FROM CAR PARTS
TO SAVE THE WORLD.
Written by Paul Spinrad
Jeffrey Braverman

The ex-rancher felt empathy push his problem-solving mind into a


new direction. He looked back at all those years he had tinkered with
junk-built machine tools in his workshop — all that time spent poring
over scans of antique how-to magazines looking for clever hacks to
avoid having to buy new tools. It was fun and sometimes necessary for
me, he thought, but what I’ve created here can also help many people.
This is the story of Pat Delany, one of the leading creative voices in
Appropriate Technology — technology that is small-scale,
decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sound,
and locally controlled. This 78-year-old grandfather came to the field as
an outsider, inspired by a second-hand description of a news photo. But
his visionary home-built machine-tool designs now have the potential to
help millions bootstrap themselves out of poverty. Delany never had
much money himself, or any formal engineering education, but his
personal quest to develop open-source DIY machine tools has been
embraced and spread by Appropriate Technology’s conference-hopping,
grant-getting establishment.
Delany had worked with machines for his entire life and built many
machines for himself. Back in the 1950s he paid his way through Tulane
as an industrial electrician and then continued as an electrician in New
Orleans. Working at the Jackson Brewery when it shut down in 1973,
he followed an opportunity to move to Palestine, Texas and raise cattle,
which he did until the sector crashed in 1982.
With his last $525, he started an oil and gas information service,
Rigmatch Information, which originally ran via dialup on his son’s
RadioShack Model 1 computer. A nearby lightning strike fried the
computer, so he bought more than 30 replacements for $10 each at a
RadioShack company sale. After many thunderstorm seasons, he finally
ran out of these “servers” just as the worldwide web came along. By
economic necessity, Delany worked on Rigmatch well into his 70s; only
recently did his 39-year-old son Mike finish taking over the business.
(The family also includes wife Clarissa, sons Stratton and Colin,
daughter Megan, and seven grandchildren.)

THE MULTIMACHINE
About 13 years ago, Delany decided to build himself a horizontal
milling machine on the cheap. He was stuck on finding the right parts
until he came across the article “Build the ‘Engine Mill’” by G. A.
Ewen, in an issue of Machinist’s Workshop. Ewen’s handy little DIY mill
was built from a four-cylinder car engine block — a solid chunk of
metal that’s sourceable from any junkyard — but has the strength,
weight, and precise geometry to make an ideal frame for a small
machine tool. As Delany explains in the documentation for his now-
famous project, “cylinder bores are bored parallel to each other and at
exact right angles to the cylinder head surface.”
Delany expanded on Ewen’s engine block idea to create an all-
purpose metalworking station that he called the MultiMachine (see page
26). It’s a creative mashup of old designs, new ideas, and cheaply
available parts that functions as a combination lathe, mill, and drill
press. Delany has used it to resurface a neighbor’s brake rotors, among
other things. Naturally, he continued experimenting with the
MultiMachine and improving it after he first got it working. He put a
chop saw blade on the spindle, for example, and found that it also makes
a great saw.

PAUL SPINRAD
is a broad-spectrum enthusiast, writer, maker, and dad who lives in
San Francisco. He hatches schemes at investian.com.
TOOL OF EMPOWERMENT: Built entirely from scrap car and truck parts, Delany's
open-source MultiMachine is a complete machine shop in one tool, with no
electric power necessary. The implications for developing countries are immense.
Learn how to make your own and read about his other open source machines at
opensourcemachinetools.com.
MAKING A MULTIMACHINE
Delany’s MultiMachine is built on two engine blocks. The six-
cylinder block in back (A) uses one bore to hold the mill’s spindle (B)
and another above it to hold an overarm (C), which extends out to
hold a tailstock for using the machine as a lathe. The block is held up
on a wheeled engine stand (D). Driving the spindle, and mounted
around it, are a fast motor, a slow motor, and three pulley clusters (E),
all of which allow the user to run the spindle at a range of speeds and
torques by swapping belts around. These drivetrain components are
bolted to existing mounting holes on the block, like for the oil filter
or to angle iron brackets (F) bolted to new holes drilled and tapped in
the block. The spindle itself is just a piece of pipe that rotates inside
bearings salvaged from a car differential.
Key to his design is what he calls the “adjuster,” a small ring around
the spindle that acts like a bike axle ball bearing adjuster. A variety of
tools — like a lathe chuck, end or horizontal mill, drill, saw with
blade up to 14", grinding wheel, sanding discs — can be attached to
the end of the spindle, enabling the MultiMachine to do virtually all
metalworking operations. The overarm can be replaced with a shaper
or slotter.
The worktable (G) is a metal plate bolted flat atop a four-cylinder
engine block (H) that sits beside the main block. Each block has a
vertical plate bolted to each side (I), and these pairs of plates interlock
and serve as a slide mechanism that lets the work surface be raised
and lowered by an automotive jack that supports the lower block.
After you jack the table, you keep it in place by clamping the vertical
plates together. And by applying a bit of jack pressure, releasing the
clamps, and tapping the lower block with a hammer, you can raise the
table just a few ten-thousandths of an inch, a level of precision that
Delany calls “amazingly repeatable.”

LOST WISDOM
Developing the MultiMachine, Delany drew from an overlooked source
of high-quality practical knowledge that is now his hallmark: how-to
articles and books from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Numerous
maker publications flourished during this time span, to serve a handy
population with limited product options. Many of these books were
reprinted by Lindsay’s Technical Books, which advertises in the back of
hobbyist publications. “Lindsay is a cranky old man like me,” Delany
remarks. “Several of my best ideas came just from his ads. I could never
afford to buy most of his books.“
More, Google Books has published full-scan archives of old Popular
Mechanics, Popular Science, and The Mechanics’ Magazine, and archives of
other titles exist elsewhere online. Delany’s MultiMachine plans include
a DIY design from an 1925 issue of Popular Mechanics for a hand-
cranked cross-slide to move workpieces across the table (although his
own machine uses a commercial version). The plans also show how to
make a cutting point for lathing from a broken drill bit (Popular
Mechanics, 1925); how to make a chuck from an engine flywheel
(Machinery Magazine, 1916); and how to cut screw threads without a
lathe or die by using a stretched spring as a master (Scientific American,
1910).
Unfortunately, Delany also had an accident while building his
MultiMachine. The suspended engine block came loose and knocked
him through a window, seriously injuring his back. Now he describes
himself as “a crippled inventor guy — the kind that rides a scooter in
the supermarket.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH
Around the same time that Delany suffered his back injury, a friend told
him about the fateful photograph, which showed a missionary with a
farmworker in the developing world. The farmworker held a machete
with a blade that looked only about 4" or 5" long, and Delany’s heart
went out to him for having to rely on such a meager tool. As an inventor
with a lifetime of practical machine experience, he realized that he
wanted to help.
Old car parts and scrap metal are available in much of the developing
world, and if you build your own practical machine tool, then you will
know exactly how to use, modify, and fix it. A MultiMachine outfitted
with a chop saw blade and a grinding wheel could turn car leaf springs,
or even body panels, into ample and effective machete blades for
farmers everywhere. Even if you make just $2 a day, you can use the
machine to start your own business and to make more tools,
empowering yourself and your community.
And so, from his home in Texas, Delany entered the world of
Appropriate Technology. He tried contacting dozens of large
nongovernmental organizations involved in development work, as well
as some university engineering departments in Texas, to tell them about
the MultiMachine and its potential for the developing world. Even the
simplest version of his machine, he noted, can resurface brakes and
clutches, a job that needs doing anywhere there are cars. But Delany‘s
front-door knocking proved unfruitful. “The NGO people had no
interest in anything technical, and the university people seemed to be
inflicted with ‘not-invented-here’ syndrome,” he recalls.

OPEN-SOURCE HARDWARE
Having struck out finding institutional backing, Delany went the DIY
route. He started a MultiMachine Yahoo Group in 2004 to collaborate
on open-source machine plans, and it started to gain a following. Many
others, in a broad range of ages, also wanted to build their own radically
cheap machine tools and help marginalized communities around the
world free themselves from poverty and dependence. He was
encouraged to pursue his vision. In one forum thread from April 2005,
Delany responded to a message from member George Ewen by writing:

It’s strange, but at my advanced age I realize that machine tools


are about all that I believe in. The lathe, shaper, and mill built
the foundation of our current standard of living and there is no
reason why a cheap and easy-to-build multipurpose tool could not
help the 500 million people that need simple water pumps or the
billion people who live on a dollar a day or less. Thanks for
getting a crazy old man started.
He also sees great empowerment potential for DIY metal casting, which
he has tried in his backyard. Build a charcoal fire, intensify it with a
blower (Pat used a Shop-Vac), and you can melt common zinc-
aluminum alloys such as ZA-12 and ZA-27 in a steel pot. Pour into a
wet sand mold, and your castings will be easy to machine and nearly as
strong as cast iron. With a simple metal casting setup, a MultiMachine,
and access to scrap metal, Delany notes, you can do an enormous range
of useful metalwork.

THE MACHINE GOES WIDE


From 2005-2007, Delany’s MultiMachine project and online forum
continued to gain attention and activity, with surges following coverage
on the MAKE and Boing Boing sites and in Popular Mechanics. In 2007,
he demonstrated the machine at Maker Faire Austin, and when he
learned that the first Maker Faire Africa was being planned for August
2009 in Accra, Ghana, he decided to exhibit it there as well. “My only
goal is to get the word out,” he explains, “and I’m willing to bankrupt
myself buying plane tickets.”
There he met Noha El-Ghobashy, president of Engineering for
Change (E4C), an online forum that enables formally trained engineers
and makers to collaborate with NGOs, community advocates, and
others on development challenges. “I found Pat to be a bit of an
anomaly, given the other kinds of people there,” El-Ghobashy recalls,
“but it was so fascinating how he uses 19th century technology to
address current global needs.”
In the Appropriate Technology mainstream, no one was doing what
Delany was doing, poring through antique books and magazines and
trying out the ideas. But it was a valuable approach, so El-Ghobashy
invited him to become one of the early members and contributors to
E4C and also asked E4C’s main writer Rob Goodier to keep up with
and report on Delany’s projects. “Engineers tend not to be the best
communicators or marketers of their work,” El-Ghobashy explains, “Pat
uploaded his work to our site, but it needed a push to get the word out.”

THE CONCRETE LATHE


In the meantime, Delany had been recognizing the limits of his original
MultiMachine. It could work as a lathe for smaller work pieces, but it
was neither big or powerful enough to bootstrap a factory, nor could it
be controlled to reliably cut screw threads, which requires a point to
engage with an advancing rod repeatedly in exactly the same place.
“The metal lathe is the most necessary tool for industrial development,”
he explains. “It makes everything that’s round, it makes the rollers that
make everything flat, and you can use it as a milling machine to make
fancy shapes. It all comes back to the lathe.”
He had spent years looking for a way to make a large, high-speed
lathe out of scrap parts that would be stable, accurate, and hard to throw
out of alignment. Finally, he found a clue: a single paragraph in a 1923
issue of Popular Mechanics that described concrete-body machine tools
used for World War I. One of them was a 10-ton monster lathe that was
used to shape artillery shells.
Concrete seemed like a great, inexpensive material for making solid
machine tools, but it shrinks as it hardens, which would throw off the
alignment of anything that’s anchored to it. So, how did the WWI
armament factories do it? Delany searched for two years for more
specific information about how the concrete lathe was built. Finally,
MultiMachine forum member Shannon DeWolfe found the answer in a
1916 article in Machinery magazine, which described a concrete-body
lathe in which the precision parts were held in alignment by casting
them in poured molten metal. Delany updated engineer Lucien
Yeomans’ 1915 lathe technique by using PVC pipe to create spaces in
the concrete for fitting the metal parts and securing them in place with
non-shrinking cement grout instead of metal.
But now, Delany’s back injury prevents him from being able to build
his dream machine, which is enormously frustrating for him. He still
has a lifetime of machine knowledge in his head, however, and a capable
following online, so he’s done what he can to enlist others in supporting
the potentially world-transforming project. You too can help.

+ The lathe project: makezine.com/delany-lathe.

+ Lend a hand: opensourcemachinetools.com.


INKJET MANIAC
PRINTERS ARE BECOMING HARDER TO HACK, BUT
ONE ARTIST HAS BECOME A CHEMIST,
PROGRAMMER, AND MACHINIST IN ORDER TO
GET EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS FROM HIS
MACHINES.
Written by Bob Parks

Have you bought ink for your printer lately? If so, you probably felt a
little annoyed with the manufacturer. For starters, there’s the
horrendous cost — a full round of inkjet cartridges at Staples runs
nearly half the cost of the printer itself. Printers are one of those famous
loss-leader products like razors and kerosene lamps; you pay almost
nothing for the gadget, then they gouge you on the supplies. Analysts
estimate that the three big printer makers — Canon, HP, and Epson —
make roughly two-thirds of their revenue from supplies.
But beyond the economics of ink, there’s also a lock on creative
control. As long as the inkjet has existed, adventurous users have been
able to peek under the hood, manipulate the driver software to create
weird effects, manually tweak settings to eke out a higher quality, or
even delve into the chemistry of ink itself. But that window’s closing.
Since the inclusion of embedded microchips on ink cartridges, hacking
these beige monsters is increasingly tough. A programmer needs to find
the digital code on the cartridge in order to use bathtub ink and
software, and that code is now harder than ever to access. Only 15% of
users refill ink because of the hassles involved.
So it’s interesting to meet a professional inkjet printmaker who faces
many of the same technical challenges but has to overcome them in
order to stay in business. Someone like Jon Cone, 52, the inkjet pro
behind art prints by artists such as David Bowie, Wolf Kahn, and
Richard Avedon. The whole point of printing at the fine art level is to
work with the artist to create a signature look.

1. Jon Cone flips through his large scale prints.


William Dixon
2. A 100% pure carbon inkjet print made from seven shades of Cone's Piezography
carbon inks. He adapted a 1930s Wollensak to a digital camera to shoot it.
Jon Cone
3. Three Epson 7880 printers — each has been converted to Cone's Piezography
inks using refillable cartridges. Each printer has a different "color" of black and
white inks. One is Carbon, another is Selenium, and the third is Neutral.
4. Cone in East Topsham, Vt., a town whose population hovers around 1,000.
William Dixon

The thick handmade paper is affixed to a carrier sheet. Any lint or stray fibers are
carefully removed prior to printing. This sheet costs about $500.

This triple-thick handmade print is being printed on a 64" Roland printer that has
been modified to accept the paper and 12 of Cone's custom inks.
Jon Cone

Drawing on a degree in traditional printmaking from Ohio


University’s College of Fine Arts, Cone works with artists to manipulate
how the ink gets laid down on the page. Then he monkeys with the
software to create subtle effects with the high-end paper his clients use
— for instance, a recent job called for impossibly thick Japanese
handmade paper, each sheet of which weighed 20 pounds and cost
$5,000. “You can’t do a test run, you can’t see a preview in Photoshop,”
says Cone. “After a while, you just get the feel of it and you start to
think in ink.”
Cone’s workshop is in the middle of a 17-acre sheep farm deep in
rural Vermont. It’s a little like a Bond villain’s hidden lair — remote,
unassuming, and packed with high-tech gear. Inside the converted barn
are a dozen wide-format printers perched on glossy hardwood floors. A
$123,000 Iris machine spits out a print that will take several hours to
finish. Meanwhile, Cone tinkers on a nearby Roland in preparation to
handle photographer Zana Briski’s black-and-white work. Briski, the co-
director of the Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels, wants
rich images for this project with a palette tinted the color of tea and the
images running over all the edges.
To create Briski’s images, Cone changed the firmware inside the
device to think it had 12 inks instead of its standard six. To hold the new
cartridges in place, he used steel washers and a custom jig he machined
on the farm. He even designed the ink itself, had it tested for longevity,
and then produced it with a Taiwanese partner (Cone runs a side
business selling inks for high-end and consumer inkjets). The 12
different inks will give the image a full range of various levels of gray (a
consumer inkjet typically creates gray with one black cartridge). Says
Cone, “She wants tons of depth and structure, but if we use too much
ink in any one spot it will bleed everywhere.”
Cone also printed the images for Greg Colbert’s “Ashes and Snow”
exhibit, one of the most visited art exhibits in history. Colbert began
showing his work on giant Polaroids, but needed a new method once
the worldwide supply of 40"×80" Polaroid film ran out. For two years,
Cone designed inks, wrote printer driver software, and experimented
with various papers to reproduce the otherworldly colors from the
Polaroid process. Artists depend on such heroics because it lets them
take an active role in the production of the art.
Dana Ceccarelli, of Cone Editions Press (cone-editions.com), holds up a handmade
print of a photo from photographer Andrea Zini.
Test carts are filled with inks that Cone made in his studio prior to production. The
printer is a 110" Roland solvent printer that has been adapted for use with the
pigment inks.
“When you buy any art print,” explains Charles James, a digital
printmaker for BowHaus in Los Angeles, “You’re looking for evidence
of the artist’s hand. A collector of Ansel Adams silver gelatin prints
wants to know he himself did the dodging and burning and the
developing. With digital, you’re looking for the same decisions, not
what they did in Photoshop but the way they blended the ink and laid
down the image on the page.”
“Because high-end printers only ship with automatic control, every
print can look the same as every other print,” grouses James. “But there
are people out there who want to push their printer to the limit. I don’t
understand why the manufacturers haven’t embraced this.”
To keep their creative experiments going, Cone and other
printmakers are in a constant cat-and-mouse game with manufacturers.
Getting a printer to spit out specialty inks involves creating a software
driver that makes the printer think it’s using a standard ink tank. But
you need the codes inside the cart’s microchip to perform this sleight of
hand, and sometimes it’s not that easy. With a sweep of his hand, Cone
gestures to show how he is getting rid of the fleet of newish wide-
format Epson printers in his shop, replacing them with Canons. Epson’s
latest machines are too hard to hack, and he wants to standardize on a
more easily modified platform.

A RECENT JOB CALLED FOR IMPOSSIBLY THICK


JAPANESE HANDMADE PAPER, EACH SHEET OF
WHICH WEIGHED 20 POUNDS AND COST $5,000. "YOU
CAN'T DO A TEST RUN, YOU CAN'T SEE A PREVIEW IN
PHOTOSHOP," SAYS CONE.

For the technically minded consumer, Cone and others recommend


keeping an eye out for well-made vintage printers in junk shops and on
eBay. You might even find a few of Cone’s castoffs. “Save your old
printers,” says Roy Harrington, who codes and sells a driver called
QuadTone RIP. “Creativity is more than just hitting the Print button.
The older equipment lets you get your hands into their machine and
make your image just the way you want it.”

BOB PARKS
is a frequent contributor to MAKE, Runner’s World, and Wired
magazines. He lives in Vermont with his wife and two children.
bobparkswriter.com
SPECIAL SECTION: DRONES
makezine.com/homegrown-drones

Smaller, quicker, and smarter than ever,


UAVs are taking off fast.
Niagara Falls photography by Nina and Georgi Tushev
The noun “drone” originally referred to a male honeybee. It was first
adopted to describe pilotless aircraft (probably) during the 1940s, and
has since expanded to include all pilotless vehicles, airborne or
otherwise: Today, cars, boats, and submarines can be “drones,” too.
As computers and robotics have advanced, “drone” has started to imply
a more sophisticated autonomy. The phrase “true drone” has been
cropping up, lately, indicating a vehicle that is not only unmanned, but
selfpiloting: Tell it where to go, and it simply goes there without further
instruction. However you feel about the terminology, the
technology of unmanned aerial vehicles is fascinating and is generally
applicable whether your ambitions lie in the area of “true drones” or
traditional R/C. Given limited space, we have limited our focus mostly
to airborne examples, but here, too, many of the same ideas can be
applied to drones on the ground, on or under the water, and perhaps
even in outer space. Let’s get to it.
ANATOMY OF A DRONE
Finding your way around a modern
multirotor UAV.
Illustration by Rob Nance
A. STANDARD PROP
The same “tractor” propeller used on standard front-engine R/C
airplanes.

B. “PUSHER” PROP
These contra-rotating props exactly cancel out motor torques during
stationary level flight. Opposite pitch gives downdraft.

C. MOTOR
Usually a brushless electric “outrunner” type, which is more efficient,
more reliable, and quieter than a brushed motor.

D. MOTOR MOUNT
Sometimes built into combination fittings with landing struts.

E. LANDING GEAR
Designs that need high ground clearance may adopt helicopter-style
skids mounted directly to the body, while designs with no hanging
payload may omit landing gear altogether.

F. BOOM
Shorter booms increase maneuverability, while longer booms increase
stability. Booms must be tough to hold up in a crash while interfering
with prop downdraft as little as possible.

G. MAIN BODY
Central "hub" from which booms radiate like spokes on a wheel.
Houses battery, avionics, cameras, and sensors.

H. ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER (ESC)


Converts DC battery power into 3-phase AC for driving brushless
motors.

I. FLIGHT CONTROLLER
Interprets input from receiver, GPS module, battery monitor, and
onboard sensors. Regulates motor speeds, via ESCs, to provide steering,
as well as triggering cameras or other pay-loads. Controls autopilot and
other autonomous functions.

J. GPS MODULE
Often combines GPS receiver and magnetometer to provide latitude,
longitude, elevation, and compass heading from a single device.

K. RECEIVER
Often a standard R/C radio receiver unit. The minimum number of
channels needed to control a quad is 4, but 5 is usually recommended.

L. ANTENNA
Depending on your receiver, may be a loose wire whip or helical
“rubber ducky” type.

M. BATTERY
Lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries offer the best combination of energy
density, power density, and lifetime on the market.

N. BATTERY MONITOR
Provides in-flight power level monitoring to flight controller.

O. GIMBAL
Pivoting mount that rotates about 1, 2, or 3 axes to provide stabilization
and pointing of cameras or other sensors.

P. GIMBAL MOTOR
Brushless DC motors can be used for direct-drive angular positioning,
too, which requires specially-wound coils and dedicated control
circuitry that have only recently become commercially available.

Q. GIMBAL CONTROLLER
Allows control of direct-drive brushless gimbal motors as if they were
standard hobby servos.

R. CAMERA
GoPro or other compact HD video unit with onboard storage. Real-
time streaming is possible with special equipment.
GETTING STARTED WITH AERIAL
VIDEO
How to make fantastic videos from your
multicopter or drone.
Written by Eric Cheng

Julian Cohen
Aerial shot of Vakaeitu, Tonga, September 2013.
Eric Cheng

The first aerial photograph was taken in 1858 by French photographer


Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (from a hot air balloon), and since then,
aerial perspectives in imaging have remained elusive to those without
astronomical budgets. Historically, photographers have used just about
everything to get cameras up in the air including balloons, birds, kites,
rockets, airplanes, and helicopters.
In the last few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have improved
so much in performance and reliability that they have

Eric Cheng is an award-winning underwater photographer,


aerial imager, and publisher. His underwater images have won
contests such as the Nature's Best Photography competition,
which has placed some of his work in the Smithsonian's Natural
History Museum.
started to creep into the mainstream as the best way for (most) people to
capture aerial images and video. These 5 tips will help you to get the
best aerial videos you can.

1. Choose the right UAV


The vast majority of people getting into aerial videography choose a
quadcopter as their first UAV. Quadcopters' electronic flight controllers,
sensors, and GPS automatically stabilize flight and in some instances,
allow autonomous “mission” flying via waypoint programming, allowing
for steady video platforms that can maneuver themselves into precise
locations. They’re simpler to operate than tricopters, and more
affordable than hexacopters.
The most popular quadcopter for aerial filming is the $679 DJI
Phantom because it’s ready-to-fly (RTF) out of the box and is designed
to hold a GoPro camera. The Phantom is a great platform, even for
beginning hobbyists, because it’s easily hackable. There is a vibrant
third-party accessories market, mostly made up of enterprising
individuals selling personally developed mods online.
The author’s quad of choice, the DJI Phantom, equipped with GoPro Hero3 camera
and RotorPixel gimbal.
Eric Cheng
The aircraft is crooked but the camera is level, controlled by a brushless gimbal.
Eric Cheng

The 3D Robotics Iris


RotorPixel gimbals are matched to the DJI Phantom and also pretuned to match the
GoPro Hero3 camera.
Eric Cheng

Multirotors from 3D Robotics are also a great choice. They offer kits
(such as the 3DR Quad Kit, Maker Shed item #MK-3DR01,
makershed.com) and RTF models (including a new Phantom
competitor called the Iris), all running their open-source, open-
hardware flight platform for the ultimate in hackability.
Adventurous makers will likely want to build their own multirotor
aircraft, which have the advantages of being (potentially) more budget
friendly (see "The HandyCopter UAV," page 44) and allowing you to
tailor components to your specific needs. A DIY quadcopter or
hexacopter consists of an airframe, flight controller, electronic speed
controller (ESC), motors, propellers, batteries, radio, and receiver.
Entire kits are available for less than $200. Of course, to do
videography, you'll also need a camera, which leads us to...

2. Choose the right camera


Although large cameras can easily be put into the air if you configure
and make your own multirotor aircraft, my favorite cameras for aerial
videography are GoPro, which provide the best image quality for their
size and weight. The GoPro Hero3 Black Edition weighs only 73 grams
and can record video at 2.7K (2,704×1,524 pixels) at 45Mbps (or 30fps).
And it’s got built-in wi-fi for downloading your footage.
GoPros are also pretty much the standard in aerial videography,
which means maximum compatibility with OEM and third-party
accessories for aerial imaging, such as vibration isolators and gimbals
(covered in the next tip).
Finally, GoPros are easily protected while airborne using their
branded underwater housing or third-party lens protectors.

3. Stabilize your camera


The smoothness of aerial video is directly correlated to its perceived
quality. But multirotor motion isn’t smooth. As a multirotor flies
around, the flight controller automatically stabilizes the aircraft by
sending power to its multiple motors. During flight maneuvers or in
gusts of wind, a multirotor might pivot violently on multiple axes, which
may keep the aircraft itself stabilized in space, but can wreak havoc on
footage from onboard cameras. In the past, hobbyists used servomotors
to correct for this sort of movement, but servos are slow and sloppy,
unable to correct quickly enough.
Author’s gimbal mount, showing the blue rubber vibration isolator.

GIMBALS AND AIRCRAFT MOTION: These days, stabilized


aerial video is made possible by the incorporation of gimbals that use
brushless motors. A gimbal is simply a support that allows the rotation
of an object around an axis, and brushless motors are the same motors
that revolutionized R/C model aircraft due to their great power-to-
weight ratio (rewound for higher torque in gimbal use).
A typical camera gimbal allows rotation around two axes: roll and
pitch. A sensor on the camera mount tells the gimbal controller, “I want
to be level,” and the gimbal controller sends the appropriate signals to
the brushless motors that control pitch and roll. In practice, brushless
gimbals yield footage from quadcopters that looks like it was taken
using a flying Steadicam (see ech.cc/aerialvid for some of my footage).
Gimbals for GoPro cameras are available for as little as $150, and can
simply be bolted to the bottom of any aerial platform.

PROP VIBRATION AND “JELLO:” The second image-quality


problem that needs to be solved is the removal of “rolling shutter”
artifacts. CMOS image sensors, which are used in most digital cameras,
scan the image in rows from top to bottom as they read data for each
frame. If a camera is moved around during shutter sweeps, it results in
horizontal spatial artifacts, more commonly known as “jello.”
Jello is caused in UAV footage by high-frequency vibrations
introduced by rotating motors and propellers. The best way to remove
it is by balancing propellers, which can come from the factory with one
side heavier than the other. Balancing is facilitated by inexpensive prop
balancers, and is achieved by applying clear tape to the lighter side
and/or sanding the heavier side. (Sand the flats, not the leading or
trailing edges — YouTube has great tutorial videos.)
Practice your skills with toys like the Blade Nano QX and the Syma X1.
Balanced props, combined with the vibration isolators that are
commonly used to mount gimbals, should yield beautiful, jello-free,
stabilized video.

4. Assemble an FPV system


It’s difficult to get good video if you can’t see what you’re recording.
With First-Person View (FPV), an analog transmitter is used on the
UAV to broadcast real-time video from the camera. The pilot uses a
receiver and either a monitor or LCD glasses to see what the UAV is
seeing. Experienced pilots can fly 100% using FPV without needing a
line-of-sight view of the aircraft.
Inexpensive prop balancers help you reduce propeller vibration.
An entry-level FPV system can be purchased for around $250. You
can read my full deconstruction of the Ready Made RC 5.8GHz starter
kit at ech.cc/quadfpv — it taps into the GoPro to use it as the FPV
camera as well. (For more details on using First-Person View, see "FPV
Fundamentals," page 50.)

5. Practice, practice, practice


The most important thing you can do to improve your aerial video
footage is to become a skilled pilot. There is no substitute for stick time,
and spending all your time at a workbench instead of flying your UAV
in an open field will never yield great footage.
I recommend honing your flying skills using inexpensive off-the-shelf
toys. The Syma X1 and Blade Nano QX or mQX are all great toy
quadcopters that cost between $36 and $90. They fly using the same
controls, and do not offer the luxury of GPS location hold. If you can
master a small quadcopter, the skills you learn will translate directly to
larger aircraft.
BY WING, WHEEL AND WAVE
From the pyramids to the poles, makers
all around the world are pushing the
envelope with drones and remote-
operated vehicles.
QUADCOPTER PHOTOGRAMMETRY
How a trip to Cuba and my love of R/C
aircraft aided in the restoration of historic
buildings.
Written by William Grassie • Photography by Mariano
Ulibarri

Nearing the end of my graduate program in media arts and computer


science, I found myself stuck working on a thesis I no longer had much
interest in. I had lost my motivation and feared I would end up in grad
limbo with a project I couldn’t bring myself to complete and
expectations, including my own, unmet. About this time a friend of
mine had signed up for a class that was going to Cuba. This was an
opportunity I couldn’t miss, so I signed up. This adventure led me to
many others, including the genesis of what would become my new
thesis.
William Grassie is a recent New Mexico Highlands University
graduate with a masters in Media Arts and Computer Science.
He is an advocate for the positive and productive use of UAVs
and is network manager for the Armand Hammer United
World College of the American West.

I’ve long been an R/C flying enthusiast. In my boyhood, my dad and I


built a small, gas-powered balsa wood plane. It was tethered to a string,
and you could only fly in a circle. The poor plane didn’t survive its
maiden flight. That concluded my R/C experience for many years, as we
couldn’t afford to rebuild it. The price of all things R/C at that time
made it cost-prohibitive for many.
A couple of years ago I discovered the hobby anew. I purchased a
little R/C helicopter for my brother and was surprised by the quality,
flight time, and maneuverability. I started doing some research and
found a whole new, more affordable world of R/C. This revolution was
mainly due to the advent and proliferation of lithium polymer batteries
and brushless motors, which replaced expensive, messy gas motors and
made electric models a more realistic proposition. And so my obsession
began.

Photogrammetry Tips
1. A digital camera with fixed focal length is best.
2. Make sure your photos overlap 60% to 80%.
3. Take the photos horizontal to your object and at a uniform
distance.
4. Uniform lighting is important for creating good models.
5. Process the images in Agisoft PhotoScan.
6. Low-quality models can be generated on a laptop. High-quality
models require multi-GPU systems with 128GB of RAM.
7. For small models you can get away with 30 to 60 photos. Larger
models (like buildings) may require several thousand images. The
more photos, the better detail you can achieve.

MY SETUP
MULTIROTOR: Custom built using parts largely from
rctimer.com with an APM 2.5 controller board from
diydrones.com. It has 30-amp SimonK ESCs (electronic speed
controls) and 900kV motors with 10×4.7" carbon-fiber props.

CAMERA: Canon PowerShot running CHDK custom firmware,


which lets the camera shoot in RAW format and take photos
automatically.

It started with small helicopters. Then larger helicopters built from


parts. This led to airplanes, which was how I began doing FPV (first
person view) flying. Soon after came tricopters and quadcopters, which
provided full three-dimensional freedom of movement and a very stable
platform for cameras.
Then came Cuba, photogrammetry, and liberation from my
uninspired thesis. Photogrammetry is a method for creating 3D models
of objects by taking a series (usually hundreds) of photographs. The
concept is as old as modern photography. What has changed is the use
of digital photos and software. The software takes all of the
photographs and compares them to find matching points. Then the
software uses these points to calculate depth.
Through my graduate program in media arts at New Mexico
Highlands University, I traveled to Cuba for photography,
photogrammetry, and an exchange of ideas. One goal was to make
contact with the Office of the Historian, which is responsible for
restoring the buildings of Old Havana.
Highlands University had been working with the Georgia O’Keeffe
Museum for about a year developing the use of photogrammetry as a
tool for conservation and preservation. We hoped to share these simple
and inexpensive techniques with members of the Office of the
Historian. We contacted them, learned more about what they do, and
demonstrated the methods we had developed for documenting historic
objects and sites using photogrammetry. They were very excited and
offered us the opportunity to create photogrammetric models of several
buildings and structures.
This was my first real opportunity to use photogrammetry in the
field, and I too was impressed with what was possible. However, while
working on documenting several structures, it became apparent that we
were limited by taking photos at ground level, which created gaps in the
images. Once we had rendered a preliminary model of Hotel Santa
Isabel, I found that anything above the field of view would inevitably
show up in the data as black holes rather than a solid 3D model.
I started thinking of different ways to get a complete view of the
building. One obvious method would be to rent a hydraulic lift, but that
could be costly and impractical in tight spaces. Helicopters might work
but would also be cost-prohibitive. Then it hit me: I could use
multirotor R/C aircraft to photograph the inaccessible areas. My
passion for photography and the R/C world came together in a
beautiful way.
When I returned from Cuba I immediately got to work. I had only
recently started experimenting with building quadcopters, and the one I
owned had seen better days. But I went ahead and started modifying it
to carry a camera for my proof-of-concept build. My initial test used a
GoPro Hero HD set for time-lapse and my house as the subject. I shot
200 pictures, and the results, though not beautiful, were very
encouraging. I set out to create a purpose-built quadcopter as a
stabilized camera platform to create photogrammetric models of large-
scale structures.
From the outset, I was determined it would be affordable and
accessible, and I hoped my idea could inspire and educate others. In its
simplest form photogrammetry can be done with a compact digital
camera and a laptop with surprisingly good results. But as the desired
quality of the finished model goes up, the hardware requirements and
processing time rise dramatically.
Once I had built the new quadcopter, I began testing and collecting
data. It worked flawlessly. I collected hundreds of photos to be
processed and turned into a complete 3D model of the historic
multistory building that was my subject. When the photos had been
processed and a complete model had been created in software, I
concluded that my methodology was sound and completely viable as a
useful tool for photogrammetry of large-scale structures.
In association with the field-testing, I created a blog to help anyone
who might be interested in getting started with their own quadcopter.
Uav3-d.info has articles on just about every concept of quadcopter flight
so that this technology can be accessed by even the most uninitiated.
THE HANDYCOPTER UAV

Build your own quadrotor airframe from


hardware store parts, then trick it out
with stabilized onboard video and
autonomous flight.
Written and photographed by Chad Kapper

There are essentially two configurations for a quadcopter: the “+” frame
and the “X” frame. Here we’ve chosen to build an X frame so your
onboard camera can have a clear forward view. We’ll take you all the
way from building the airframe to adding autonomous flight capability
with ArduPilot. Once you’ve got it working, you could program this
drone, for instance, to automatically visit a series of landmarks or other
waypoints and take pictures of them.

Chad Kapper is a veteran video producer with more than 18


years of experience. His passion for film and flight inspired him
to create Flite Test (flitetest.com), one of the leading brands in
the R/C flight industry. For more than 3 years, the team at Flite
Test has been entertaining, educating and inspiring the world
with R/C flight.

1. Fabricate the body


The copter’s central hub consists of 2 polycarbonate plates. Download
the cutting and drilling templates from makezine.com/the-
handycopter-uav, print them full-size, and affix them temporarily to
your polycarbonate sheet. Use a plastic cutter to score and snap each
plate to shape, then drill out the holes with a ⅛" bit.
2. Cut and drill the booms
Saw 4 square dowel booms to 10"–11" each. Shorter booms will make
your quad more agile, and longer booms will make it more stable. Drill
two 3mm holes, one 6mm and one 26mm (on-centers) from the end of
each boom.

3. Assemble the frame


Secure the booms between the hub plates using four M3×25mm screws
through the inner holes and four M3×20mm screws through the outer
holes. Once the booms are in place and you’re happy with the fit, apply
thread-locking compound to the outer screws only, add nuts, and tighten
them down. Thread the inner nuts on just loosely, for now.
Wiring the motors and electronic speed controllers together is tedious. Store-bought
distribution boards are convenient, but cost space and weight. I prefer this
homemade distribution hub made from 2 rings of nested copper pipe to keep things
lean and tidy.

4. Wire the power hub


Six components will connect to the power hub — the 4 electronic speed
controllers (ESCs), the power module, and the gimbal controller board.
First, cut off the male XT60 connector from the APM power module
cable. Then strip about ¼" of the insulation from each wire, red and
black, on all 6 components, and tin the stripped ends. Saw a ⅜" ring
from each end of the copper reducer, and file off any rough edges.
Solder each of the 6 red positive leads to the smaller ring, and the
corresponding 6 black negative leads to the larger ring. Wrap the
smaller ring in ⅜" foam weatherstripping tape and slip the outer ring
over it. Finally, paint the entire hub with liquid electrical tape for
insulation.

5. Add the motors and landing gear


Here we’ll show you how to make your own landing struts from
ordinary conduit clamps. You can also use inexpensive prefab
combination landing gear / motor mounts that simplify the process
quite a bit, and look better to boot. Please check out our product line at
flitetest.com if you’re interested in the prefab option.

5a. If you go the homemade route, you’ll be mounting the motors


directly to the booms. Mark and drill a shallow blind recess in each, so
the shaft can spin freely. A 5/16" bit works well for this.
Only 2 screws are used on each motor for mounting, and the factory brackets are
cut down to save weight.
5b. Cut down the bracket that came bundled with each motor and
use two M3×20mm screws to clamp a motor to the end of each boom.
Verify that each motor shaft spins freely when the screws are fully
tightened. If not, double-check that its boom is properly recessed
underneath. Smooth any rough edges on the bracket with a file.

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: Airframe: $30–


$60 Avionics: $500–$800

Materials
FOR THE AIRFRAME:
» Conduit clamps, 1½" (4)
» Square dowels, wood, ½"×36" (2)
» Machine screws: flat-head M3×6mm (8); M3×20mm (12); M3×25mm (4)
» Hex nuts, M3 (8)
» Flat washers, M3 (4)
» Thread-locking compound
» Liquid electrical tape
» Polycarbonate sheet, 0.093"×8"×10"
» Zip ties, 4” (100-pack)
» Flexible PVC coupler, 1¼" to 1¼"
» Aluminum bar, ⅛"×¾"×36"
» Hook/loop strap, ½"×8" (2)
» Hook/loop tape, ¾"×18"
» Weatherstrip tape, foam, ⅜"×12"
» Double-sided tape, 1"×5'
» Wire, stranded insulated, 12 AWG, 12" red and 12" black
FOR THE AVIONICS:
» Copper pipe reducer, 1" to ½"
» Gimbal motors (2) iPower 2208-80
» Gimbal controller iFlight V3.0
» Flight controller 3D Robotics Ardu-Pilot Mega 2.6
» GPS module 3D Robotics LEA-6H
» R/C transmitter, 5+ channels
» R/C receiver, 5+ channels
» Motors, 850kV (4) AC2830
» Propellers, Turnigy 9047R SF (2)
» Propellers, Turnigy 9047L SF (2)
» Electronic speed controllers (4)
» M/M servo leads, 10cm (5)
» Camera GoPro Hero3 White Edition
» LiPo battery, 2,200mAh, 3S 20C
» Battery monitor APM Power Module with XT60 connectors

Tools
» Computer with printer
» Straightedge
» Plastic scoring knife
» Drill and bits: ⅛", 3/16", ¼", 5/16", ⅜"
» Wood saw
» Phillips screwdrivers: #1 and #2
» Pliers
» Wire cutters / strippers
» Hacksaw
» Soldering iron and solder
» Scissors
» Pencil
» File
» Hobby knife
5c. Slip the power hub between the top and bottom body plates and
route the ESC power leads out along the 4 booms. If you bought
motors and ESCs from the same manufacturer, there’s a good chance
they came with preinstalled “bullet” connectors. In this case, simply
plug the motor leads into the ESC leads and coil any slack under the
boom. Or you can solder the motor wires directly to the ESC boards for
a cleaner build. Secure the motor leads, the ESC power leads, and any
leftover slack tightly against the booms with zip ties.

5d. Use wire cutters to snip off one side of each of 4 conduit clamps,
leaving a J-shaped foot behind. Smooth the cut end with a file, then file
or grind 2 small notches beside the remaining mounting hole as shown.
Attach a foot to the end of each boom, just inside the motor mount,
using a zip tie run through these notches.
The gimbal and battery shelf are attached via 2 shock mounts cut from thick
flexible rubber tubing, which helps isolate the camera from propeller vibrations and
adds a bit of space, above, to mount the gimbal controller board.

6. Install the shock mounts


Remove the hose clamps from the flexible PVC coupler and save them
for another project. Cut two 3/4" rings from the coupler’s rubber body
with a sharp hobby knife. Align each ring across 2 of the frame’s
protruding inner screws and press down hard with your thumbs to mark
2 drilling spots. Drill ⅛"-diameter holes on the dents, through one side
of the ring only. Install the rings over the frame screws with M3 flat
washers and nuts. Secure with thread-locking compound when you’re
happy with the fit.

7. Build the camera/battery mount


The gimbal and battery shelf are assembled from three simple L-shaped
brackets. We refer to these as the shelf, roll, and pitch brackets.
7a. Saw a 36" length of ⅛"×¾" aluminum bar stock into two 18"
sections, then saw one of those into two 9" sections, giving 3 pieces
total. Make a right-angle bend in each section as indicated on the
templates, working over a piece of wood or other scrap with a beveled
edge to increase the bend radius to about ⅜". (Too sharp a bend can
overstress and weaken the aluminum.) After you’ve made the bends, cut
each bracket to final size per the templates.

7b. Accurately locate, mark, and drill a centered row of three ⅛"-
diameter holes on the short leg of the shelf and pitch brackets, and on
both legs of the roll bracket. In each case, the outermost hole should be
3mm from the bracket end on-center, and the holes themselves 9.5mm
apart on-centers. Finally, step-drill the center hole in each row up to ⅜"
to provide clearance for the motor shaft.

7c. Use two M3×6mm screws to attach the bottom of a gimbal motor
to the shelf bracket, and then 2 more to attach the top of the motor to
the longer arm of the roll bracket.

7d. Attach the bottom of the second motor to the free arm of the roll
bracket, and its top to the pitch bracket, in just the same way.

7e. For the gimbal motors to operate smoothly, the camera must be
balanced along both axes. Weaken the adhesive on a piece of double-
sided tape by sticking it to your shirt and peeling it off. Remove the
backing and apply the exposed side to the pitch bracket, then use the
weakened side to hold your GoPro in place while you adjust it to find
the balance point. Once you’ve got it, use an elastic band or a velcro
strap, in addition to the tape, to hold the camera securely in place.

8. Mount the camera and battery


I designed this quad to balance properly with a 3S 2,200mAh LiPo
battery and a GoPro Hero3 White. If you use other equipment be sure
you keep the CG (center of gravity) in the middle of your airframe.
Here's how to get it balanced.

8a. With the frame upside-down, balance the camera, brackets, and
battery across the 2 shock mounts on the underside of the frame. Adjust
the position of the whole assembly forward and backward along the
frame until the entire quad balances evenly between your fingertips,
centered on either side of the body.

8b. Once you’ve got the CG right, fix the shelf bracket to the shock
mounts with 2 sets of crossed zip ties. Apply hook-and-loop tape on top
of the shelf bracket and on the underside of the battery, and fix the
battery in place. Add a hook-and-loop strap around both bracket and
battery as an added precaution.

TIP:
Though the GoPro is a tough camera, you may want to build a
“dummy” version having the same weight, and approximately the
same size, to mount during your maiden and subsequent shakedown
flights.

9. Set up the avionics


Arrange your flight controller, receiver and other modules before
attaching them to the airframe. Once you’re happy with the layout, use
double-sided tape to secure everything to the frame. Download the
wiring diagram from makezine.com/the-handycopter-uav for a
detailed list of all connections.

9a. Attach the flight controller. In this build we use 3D Robotics’


ArduPilot Mega (APM) 2.6, which contains an accelerometer and must
be oriented correctly with respect to the frame. Align the arrow on the
APM case toward the front of the quad and fix it in place with double-
sided tape.
9b. Add the GPS/compass module, which fits neatly on the rear
extension of the bottom frame plate, and also must be aligned with the
arrow forward. Tape the module in place and connect the cable to the
APM’s “GPS” port.

9c. Starting from the starboard-front position and proceeding


clockwise (viewed from above), connect the ESC signal cables to APM
outputs 1, 4, 2, and 3.
9d. Mount the receiver alongside the APM with double-sided tape,
and connect channels 1–5 to the corresponding inputs on the APM.

9e. The gimbal controller consists of 2 boards: the larger controller


board and the smaller IMU sensor unit. The controller board goes
above the shelf bracket, in the space provided by the shock mounts.
Cover the top surface of the bracket with foam weatherstripping to
keep the solder points from shorting against the bare aluminum, then
fix the controller board to it with zip ties. The IMU detects the
orientation of the camera and needs to be mounted in the same plane;
fix it to the underside of the pitch bracket with double-sided tape, and
run the connector cable back to the control board. Connect the 3 wires
from each gimbal motor to the ports on the controller. Secure all wires
with zip ties, leaving plenty of slack for the gimbal to rotate freely.
9f. The flight controller, ESCs, and gimbal controller all need to be
calibrated and configured before flight. Refer to the bundled or online
instructions that came with your equipment. Specific tutorials are
available through makezine.com/the-handycopter-uav.
David Windestal

10. Add the props


Before you install the propellers, put bits of masking tape on the motor
shafts to make it easy to see which way they are spinning. From above,
motors 3 and 4 should spin clockwise, and motors 1 and 2
counterclockwise (see "Anatomy of a Drone," page 34). If a motor is
reversed, simply swap any 2 of the 3 leads connecting it to the ESC.
The most important factor for steady flight is balanced props! There
are lots of tricks for doing this, but the simplest involves sanding the
heavier side of each blade until the prop balances level on a horizontal
shaft. (Sand only the flat, not the leading or trailing edges).

WARNING:
If you need to reverse a motor, be sure to swap the motor control
leads only, not the ESC power hub leads. Don’t ever reverse the
power connections on an ESC!

Once the props are balanced, install them on the shafts and tighten
the nuts. You’ll use 2 conventional airplane “tractor” props and 2
reverse-pitched “pusher” props. Motors 1 and 2 take tractor props, and
motors 3 and 4 take pusher props. (If you’re not using the APM flight
controller, your prop configuration may be different.) Once you’ve got
it right, mark the number and direction of rotation for each motor on
its boom for easy reference.

The Maiden Flight


Make sure the props are balanced, the parts are securely fastened, and
none of the props, gyros, or controls are reversed. Verify that all your
radio trim settings are at zero (if you have to trim, do it through the
APM, not the radio). Wait for wind-free conditions to actually make the
first flight.
Don’t expect your quad to fly perfectly the first time. You’ll likely
need to make some tweaks and adjustments before it flies well. If you’ve
never flown a quad before, remember to work the controls gently, as
most beginners tend to over-steer. Your first goal should be to hover
about 24" off the ground for 1-2 seconds and then immediately land.
Once you can do that consistently, try to take off, rise above the
“ground effect” zone (3'-4’), and then land gently. Work your way up
gradually to longer and higher flights.
It is likely that you will crash at some point, especially if this is your
first multirotor. Keep a positive attitude, pay attention, and try to learn
something every time. Crashing, learning, repairing, and improving
your skills and your machine is part of the fun and challenge of the
hobby.

Test Builders: Nick Parks, Brian Melani, and Sam Freeman, MAKE
Labs
For complete parts spec, templates, wiring diagram, and ArduPilot
tutorials, go to makezine.com/the-handycopter-uav Share it:
#handycopteruav
A DRONE OF ONE’S OWN
Five commercial quadrotors ranging from
toys to tools.

Micro UFO Quadcopter


$70 makershed.com
This is a great starter quad that should still be fun for experts. It has a 6-
axis gyro that makes it nearly impossible to flip over, and it's very
durable; we’ve crashed it into trees, grass, concrete — even a pond —
and it still runs well. It comes with two batteries, so you can always keep
one charging, and ours consistently outperformed the advertised 7-
minute mark, giving flights of 10-12 minutes per charge. You don’t get
an onboard camera at this price point, but otherwise this guy is hard to
beat in terms of maximizing fun per unit buck.
Crazyflie Nano 10-DOF
$180 makershed.com
At just 19g and 9cm across, this is the smallest commercial quad we
know of, and certainly the most indoor-friendly. Assembly is required
but it’s pretty easy: Solder 8 wires, place the motors, and plug in the
battery. You can adapt a handheld transmitter to control it, but the out-
of-box flight mode is through a USB radio dongle attached to a
computer running the Crazyflie client software. Billed by the designers
as “a development kit that flies,” everything about the platform —
hardware, software, firmware, mechanical design — is fully open-
source, so hack to your heart's content!
Parrot AR.Drone 2.0
$300 parrot.com
The Parrot sits between basic off-the-shelf R/C quads and more serious
offerings. It uses your smartphone as the controller, which is easy for
beginners, but maybe not precise enough for pros. An onboard camera
streams video right to your device for FPV and/or recording. We did
break ours by flying it (hard) into a tree. Luckily, Parrot is extremely fix-
it-friendly: Spare parts and quality docs are readily available online.

DJI Phantom
$480–$1,200 dji.com
At press time, the Phantom leads the pack among “prosumer” quads.
We're not crazy about the manual, but love how it flies: It’s fast,
powerful, and has a very long range. Onboard GPS provides waypoint
hovering and a "panic" function that automatically returns and lands if
the transmitter link breaks. Accessibly priced, but the add-ons are
spendy (gimbals, landing skids), and after a few flights, you’re gonna
want ’em.
3D Robotics Iris
$750–$1,300 3drobotics.com
Shipping in late December with the new Pixhawk PX4 flight controller,
the Iris is a sweet R/C platform, but really shines when flying itself — it
can land, take off, loiter, circle, capture video, navigate waypoints, and
perform scripted missions on its own. Avionics and software are
completely open-source. If you’re more interested in “true drones” than
hobbycoptering, this is probably your best “one box” bet.
FPV FUNDAMENTALS
Put a camera on your 'copter and yourself
in the pilot seat.
Written by Steve Lodefink

Watching your rotorcraft or fixed-wing R/C plane fly is always fun, but
the experience really comes to life when you get to peer directly
through the “eyes" of your aircraft, as if riding along inside it.
In R/C circles, this is called “First-Person View,” or more commonly,
FPV. It refers to piloting a model aircraft from the perspective of the
aircraft itself, via an onboard video camera, wirelessly linked to a ground
station, streaming real-time video to be displayed on goggles worn by
the pilot.
There are several ways to set up FPV on your rig; this guide should
help you understand the general requirements and get you quickly up to
speed.

Camera
The most popular cameras for FPV are small security-type “board
cameras,” which typically come as caseless circuit boards, with lens
assemblies screwed right to the PCBs. It may be tempting to use a
cheap, 480-line camera, but for a really satisfying experience, it’s best to
spend a bit more. $50 will get you a 600-line board camera from a
trusted brand like Sony.
Not only will the higher resolution greatly improve visibility, but
these slightly pricier cameras have dynamic exposure features that
cheaper models often lack. Most importantly, “Wide Dynamic Range”
(WDR) exposure compensation will allow you to see skies and
shadowed ground features at the same time, without blown-out
highlights or underresolved shadows. This is more than just an aesthetic
concern; these features can make a big difference in your ability to
navigate.
Besides "board" types, any number of small lightweight commercial
video cameras could potentially be adapted for FPV drone use. As long
as you can figure out power and signal connections, the only really
critical requirement is low weight.

Mounting the camera


As with shooting photos and video from your drone (see "Getting
Started With Aerial Video," page 36), it is especially important to keep
airframe vibrations to a minimum when flying FPV. Vibrations cause
blurry, nearly useless image transmissions. Balance all props, and if
necessary, the bells of brushless motors. Mount cameras using foam,
elastic bands, rubber standoffs, and/or other shock-absorbing means to
soak up the shakes from the motors and props.

Ground station
Your ground-based equipment is collectively referred to as a “ground
station,” and includes the video receiver, antenna, monitor or goggles,
battery, and often a tripod, case, or backpack to house everything.
Ground station designs vary greatly. A good one will be easy to
transport, quick to set up and take down, and difficult to trip over.

Frequency
A variety of low-cost miniature video transmitters and receivers are
marketed with FPV in mind. Common frequencies include 5.8GHz,
2.4GHz, 1.2GHz, and 900MHz. There are several factors to consider
when choosing a frequency.

1) Where do you live? Different countries regulate the radio spectrum


in different ways. You may want to research your area’s laws to avoid
legal issues. 900MHz has great obstacle penetration, for example, but
may be reserved for phones in the U.S.

2) Where do you fly? Different frequencies have different


characteristics. 5.8 GHz seems to have good range per watt, but is
essentially line-of-sight and will not penetrate buildings or trees. If you
fly in open areas, 5.8 GHz might be a good choice.

3) What frequency do your controls use? Most R/C radios now operate
at 2.4 GHz; to prevent interference, you may want to avoid that band
for your video equipment.

Power
Most entry-level video transmitters radiate 100-500 mW. If you want to
fly long-range flights, you may have to get a more expensive, higher
power unit. Unlike airplanes, FPV multirotors tend to fly shorter-
ranged missions, so you can still have lots of fun, even without a 10-mile
range.

Antennae
The last thing you need when flying FPV is an unreliable video link.
The little “whip” antenna that came with your video transmitter is
useless. You will want to build or buy a better one. Three or four-lobe
omnidirectional “cloverleaf” or “egg-beater” antennas are a good choice
and are easy to build and cheap to buy.
Many people also choose high-gain (but also highly directional)
planar “patch” antennas for ground station use, and the best-equipped
systems employ “diversity” setups that consist of two or more separate
receivers, using different types of antennas, to get the best of both
worlds. Special switching circuitry sends you the best available signal at
any given time.
On-Screen Display
An On-Screen Display (OSD) is a little video processor installed in the
signal path between the camera and the video transmitter. It takes
information from its sensors and injects a graphical data display into the
video stream. OSDs range in capability and cost, with the fancy ones
featuring compass, GPS, barometers, telemetry, multiple battery voltage
monitors, etc.
While usually considered an “advanced” FPV system component, you
can get a simple OSD for about $10 that does one very important thing:
monitor and display the battery voltage. Knowing when you are about
to run out of juice is pretty important for any FPV rotorcraft pilot.

Video Display
Some FPV pilots use an LCD monitor. I've found that piloting through
video goggles makes for a much better, more immersive experience.
There are video goggles made specifically for the FPV hobby, notably
those by Fat Shark. Some models even have a video receiver built right
into the goggles.
I use a pair of MyVu Crystal goggles, which are general-use video
glasses intended for watching video from an iPod, etc. I modified them
by adding top and bottom shades of rigid foam, and a strap from a pair
of sports goggles.
As with cameras, you need to pay attention to resolution when
goggle-shopping. There’s no sense using a 600-line camera with cheap
400-line goggles. As a rule of thumb, you'll want a pair with at least
640×480 resolution. If you use an OSD, chances are you won’t be able
to read the text on the display at a lower resolution.
Georgi Tushev's head-mounted FPV ground station sports a large flat high-gain
“patch” antenna.
Nina and Georgi Tushev
CUSTOM-CRAFTED MULTICOPTERS
These open-build designs fly above the
crowd. Make one!
Written by Anna Kaziunas France

“Roswell Replica” Wooden Quadcopter


Tattoo artist and hobbyist woodworker Greg “Grease” Lehman built an
alien-inspired wooden quadrotor based on the original foam-and-paper
Roswell Quadrocopter. CNC-cut and -milled from ash, oak, walnut,
and padauk, it looks heavy but it flies. Grab EPS files for cutting at
makezine.com/roswellreplica.
Laser-Cut MultiWii Quadcopter
Australian surfer and programmer Dylan Fogarty-MacDonald designed
and built a hackable, easy-to-repair quadcopter from laser-cut plywood
parts. No additional power tools are needed. Assembling it yourself
brings the frame cost down to about $50 (not including motors and
electronics). Get the DXF files and full instructions at
makezine.com/lasercutmultiwii.
“Crossfire”: 3D-Printed FPV Quadcopter
Mike Bristol is an air ambulance/bush pilot in Alaska who likes drones,
FPV “video piloting,” and jumping out of planes. He built the most
popular 3D-printed multirotor shared on Thingiverse
(thingiverse.com/thing:32281) — and don’t miss his aerial video of
BASE jumping off towers (vimeo.com/79370836)!

Acrylic and Wood CNCed Hexacopter


Designer/fabber Jens Dyvik machined the entire structure of his
hexacopter, including the propellers, which he CNCed out of
lightweight wood. The body was laser-cut from acrylic, and then
formed on an acrylic bender. There’s a second version in the works with
wooden arms. Get the 2D and 3D design files from DyvikDesign at
makezine.com/dyvikhexacopter.
NO MAN’S LAND
Navigating the legal gray area facing
drones and their pilots.

In 2011, Team BlackSheep pilot Raphael Pirker flew this drone over the campus of
the University of Virginia. Because of that, today he faces the first-ever legal battle
with the FAA regarding civilian drone flights.

7,500. That’s the estimate from the Federal Aviation Administration of


how many private drones will be operating in American skies by 2018.
Others predict triple that number. Some technologies pose a challenge
to law and legal institutions when they hit the mainstream, and aerial
drones are among them.
One of the biggest legal issues facing drones is federal regulation.
Currently FAA rules disallow any unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight
unless (1) the entity secures a Certificate of Authorization (COA) or (2)
the individual is a not-for-profit hobbyist operating away from
populated areas and below 400 feet. COAs are limited to those testing
UAV or using them for a public purpose like law enforcement or
firefighting. Operators must keep the UAV in their line of sight and fly
below commercially navigable airspace (which varies). And while
traditional aircraft generally may not fly lower than 1,000 feet, there is
no minimum height for UAV flights.
The FAA recently released a report laying out its basic plan for
integrating private drones into domestic airspace as well. It's short on
details, but the agency aims to develop a similar COA process for
licensing private UAV. Everyone will need to be licensed, I would think,
except hobbyists, but we don’t know whether this will vary by
application or industry. The agency may even revisit its restrictions on
hobbyists. Congress requires the FAA to let private UAV operators
apply by 2015. However, this doesn’t mean that commercial drones will
start flying then, only that the preliminary rules will be in place.
I have faith in law’s ability to adapt to a new, transformative
technology like drones. But the journey could still be a turbulent one.
—Ryan Calo

Ryan Calo is an assistant professor of law at the University of


Washington, where he teaches a course on robotics law and
policy. He is a founding director of the Tech Policy Lab, and in
2013 testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on
the domestic use of drones. Read his work on SSRN (ssrn.com)
and follow him on Twitter @rcalo

BATTLE FOR THE SKIES


Attorney Brendan Schulman describes his case, the first-ever
litigation involving the operation of a civilian drone.
Team BlackSheep is renowned for creating spectacular videos of
world landmarks using radio-control drones. The FAA is attempting
to fine pilot Raphael “Trappy” Pirker for a 2011 flight at the
University of Virginia where he was invited to shoot promotional
video. The FAA alleges that his 5-pound styrofoam model airplane
was a commercial “unmanned aircraft system,” and that he flew too
close to buildings and people during “reckless operation of an
aircraft” — a regulation never before applied to model planes.
We filed a motion to dismiss the case. There are no FAA
regulations for the operation of model aircraft, only “voluntary”
1981 guidelines. Nor has the FAA ever before responded to model
aircraft mishaps. In 2007, the FAA issued a “policy statement” that
purports to ban commercial use of model aircraft and to subject
them to federal regulations. The FAA then sent cease-and-desist
letters to aerial photography companies, stifling a new technology.
We have argued that the ban is not legally enforceable. The FAA
did not conduct the required process to allow the public to comment
on proposed rules before they become law. This is not a minor
point; it is our democracy at work.
The case has wide-reaching implications: It challenges the FAA’s
purported ban on commercial drones, and its jurisdiction over small
drones flown near the ground. And it may affect whether the United
States, the world’s aviation leader, will retain that role in the 21st
century.
QUAD SQUAD
These expert pilots and developers are
working to make quadrotors cooler and
more useful than ever.

Everyone loves a flying machine. Since launching just over a


decade ago, DIY quadrotors and other autonomous aerial
platforms have matured rapidly, thanks to an obsessive community
and access to technology advancements like lithium-polymer
batteries, brushless motors, and increasingly small, high-powered
processors and sensors. With these components, drones are now
incredibly strong, stable, and capable of doing most if not all of the
piloting themselves. So if these machines fly themselves, what
do enthusiasts do to stay involved and excited? To help answer that
question, we assembled a diverse gathering of top UAV flyers,
including Hollywood filmmakers, smash-proof airframe builders,
and aerial software and component creators, to discuss and
demonstrate some of the newest tools and techniques involved in
the pursuit of quadrotor aerial excellence. Their reports promise
an exciting future in flight.

Going from 0-60 with APM


Jason Short
Design Director, 3D Robotics
3drobotics.com
APM:Copter was born just over three years ago — on Oct. 10, 2010, to
be precise. The date is indelibly etched in my memory, since it was the
same day my son Lukas was born. We spent the week at the hospital
while the Blue Angels flew overhead during Fleet Week in San
Francisco. I knew my days of flying UAVs at the airfield were likely
over, so I set about designing one I could fly in my backyard while my
son napped.
Adapting APM:Plane to fly multicopter drones was simple at first, but
engineering full autonomy turned out to be a wicked problem.
Multicopters stress the flight controller system. There are over 100,000
lines of code running on the Arduino-based processor, and almost
nothing can go wrong that doesn’t end in a bad outcome, often
culminating in a crash. Producing a rock-solid flight control system and
ironing out the details took a small army of volunteer developers and
years of collaborative work, but the results have been astounding.
Today, the 3DR development team is focused on key features that will
make it easier for new users to install and configure APM on any
airframe.
Our latest software release, APM:Copter 3.1, brings some new and
very helpful capabilities. Setup wizards walk you through the
configuration process, and a new auto-tune function learns how the
drone flies, maximizing flight performance and removing the burden of
manual tuning. A new, highly advanced inertial navigation controller
fuses GPS and internal sensors to empower a pilot of any skill level to
fly the drone right out of the box, without the challenges inherent to
manual flight. Software-defined "geo-fences" prevent you from flying
too far or too low. If the drone breaks the fence, APM automatically
takes control and flies back home on its own.
A new flight mode called "drift" relies on the intelligence of the
autopilot to simplify flight control to a single stick. The end result is a
drone that flies and corners more like a race car than a typical
multicopter. If you lose orientation, just let go of the stick and the
brakes will be automatically applied, bringing your drone to a safe
landing.
The most exciting improvement is our new, full-featured Android
tablet interface, which enables you to plan and control a drone in the
air. Community-developed apps like DroidPlanner and Andropilot
allow you to command the drone with a simple Google Maps-like
interface.
Advanced features, such as the follow-me function, allow the tablet’s
position to be sent to the drone, creating your own personal flying
camera, ready to capture your next hike up Kilimanjaro, surf in Maui or
your son’s first successful bike ride in the local park.

Building the World's Toughest Drone


Marque Cornblatt,
Co-Founder, Game of Drones
gameofdrones.biz
Deep in a huge Oakland, Calif. warehouse filled with fire-breathing
robots, monster machines, and other implements of destruction, a not-
too-secret cabal of inventors, engineers, and artists meets late at night.
This group gathers, first, to show off their latest custom-built drones,
UAVs and robots.
And, second, of course, to pit them against each other in one-on-one
airborne "fights to the deck."
The crucible of destruction is known, somewhat informally, as "Flight
Club." The first rule of Flight Club is that all commercially available
drones and drone kits are far too fragile and expensive for heavy-duty
use — especially if that use is dogfighting. But a number of innovative
and perhaps even groundbreaking design concepts have evolved here,
including many clever DIY methods for making drones cheaper,
tougher, faster, and easier to repair.
Flight Club competition led me to team up with industrial designer
(and long time aerial-dogfighting nemesis) Eli Delia. Together we
began researching high-performance materials and manufacturing
methods from tough-duty industries including aerospace, military/law
enforcement, and even medical manufacturing.
That research led us to thermoformed polymers, and we soon began
designing and prototyping airframes using various sheet plastics
including styrene, polycarbonate, PET, and Kydex 100, the super-tough
plastic "alloy" we ultimately settled on. Launching a Kickstarter let us
test the market and get direct feedback from UAV pilots of all skill
levels and needs, and this spark of user insight has already ignited
several ideas for our next project.
My personal UAV — the one I fly every day — is one of our
company’s first prototypes. It's been crashed and/or dropped from
hundreds of feet too many times to count. It has been flown through
fires and landed in (and launched from) stagnant water. We’ve
(deliberately) flown it through plate glass windows and shot it out of the
sky with a 12 gauge shotgun. It keeps coming back for more.
Sure, it's scuffed, scratched, torn, and beat, but it still flies straight
and true as the day we first launched it. The magic is in the airframe
construction, and it’s hard to imagine any other type that could
withstand such abuse without becoming unflyable.
Besides the super-tough construction, we like to strip our airframes
down to the bare necessities. For example, rather than using four ESCs
on separate boards, we favor a 4-in-one ESC board for motor speed
control. This reduces the number of failure points significantly. The
end result is a super tough, super simple airframe that can survive an
entire day of flying, fighting, and crashing without a single repair.
Because most pilots go to great lengths to avoid collisions and
crashes, most airframes — though they may be carefully designed to
optimize other factors — are mechanically fragile. This has created a
culture of expectation in which airframes that break when they crash are
an accepted norm. Thus many amateur pilots are rightly afraid to take
risks and really hone their flying skills for fear of damaging their frail,
expensive gear.
At Game of Drones, our approach flies directly in the face of this
culture. Our motto is “Fly ‘em hard and put ‘em away wet. They’re only
drones.” It’s my hope that this approach will not only make it easier for
beginners to enter the hobby, but will also inspire more people to
design, build and fly drones for aerial combat games, business, research,
and more.

Drones as Aerial Access Points


Adam Conway
VP Product Management,
Aerohive Networks
aerohive.com
Wi-fi technology will make drones simpler to control and provide the
opportunity, eventually, for internet-controlled drones.
While the vision for drones is that they operate fully autonomously
taking off, flying a mission and landing without human intervention, of
course we will want to be able to find out where our drones are located,
know whether they are functioning properly (or not), and be able to
change the mission or take over manual control at any time. Achieving
these ends will require maintaining wireless connectivity throughout the
majority of each flight.
Wireless communications for hobbyist and pro-level UAVs today
primarily consist of three connection uses:
Control: Steering a drone in manual mode, or switching into
autonomous mode, is typically accomplished with a traditional R/C
transmitter and receiver
Telemetry: As a drone is flying around it has the ability to send
telemetry data back to a ground station. Telemetry data typically
consists of onboard sensor inputs including GPS location and diagnostic
data, but it can also be used to change settings on the drone mid-flight
and provide new mission waypoints. Telemetry data is typically sent
over a long-range serial link like IEEE 802.15.4.
Video: This is what gets most drone users excited — the idea of
sending back real-time video so someone on the ground can experience
what it is like to fly. For most hobbyists the only option for getting
video from a drone is an analog wireless video transmitter/receiver.
Analog video systems offer the advantages of being reasonably low-cost
and having very low latency or lag.
With all three of these systems running at the same time there is a
risk for interference (with potentially disastrous consequences) so most
operators use different frequency bands for each system. Typically
drone operators use 900 MHz for telemetry (at least in the US; 433
MHz is standard in Europe), 2.4 GHz for control, and 5GHz for video.
Since higher frequency means shorter range, video typically is the
weakest link and will go out before an operator loses control or
telemetry.
A better solution, however, may be to combine all three systems
under a single wireless technology, one that has the range for flight but
also the bandwidth to be able to deliver video, control and telemetry
with a single radio. For this, wi-fi is the obvious choice: it's fast,
inexpensive, and (if set up properly) has the necessary long range.
In the long view, wi-fi and other TCP/IP-based networking
technologies are going to be foundational for creating drones that are
internet-controlled.
Today there are already consumer drones, like the Parrot AR, that use
wi-fi for video and control signals. But among the more flexible open-
source autopilot software and hardware, support tends to fall off.
However, a few eager engineers and hackers have already begun
experimenting with adapting ArduPilot for wi-fi telemetry and control,
and I think it's only a matter of time until all drones move to wi-fi.

Touch-Tablet Drone Control


Andy Brown
Co-Founder, Fighting Walrus
fightingwalrus.com
For telemetry ground stations, UAV pilots today are basically confined
to using Windows-based laptops. The Fighting Walrus Radio (FWR) is
designed to expand the options by adding a long-range data link
between your personal drone and your iPhone or iPad. It now allows
users to collect telemetry and send waypoints, and (in later versions) will
add full manual control.
The FWR was born from a collaboration on diydrones.com, a large
online community focused on private UAVs. Australian-based software
engineer Claudio Natoli developed a ground station iOS app using
hardware licensed for development only, and thus couldn’t be published
to the app store. Fighting Walrus co-founder Bryan Galusha (who also
oversees the San Francisco Drones Startup Meetup) had been talking
with Apple about a made-for-iPod (MFi) drone device since 2008.
Bryan connected with Claudio through diydrones. com, and persuaded
him to open-source his software.
A tablet's portability and touchscreen interface makes it very
convenient for map-based use, and we expect tablet flight control to
become common. AndroPilot and DroidPlanner are already very
popular for Android tablets, which have the advantage of using an open
USB interface. iOS and MFi, on the other hand, require a lot more
work, but also promise a more seamless user experience.
The FWR connects with small drones like Parrot. ARDrone2, but
also larger units like 3DRobotics' Iris. Any drone that supports the
MAVLink protocol is compatible, including all those that use Ardu-
series flight controllers (both ArduPilot Mega and the new PX4
Pixhawk], whether rotorcraft or fixed-wing.
Fighting Walrus was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo last
spring, and product development now continues with an expanded team
of five people. Originally a part-time cofounder with Bryan, I’ve come
on full-time to drastically accelerate development. If you're interested,
preorders are available now, and the product is on-track for full
production in early 2014.

Hollywood Heights
Jeffrey Blank & Andrew Petersen
Drone Dudes
dronedudes.com
We are a unique collective of filmmakers, designers, and flying robots.
Using a fleet of custom multirotor UAVs and custom camera gimbals,
we offer our services as aerial cinematographers for feature films,
commercials, music videos, and sporting events around the world. We
feel fortunate to be supported by a network of amazing people and look
forward to seeing where this exciting new technology will take our
business and our art.

See aerial shots from the Drone Dudes’ copter and more from our gathering:
makezine.com/homegrown-drones
Our systems provide a cost-effective, safe, dynamic alternative to
traditional aerial videography, making them an attractive substitute for
producers considering conventional methods like manned helicopters
and cranes.
Each UAV is designed with a different camera weight class in mind.
Our heavy lifting octocopter was built to mount high-end cameras (like
the RED Epic) that can produce the super high-resolution imagery the
film industry now expects from professional camera operators. The
RED camera, in fact, is the industry standard and flying it was our first
big goal.
Now, with pro-quality HD cameras getting smaller and cheaper every
day, we believe that the future of cinema drone technology is in a more
compact system. Our new UAV design (the D2) comes equipped with
everything a professional aerial video team would ever need for a shoot:
onboard GPS, a custom three axis brushless gimbal, full HD video
downlink, wireless follow focus, and even dual parachutes for those "oh
sh*t" situations. With great agility and response time, we expect the D2
to find a comfy spot at the top of the cinema-drone food chain.
We originally got into flying drones because they can capture shots
that are not practical using any other camera platform. Now we’ve had a
glimpse of what's possible, and are striving to constantly develop our
technology. The complex, rapidly evolving intersection between
technical development and artistic expression is what makes this
business so much fun.

Rules of Flight
Flying a UAV makes you a pilot, and like any pilot, you are
responsible for the safe operation of your aircraft. The Drone
Dudes share their rules of engagement.
• Know your equipment inside and out, and always double-check
that everything is in perfect working order before each flight.
• Charge those LiPo batteries inside fireproof bags in a safe location
with proper ventilation. Understand the hazards and science of LiPo
battery charging, and keep an eye on the cell voltages, yourself, as
you charge or discharge your batteries.
• Choose a safe fly zone away from buildings and highly populated
areas. Think about what could happen if your aircraft fails mid-
flight.
• Understand how changing weather conditions like temperature,
altitude and wind will affect your overall flight performance.
• Check your onboard fail-safes and have a coordinated emergency
plan with everyone in the flight area.
• Keep a safe distance from subjects and onlookers and always allow
for unexpected drift from your plan.
• Keep a clear, safe zone for takeoff and landing.
• Make sure your payload is perfectly balanced on your airframe.
• Fly safe and stay alert. Listen to your gut and fly within your
means. Do not let distractions divert your attention and don't hand
the controls to anyone without proper training.
• Always fly line-of-sight so you can see what's going on. Do not
solely rely on your GPS or flight controller to do the work for you.
These tools can fail and you need to be prepared for that. If you are
flying in a FPV mode (first-person view), use a spotter with
binoculars to keep visual orientation of your aircraft for you.
• It’s a good idea to always fly with a telemetry module that can relay
live info about your aircraft. Watch your battery voltages for any
irregular performance and keep your flight times modest, always
flying on the safe side.
• Clear communication is essential. Make sure you have a reliable
team supporting you and that everyone knows the predetermined
flight path before you take to the sky.
SKILL BUILDER+
Learning new tricks every issue
Tell us what you want to learn about: [email protected]

FINDING YOUR WAY WITH GPS


Written by Mikal Hart

EASY

For makers, it has become quite cheap to incorporate high-quality


geospatial data into electronics projects. And in the last few years,
GPS receiver modules have grown much more diverse, powerful,
and easy to integrate with development boards like Arduino, PIC,
Teensy, and Raspberry Pi. If you’ve been thinking of building
around GPS, you’ve picked a good time to get started.

COUNTING STARS
One evening I built a little Arduino/GPS test gizmo to spy on
the GPS satellite constellation. I was able to count all 32 distinct
satellites over a 24-hour period, with as many as 13 visible at
once. For more info: makezine.com/gps
3 SINCE THE U.S. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
(GPS) HAS A PUBLISHED GOAL of being usable everywhere
on Earth, the system must ensure that at least four satellites —
preferably more — are visible at all times from every point on the
globe. There are currently 32 GPS satellites performing a
meticulously choreographed dance in a sparse cloud 20,000
kilometers high.

2 WHEN A GPS MESSAGE ARRIVES, the receiver first


inspects its broadcast timestamp to see when it was sent. Because the
speed of a radio wave in space is a known constant (c), the receiver
can compare broadcast and receive times to determine the distance
the signal has traveled. Once it has established its distance from four
or more known satellites, calculating its own position is a fairly
simple problem of 3D triangulation. But to do this quickly and
accurately, the receiver must be able to nimbly crunch numbers
from up to 20 data streams at once.

HOW IT WORKS
1 A GPS MODULE IS A TINY RADIO RECEIVER that
processes signals broadcast on known frequencies by a fleet of
satellites. These satellites whirl around the Earth in roughly circular
orbits, transmitting extremely precise position and clock data to the
ground below. If the earthbound receiver can “see” enough of these
satellites, it can use them to calculate its own location and altitude.
FUN FACT: GPS could not work without Einstein’s theory of relativity, as compensation
must be made for the 38 microseconds the orbiting atomic clocks gain each day from
time dilation in Earth’s gravitational field.

Time Required: 2 Hours Cost: $75–$150


A quick exercise in understanding and applying GPS data.

MIKAL HART
(arduiniana.org) is a senior software engineer at Intel Corp. in Austin,
Texas. He is the inventor of the Reverse Geocache Puzzle and a founder
of The Sundial Group. He has written about electronics development
and prototyping for MAKE and for several books.

Whatever your project, GPS is simple to integrate. Most receiver


modules communicate with a straightforward serial protocol, so if you
can find a spare serial port on your controller board, it should take just a
handful of wires to make the physical connection. And even if not, most
controllers support an emulated “software” serial mode that you can use
to connect to arbitrary pins.
For beginners, Adafruit’s Ultimate GPS Breakout module is a good
choice. There are a lot of competing products on the market, but the
Ultimate is a solid performer at a reasonable price, with big through-
holes that are easy to solder or connect to a breadboard.

The Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout board. A typical GPS interface, assuming both
module and main board run at compatible voltages, is as simple as connecting four
wires.
First, connect ground and power. In Arduino terms, this means
connecting one of the microcontroller GND pins to the module’s
GND, and the +5V pin to the module’s VIN.
To manage data transfer, you also need to connect the module’s TX
and RX pins to the Arduino. I’m going to arbitrarily select Arduino pins
2 (TX) and 3 (RX) for this purpose, even though pins 0 and 1 are
specifically designed for use as a “hardware serial port” or UART.
Why? Because I don’t want to waste the only UART these low-end
AVR processors have. Arduino’s UART is hard-wired to the onboard
USB connector, and I like to keep it connected to my computer for
debugging.

Materials
» Arduino Uno or compatible microcontroller / single-board computer. Maker Shed
item #MKSP99, makershed.com
» GPS module such as Adafruit's Ultimate GPS Breakout. Maker Shed #MKAD47
Tools
» Computer PC, Mac, or Linux. Laptop preferred.
» Soldering iron and solder may be required to attach header pins to your GPS
module
» Solderless breadboard
» Jumper wires

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#define RXPin 2
#define TXPin 3
#define GPSBaud 4800
#define ConsoleBaud 115200

// The serial connection to the GPS device


SoftwareSerial ss(RXPin, TXPin);

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(ConsoleBaud);
ss.begin(GPSBaud);

Serial.println("GPS Example 1");


Serial.println("Displaying the raw NMEA data transmitted
by GPS module.");
Serial.println("by Mikal Hart");
Serial.println();
}

void loop()
{
if (ss.available() > 0) // As each character arrives...
Serial.write(ss.read()); // ... write it to the console.
}

Sketch 1: A Toe in the Datastream


The instant you apply power, a GPS module begins sending chunks of
text data on its TX line. It may not yet see a single satellite, much less
have a “fix,” but the data faucet comes on right away, and it’s interesting
to see what comes out. Our first simple sketch (Figure 1) does nothing
but display this unprocessed data.

NOTE:
The sketch defines the receive pin (RXPin) as 2, even though we said
earlier that the transmit (TX) pin would be connected to pin 2. This
is a common source of confusion. RXPin is the receive pin (RX) from
the Arduino’s point of view. Naturally, it must be connected to the
module’s transmit (TX) pin, and vice versa.

Upload this sketch and open Serial Monitor at 115,200 baud. If


everything’s working, you should see a dense, endless stream of comma-
separated text strings. Each will look something like Figure 2.

2 GPRMC is probably the most common NMEA sentence. It contains 12 comma-


separated fields, followed by an asterisk (*) and a checksum to ensure data
integrity.
These distinctive strings are known as NMEA sentences, so called
because the format was invented by the National Maritime Electronics
Association. NMEA defines a number of these sentences for
navigational data ranging from the essential (location and time), to the
esoteric (satellite signal-to-noise ratio, magnetic variance, etc.).
Manufacturers are inconsistent about which sentence types their
receivers use, but GPRMC is essential. Once your module gets a fix, you
should see a fair number of these GPRMC sentences.

Sketch 2: Finding Yourself


It’s not trivial to convert the raw module output into information your
program can actually use. Fortunately, there are some great libraries
already available to do this for you. Limor Fried’s popular Adafruit GPS
Library is a convenient choice if you’re using their Ultimate breakout.
It’s written to enable features unique to the Ultimate (like internal data
logging) and adds some snazzy bells and whistles of its own.
My favorite parsing library, however — and here I am of course
completely unbiased — is the one I wrote called TinyGPS++. I designed
it to be comprehensive, powerful, concise, and easy to use. Let’s take it
for a spin.
Our second application continually displays the receiver’s location
and altitude, using TinyGPS++ to help with parsing. In a real device,
you might log this data to an SD card or display it on an LCD.
Grab the library and sketch FindingYourSelf.ino from
makezine.com/gps. Install the library, as usual, in the Arduino libraries
folder. Upload the sketch to your Arduino and open Serial Monitor at
115,200 baud. You should see your location and altitude updating in real
time. To see exactly where you stand, paste some of the resulting
latitude/longitude coordinates into Google Maps. Now hook up your
laptop and go for a stroll or a drive. (But remember to keep your eyes
on the road!)

Sketch 3: Finding Your Way


Our third and final application is the result of a personal challenge to
write a readable TinyGPS++ sketch, in fewer than 100 lines of code,
that would guide a user to a destination using simple text instructions
like “keep straight” or “veer left.”
Every 5 seconds the code captures the user’s location and course
(direction of travel) and calculates the bearing (direction to the
destination), using the TinyGPS++ courseTo() method. Comparing the
two vectors generates a suggestion to keep going straight or turn, as
shown in Figure 3.
How FindingYourself.ino translates your course and bearing into text directions. The
sketch can become the starting point for creating almost any type of autonomous or
semi-autonomous vehicle.

CODING WITH TINYGPS++


From the programmer’s point of view, using TinyGPS++ is very simple: 1.
Create an object gps.
2. Route each character that arrives from the module to the object using
gps.encode().
3. When you need to know your position or altitude or time or date, simply
query the gps object.

Download the sketch FindingYourWay.ino from makezine.com/gps and


open it in the Arduino IDE. Set a destination 1km or 2km away, upload
the sketch to your Arduino, run it on your laptop, and see if it will guide
you there. But more importantly, study the code and understand how it
works.
Going Further
The creative potential of GPS is vast. One of the most satisfying things
I ever made was a GPS-enabled puzzle box that opens only at one
preprogrammed location. If your victim wants to get the treasure locked
inside, she has to figure out where that secret location is and physically
bring the box there. (See The Reverse Geocache Puzzle, MAKE Volume
25.)
A popular first project idea is some sort of logging device that records
the minute-by-minute position and altitude of, say, a hiker walking the
Trans-Pennine Trail. Or what about one of those sneaky magnetic
trackers the DEA agents in Breaking Bad stick on the bad guys’ cars?
Both are totally feasible, and would probably be fun to build, but I
encourage you to think more expansively, beyond stuff you can already
buy on Amazon. It’s a big world out there. Roam as far and wide as you
can.

Find the codes and full steps at makezine.com/gps Share it: #makegps

THE FOURTH DIMENSION


Though we associate GPS with location in space, don’t forget those
satellites are transmitting time- and date-stamps, too. The average
GPS clock is accurate to one ten-millionth of a second, and the
theoretical limit is even higher. Even if you only need your project to
keep track of time, a GPS module may still be the cheapest and
easiest solution.

To turn FindingYourself.ino into a super-accurate clock, just change the


last few lines like this:
if (gps.time.isUpdated()) {
char buf[80];
sprintf(buf, "The time is
%02d:%02d:%02d", gps.time.
hour(), gps.time.minute(),
gps.time.second());
Serial.println(buf);
}
Worldwide Satellite Signaling

Calling Out Around the World


Use the Iridium satellite network to
communicate with your projects anywhere
they can see the sky.
Written by Mikal Hart

MODERATE
Time Required: 1–2 Hours Cost: $300–$400
Link three boards to build a global tracking beacon.

Materials
» RockBlock satellite modem Available in noncommercial, commercial, bare-board,
and waterproof ruggedized forms from Rock Seven Mobile Services,
rock7mobile.com
» Arduino Nano or compatible 5V microcontroller
» GPS module such as Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout, Maker Shed #MKAD57,
makershed.com
» USB cable to fit your microcontroller
» Breadboard (optional)
» USB external battery pack (optional)

Tools
» Computer PC, Mac, or Linux. Laptop preferred.

If you’re old enough to remember the pre-cellphone era, you’ve


probably already heard of Iridium (the company, not the chemical
element). Deployment of the Iridium satellite constellation began in
the early 1990s and, by the time the company launched its globe-
spanning consumer satellite phone service in late 1998, had cost an
estimated $5 billion.
It was a disaster. Phones were expensive, bulky, and unreliable
compared to ground-based cell services. Iridium LLC filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy less than a year later and, in 2001, the satellite
constellation and other assets were sold off for a scant $25 million. At
one point, there was serious talk of deorbiting the entire fleet of
satellites to prevent them becoming hazardous space junk.
Given all that, you may be surprised to hear that the Iridium network
is still up and running. You may be even more surprised to hear that
plans are underway to launch a second-generation Iridium constellation,
starting in 2015, called Iridium NEXT. And whatever the fate of that
venture may be, the original satellites are expected to remain in service
until the 2020s.

IRIDIUM FLARES

Jerry Lodriguss

There are almost 100 Iridium satellites in low orbit. Each has
three large polished flat antennae, which frequently reflect fast-
moving spots of sunlight onto an area of Earth’s surface about
16 km2. These “flares” are easily visible to the naked eye, and
are entirely predictable. To find out when the next one will
happen near you, visit heavens-above.com.

Makers Take Over


Though the U.S. Department of Defense remains a major user of the
Iridium network, the big fizzle of the company’s original world-
spanning private satphone service has resulted in a surplus of unused
bandwidth spinning, quite literally, right over our heads. It’s a buyer’s
market, and the tech to access it is now trickling down to hobbyists and
entrepreneurs.
British developer Rock Seven Mobile, for instance, recently
introduced an Arduino-compatible Iridium satellite transceiver called
RockBlock (Figure A). It can’t make real-time voice phone calls, but it
can send “text messages” using Iridium’s short burst data (SBD) service.
Outgoing messages of up to 340 bytes can be directed to an email
address or a web server as an HTTP post. Incoming messages are
limited to 270 bytes and can be received through the same channels.
The RockBlock Naked Iridium modem costs about $250 (plus small monthly access and
data charges) and lets you communicate with your project, through the web, anywhere
on the surface of the planet you can get 100mA at 5V DC.
RockBlock modems are being installed in high-altitude balloons,
free-drifting ocean buoys, autonomous boats, and fixed-wing drone
gliders, just to name a few. Connected to a low-cost GPS module, an
AVR microcontroller, and a power source, the RockBlock becomes a
global tracking device. As long as the power supply holds out and the
antennae can see the sky, you can track this stack of circuit boards
anywhere it goes, anywhere in the world, from anywhere you can access
the web.

Getting Started
Follow the bundled instructions to set up your RockBlock account, then
connect the modem to your Arduino, and your Arduino to your GPS
module, as shown in Figure B. Visit makezine. com/iridium, download
the sketch GlobalBeacon. ino and the necessary libraries, plug in your
Arduino, and upload the code.
Each RockBlock ships with a 10-pin JST-terminated cable that snaps onto the board and
exposes the various signal lines client devices can connect to. The simplest setup,
shown here, is what Iridium calls a “3-wire” TTL serial interface, with signal lines for
TX, RX, and Sleep. (To connect your Arduino and GPS as shown, see page 59.)
Gunther Kirsch

You’ll probably need to take everything outside to get a GPS fix and
an Iridium link. Open the Arduino IDE’s Serial Monitor window at
115,200 baud and follow along as the code first establishes a GPS fix,
then uploads it to the Iridium network, then puts the hardware into
low-power “sleep” mode. Left alone, it will “wake up” every hour and
repeat this process. Log on to the Rock Seven web portal to read the
received messages and set up message handlers.

Going Further
This is just a simple proof-of-concept system powered by the USB
connection. The first step toward a real-world application would likely
be untethering it from your computer, perhaps with an off-the-shelf
USB external battery pack or solar charger.
Don’t forget that the RockBlock can both send and receive messages,
opening up a world of possibilities beyond basic tracking and
monitoring apps. Want a robot that travels to some remote location,
reports back on conditions there, and waits for instructions on how to
proceed? This technology makes it not just possible to do that, but
relatively cheap and easy. The sky — quite literally — is the only limit.

Get the sketches and steps to start sending satellite messages at


makezine.com/iridiumsatellite Share it: #iridiumsatellite
Surplus Sensor Grab Bag

ELECTRONICS: FUN & FUNDAMENTALS


Sensor Smörgåsbord
From alcohol vapor to atmospheric
pressure, all-in-one sensing devices are
smaller, cheaper, and easier to use than
ever.
Written By Charles Platt

EASY
The mass production first of automobiles, and now of
smartphones, has resulted in a surplus of inexpensive sensor
modules. Devices are trickling down rapidly into the hobbyist
market, with industrial surface-mount components installed on
breakout boards for easy soldering. I'm in the process of
researching the sensors section for my new book, Make: More
Electronics, but wanted to take a break and share a few of my most
interesting finds.

Magnetic Fields
CHERRY MP201701 REED SWITCH $3 : jameco.com
One of the most basic, versatile sensors is a magnetically operated
switch. The easiest to use is a reed switch, containing two magnetized
strips that bend and make contact when exposed to a magnetic field. If
you have a home alarm system with pairs of screw-on modules that
signal when doors or windows are opened, one module probably
contains a magnet while the other contains a reed switch. Many reed
switches are contained in thin, fragile glass capsules, but you can also
buy them sealed in tough plastic.

G1994 HALL-EFFECT MAGNETIC SENSOR 50¢ : goldmine-


elec-products.com
Reed switches are simple and need no power supply, but they’re
mechanically fragile and vibration-sensitive. Hall-effect sensors are a
superior solid-state alternative. These are found in automotive ignition
systems, and can detect position or rotation in simpler applications. For
instance, if you mount a magnet on a bicycle wheel opposite a Hall-
effect sensor clamped to the frame, a microcontroller can count how
often the wheel turns and calculate your speed and distance traveled.
HONEYWELL HMC5883L ELECTRONIC COMPASS $15 :
sparkfun.com
How about sensing the Earth’s magnetic field to make an electronic
compass? Inexpensive modules are available, but be prepared for a
learning curve. Magnetic field intensity varies with latitude, and though
you can compensate for this with an accelerometer, the method is not
exactly trivial. Read up on it first!

THE OPEN-COLLECTOR SYSTEM


Many all-in-one sensor modules operate on the principle of open-
collector output. The detecting element in the sensor connects with the
base of an internal transistor whose collector is “open,” meaning you
can access it via one of the external leads.
A typical arrangement is shown in Figure A. The positive side of
the power supply sinks current through an external pull-up resistor,
through the transistor, to negative ground. When the detecting
element switches on the transistor, its effective internal resistance
falls, and the collector voltage drops. When the transistor turns off,
the voltage rises to near the power supply value (provided the
collector isn't connected with a low-impedance device that takes too
much current).
Instead of the meter in Figure A, you could substitute an input pin
to a microcontroller, or the base of another transistor. A PNP
transistor will give a positive output from a sensor whose effective
internal resistance drops when triggered. The datasheet for a sensor
should tell you its operating voltage and the maximum current it can
sink, but won’t necessarily reveal the appropriate value of the pull-up
resistor. You can find out by starting with 100K and working
downward, while checking the voltage (as in Figure A) and the
current (as in Figure B). The current should not exceed the limit
stated by the manufacturer.
Light & Color

VISHAY TCRT5000L REFLECTIVE OPTICAL SENSOR $1 :


mouser.com
IR (infrared) optical sensors are available in a variety of emitter-receiver
configurations. A receiver mounted alongside an always-on infrared
LED is sometimes referred to as a reflective sensor, because light from
the LED must go out and be reflected back before the sensor sees it.
Any opaque object will bounce the beam, changing the output from the
sensor.

EVERLIGHT ITR9606-F OPTO-INTERRUPTER 70¢ :


mouser.com
IR sensors are also packaged with the emitter opposite the receiver, with
a U-shaped gap between them. This configuration may be called an
opto-interrupter, as it detects objects interrupting the light beam. They
are often used in copiers and printers.
PARALLAX 555-28027 PASSIVE INFRARED MOTION
SENSOR $11 : parallax.com
Don’t confuse emitter-receivers, which are “active” devices, with passive
infrared (PIR) sensors. PIR motion sensors respond to variations in the
environment created by body heat and are often used to activate
lighting for security or energy savings.

TAOS TCS3200 COLOR DETECTOR $9 : jameco.com


If you need to match colors or do white balancing, all-in-one color
sensor modules are available that mount 4 LEDs (red, green, blue, and
white) around a surface-mount sensor that detects the red, green, and
blue components of incident light using photodiodes.
Gas & Vapor

MQ-5 PROPANE SENSOR $7 : parallax.com


Hanwei Electronics in China builds sensors specific for a wide range of
gases including methane, propane, and carbon monoxide. Their
propane sensor could be used to detect gas leaks if you’re in a rural area
where propane heats your home. It runs off 5V AC or DC, and uses a
tiny heating element to detect gas.

MQ-3 ALCOHOL/BENZENE SENSOR $5 : parallax.com


An alcohol sensor could be used in a DIY breathalyzer. Beware that the
heating element has to be burned in for 12–24 hours before the output
stabilizes. Even then, the readings tend to drift a bit, and calibration is a
general problem with analog sensors.

HUMIREL HS1101 HUMIDITY SENSOR $9 : parallax.com


Low humidity is bad for my sinuses, so I use an ultrasonic humidifier.
I'd like a sensor to switch it on and off, just like a thermostat controls a
heating system. Unfortunately the HS1101 provides its output in the
form of variable capacitance, which is a bit tricky to measure without a
microcontroller.

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE SENSOR MODULE’GY-65 $9 :


dipmicro.com
If you’re interested in sensing atmospheric pressure generally, instead of
particular gases, consider an “electronic barometer” like the Bosch
BMP085, shown here mounted in a breakout board module sporting an
I2C interface that should be recognized by most microcontrollers.
PROJECTS
#makeprojects

Luminous Lowtops
Take light-up sneakers to the next level
with full-color LEDs that respond to your
moves.
Written by Clayton Richter
Jeffrey Braverman

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $200–$240


Stunning show of light and motion leaves other LED shoes in the dark ages.

CLAYTON RICHTER (claytonrichter.com) is a double-major student (electrical


and computer engineering, and robotics) at Carnegie Mellon University who enjoys
coding, tinkering, and building things. He was born in San Antonio but calls Atlanta
home. He’s also the creator of the Raspberry Rover (makezine.com/rasprover).
THE LIGHT-UP SHOES FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD ARE ALL GROWN UP —
these Luminous Lowtops are force-sensitive, full-color LED light-up
shoes for adults. Each shoe has two embedded force-sensitive resistors
(FSRs) — one under the heel and one under the ball of the foot — and
up to 40 RGB LEDs that change color based on the force readings,
giving brilliant visual effects when you walk, stomp, jump, or lean.
Not long ago I saw a little boy stomping around a store in his light-
up shoes. Admittedly jealous, I searched online for adult light-up shoes.
Disappointingly, none of them responded to how you moved, only to the
fact that you moved. Also, most of them required a battery pack to be
strapped to the leg or shoe, rather than putting it inside like the kids’
shoes do. With those issues in mind, I decided to make the Luminous
Lowtops.
The electronics are as simple as possible, to allow everything to fit
within the shoe. The LEDs are individually addressable, so each one
can be a different color at the same time, allowing the shoes to show
shifts in weight and react to your movements. An Arduino Mini
microcontroller reads an analog input from the front and rear FSRs,
converts these values into colors and maps them to the front and rear
LEDs, then calculates a color gradient for all the LEDs in between.
Each shoe is powered by 3 rechargeable AA batteries under the heel,
and the components are embedded under the insole for a clean look.
The LED strip is securely sewn to the exterior of the shoe, so you can
jump, dance, or just gaze at the changing colors.

1. Prepare the shoes


There are 2 good mounting options for the batteries and Arduino.
Mounting them on top of the tongue of the shoe is easiest, but they’ll
be more visible there.
To hide the components inside, choose shoes with a thick insole. This
allows for some of the padding to be cut out and replaced with the
3×AA battery pack. Rip out the insoles and strip all extra padding off of
them, leaving just a thin layer.
Save the extra padding you remove in this step, as you might want to
replace some of it later for comfort.

2. Attach the LEDs


Using scissors, cut the LED strips to the proper length to wrap around
the perimeter of each shoe. The SparkFun and NeoPixel strips can be
cut between any 2 LEDs (Figure 2a); just avoid the copper contacts.
Cut the Adafruit #306 strip along the lines that appear after every
second LED.

Use a needle (with thread that matches your shoes) to sew the LED
strip to the shoe. To do this, loop the thread from the inside of the shoe,
out through the edge of the LED strip, and back through the opposite
edge of the strip into the shoe (Figure 2b). Pull this loop tight and tie a
knot.

Repeat this process about once every inch along the shoe’s perimeter.

3. Drill the shoes


Drill a small hole through the back of each shoe, so that it emerges
under the insole. This will allow wires from the Arduino and battery
pack inside to reach the LED strips outside.
Materials
» Shoes (2) ideally with thick insoles
» RGB LED strips, 1 meter, individually addressable (2) SparkFun #COM-12027,
60 LEDs per meter. You can also use the inexpensive Adafruit NeoPixel strips
(Maker Shed #MKAD74, makershed.com, 30 LEDs/meter), or the older Adafruit
#306 (32 LEDs/meter).
» Sewing kit
» Arduino Pro Mini 328 microcontroller boards, 5V, 16MHz (2)
» FTDI Basic Breakout board,
» Force-sensitive resistors, FlexiForce, 100lb rating (4) from tekscan.com. Make
sure to buy the 100 pound model. If your shoe size is too small to fit the 8" sensor,
buy a shorter size for a bit more money.
» Resistors, 1MΩ (4)
» Hookup wire, stranded insulated, 22 gauge
» 3-pin strip headers, female, 0.1" spacing (2)
» Batteries, NiZn rechargeable, AA size (6) Normal AA batteries provide 1.2V, but
NiZn AAs provide 1.7V, so only 3 are needed to supply 5V, helping them fit in the
shoe. You can also try AAAs; they fit into shoes easily, but won’t last as long.
» Battery packs, 3×AA (2)
» Battery chargers, NiZn AA (2)
» Cotton padding or cotton balls
» Battery packs, 2×AAA (2) (optional) to hide the Arduino Minis

Tools
» Scissors
» Drill or high-speed rotary tool such as a Dremel
» Wire cutters / strippers
» Soldering iron and solder
» Duct tape or packing tape
» Hot glue gun (optional) to mount the Arduino
» Computer running Arduino IDE free download from arduino.cc

4. Build the circuit


Following the wiring diagram (Figure 4a), solder together the circuit
for each shoe.

The wires from the Arduino to the LED strips need to be about half
the length of the shoe; the wires to the force sensors should be about
three-quarters of the length of the shoe. Cut them longer than you
think you need; you can always shorten them later (Figures 4b and 4c).
Don’t solder directly to the force sensors, as they are plastic and could
melt. Instead, solder to a 3-pin female strip header, and then plug the
force sensor into the header (Figures 4d and 4e). The middle pin of the
force sensors isn’t used.

While you’re at it, solder the included headers to the FTDI breakout
board.
5. Program the Arduino
Download the project code from makezine.com/luminous-lowtops and
open it in the Arduino IDE: » If you’re using SparkFun or NeoPixel
LEDs, use the Neopixel.ino sketch and download Adafruit’s Arduino
library for NeoPixel LED strips from
github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel. » If you’re using Adafruit #306
LEDs, use the 8806. ino sketch and Adafruit’s library for LPD8806
LED strips from github.com/adafruit/LPD8806.
Under the Tools → Board menu, choose Arduino Mini
w/ATmega328. Also, under Tools → Serial Port, select the serial port
that your board is plugged into.
Plug the FTDI breakout board into your computer and plug its
header pins into the corresponding 6 pins on the end of the Arduino
Pro Mini (Figures 5a and 5b).
Count the LEDs on your shoe and update the nLEDs variable in the
sketch with that number. (The default is int nLEDs = 40.) Click
Upload in the Arduino IDE. Unplug the Arduino board.
Repeat for the second Arduino Mini.

6. Mount the force sensors


Use duct tape or packing tape to mount 2 force sensors inside each
shoe, on top of the sole, so that the circular pad of one force sensor is
under the ball of your foot, and the pad of the other sensor is under
your heel (Figures 6a and 6b).
Run the wires and resistors flat along the bottom of the inside of the
shoe.

7. Mount the battery pack and Arduino


Tape the battery pack on top of the heel force sensor so that it fits
comfortably under your heel (Figure 7a). I rip out any extra padding
under the heel first. Most shoes have a hard pad under the heel to lift it;
the battery pack essentially replaces this.

The Arduino should lie flat, just forward of the battery pack but
tucked close to it, so that the batteries take your weight, not the
Arduino (Figure 7b). Cover it with a bit of cotton padding or a cotton
ball to protect it and to prevent it from poking you. Once you’re sure
the shoes are working great, you can seal the Arduino in with hot glue.
Or you can stash it in an empty 2×AAA battery pack for extra protection
(Figure 7c).
Replace the insole to cover the electronics and battery pack. Though
you’ve thinned it out, it still offers a bit of a cushion.
If your shoes don’t have room for these components under the heel,
you can mount them on top of the tongue, above the area where your
foot flexes (Figure 7d). Again, you can protect the Arduino by hiding it
in an 2×AAA battery pack.
8. Power up the shoes
Charge the 6 NiZn AA batteries and place them in the battery pack of
each shoe.
Put the shoes on, lace them up, and watch as they react when you
walk, run, jump, and dance (Figures 8a, 8b, and 8c)!

The basic code loop reads an analog input from the front and rear
force sensors (their resistance changes linearly with the amount of force,
and they’re connected to the Arduino with pull-down resistors). It then
takes those force values and scales them to the color space of the LEDs
based on some general estimates of the maximum and minimum
resistances of the force sensors.
Once the code has calculated the corresponding colors for the front
and rear LEDs, a for loop produces a color gradient of sorts for all the
LEDs in between.
Finally, the code sends these color values to the individual LEDs.

Going Further
To improve the fit with the components mounted inside the shoe, try
excavating a cavity in the top of the sole to accept the battery pack and
Arduino.
Try modifying the getColorFromForce function in the code so that
the default color (with no weight on the sensors) is your favorite color.
You might also save power (and extend run time) by switching the
default from blue to red.
You could easily apply the techniques and code from this project to
modify other kinds of shoes, like these light-up high heels (Figure 9),
or other garments altogether. What about light-up elbow or knee pads?
Light-up gloves? Pants?
Watch Clayton Richter’s original Luminous Lowtops in action at
makezine.com/go/lowtops.

Get the code, instructions, photos, and video at


makezine.com/luminous-lowtops Share it: #luminouslowtops
Salt and Pepper Well
Simple and elegant, for the picnic basket
or the dining table.
Written and photographed by Len Cullum
Jeffrey Braverman

Time Required: 2–3 Hours Cost: $10–$20


A simple woodworking project that teaches some new tricks.

LEN CULLUM
(shokunin-do.com) is a woodworker living in Seattle, where he specializes in building
Japanese-style garden structures and architectural elements. When not woodworking,
he teaches at Pratt Fine Arts Center, writes, and dreams of a robot that would sharpen
his chisels..

THIS SALT AND PEPPER WELL is something my girlfriend spotted in an


old magazine. The setting was a rustic country picnic, with nice wine
glasses and plates and of course beautiful food. In the midst of it all was
this old and well-worn well. It struck me as so much more elegant than
the usual cardboard shakers you find in a picnic basket — so I decided
to make her one.
It’s a simple woodworking project with a twist — you’ll use a drill
press as a lathe, to shape the little handle that goes on top.

1. Make the center hole. As with most of my projects, the first step is
to find center. On the 2" face of the block, measure and mark 1" in from
each side and 3" in from each end. You are making the point that the
cover will pivot on, so take the time to make sure you’ve found dead
center (Figure 1).
Using the drill press and a ¼" bit, drill a hole on this center point
about 1" deep.

2. Cut the coves. You can do this in different ways, but I like the
smooth round and the minimal cleanup that a Forstner bit can give.
Since I’m using a 1¾" Forstner bit for the salt and pepper wells, I’ll use
the same to cut the coves. Because drilling a half-round would remove
too much of the block, I drill these holes off-center, using a sacrificial
piece of 2×4 to act as the fence and to stabilize the drill bit while it cuts.
If you don’t have some kind of wooden top on your drill press table,
now would be the time to add one. I use a piece of MDF held on with
double-stick tape.

SHAKE IT UP: Table salt was served in open "cellars" until


the 20th century, when anti-caking agents enabled the triumph of the
salt shaker. For sea salts, a cellar still works best.

Materials
» Hardwood block, 1½"×2"×6" I used cherry.
» Hardwood dowel, ½" dia., 4" long
» Hardwood dowel, ¼" dia., 3" long
» Wood glue
» Paste wax
» Scrap wood, 2×4, about 2' long This is sacrificial; don’t worry about appearance.

Tools
» Drill press
» Drill bits: ¼", 5/16", ½"
» Forstner bit, 1¾"
» Handsaw
» Tape measure
» Clamps
» Sandpaper and/or files
» Square
» Top guide bearing from a ½" router bit with ¼" shank

BIT OF A TRICK A router bit bearing turns your drill press into a mini lathe. See
how on page 73.
Using a square, make a reference line near the center of the 2×4, then
make a mark ⅜" in from the edge. This is the center point for the 1¾"
bit. Center the 2×4 beneath the bit and clamp it in place. Now align the
centerline of the block to that on the 2×4 and clamp it in place (Figure
2a). Smoothly drill through to the table (Figure 2b). Repeat on the
other side.
3. Cut the lid. Mark a line 5/16" from the top, all the way around the
block. Using a handsaw, cut the lid piece away (Figure 3).
Lightly mark the top of the lid, to help you orient it during final
assembly. Clean up the saw marks with sandpaper or, like I did, with a
plane.

4. Drill the wells. On the cut face of what is now the bottom piece,
make 2 marks centered 1⅛" from either end and drill the two 1¾" well
holes about ⅞" deep (Figure 4a). Use sandpaper to soften the edges of
the holes (Figure 4b).
5. Make the handle blank. The handle is made from ½" dowel, with
its bottom portion narrowed down to ¼". Because this portion acts as
an axle and holds the whole project together, it’s important that it be a
fairly accurate ¼". However, I’ve found accuracy to not be one of the
features of my lathing method, so I like to insert a ¼" dowel into the
end of the ½" one. Here's how to center it:
Clamp the 2×4 to the drill press and drill a ½" hole all the way
through. Insert the ½" dowel. It should be a good fit with little or no
wobble. (If it wobbles, give the dowel an even wrap of tape.)
Chuck up the ¼" bit, and drill ½" to ¾" into the end of the dowel
(Figure 5a).
Glue the ¼" dowel into the end and set it aside to dry (Figure 5b).

6. Set up the “lathe.” Mount the “lathe” bearing as described in the


"Skill Builder" article on the following page.

7. Turn the handle. Cut off the ¼" dowel 1" below the shoulder. Mark
the ½" dowel: You want the handle to be about 2" long, so make a
reference mark there to indicate the top, and another at ¼" to indicate
where to start the handle’s little base curve.
Chuck the ½" dowel in the drill press. Make sure everything is locked
down, then turn on the drill press and turn the handle as described in
the Skill Builder, cutting the basic shape with rough sandpaper or a file
(Figure 7a), then smoothing the surface with finer-grit paper. Stop the
drill press on occasion to check your progress. When you’re happy with
it, remove the handle and cut it to length (Figure 7b).

8. Assemble it. Assembly is straightforward except for one important


trick. To prevent the lid from getting glued to the base or the axle, use a
small brush to apply paste wax to the upper 5/16" of the ¼" dowel and to
the area surrounding the hole on both the lid and the base (Figure 8a).
Just be careful not to get wax on the end of the dowel or in the center
hole on the base, because it will prevent the glue from bonding. If you
don’t have paste wax, you can use candle wax or even wax paper.
Using a toothpick or a splinter of wood, apply a small amount of glue
to the inside of the hole in the base. Orient the lid the same way it was
before you cut it, then press the 3 parts together (Figure 8b). Give the
lid a couple of turns to make sure it’s moving smoothly, and then let it
dry. Giving it a turn every 20 minutes or so for the next hour isn’t a bad
idea.

9. Finish it. When the glue has set, let the sanding begin! Soften the
corners and smooth all the exterior faces. I like to chamfer the top with
a knife (Figure 9).
For an exterior finish, I like paste wax or butcher block oil. But avoid
getting any on the inside — it might give your salt and pepper an odd
flavor or, worse, go rancid and make the well unusable.
You’re done. Prepare to picnic!

See more step-by-step photos and add your comments at


makezine.com/projects/salt-and-pepper-well Share it:
#saltandpepperwell

CAUTION: THIS PROCEDURE IS


POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AND CAN
QUICKLY VOID THE WARRANTY ON YOUR
FINGERS. IF AT ANY POINT THE LITTLE
VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEAD STARTS SAYING
“YOU SHOULDN’T BE DOING THIS” OR
“UH-OH,” LISTEN TO IT AND STOP. YOU
HAVE BEEN WARNED.

+SKILL BUILDER
USE A DRILL PRESS AS A LATHE
makezine.com/drillpresslathe

Whenever I need a small turned item, I resort to tricking my


drill press into thinking it’s a lathe. This method is slower — you
abrade the material using sandpaper or files instead of shaving it away
with chisels — but with patience you can get good results. Here's
how I do it, using a common top guide bearing from a router bit.

1. Choose a router bearing. The bottom of my workpiece has a ¼"


diameter, so I need a bearing that fits a ¼" shaft.

2. Mount the bearing. Clamp a scrap of 2×4 to your drill press table
and drill a hole to fit your bearing, about ¼" deep. (I prefer a
Forstner bit, but a twist bit is fine.) Then drill a clearance hole 1/16"
wider than your shaft width (in this case 5/16") through the center of
the first hole, all the way through the 2×4. Insert the bearing into the
hole. It should fit snugly; if it's loose, give it a wrap of tape.

3. Mount the workpiece in the drill press. Tighten the chuck, but
not enough to crush the wood. Lower the chuck so the end of the
workpiece goes through the bearing, then use the depth stop on the
press to lock it in place. Turn on the drill press. Your workpiece
should spin smoothly.

4. Turn and shape your workpiece. For initial shaping, I use either
a file or an aggressive-grit sandpaper (60 or 80) wrapped around a
dowel. Take your time, stay focused, and avoid getting your fingers or
the tip of the tool too close, as this can cause it to kick. Pressing too
hard will only clog your file or, worse, throw the dowel off center.
Once you’ve worked the piece down to shape, fold a strip of finer-
grit paper (120–220) and smooth the surface.
Library Box: Portable Private Digital
Distribution
Want to share files and bypass the internet? Build a
mobile, anonymous wi-fi file server with off-the-shelf
hardware.
Written by Jason Griffey Photographed by Jason
Griffey and Bo Baker
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A
LIBRARYBOX?
The real strength of LibraryBox is its portability and low-power
nature. Anywhere there is limited or no internet connectivity but still
a need to deliver digital files, LibraryBox can do it.

Transmit spy documents without ever going on the internet.


Stream music and images to everyone’s phone at a party.
Share photos and videos at reunions and weddings.
Stream music at your campsite or on your beach blanket.
Set up anonymous chat networks.
Distribute information in countries where internet use is censored,
forbidden, or insecure.
Share healthcare information in the jungles of Peru.
Share digital textbooks to schools in remote villages.
Share e-books from a roving bookmobile.

Time Required: 20–40 Minutes Cost: $40–$60


Fileshare anonymously for $40? It’s almost too easy!

JASON GRIFFEY
is an associate professor and head of Library Information Technology at the University
of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has written extensively for the ALA on topics such as
personal electronics in the library, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. He
spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and
preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. jasongriffey.net

MATERIALS
» 3G router, TP-Link model MR3020
» USB to Mini-B cable included in MR3020 package
» Ethernet cable included in MR3020 package
» USB thumb drive, FAT32 formatted any capacity that will hold the material you
wish to distribute
» Computer with internet connection
» Router with open Ethernet port
» Terminal program for telneting and SSHing into the MR3020. We suggest using
Putty on a Windows PC, and just Terminal on OSX or Linux.
» Battery pack with USB output (optional) to run your Library-Box on the go
Zombie Flashlight
Build a powerful pocket flashlight with reclaimed
parts and an “undead” battery!
Written by Chester Winowiecki

Time Required: An Afternoon Cost: $0–$20


CHESTER WINOWIECKI
makes stoneware pottery and builds musical instruments in Whitehall, Mich.. His
article “The Panjolele” (makezine.com/panjolele) appeared in MAKE Volume 33.

THE “JOULE THIEF” CIRCUIT CAN POWER A 3V WHITE LED WITH A


SINGLE 1.5V BATTERY. Not only can it boost the voltage, it can do it with
a battery that’s considered dead, stealing the last bits of energy from the
cell.
I built my first joule thief on a breadboard from scrap parts. I even
had a bin of dead batteries that I hadn’t recycled yet. I felt like Victor
Frankenstein or George Romero!
I really wanted this flashlight to be a nice everyday carry, like my old
AAA Maglite. I found a few tutorials for stuffing all the parts into a
miniature incandescent bulb housing but that didn’t do it for me. Then
I found a used-up tube of lip balm in an old pair of pants. Could I fit it
all in there and an on/off switch besides? Yes!
Here’s how to do it:

1. Gut and clean the tube.

2. Wind a tiny transformer.

3. Wire the “joule thief” circuit.

4. Build the switch.


5. Put it all together.

Make lots of Zombie Flashlights for your friends and include a


“dead” battery. It’s great fun giving these scrap parts and batteries
another life, and they might just come in handy during the next zombie
outbreak.

For build instructions, photos, and schematics, go to


makezine.com/zombie-flashlight Share it: #zombieflashlight

LIBRARYBOX WAS INSPIRED BY THE PIRATEBOX ART PROJECT BY DR.


DAVID DARTS, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ART AT NEW YORK
UNIVERSITY. PirateBox is a mobile, anonymous file-sharing device,
allowing anyone to upload and download digital files from mobile
phones, laptops, and plug computers. When PirateBox developers
managed to leverage the project onto inexpensive 3G-to-wi-fi routers, I
had the idea to fork PirateBox into LibraryBox.
Libraries are a bastion of sharing and a cornerstone of freedom of
information. Still, I knew I would have a hard time convincing libraries
to use something called PirateBox. I poked around in the code to see
what could make it more appealing to libraries and educators. The most
obvious change was to remove the ability to upload files anonymously.
So how do you use LibraryBox? Put your digital content on a USB
stick, plug in the stick, and power up the device, which will act as a
wireless digital download hub. Share anything! It’ll even stream video
and audio — it’s robust enough to stream HD MP4 video to an iPhone
or iPad — and it runs all day on a rechargeable battery pack.
Make It. To make a LibraryBox, you just flash the router with new
OpenWrt firmware, then telnet to the router and install PirateBox
software from the command line (it’s easy). Finally, install the
LibraryBox software from your USB stick. That’s it!

Use It. To use a LibraryBox in the wild, people simply connect their
devices to the “LibraryBox — Free Content!” SSID and open any
webpage in their browser. The device acts as a captive-portal,
redirecting the request to its internal pages. The default install also
includes a Chatbox where users can communicate anonymously.
LibraryBox has been tested on a range of mobile phones, laptops, and
tablets. Just about any device with wi-fi and a web browser can connect
and download files from LibraryBox.
I’ve even designed two 3D-printable enclosures for it: a small one for
very low-profile USB drives like the Sandisk Cruzer Fit, and a larger
one with more room. Find both at thingiverse.com/griffey.
Much of the world has intermittent internet access at best. But the
mobile phone is becoming ubiquitous, and LibraryBox can bring
education information, health information, and entertainment to the
parts of the world where smartphones outstrip web access.

Version 2.0
The LibraryBox Project recently completed a successful Kickstarter
campaign to fund the v2.0 release, currently in development with
Matthias Strubel (lead developer for PirateBox). It will include many
upgrades, from SFTP content updating and mesh network content
sharing to a revised UI based on Bootstrap, plus a hugely simplified
installation. To keep up with LibraryBox, visit librarybox.us.

Many thanks to Dr. David Darts, Matthias Strubel, Matt Neer, Ross
Singer, and Andromeda Yelton.

Get complete instructions, photos, and project code at


makezine.com/librarybox
Share it: #librarybox
License Plate Guitar
Make this DIY “resonator” guitar with a
hand-wound electromagnetic pickup.
Written by Matt Stultz and James Rutter

Andrew Goodman

MATT STULTZ
is the leader of the 3D Printing Providence group, founder of
HackPittsburgh, and a MakerBot alum, with experience in
multimaterial printing and advanced materials.

JAMES RUTTER
is the labs manager at AS220 Labs in Providence, R.I. When he’s not
fixing machines, he enjoys playing music with his band.
IN MAKE VOLUME 04, ED VOGEL SHOWED US HOW TO
MAKE A DIY GUITAR OUT OF A CIGAR BOX AND JUNK
FROM THE HARDWARE STORE, AND ELECTRIFY IT
WITH A CHEAP PIEZOELECTRIC PICKUP. In Volume 21,
Mark Frauenfelder gussied it up with a traditional high-quality neck,
frets, and tuning machines.
In this project we’re going to turn it up to 11, with the help of an old
license plate and a few components from RadioShack.
The License Plate Guitar is easy to make. You’ll wind your own
electromagnetic pickup and mount it on a homemade soundbox made
with an old automobile license plate for the metal top — kind of a low-
budget version of a resonator guitar. Then add a potentiometer and
volume knob and get ready to rock that classic electric blues sound.
Here’s an overview of how to do it — for full step-by-step photos and
video, visit the project page at makezine.com/license-plate-guitar.

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $100–$140


There’s nothing like playing an electric guitar you made.

Materials
» License plate, automobile
» Hardwood lumber, 1"×3", about 40" length
» Guitar neck with headstock, for cigar box guitars We chose a fully fretted neck,
CB Gitty #37-002-02F (cbgitty. com), but you can also go for a nonfretted model,
or build your own.
» Bone nut such as CB Gitty #31-053-01
» Tuning machines (4) such as CB Gitty #31-077-01
» Wood glue
» Wood screws, #10, 1½" long (2)
» Wood screws, pan head, #8 or #10, ¾" long (4)
» Hardwood scraps (optional) for mounting license plate; see Step 4
» Plywood, ¼", about 6"×6" and 12"×6"
» Machine screws, #8-32, 1¼" length (4) with nuts
» Magnet wire, 22 gauge, about 40' length RadioShack #278-1345
» Rare-earth magnets, round, 3/16" dia. (4) RadioShack #64-1895
» Cyanoacrylate glue aka super glue
» Potentiometer, 100kΩ, linear taper RadioShack #271-092
» Audio jack, ¼", mono RadioShack #274-255
» Audio cable, shielded RadioShack #278-513
» Volume knob RadioShack #274-407
» Guitar strings, electric (4) not acoustic. Buy 1 pack at a local music store or online.
» Wood screws, countersunk head, ¾" (4)

Tools
» Nibbler such as RadioShack #55010716. If you’re working with sheet metal, the
nibbler will become your best friend.
» Coping saw
» Miter box and saw
» Drill and drill bits for both wood and metal
» Corner clamps
» Screwdriver
» Metal files (optional) to clean up rough edges
» Sandpaper
» Soldering iron and solder
1. Build the guitar body box
Miter-cut the 1×3 boards to build a “picture-frame” box the same size as
your license plate. Glue and clamp it overnight.

2. Cut out the license plate


Mark the location for your pickup, then use a sheet metal nibbler tool
to cut out the hole. The pickup you’ll build is almost exactly the same
size as a single letter or number on the plate.
Gunther Kirsch

3. Prepare and attach the neck and


stringholder
You can make your own neck from scratch (see
makezine.com/cigarboxguitar for instructions), but a store-bought neck
made for cigar box guitars is easiest for this project. Cut the neck down
for a 25" scale length, then cut a groove across the top of the fretboard
and glue the nut in place. Drill four ¼" holes in the headstock to mount
the 4 tuning machines.
To make the stringholder, drill four ⅛" holes in a short scrap from
the neck. Mount the neck and stringholder squarely to the body box
using glue and long wood screws.
4. Attach the license plate
Use pan-head wood screws to attach the plate to the top of the body
box. Depending on your plate, you might need to add small wood
blocks inside the box to accept these screws.

5. Build the pickup bobbin


Cut the bobbin’s top and bottom plates out of thin plywood, then drill
the plates and assemble them using 6-32 machine screws and nuts.

6. Wind the pickup


Wrap the entire spool of magnet wire neatly around the group of 4
screws at the center of your bobbin. Wrap evenly and consistently,
starting at the bottom and building layers to the top. Secure both ends
of the wire in the bottom plate’s 2 wire-mounting holes.
7. Add magnets
Place one rare-earth magnet on top of each screw, at the end with the
nut, with a drop of super glue.

8. Wire the pickup, audio jack, and volume


pot
Sand the clear coating off the ends of the magnet wire, then solder a 2-
conductor audio cable to the pickup (either way is fine). Wire the audio
jack with another length of audio cable: red to tip, white to ring.
Connect the pickup’s red wire to one of the volume pot’s outer pins, the
jack's red wire to the center pin, and both white ground wires to the
other outer pin.
9. Mount the components
Drill holes in the license plate for the pot and jack, then mount them
both and the pickup too.

10. Add the bridge


Measure exactly 25" down from the nut, mark the license plate there,
and glue the bridge in place at your mark.
Andrew Goodman

11. String your guitar and rock out!


Thread the 4 strings through the holder, starting with the thickest and
ending with the thinnest. The thickest string should mount into the
lower left tuning machine, followed by the top left, the top right, and
the bottom right.
When all the strings are in place, tighten down the tuning machines
evenly but without applying too much tension.
Plug your License Plate Guitar into your amp, switch on the amp,
and strum the strings. You should hear your new electric guitar!
Close it up by attaching the thin plywood back to the guitar body
with the short countersunk wood screws.
James Burke

PICK ME UP
An electric guitar uses an electromagnetic transducer known as a
pickup to capture the mechanical vibration of the strings and convert
it into an electrical signal that’s sent to the amplifier. It’s basically a
coil of wire and some magnets; vibration of the metal guitar strings
creates fluctuations in the magnetic field, which are picked up and
converted to a small alternating current.
Tuning and Playing
There are numerous free apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac
that will allow you to tune the guitar. Choose the scale you’d like, and
then tune each string to the proper pitch. Now plug your new guitar
into your amp and rock on!
A popular tuning for small guitars like this is called open G tuning. As
Mark wrote in Volume 21, “Many of the original blues guitar players
used open G, and it’s a favorite with Keith Richards of the Rolling
Stones.”
For more tips and lessons on playing your License Plate Guitar, look
for Keni Lee Burgess and Shane Speal at Cigar Box Nation
(cigarboxnation.com) or on YouTube.

Andrew Goodman

Get down! Step-by-step photos and rockin' video:


makezine.com/license-plate-guitar Share it: #licenseplateguitar
Remaking History

Sir George Cayley and the Glider


Build the simple plane that defined modern aircraft
— 100 years before the Wright brothers.
Written by William Gurstelle

Jeffrey Braverman

Time Required: 2–3 Hours Cost: $25–$30


Unlike its flapping predecessors, this fixed-wing flying machine actually flew!

WILLIAM GURSTELLE
is a contributing editor of MAKE. The new and expanded edition of his book Backyard
Ballistics is available in the Maker Shed (makershed.com).
Materials
» Wire, 18 gauge solid, 24" length
» Spruce or balsa wood: ⅜"×⅜"×36" (1) for the fuselage ⅜"×⅜"×36" (3) for 36"
wing spars (2), 3¼" wing ribs (6), 6" center wing rib (1), and 2" tail blocks (2)
» Balsa wood, ⅜"×1/16": 12" (2) and 10½" (2) for tail pieces
» Cable ties, 5" or longer (7) aka zip ties
» Bolt, #10×2½", with 3 nuts
» Silk fabric, tissue paper, or Mylar, 4–6 sq. ft.
» Thread or ribbon

Tools
» Knife or small saw
» Hot glue and glue gun
» Soldering iron and solder
» Drill

THE TITLE “THE FATHER OF AERONAUTICS” COULD BE BESTOWED ON A


LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUT I'D GIVE IT TO ENGLISHMAN GEORGE
CAYLEY (1773–1857), SIXTH BARONET OF BROMPTON. Sir George was a
gifted inventor who made his mark on ballistics, civil and biomedical
engineering, and mathematics. But without doubt his greatest
achievements were in aeronautical engineering.
Cayley did most of his work on flying machines around the turn of
the 19th century, 100 years before the Wright brothers. At the time,
there was no engine light enough or powerful enough to get a vehicle
airborne, so Cayley’s most significant inventions were unpowered
gliders. Nonetheless, his work was monumental: In 1799, he developed
the modern concept of the airplane.
Cayley’s idea, like many others that changed the world, was extremely
simple: He was the first to completely separate a flying machine’s
propulsion systems from its lifting systems.
Before Cayley, everyone from Daedalus to da Vinci believed that
flapping was the pathway to the air. Flight had been attempted,
unsuccessfully, in ornithopters, aircraft that flapped their wings like
birds in flight. (See Rubber Band Ornithopter, MAKE 08) In Cayley’s
concept, lift was provided by a fixed sail whose surface was held taut by
air pressure.
In 1804, Cayley designed, built, and successfully flew the first
recognizable airplane-like thing: a small bamboo and paper monoplane
glider. More or less modern in appearance, it featured a fuselage, a kite-
shaped wing, an adjustable tail and back fins to control the direction of
flight, and a moveable weight to adjust the glider’s trim or center of
gravity. It was the first man-made object that incorporated the control
and aerodynamic concepts of today’s airplanes, and probably the first
aircraft in history able to make significant glides. This thing actually
flew!

BUILD A 5-FOOT BALSA GLIDER


makezine.com/medicine-man-glider
Sir George Cayley built the first fixed-wing glider (1804) and first manned glider
(1853).
© National Portrait Gallery, London

Cayley also recognized that many forces operate simultaneously upon


a body in flight. The ideas of thrust, lift, weight, and drag, now the
cornerstones of aeronautical engineering, were first articulated by
Cayley.
About 50 years later, Cayley returned to glider design and built a
really big one. Towed aloft behind a galloping horse, it was big enough
to carry his coachman on a 200-yard flight, making it the world’s first
successful manned glider.

Build a Cayley Glider


Let’s build a glider very similar to Cayley’s 1804 design. (I’ve swapped
his low-aspect-ratio sail for a high-aspect-ratio wing because, truth be
told, the original doesn’t fly all that well.)
Figure A shows the layout of the airframe. The wing and tail are
attached with thread or ribbons, and may be moved about on the
fuselage stick to obtain the best flight characteristics. The key to making
this glider is to shape the upper wing surface to make an airfoil — a
curved surface that creates a pressure differential above and below, thus
providing lift. You’ll make the curve using common zip ties.

Damien Scogin

1. Rudder. Bend the wire into a rudder shape as shown, with a


projecting pin across the bottom. Clip off excess wire, then solder the
ends of the wire together.
Cover the wire form with silk, tissue paper, or Mylar. Making shallow
cuts in the covering at intervals will allow you to turn the fabric under
and glue it neatly.
Drill a hole in the main fuselage stick just large enough for the
rudder’s projecting pin, about 1" from the end.

2. Tailpiece. Cut and glue the tailpiece out of ⅜"× 1/ " balsa,
16
overlapping the joints. Cover the tail with fabric using glue.
3. Wing. Cut and glue the wing frame out of ⅜"×⅛" balsa or spruce.
Butt-joint the 6 wing ribs inside the two 36" spars, then glue the center
rib on top. Let the glue dry.
Flip the wing over and hot-glue the 7 cable ties to the spars, opposite
each rib. To form the curve of the wing, glue one end of the tie, bend it
into a gentle arc ⅜" above the rib at midpoint (use a scrap of ⅜" balsa as
a gauge), then glue the other end and trim it neatly (Figure B).

4. Wing fabric. Carefully cover the wing with silk, tissue paper, or
Mylar using glue. The wing surface should be smooth and taut on both
sides.

5. Tail blocks. Glue the tail blocks, one atop the other, to make a ¼"
high block. Glue it atop the fuselage, 2" from the end.

6. Weight bolt. Place 3 nuts on the #10×2½" bolt and hot-glue the tip
of the bolt to the nose of the fuselage.

7. Assembly. Use thread or ribbon to lash the long center ribs of the
wings and tail to the fuselage. Center the wing 8" back from the nose,
and align the back edge of the tail with the middle of the tail block.
Insert the rudder’s pin and lash it on too.

Fly It
Hold the glider lightly and give it a level toss. If it nosedives, untie the
wing and move it back a little. If it rises too steeply and then stalls,
move the wing forward.
You can make fine attitude adjustments by moving the horizontal
tailpiece forward or back, and by spinning the nuts on the nose bolt.
You can control yaw (left or right direction) by adjusting the rudder.
A well-made glider can travel a surprisingly long distance —
experiment!

For step-by-step photos and more, fly to makezine.com/cayley-glider


Share it: #cayleyglider
Three-Day Kimchi
Piquant, fiery, and fast to make, this lacto-fermented
version might just get you hooked.
Written by Wendy Jehanara Tremayne Photographed
by Gunther Kirsch

Time Required: 30 Minutes Prep, 3 Days Ferment


Cost: $5–$10
WENDY JEHANARA TREMAYNE
(gaiatreehouse.com) teaches yoga and Sufi philosophy, and pursues a post-consumer
life in Truth or Consequences, N.M. (blog.holyscraphot springs.com). She also
founded Swap-O-Rama-Rama, now a mainstay of Maker Faire.

Materials
» 1 head of your favorite cabbage
» 1lb carrots
» 8 cloves chopped garlic or chopped onion
» 2 Tbsp minced ginger
» 2 Tbsp sesame oil or fish oil
» 2 tsp salt
» ½ tsp dry red pepper flakes
» juice of 2 limes
» 1 pint whey from kefir, yogurt, or live cheese. Making cheese and other dairy
products produces a byproduct called whey, a protein-rich liquid full of probiotics.
» Mason jars with lids
» Airlocks (optional)

KIMCHI IS THE FUNKY, SPICY, ANCIENT KOREAN FERMENTED CABBAGE


DISH that’s being rediscovered by chefs today. While traditional kimchi
takes months to make, our lacto-fermented kimchi is ready in days
because it cooks the vegetables enzymatically. (Microorganisms work
with enzymes, a chemical catalyst, to “predigest” your food.) It’s full of
healthy probiotics and vitamin C. And did I mention it’s delicious and
inexpensive?

1. Shred cabbage and carrots and fill mason jars with the mix. Press
them down with the back of a spoon to pack the jar tight.

2. Mince the garlic and ginger in a bowl with sesame oil, salt, red
pepper flakes, lime juice, and kefir whey that has been inoculated with a
spoonful of kefir culture. (Any whey that contains a live culture will do:
Try yogurt, live cheese, or kefir.)
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the vegetables so that they’re
completely covered. Leave a little space at the top for expansion. Cap
tightly and store at room temperature, away from sunlight.

4. After about 24 hours, the lid will pop up from pressure. Refrigerate
to slow fermentation.

Finishing: After 3 days in the fridge, the culture has fermented the
vegetables and spices in the jar, and your kimchi is ready to eat. Serve
over rice.

Get more appetizing information and recommended reading at


makezine.com/three-day-kimchi Share it: #threedaykimchi

+ Excerpted from The Good Life Lab © Wendy Jehanara Tremayne. Used
with permission of Storey Publishing.

More Fermented Favorites


Make these three and more at makezine.com/projects
Kombucha
Brew the staggeringly popular fermented tea.

Yogurt
Turn a crockpot into a yogurt bot using an Arduino.

Cider
Juice, strain, and bottle your own hard apple cider.
123 Jumbo Hand-Launcher for
Folding Wing Glider
Written by Rick Schertle Illustrations by Julie West

SINCE THE ROCKET GLIDER PROJECT WAS RELEASED IN MAKE VOLUME


31 (makezine.com/go/rocketglider), it’s been wildly popular. But one
struggle that younger builders have is getting the glider pulled back on
the handheld catapult. With this portable and inexpensive launcher,
even the youngest kids can achieve impressive flights.

1. Cut a stake and drill a hole


Make 2 angled cuts in the pine board to form a point on one end, then
drill a ¼" hole centered on the opposite end.
2. Secure the rubber band
Feed the dowel through the hole so that one side is flush with the stake
and the other protrudes. Next, put the rubber band around the dowel,
then staple the rubber band to the wood to keep it in place.
3. Pound stake into the ground
Place the stake dowel-side up with a slight angle. Use a piece of scrap
wood to protect the top when you hammer it into place. Hang the loose
end of the rubber band over the top of the stake.

Use It
Hook the notch on the bottom of the glider onto the rubber band, pull
the plane down along the length of the stake, make sure your face is
clearly out of the way, and let it rip! Be sure to launch along the stake,
not toward it, or you may break the plane. If wind is a factor, make sure
you're launching on the downwind side. With this much stretch, the
rubber bands tend to wear out quickly. Keep a supply on hand for quick
replacement.

Watch the launcher in action at makezine. com/projects/jumbo-hand-


launcher Share it: #jumbohandlauncher
RICK SCHERTLE
([email protected]) teaches middle school in San Jose, Calif., and designed the
Compressed Air Rockets for MAKE Volume 15 and the Rocket Glider for MAKE
Volume 31. With his wife and kids, he loves all things that fly.

You will need:


» Pine board, 1"×2"x4'
» Small piece of wood dowel or pencil
» Rubber band, #117, ⅛"×7"
» Rocket Glider Maker Shed #MKRS2, or other catapult-launched flying object
» Saw
» Drill
» Drill bit, ¼"
» Hammer or mallet
» Stapler
Amateur Scientist

Tracking Heat Islands


Use data loggers and DIY sensors to map
temperatures where you live.
Written by Forrest M. Mims III

Time Required: 1 Day Cost: $25–$350


Measure bubbles of warmth for accurate outdoor temps.

FORREST M. MIMS III


(forrestmims.org) an amateur scientist and Rolex Award winner, was named by
Discover magazine as one of the “50 Best Brains in Science.” His books have sold
more than 7 million copies.

ACCURATELY MONITORING THE TEMPERATURE OUTDOORS ISN’T EASY.


That’s because air temperatures are influenced by virtually anything
heated by sunlight, and by engines and other equipment that generate
heat.
Bubbles of warmth are known as heat islands. They make major
contributions to the temperature in and around towns and cities, which
are usually warmer than the countryside. The National Weather Service
has developed guidelines for placing weather instruments to avoid heat
islands (see makezine.com/cwop). But with the passage of time, fewer
weather stations meet the guidelines, often because of the arrival of new
buildings, sidewalks, and paved roads.

Electronic Thermometers
Stand-alone temperature loggers are available from Onset Computer,
Lascar, Extech, and others. Data are downloaded through USB or
optical ports; software converts the data into graphs.
You can modify an Onset Pendant logger for temperature transects
by boring an entry hole through its cap and an exit hole in its base, to
allow air to flow over the thermistor, a tiny resistor whose resistance
varies rapidly with temperature.
While temperature loggers work well, they require you to note times
and locations during a transect so you can analyze the data. No notes
are needed with a Vernier LabQuest 2 (vernier.com). This 12-bit, fully
programmable logger has three analog inputs for external sensors, and a
built-in GPS that records the location of every measurement. Best of
all, it displays a realtime graph of temperature as it’s measured (Figure
1). After making a transect, you can send up to 1,000 measurements to
Vernier, which will return a Google map with a color-coded line that
indicates the temperature along the route. While the LabQuest 2 is
expensive ($329), mine has become essential. Figure 3 shows my Excel
plot of 942 nocturnal temperature measurements across San Antonio,
logged with my LabQuest 2 and a thermistor installed on my pickup.
Figure 4 shows the same data on the map generated by Vernier.
Suitable Temperature Sensors
Dedicated temperature loggers have a built-in sensor. The LabQuest 2
works with many external sensors, including a Vernier temperature
sensor ($23).
If you already have a voltage logger, you can use it to measure
temperature with the help of a thermistor.

» Make a DIY temperature sensor by connecting a 10kΩ thermistor


(Jameco #207037 or similar) in series with a 10kΩ resistor to form a
voltage divider (Figure 2). Connect the free end of the thermistor to
the logger’s positive voltage and the free end of the resistor to ground.
The voltage between the thermistor-resistor junction and ground will
be directly proportional to the temperature. You can swap the resistor
for a 20kΩ–50kΩ potentiometer to adjust the sensitivity of the probe.

Mounting Temperature Sensors


When mounting temperature loggers on a car, remember that the
temperature sensor must be shielded from sunlight. If the car will need
to make stops at traffic signs or lights, the sensor should be mounted
away from the vehicle to avoid heat buildup from the engine or metal
surfaces. Here are some methods I’ve used:

» Mount an Onset Pendant logger on a car roof with a pair of Adams


suction cup clamps and a safety line (Figure 5).
» Install an external thermistor in a drinking straw or paper tube
taped to the roof (Figure 6). Insert the sensor into the tube's forward
opening, tape its cable to the door frame, and run the cable through the
window.

» Use a car-window flag mount for an external sensor (Figure 7).


Remove the cap and the flag. Extend the sensor just beyond the upper
end of the flagpole and secure it by wrapping a few inches of insulated,
solid wire around the sensor leads and the groove at the top of the flag
mount. Use tape or binder clips to secure the cable to the flagpole.

» Use 2 feet of ½” PVC pipe with a tee fitting to make a sturdy


sensor mount that’s shielded from sunlight. Bore a hole through a ¾”×
9/ ” rubber stopper and push the sensor through so that it protrudes
16
5/ ” from the large end. Insert the sensor cable into one end of the pipe
16
and press the stopper in. Bend the free end of the cable back toward the
sensor and tape it securely to the pipe. Finally, place a ½” tee over the
end of the pipe so the sensor is visible through both ends (Figure 8).
Study heat islands for a science fair project. Learn more at
makezine.com/uhi Find this project online and add your comments at
makezine.com/trackingheatislands
Share it: #trackingheatislands

CAUTION:
MAKE SURE YOUR TEMPERATURE SENSOR IS SECURELY MOUNTED TO
YOUR VEHICLE AND DOESN’T POSE A HAZARD TO OTHER DRIVERS OR
BECOME A DISTRACTION TO YOUR DRIVER. COME TO A COMPLETE STOP
IN A SAFE AREA BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO THE EXPERIMENT.
The Chameleon Bag
Make an interactive messenger bag that
reacts to your RFID-tagged objects.
Written by Kathryn McElroy

Jeffrey Braverman

KATHRYN MCELROY
is a designer and photographer living in NYC. She's in her thesis year of an MFA in
Products of Design at the School of Visual Arts. Kathryn is a talented maker in
many mediums including: sewing, electronics, baking, papercraft, and graphic
design.

THE CHAMELEON BAG IS AN INTERACTIVE MESSENGER BAG WITH A


REACTIVE FRONT PANEL. I wanted the bag to display animations and
patterns across its front flap as the user places different RFID-tagged
objects into it, and I accomplished this by combining a Boarduino
microcontroller and an RFID reader inside the bag, along with 49 RGB
LEDs on its front flap.
Designed into the coding are three specific uses, with potential for
more. First, the bag keeps track of the RFID-tagged items placed inside
and warns the user through light displays if an important item, such as
keys or cellphone, is missing. Alternately, the lights can change color to
match clothing or accessories embedded with RFID tags. And finally, it
can be programmed to display cheery animations when a favorite totem
with an RFID tag is placed in the bag, enabling the user to share her
good mood with the people around her. Since the user has access to the
microcontroller, she can code additional uses to change the colors and
animations of the display.

1. Set up the electronics


1a. First, solder your Boarduino following the directions at Adafruit
(makezine.com/adafruitboarduino). Connect it to the computer using
the FTDI cable; the colored wires with female headers go onto the back
wall of pins (black goes to ground, for orientation).

NOTE:
IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE PROGRAMMING THE BOARDUINO, TRY
MOVING THE JUMPER OVER ONE PIN.

Open the project code in the Arduino IDE software, select Tools →
Board, and select Duemilanove with ATmega328. Upload the code to
the board and launch the Serial Monitor by clicking the icon in the
upper right-hand corner. It should tell you that no RFID reader is
attached.

Kathryn McElroy

1b. Next, set up the RFID reader using the Adafruit tutorial
(makezine.com/adafruit-rfidtutorial). Solder the two 3-pin strips, but
don’t solder the 8-pin strip. Follow the directions to connect the RFID
reader to the included 4050 level-shifter pin. Mount the 4050 onto the
small breadboard, and temporarily connect it to the RFID reader and to
the Boarduino with jumper wires, using Figure 1 for reference.
1c. Now you’ll test the RFID reader with some RFID tags. First, reload
the code and open the Serial Monitor. It should now recognize that the
reader is attached; if not, check your connections.

1d. Each RFID tag has a unique number, and you’ll see these numbers
flash onto the Serial Monitor when you place a tag within 4" of the
reader. Copy and paste these tag numbers into a text document for
reference. In the project code, about halfway down, change the
cardidentifier variables to your unique tag numbers to choose what
animation or colors you’d like to see when the reader reads that
number. Then reload the code to your Boarduino. Now you can label
your RFID tags to keep track of which tag launches which display.

1e. You’re ready to set up the RGB LEDs. Refer to the Adafruit tutorial
(makezine.com/adafruit-rgbled) for the specific wires. You’ll need to
power the LEDs with the 5V plug-in power supply while testing so they
don’t try to pull 5V through the Boarduino. Connect the other wires
temporarily to the Boarduino as outputs. With the Serial Monitor open,
test the RGB LEDs by trying the tags you’ve assigned colors to. You
may need to troubleshoot if something is not properly connected.

1f. Once you’ve gotten all the components to work together, you’re
ready to make these connections permanent! Arrange all your
components onto a 2"×4" protoboard. Use the 16-prong socket for the
RFID reader’s 4050, and two 15-pin strips of female headers to make a
strip for each side of the Boarduino. Solder the socket and female
headers in place. Solder all the connections between the 4050 and the
Boarduino.

1g. Cut extra long wires for the connection between the 4050 and the
RFID reader, and solder the wires to the protoboard, waiting to attach
the reader until we determine the length we need. Cut extra long wires
for the RGB LEDs as well, about twice as long as the RFID wires.
1h. Now you can solder the power connections for the RGB LEDs and
the RFID reader. We’ll be using 4 AA batteries for our power supply to
the Boarduino. The RFID reader needs 3.3V, so connect one of the 5V
pins to the 3.3V voltage regulator, then connect it to the 4050 and the
reader. The LEDs need 5V connected to 2 different wires; since there is
only one 5V pin left, connect that to the RGB LEDs, then connect the
Vin (total voltage from the batteries) to a 5V regulator before
connecting it to the other power wire.

Time Required: 6–8 Hours Cost: $180–$200


Solder up the electronics, then brush up on your sewing to make this
spectacular bag.

Materials
» Boarduino microcontroller Adafruit Industries item #91, adafruit.com
» FTDI cable, USB, 3.3V
» RFID reader Adafruit #364
» Breadboard, small for testing
» RGB LED strips (2) Adafruit #738
» Power supply, 5V DC for testing
» RFID tags Adafruit #365
» Protoboard, 2"×4"
» Female headers, 0.1"
» DIP socket, 16-pin, 0.3"
» Voltage regulator, 3.3V, LD1117V33
» Voltage regulator, 5V, 3A, 3-pin
» Battery holder, 5V, 4xAA
» Jumper wires for testing
» Luan plywood, ⅛"×11"×14"
» Electrical tape
» Upholstery foam, 1"×26"×20” non-yellowing

FOR THE BAG:


Alternately, you can repurpose an existing messenger bag.
» Canvas, gray, 2 yards
» Canvas, white, 1 yard
» Thread, gray and white
» Magnetic snaps (2)
» Metal loops, 2" (2)
» Metal slide, 2"
» Zipper

Tools
» X-Acto knife
» Computer with Arduino IDE free download from arduino.cc
» Laser cutter or drill
» Foam cutter
» Soldering iron and solder
» Sewing machine
2. Sew a bag or repurpose one
When you want a break from the electronics, start sewing the
messenger bag — or repurpose an existing bag — following the
instructions and templates at makezine.com/chameleon-bag.

3. Assemble
3a. Using the downloadable template (at the URL above), laser-cut or
drill holes in the thin plywood to fit the RGB LEDs and hold them in
place in a grid pattern. (If you’re repurposing a bag, adjust the template
to fit into your bag’s front flap.) Then push each LED into a hole, and
use electrical tape on the backs to hold them in place.

3b. Cut your upholstery foam into two 13"×10" rectangles (or the size
of your repurposed bag), one for the back panel and one for the front
panel that will cover the LEDs. On the back foam panel, cut out cavities
(not all the way through) to hold the electronics. On the front foam
panel, use an X-Acto knife to cut Xs where the LEDs will push into the
foam. The foam will diffuse the LEDs’ colors and make them flow
together.
3c. Insert the electronics in the spaces you cut out in the back foam
panel, then trim and solder the wires to the RFID reader. Cover the
LED board with the front foam panel and insert it into the white front
flap of the bag. Measure where the other half of the magnetic snaps
should go on the bottom of the front flap and attach them. Measure and
finalize the wire lengths from the Boarduino to the LEDs, take the
electronics out of the bag, and solder the final wires in place.
3d. Put all the electronics back into their respective bag parts. Insert the
front flap’s extra fabric down into the back of the bag.

Fold the raw edges of the back panel into itself and pin everything
together. Sew the panel together, taking care not to damage the
electronics or break your machine’s needle on the LED wires.

3e. Unzip the back zipper, insert the battery holder, plug it into the
Boarduino, and test. Now your Chameleon Bag can tell what‘s missing,
express how you’re feeling, or just match your outfit.
Get busy with the project code, downloadable templates, sewing
instructions, and video at makezine.com/chameleon-bag
Share it: #chameleonbag
Toy Inventor's Notebook
ANT-FREE FEEDER
Invented and drawn by Bob Knetzger

OUR BACKYARD HUMMINGBIRDS WERE NOT HAPPY! A


trail of hungry ants was climbing into our hummingbird feeder, fouling
the sugar water, and keeping the birds away. The ants were undeterred
by folk remedies like bay leaf barriers, and pesticides were out of the
question. Ugh — but what to do?
My bin of toy parts yielded the answer. Drill a hole in the cap from a
plastic vending-machine toy capsule. Attach the inverted cap on top
of the feeder with a bit of Sugru or bathroom caulk. Use another dab
to seal up the center hole and hanging wire. When filled with water,
the cap makes a tiny water moat the ants refuse to cross. The
hummingbirds are back enjoying the feeder — sweet!

See it work: makezine.com/ant-free-feeder


Share it: #antfreefeeder

SUGRU IS A HANDY SUBSTANCE


It molds like putty and cures at room temperature to form a strong,
flexible silicone rubber that can be used to fix, protect, improve, and
innovate.

MAKE THINGS CHILD-PROOF AND GRIPPY Joel Veitch, England

BOUNCE-PROOF YOUR CAMERA Stefan Stocker, Germany


MAKE A PLUG HUB FOR YOUR LAPTOP Johan Frick, Sweden

Sugru is available in the Maker Shed: makezine.com/go/sugru


Enough Already!
The TV Celebrity Silencer
Take control of your TV by using an Arduino to mute
annoying celebrities automatically.
Written by Matt Richardson

Peter O’Toole

Time Required: 3 Hours Cost: $75–$100


Build it and you’ll never hear the word Kardashian again.
MATT RICHARDSON
MAKE contributing editor Matt Richardson (mattrichardson.com) is a Brooklyn-
based creative technologist and Resident Research Fellow at ITP.

Materials
» Arduino Uno microcontroller Maker Shed item #MKSP99, maker shed.com, or
compatible controller
» Power supply for Arduino Maker Shed #MKSF3
» Video Experimenter Shield by Nootropic Design, Maker Shed #MKNTD7
» Composite video cables (2)
» Infrared LED such as Adafruit #387, adafruit.com
» Infrared sensor such as Adafruit #157, for IR tutorial
» Breadboard and jumper wires Maker Shed #MKKN2 and MKSEEED3, for IR
tutorial

Tools
» Computer with Arduino IDE software free download from arduino.cc
» USB cable, Standard-A to Standard-B for programming Arduino
» Screwdriver, small flat-head

I’M SICK OF HEARING ABOUT OVEREXPOSED PERSONALITIES LIKE KIM


KARDASHIAN AND SARAH PALIN, so I came up with this Arduino-based
solution to mute my TV anytime these celebrities are mentioned. I call
it the Enough Already. It reads the closed-captioning text that’s
piggybacked on your TV signal, scanning for whatever keywords you
choose. Build one and it can mute the audio whenever your keywords
appear — or even turn off the TV altogether!
1. Set it up

1a. Place the Video Experimenter Shield onto the Arduino.


1b. Using a composite video cable, connect your video source output to
the video input on the shield. Connect the video output from the shield
to the video input on your television.

1c. Set the Output Select switch on the shield to “Overlay.”


1d. Download Nootropic Design’s Enhanced TV Out Library
(nootropicdesign.com/ve/#library), unzip it, and drop it into the libraries
folder that’s in your Arduino folder.
1e. Download the project code from makezine.com/enough-already and
open it in the Arduino IDE.
1f. Enable your television’s closed captioning to ensure that your video
source is sending closed captioning data. (Not all broadcasts will
transmit closed captioning.)
1g. Upload the code to the Arduino. Open the Serial Monitor and set
the baud rate to 57,600 bps.

1h. Adjust the larger potentiometer on the shield until you see the
flickering bits displayed on the top of your TV screen.
1i. Check the Serial Monitor and you’ll see the text coming in. (Imagine
what else you could do with this data!) Adjust the smaller potentiometer
with your screwdriver if the formatting of the text looks odd, or if you
see other data such as the title of the program.
2. Learn your IR mute command
Adafruit Industries has an excellent tutorial on how to use infrared
commands with your Arduino. You just need a breadboard, an IR
sensor, some jumper wires, and your TV remote control. Follow along
at makezine.com/adafruitir to adjust the project code’s SendMute()
function to match your TV remote’s mute command.

3. Put it all together


3a. In the keyWords array near the top of the Arduino sketch, change
the keywords that you want to mute. Be sure to also change the value
for NUMBER_OF_KEYWORDS so that it matches the number of keywords
you’re searching for. Upload the code to your Arduino.
3b. Connect the anode of the IR LED (longer lead) to pin 13 and the
cathode (shorter lead) to ground.

3c. With the composite video cable from your video source going into
your Video Experimenter Shield, connect a power supply to the
Arduino, and your Enough Already is ready to go. Point the infrared
LED toward your television and enjoy the silence!

+ More on how to use closed-captioning data: makezine.com/evertzcc


and makezine.com/nootropiccc

To shut them up, get the project code and full illustrated step-by-step
instructions at makezine.com/enough-already.
Share it: #enoughalready
Bass Bump Headphone Amp
Build this circuit to boost low frequencies
and make your MP3s go boom.
Written by Ross Hershberger

Jeffrey Braverman

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $80–$100


ROSS HERSHBERGER
has worked as a mainframe programmer, tooling machinist, restorer of
vintage tube amps, custodial equipment technician, and several other
unlikely jobs. Since 2012 he has worked as a YAG Laser Field Service
Engineer for the North American division of Trumpf GmbH.

THE BASS BUMP HEADPHONE AMP WILL IMPROVE ALL YOUR PRIVATE
MUSIC LISTENING. The custom bass-enhancement circuit lets you boost
the music’s critical low-frequency spectrum to your taste, and it has
enough power to give clear sound and punchy dynamics through most
any headphones, or even small speakers.
This amp sounds better than the headphone driver circuits in most
smartphones and MP3 players because it has a lower source impedance
and much higher drive current. This means the sound from your
headphones is unaffected by long cables or impedance mismatches.
Build one and you’ll hear the difference right away.
You’ll solder the circuit on a twin perfboard to create two identical
channels — left and right — each adjusted by its own bass control
potentiometer. Each channel splits the low from the high frequencies at
about 100Hz, passes the low through the adjustable boost, then
recombines them before feeding them into the amplifier chip. At the
output, a Zobel network keeps the impedance low at high frequencies
and damps any oscillations. It’s all done with a handful of resistors,
capacitors, and two LM386 audio amplifier chips. All the parts are easily
sourced at RadioShack.
I chose the LM386 because it’s easy to build with — it’s widely
available, will run on a single power supply as low as 5V, and requires
few external components. There are higher-performance amp chips, but
they’d require a dual power supply, making the circuits much more
complex. The LM386 performs well and keeps it simple.
The Bass Bump Headphone Amp is powered by a rechargeable
battery for mobile use, but you can also power it via USB using a
custom cable. We can show you how to make that too.

Put some bottom in it! Full instructions and schematic at


makezine.com/bassbump-headphone-amp
Share it: #bassbumpheadphoneamp

More Great Projects with the LM386


Amp Chip at makezine.com/projects
MonoBox Powered Speaker
A mobile amplified speaker for any smartphone or music player.

Infrared String Bass


Build an optical pickup and rock this unique 4-string bass guitar.
Raygun Vector Weapon
Pew pew! Build this sound toy from scratch or from our kit
(makershed.com #MSVWP).
123 Self-Filling Pet Water Bowl
Written by Skyler Tiffin Illustrations by Julie West
+ Take your Self-Filling Pet Water Bowl to the next level with the
Arduino-controlled Pet Water Warden: makezine.com/projects/pet-
water-warden

For the full build instructions, check out makezine.com/self-filling-


water-bowl
Share it: #selffillingwaterbowl

SKYLER TIFFIN
is a 12-year-old student at The Harley School in Rochester, N.Y. She
enjoys being creative, building things, and playing sports like soccer and
basketball.

I WAS TIRED OF HAVING TO FILL UP MY DOG’S WATER BOWL TEN


THOUSAND TIMES A DAY, so I decided to make what I call the
“Awesomest Coolest Easiest Water Bowl for Cats and Dogs.” This bowl
refills by itself, and all you need is wood, a two-liter bottle, velcro, and a
thirsty pet.
I once saw my dad do experiments with this “magic bottle.” He put
water into it, turned it over a bowl, and when the bottle touched the
surface of the water, the water stopped streaming and the bowl didn't
overflow. At the time I was amazed. Years later, I figured out how it
works and thought it would be a good idea for the dog dish. When I
first put it together, I was so proud of myself, until I heard a loud thump
from the kitchen. When I investigated, my dog had a wild look on his
face and the two-liter bottle was in his dish. I fixed this problem by not
filling the bottle all the way and super-gluing the velcro to the wood. It
has been many weeks since it fell, and I think that's a good sign!
Bamboo Hors d’Oeuvre Tray
A few clever cuts and you’ll be serving in
style.
Written by Phil Bowie and Larry Cotton

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $10–$15


PHIL BOWIE
is a lifelong freelance magazine writer with three suspense novels in
print. He’s on the web at philbowie.com.

LARRY COTTON
is a semi-retired power-tool designer and part-time math instructor who
loves music, computers, electronics, furniture design, birds, and his wife
— not necessarily in that order.
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN GRASS AND WOOD ON GOD’S CELESTIAL
MATERIALS LIST, BAMBOO IS EXCEPTIONAL STUFF. Lightweight, strong,
elastic, and durable, it’s one of mankind’s earliest building materials. It
works, bonds, and finishes well. It’s such a perfectly renewable resource
that you can almost watch it grow — often between 2 and 4 feet a day.
Here’s an eye-catching hors d’oeuvre tray you can make with just
bamboo, a little glue, and a few clever cuts. Bamboo poles are available
from such sources as calibamboo.com or bambooandthatchetc.com, or
you may find some growing locally. Harvest it after it loses its foliage
and thoroughly dries to a nice beige.
You’ll need about 6 running feet to yield four 9" pieces that each
include a node, with 5½" of hollow tube on one side of the node and
about 3½" on the other. You’ll split these lengthwise, then make three
simple jigs from scrap: a cutting guide for the 45° angles needed, a
thickness gauge to even up the segments, and a peg for fitting and
gluing the segments together. Then just sand your tray and finish it
with food-safe polyurethane.
The tray is perfect for serving party snacks, and it also makes an
interesting wall decoration, hung either side out, when you’re not using
it to feed your hungry, green-minded friends.

Build it! Full instructions and photos at makezine. com/bamboo-


hors-doeuvre-tray
Share it: #bamboohorsdoeuvretray

More Fun Bamboo Projects:


makezine.com/projects
Bundle Bow and Arrow
Split and lash bamboo to make a real bow and arrow for little ones.

Safe Bamboo Swords


Nearly indestructible, padded with foam and duct tape for battle.

Greener Surfboard
“Fiberglass” this board with bamboo fiber cloth and epoxy resin.
Mini Blind Minder
Opening and closing your blinds constantly? Build
this gadget to enslave your slats and tame the sun.
Written by Steve Hoefer

Jeffrey Braverman
Time Required: 1–2 Days Cost: $40–$60
STEVE HOEFER
is the inventor of MAKE’s popular Secret-Knock Gumball Machine,
Indestructible LED Lanterns, and other projects — and the host of the
MAKE Inventions video series.

More Home Automation Gadgets at


makezine.com/projects

Potted Plant Protector


Connect sensors to an Arduino to keep your plants warm, watered, and well-lit.

Pet Water Warden


Keeps your furry friends’ water supply topped up while you’re away — and it'll
send a tweet if it runs out!

SOMETIMES THE SUN IS MY FRIEND, WARMING THE HOUSE ON COLD


DAYS. Other times it’s my enemy, warming the house on hot days. It
seems no matter how I set my window blinds, I come home to a
sweltering or freezing house.
So I built this Mini Blind Minder to open and close them
automatically. It’s powered by an Arduino microcontroller, which uses a
sensor to read the room temperature and then activates a servomotor to
open the slats when it’s too cool and close them when it’s too warm. It
has an adjustable thermostat, and it can also be operated manually with
a push of a button.
To make it, you’ll solder a custom Arduino “shield” — a circuit board
with headers that plug into the Arduino — and calibrate the servo with
2 easy test programs I wrote, then mount it all in a tidy RadioShack
project case. It’s only a moderate amount of soldering, easily built in a
weekend.
After you upload the Mini Blind Minder code to the Arduino, just
count how many turns of your window-blind wand it takes to close the
slats, then adjust the trimpot on your circuit board until pressing the
Down button rotates the servo the correct number of rotations to close
them. Now your Minder is matched to your blinds.
Finally, install the Minder to your window frame and make a simple
slip clutch by looping a rubber band around the wand and 2 of the
spokes of the servo horn. That’s it!

How It Works
» In Manual mode, the LED turns white and you operate the blinds by
pushing Up or Down buttons.
» In Automatic mode, the Minder opens and closes the blinds based
on room temperature. The LED indicates room temperature in relation
to the thermostat setting: green when it’s the same temperature, red
when the room is hotter, blue when it’s colder. Up and Down buttons
set the thermostat between 10ºC (50ºF) and 30ºC (86ºF).
» When it’s powered off, the Minder automatically remembers the
thermostat temperature and the position of your blinds.

Get complete build instructions, code, and video at


makezine.com/projects/mini-blind-minder
Share it: #miniblindminder
GPS Cat Tracker
Find out exactly where kitty wanders all day.
Written by Ken Burns

Guther Kirsch

Time Required: 1—2 Hours Cost: $140–$160


KEN BURNS is an engineer, programmer, and longtime electronics
hobbyist living in Akron, Ohio. He is the founder and president of
TinyCircuits, which develops miniature open-source electronic circuits.

IF YOU HAVE AN OUTDOOR CAT OR DOG, you’ve probably wondered


where it goes during the day. Do they just hang around outside the
house, or do they go on long adventures exploring the neighborhood?
To snoop on my cat Conley, I made a GPS cat-tracking collar that
would log his location during the day, then let me download the data to
a computer when he gets back home.
At the core of this collar is a TinyDuino microcontroller and a few of
the expansion TinyShields that are available for this platform. The
TinyDuino works just like the Arduino Uno and can run the exact same
sketches, yet it's only the size of a quarter. You can easily add
capabilities just by plugging TinyShields into it — I used the GPS
TinyShield to get the position data and the microSD Card TinyShield
to log the data.
To power the system, you need a small, light battery with the capacity
to run the system long enough to get useful data. The GPS and SD card
writes are fairly power-hungry, so I use a small lithiumion rechargeable
battery that provides up to 6 hours of logging capability. A larger
battery can be used to get much longer logging times.
To make the electronics box for the collar, I cut down a Tic Tac
container to fit, and cut a small slot in it to let the cat collar slide
through. This lets the GPS module sit on the back of Conley’s neck
during his adventures strolling around and provides the best GPS
antenna reception.
The software used to program the system is very simple: An Arduino
sketch runs on the TinyDuino, which captures the raw data from the
GPS module and writes it to a text file on the microSD card. Pop out
the microSD, put it in your computer, and you can open up the file in a
program like Google Earth and see exactly where your cat was during
the day, complete with timestamps.

For complete step-by-step instructions, parts list, schematic, code,


and photos, go to makezine.com/gps-cat-tracker
Share it: #gpscattracker

More Entertaining Pet Projects


makezine.com/projects
Kitty Twitty Cat Toy
Make a cheery cat toy that sends tweets.

Cat Scratch Feeder


Build a scratching post that dispenses treats.

Fetch-O-Matic
Craft your own automatic tennis ball launcher for dogs.
CNC Air Raid Siren
It’s loud, annoying, and fun. Cut the parts
on a CNC router, then motorize them with
a cheapo bench grinder!
Written by Dan Spangler

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $60–$75


DAN SPANGLER
is the fabricator for MAKE Labs and our resident retro technology
connoisseur.

Learn more about CNC:


+SKILL BUILDER
CNC PANEL JOINERY makezine.com/cnc-panel-joinery

Learn a bag of tricks to design and CNC cut clever joints in plywood,
acrylic, and other sheet stock.

AIR RAID SIRENS FASCINATE ME, ESPECIALLY THE ONES FROM WORLD
WAR II. The infamous wail indicated danger but also sounded the all-
clear, inspiring both fear and relief. They’re also just awesomely loud.
Nowadays there are electronic sirens, but most civil-defense sirens are
still the mechanical kind — basically blowers designed to make as much
noise as possible.
I saw DIY sirens online and instantly thought of our ShopBot CNC
router as an elegant solution — it could cut a perfectly balanced rotor
every time. So I designed this siren for CNC cutters. Here’s how I made
it, and how you can too.

1. Motor. Fractional-horsepower AC motors cost $100 or more — so I


used the MAKE Labs’ crummy bench grinder. Get one at Harbor
Freight ($45 brand new). It even looks like a WWII siren.

2. Cutting. I cut the plywood to 24"×18" to fit our ShopBot Desktop


(Maker Shed item #DSSBDP, makershed.com). I fit all the parts for two
rotor-stator assemblies on one sheet of ¼" ply and two sheets of ¾", and
cutting went off without a hitch. Adjust them to fit the cutter of your
choice.
3. Assembly. Building the rotors is a matter of glue, dowels, and gentle
persuasion with a rubber mallet. Testing them was scary — would they
hold together or explode catastrophically? — but they spooled up to full
speed and blew a surprising amount of air with almost no vibration.
Sweet!

Next I mounted the stators and adjusted them to eliminate any


rubbing. It was finally time to see if this thing was going to work. As the
motor picked up speed, a faint wail began to emanate from the device,
which quickly got louder and louder. By the time the motor got up to
full speed the siren sounded so real and loud I had half a mind to duck
and cover under my desk — it works!

Hear it wail, download the CAD files for CNC cutting, and get step-
by-step build instructions at makezine.com/cnc-air-raid-siren.
Share it: #cncairraidsiren
Glow Plug 3D Printer Extruder
Make an extruder by hand using only a few tools and
a diesel glow plug from the auto parts store.
Written and photographed by Adam Kemp

Visit makershed.com to check out Adam's book The Makerspace Workbench

Time Required: A Weekend Cost: $40–$60


ADAM KEMP
directs the Energy Systems Research Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va.
I LOVE 3D PRINTING, SO I DECIDED TO BUILD MY OWN PRINTER. I
scavenged the stepper motors, linear rails, and drive belts, but I was
stumped when it came to the extruder. The extruder designs I found
online all had one flaw: They required 3D-printed parts. So you’d need
a 3D printer to make a 3D printer!
My solution was to build this robust extruder using a handful of tools,
one online parts order, and a trip to the auto parts store. It uses a $10
glow plug from a diesel engine for a nozzle heater, and it performs very
well.

Hobbing a Bolt with a Drill Press


You'll need basic machining skills and tools to cut, drill, and tap
aluminum bar stock and steel bolts, thread a steel rod, and bend a little
sheet metal before you bolt it all together.
Typically an extruder’s feed wheel is a hobbed bolt (i.e. a bolt with
gear teeth cut into it) that’s made using a lathe and a specialty jig. But if
you don't have access to a lathe, there's a clever trick for hobbing a bolt
with a drill press, a tap, and a couple of 608 skateboard bearings.

Using a DIY Extruder


If you're swapping this into an existing printer, consider using the
printer's thermocouple and stepper controller electronics. If you're
building a new machine, connect the motor, stepper, and temperature
sensor to the controller, and hook the glow plug to the heater circuit.
This extruder has a 0.3mm layer height, 1.75mm filament diameter,
and 0.39mm nozzle diameter. To configure your software to use the new
extruder, you’ll need to calculate the rate at which plastic exits the
nozzle (based on the feed wheel diameter, stepper resolution, and gear
ratio). Plug this data into the Profile Maker over at MakerBlock.com to
automatically generate Skeinforge settings before you start printing.
Full instructions and photos at makezine. com/glow-plug-3d-printer-
extruder
Share it: #glowplug3dprinterextruder

3 Cool Things to 3D-Print!

Animated MAKE Robot


by Zefram thingiverse.com/thing:142215 Mini-servos rotate the robot's head
and arms. Download the Arduino sketch to make it dance.

Balloon-Powered Helicopter
by Dr. Konrad Walus thingi verse.com/thing:152804 Print and assemble, then
attach an inflated balloon and watch it fly.
TARDIS Transformer V2
by Andrew Lindsey thingi verse.com/thing:113117 Time Lords, transform!
Assembled using snap-on pieces to take on evil foes.
MAKE A RIPCORD ROTOR CHOPPER

MATERIALS:
• SPONGE EMERY BOARD
• WOODEN DOWEL, 3/8" DIAMETER, 7" LENGTH
• KITE STRING, 3'
• PVC PIPE, 1/2" DIAMETER, 6" LENGTH
• GLUE
TOOLBOX
Gadgets and gear for makers
Tell us about your faves: [email protected]
Jeffery Braverman
TIPS TO SNAKE A REPLACEMENT CABLE
When changing a wire, tie a pull string to the faulty line to help feed
in the replacement. Sometimes, however, you'll need to send the
string through manually. It’s often tricky to do, but these pointers can
help.

Use a Shop-Vac to suck a cotton ball tied to fishing line through the conduit.

Drive an RC car across ceiling tiles with the string tied behind it.

Shoot a crossbow or airgun dart across a gap with a string tied to it (just like the
movies!)

James Burke

Throw a baseball sewn to fishing line over ceiling-mounted pipes or


crossbeams.

T3 Innovation Snap Shot Spread


Spectrum TDR SS200
$246 : t3innovation.com
When a project grows beyond the workbench, difficult wiring problems
may arise. If the cable is very long, hidden, or buried, troubleshooting
becomes onerous and time consuming. Instead of using an ohmmeter
and potentially cutting into the cable at regular intervals, the T3
Innovation Snap Shot TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) peers inside
the cable for you and measures the distance to a fault. Press the “test”
button to display distance to a short or open circuit, or total cable
length on the backlit LCD screen. Using spread spectrum technology,
the Snap Shot tests powered lines up to 60 Volts, CAT5/6, telephone,
coax, and speaker wire up to 3,000 feet while in use. Except for safety
reasons where necessary, there’s no need to disconnect the gear attached
to the cables under test. The kit comes with adapters to connect F-type
connectors, BNC, RJ-45, and alligator clips. Snap Shot can also
broadcast a tone signal for use with an inductive wire tracer.
—Mike Outmesguine
Karma Controller
$30 : thinkgeek.com
The Karma Controller is an electronic controller kit for navigating
through the internet discussion board Reddit. It’s a PCB with 7 buttons
and resistors, with pins to accommodate a Digispark (a tiny Arduino-
compatible microcontroller that is included in the kit).
To the computer’s eyes the controller is recognized as a mouse, and
the buttons are set to move you from one story to the next, upvote and
downvote, and scroll through comments. Intriguingly, the controller
could be used for other purposes — all you have to do is reprogram the
Arduino. The controller kit is an extremely easy soldering project, so if
you’re looking to get your feet wet this will do it.
—John Baichtal

True Temper 8-Pound Forged Steel


Wood Chopper’s Maul
amestruetemper.com
Hatchets are irresistible. A nice old hatchet has all the tame-the-
west romanticism of an ax in a charming little form factor. The only
downside to hatchets is the harsh reality that they just don’t work.
Too puny, too light.
Always intimidated by wood splitting, I was certain that a perfect
wood pile was the domain of Paul Bunyan-types with burly
physiques built from a lifetime of salisbury steak frozen dinners.
Eventually, the aesthetics of wood chopping — a maul, a hardy
stump, leather gloves, and head-to-toe flannel — proved too
compelling to ignore and I bought the cheapest, 8lb maul from
Lowe’s.
It proved to be absolutely devastating to wood. One of the most
satisfying purchases ever. The only strength required is the ability to
swing it overhead, then momentum and gravity do the work as you
guide the head to the log. When it connects, it is explosive. A nice,
dry log just blows apart. Practice in the backyard, then split logs
where the neighbors can see you. They will stop hassling you about
your barking dog.
Hatchets still have their place — under the pillow for zombie
apocalypse scenarios.
—Mister Jalopy

Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener


$25 : carl-officeproducts.com
The Angel-5 resembles an old-fashioned wall pencil sharpener from
any classroom but is not wall-mountable. How can an unmounted
classic crank pencil sharpener be used with only two hands? (I don’t
have one hand to hold/anchor the unit, another to turn the crank,
and a third hand to push the pencil in!)
The answer is in its unique feature: The sharpener, after being
extended, grabs your pencil, maintains good pressure, and self-feeds
it into the sharpener. You let go of your pencil and use one hand to
hold the base while the other hand turns the crank. When the crank
starts turning freely, your pencil is sharp as a tack.
These are made by Carl, whose name I recognized from high-end
paper cutters. I purchased the basic one, available widely for $25,
even though I really want the $45 one that lets you select from five
different tip sharpnesses (I really prefer a blunter tip), but I wasn’t
ready to spend that much on a new technology. Now that I’m
familiar with it, I’ll look for an excuse to buy the preferred one,
called the CC-2000.
—Craig Wilson
Gunther Kirsch

Gunther Kirsch

Cuttlebug
$60 : cuttlebug.ca
The Cuttlebug is a nonelectronic die-cutting and embossing tool for
paper crafts. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and compatible with
embossing folders and dies from most manufacturers. I am an avid
papercrafter and scrapbooker, make all my own greeting cards, and use
my ‘bug more than any other tool.
YouTube shows lots of ways to use it for various techniques, including
letterpress. I’ve had mine for about 10-12 years, use it at least weekly,
and am still using the same cutting plates it came with. It’s more
intuitive to use and more compact when folded up than competing
brands I’ve tried. Dies and embossing folders are available in any craft
store, but you can also create your own embossing designs with leaves,
lace, etc., using rubber mats made by the Spellbinders and Scor-Pal
companies.
—Polly Robertus
Jake Spurlock

Badland 12,000 Pound Winch


$299 : harborfreight.com
The Badland 12,000 pound winch is a serious tool, and coming from
Harbor Freight, its feature set comes at a fraction of the price of other
competitive models. The ⅜" cable can tow in 12,000 pounds at a
meager duty cycle of only 5%, (meaning that for every 45 seconds of
full load towing, you will need to allow the winch around 15 minutes to
cool), the winch will probably pull a car, tress, fence posts, or anything
else that you need pulled quickly and effectively. For only $29 you can
add a wireless remote so that you can start pulls from inside a car. There
are often Harbor Freight coupons for 10-25% off, making a purchase a
little easier on the wallet.
—Jake Spurlock

GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition


$399 : gopro.com
Specwise, the Hero3+ is a nice little bump over the Hero3. What
really stands out, though, is the size — it’s 20% smaller then its
predecessor. Video can now be shot at up to 4k resolution, and still
can be shot at 12mp at 30 frames a second. What really shines is the
new Super-View, a mode that shoots an immersive wide-angle video
that captures more of the user and the surroundings. The camera kit
also includes: a wi-fi remote (making helmet camera operation much
easier than before), a battery, waterproof housing, and a variety of
mounts for curved and flat surfaces.
—JS
Velleman PS1503SBU DC Lab Power
Supply
$100 : jameco.com
The HQ Power PS1503SBU is a great addition to any hobbyist’s or
maker’s bench. It has large easy-to-read digits for the voltage and
current. The dials are smooth and easy to adjust to a specific value.
The unit does not produce any excess heat or odd noises. The only
downsides are: It does not ship with banana plugs and cables (you
have to create your own); and it only has one positive and negative
voltage terminal. This unit provides up to 15 volts, which is plenty
for any microcontroller and most hobby/project circuits. It also
provides 3 amps of current — ample for any small electronics
project. The HQ comes in a compact portable case that makes it
perfect for busy workspaces or ones with limited room. It provides
clean power to noise-sensitive circuits and a steady reliable voltage
that does not vary.
—Eloy Salinas
HitCase Pro
$130 : hitcase.com
This is the ultimate “extreme sports” mounting system for an iPhone
5/5s. Use it to record your next longboarding expedition or dune buggy
race. At its core the HitCase is a shock- and water-resistant case with a
screen protector and mounting lug that allows you to plug the case into
a variety of mounting devices, sold separately.
These GoPro-compatible mounts include a roll-bar attachment that
tightens to the bar with the help of metal clamp bands, a handlebar
mount, adhesive mount, as well as a chest-harness mount giving skiers
and other nonvehicle daredevils a chance to record their stunts.
—JB
Gunther Kirsch

Colored Hot Glue sticks


glu-stix.com
Hot glue is something everyone should have in their tool kit.
Quickly build structures and secure parts or wires with it, and you
can find glue sticks for various different materials from rubber,
metal, and wood. Unlike other adhesives, you can undo hot glue:
Just peel it off. Normally available only in translucent white, glue
sticks for crafting are available in a rainbow of colors and are
compatible with standard hot glue guns. Make custom-colored
bumper feet for projects (like blue to match an Arduino board).
Make matching repairs to frayed colored wires. Get the sample pack
to try out a bunch of different colors. Or get bundles of a single
favorite color. And if you’re feeling really awesome, get the colored
glitter sticks!
—Tod Kurt
BOOKS

8V Impact Screwdriver
$40 : blackanddecker.com
I used to think you couldn’t beat a corded ½" drill for hardcore
screwdriving, but I’ve just changed my mind. I recently built a wooden
gate, driving a few dozen deck screws with my drill — careful, slow
work. Then, I got my hands on the new Black & Decker 8V Max
Lithium Impact Screwdriver. I can’t believe how much better this
compact, solid tool is for the job. Instead of risking stripped screw
heads, it drives like a dream. The percussive rat-a-tat becomes a loud —
but welcome — sound as it turns screws with terrific torque and speed.
It comes with a charger, magnetic hex bit storage, and integrated LED
light.
—John Edgar Park
Kimwipes
kcprofessional.com
Kimwipes look like tissue paper, but they’re quite different. These
low-lint wipes are used in labs throughout the country, but they’re
also great for makers. I use them mostly for cleaning 3D printer
beds with acetone. Since they’re also low-static, I use them with a
horsehair brush and alcohol for cleaning PCBs. The wipes are also
strong enough to scrub off adhesive gunk when using a solvent like
Goo-Gone. Cheaper than lens wipes, they’re great in a pinch for
cleaning all kinds of optics, from microscope slides to magnifier
lenses, and even your eyeglasses. They’re not bad as LED diffusers,
too.
—TK
Photographs by Gunther Kirsch

COOL TOOLS: A CATALOG OF


POSSIBILITIES
by Kevin Kelly
$24 : Amazon.com
For more than 10 years, Kevin Kelly (a co-founder of Wired and an
editor of the Whole Earth Catalog) has been publishing
recommendations of useful tools on his website, Cool-Tools.org
(disclosure — I recently started working with Kevin on the site).
Using the Whole Earth Catalog as an inspiration, Kevin has
collected more than 1,500 reviews from his website into a full-color,
massively oversized, 472-page catalog of how-to information of
immense interest to makers. Kevin’s definition of a tool includes
anything that helps you get something done — it could be a website,
a book, a map, a material, an item of clothing, a gadget, or anything
else that improves your abilities. If you wanted to rebuild civilization
after a zombie apocalypse, this would be your guidebook.
The effect of seeing these reviews on large pages (when opened a
two-page spread is 22”×17”) is remarkable. As Kevin wrote on his
site, “There is something very powerful at work on large pages of a
book. Your brain begins to make naturally associations between tools
in a way that it doesn’t on small screens. The juxtapositions of
diverse items on the page prod the reader to weave relationships
between them, connecting ideas that once seemed far apart. The
large real estate of the page opens up the mind, making you more
receptive to patterns found in related tools. There’s room to see the
depth of a book in a glance. You can scan a whole field of one type of
tool faster than you can on the web. In that respect, a large paper
book rewards both fast browsing and deep study better than the web
or a small tablet.” As a result, Kevin has no plans for releasing an
electronic version of the book (and the website is the electronic
version, anyway).
When Kevin showed me a copy — airmailed from Hong Kong
hot off the press — my mind was blown, just as it was when I
discovered a copy of the Whole Earth Catalog when I was a 10-year-
old. This is the book I want my kids to blow their minds with.
— Mark Frauenfelder
NICK AND TESLA’S HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER LAB
by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith $13 : Quirk
Books
When the parents of 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla disappear, they
move in with their Uncle Newt. He’s a gadget maker for a secret
government agency. As you might expect, the kids quickly get involved
in a hair-raising adventure, and are called on to build a number of
electronic gadgets to save themselves and the free world from an
untimely end. The bonus part of this fun middle-schooler
adventure/mystery series is that the book includes instructions for
building the devices Nick and Tesla use: a burglar alarm, an
electromagnet, a mobile tracking device, a compressed-air water rocket,
and more. It’s the first in a series of books starring the techie twins.
Look for the follow-up title, Robot Army Rampage, in February 2014.
—MF
ARDUINO ADVENTURES: ESCAPE FROM GEMINI STATION
by James Floyd Kelly and Harold Timmis $40 : Apress
Like Nick and Tesla’s High Voltage Danger Lab, Arduino Adventures is
a science-fiction novel filled with projects you can make to help the
protagonists get out of dangerous situations. In this story, you and a
couple of space cadets named Cade and Ella are trapped in a damaged
space station that’s orbiting Earth. Your mission is to build eight
different Arduino gadgets that will enable you and the young scientists
to escape the space station. Geared to a slightly older audience, even
adults will have fun making a temperature sensor, a bucket transport
system, a motion detecting gizmo, and more. The book was co-written
by MAKE contributor James Floyd Kelly.
—MF
STRUCTURAL PACKAGING: DESIGN YOUR OWN BOXES
AND 3-D FORMS
by Paul Jackson $25 : Laurence King
I recently listened to an interview with Mythbuster Adam Savage in
which he enthusiastically described his ongoing love affair with
cardboard as a construction material. Savage would find a soul mate in
Paul Jackson, a papercraft artist and professional “folding consultant” to
Nike, Siemens, and other companies. Jackson’s book contains step-by-
step instructions for making cardboard packaging and reflects his long
experience and consideration of package design. Based on his formula
for “creating the strongest possible one-piece net that will enclose any
volumetric form which has flat faces and straight sides,” the variety of
box shapes shown here that can be made with a single sheet of
cardboard is remarkable and inspiring. Take a look at videos and sample
box templates: www.laurenceking.com/en/structural-packaging-design-
your-own-boxes-and-3d-forms/
—MF

RAW AND FINISHED MATERIALS


by Brian Dereu $69 (ebook) $85 (print) : Momentum Press
Written in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style, this is a guide to
the properties and uses of common materials: metals, alloys, plastics,
composites, ceramics, adhesives, and more. It’s pricey, but a worthy
addition to the bookshelf of anyone who builds things that must meet
certain specifications achievable only through the use of certain
materials. It’s also full of interesting facts: “Teflon...is the only material
that a gecko lizard cannot climb” and “Dried peat bogs... plagued Russia
in 2010, where more than 30 peat fires joined several hundred forest
fires in producing unprecedented deadly smog throughout the western
half of the country.” Brian Dereu, the author, has written two projects
for MAKE: the "Dead Drop Device" (Vol 16, page 72) and the "Telekinetic
Pen" magic trick (Vol 13, page 85).
—MF

MAKING IT: MANUFACTURING


TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCT
DESIGN, 2ND EDITION
by Chris Lefteri
$35 : Laurence King
Have you ever looked at something and wondered, “How did they
make that?” Chances are, this book will provide the answer. With
descriptions of more than 100 different manufacturing techniques,
including machining, CNC cutting, electron beam machining,
plasma arc cutting, blow molding, fluid forming, and centrifugal
casting, this book will make you envious of the production methods
that are affordable only to deep-pocketed organizations, such as
powder forging (aka sinter forging), which is used to make
automotive parts and hand tools. However, many of the techniques
are affordable even for small runs, and, at the very least, will open
your eyes to what’s possible. They may even inspire you to create a
low-cost desktop manufacturing alternative to one of the expensive
industrial processes described in the book.
—MF
NEW MAKER TECH

SENSE 3D SCANNER
$399 : cubify.com/sense
Version 2.0 of the 3D printing revolution is upon us, and the Sense
3D scanner is primed to lead the next wave in rapid manufacturing.
Simply purchasing a 3D printer will only get you so far. The real
challenge is modeling and scanning what you’d like to print. The
Sense allows anyone, with a simple magic wand-like wave, to scan in
color and print to almost any 3D printer. At $399, it’s also a bargain.
You can read more about Sense 3D Scanner on the Cubify website.
—Marc de Vinck

Gunther Kirsch
STICKNFIND STICKERS
$50 (2-pack) : sticknfind.com
These quarter-sized Bluetooth-enabled discs can be attached to pets,
luggage, phones, key chains or other easily misplaced items. The
StickNFind companion smartphone app can identify and locate any disc
within 100 feet. If a disc is out of sight, you can remotely activate its
buzzer and light. It also works as a virtual leash — if a sticker moves
past a specified distance from your phone, your phone sounds an alert.
—MF

BLUEFRUIT EZ-KEY
$20 : adafruit.com
Any device that can take Bluetooth keyboard or mouse input will be
at your command with Adafruit’s new Bluefruit EZ-Key. The 12
digital input pins on the small board can be programmed to each
send a specific key press, mouse movement, or mouse click
wirelessly to a device. If you’ve dreamed of making your own
wireless game controller or making technology more accessible for
the disabled, the Bluefruit EZ-Key enables to you make custom
wireless input devices without much hassle.

After pairing the Bluefruit EZ-Key with your computer, phone,


or tablet, the board will send preprogrammed keypresses when you
connect any of its input pins to ground. Just wire up any kind of
momentary switch and it becomes wirelessly connected to your
device. You can even use software to reprogram the pins to send
different keypresses.
If you want to make a pedal that zaps spam from your inbox or
physical controller for the game QWOP, the Bluefruit EZKey
might be the solution for you.
—Matt Richardson
PI NOIR INFRARED CAMERA
$30 : adafruit.com
The official camera board for Raspberry Pi is a popular accessory for
the $35 single board computer and it now comes in a new flavor. The
Raspberry Pi Foundation released the Pi NoIR, which is the same
camera board with the exception that the infrared cut filter is removed,
allowing infrared light to hit the camera’s sensor. This makes it a great
accessory for projects involving night vision. Whether you’re building a
Pi-based security system or want to observe wildlife at night, the Pi
NoIR camera is the perfect off-the-shelf component that connects to
the camera serial interface on the Raspberry Pi.
The Pi NoIR camera board also includes an additional blue filter so
that you can experiment with near-infrared photography, a method for
assessing how well plants are photosynthesizing. This DIY science
project turns the Pi NoIR camera board and a Raspberry Pi into an
inexpensive instrument to help you examine plant health in your own
backyard.
—MR
TEENSY 3.1
$20 : pjrc.com
PJRC released another update to their popular Teensy USB line of
small and inexpensive-yet-powerful microcontroller boards. The
Teensy 3.1 has all the features of the powerful Teensy 3.0, but also
quadruples the RAM, doubles the flash memory, has two analog to
digital converters, and is capable of true analog output. All these
new features (along with a few others) come in the same small size,
and it costs only slightly more than the previous iteration of the
board.
Like the Teensy 3.0, the new board sports a 32-bit ARM Cortex-
M4 processor and can be programmed with AVR C or within the
Arduino IDE along with the Teensyduino add-on. And with more
direct memory access channels, you can now use the Teensy 3.1 to
control 3,000 addressable LEDs at video refresh rates or even
stream high-quality audio signals. That’s a lot of power for such a
teensy package!
—MR

LITTLEBITS SYNTH KIT


$159 : littlebits.cc/kits/synth-kit
littleBits, in collaboration with Korg, has created the Synth Kit, which
enables anyone to build their own modular synthesizer with little to no
engineering or musical knowledge. It’s as simple as plug-and-play and
you’ll be off creating combos of audio, visual, and sensory experiences.
The kit includes step-by-step instructions for creating 10 musical
projects, including a keytar and Synth Spin Table. Check out the
littleBits website to see what comedian/musician Reggie Watts and
others are creating with this new little musical wonder.
—MV

Maker SHED
makershed.com

NEW IN THE SHED


SOON TO BE DELIVERED BY DRONE…
Written by Eric Weinhoffer, Product Development
Engineer, Maker Shed
The “Drones and Flight” category in the Maker Shed is one I’m
extremely excited about. There’s been a lot of neat progress in the
technology that goes into multirotors during the last year or so, and
there’s a lot of room for us to expand. This is just the beginning.
I’m especially excited to see how you, the MAKE audience, use
these products in combination with others to create unique, exciting
projects. Have you thought about attaching a microcontroller to your
multirotor for data tracking and wireless transmission down to the
ground? Or using EL wire to set up your multirotor for gorgeous,
nighttime flight?
The skies are yours to explore — here are new products, drones
and beyond, that we’re particularly pumped about.
FLITETEST ANYCOPTER QUAD 370 KIT
The Flitetest Anycopter Quad 370 Kit is a fantastic first frame kit for
the aspiring multirotor builder. It comes with hardware, four Delrin
legs, and a laser-cut wooden frame that can accommodate multirotors of
almost any configuration. The folks behind Flitetest have years of
experience in all things remote-control flight and produce a great
biweekly show on YouTube filled with challenges, reviews, and tutorials.
(They’ve also created the DIY quadcopter project on page 44). I
recently built a custom quad with this kit for myself, and couldn’t be
happier with how easy it was to assemble and how it’s handled the
inevitable crashes.
MKFT01 $59
EZ-EL WIRE STARTER PACK
The quintessential accessory for burners and Tron cos-players,
electroluminescent (EL) wire is great for adding some light-up flare to
your project. The EZ-EL Starter Pack comes in 10- and 25-foot packs
with a AA battery inverter that can power up to 100 feet of wire.
Available in red, sky blue, green, purple, orange, and white, EL wire is
flexible and can be used out-of-the-box to trick out your bike, backpack,
fancy new multicopter, or whatever you can attach it to. With a little
soldering practice you can splice multiple wires to the inverter and
make more intricate designs for costumes and art projects. You can tell
people it’s for safety and visibility, sure, but it also looks awesome for
everyday use.
MKEZL01 (10 feet) $20
PCDUINO V2
The PCDuino is the result of combining a microcontroller and a single-
board Linux computer. At its heart is an ARM Cortex A8 processor, like
the BeagleBone Black, which comes preloaded with Ubuntu, ready to
run Linux out of the box. Unlike V1 of the board, which required a
breakout board or jumper wires in order to connect to shields, this
version of the board supports standard Arduino shields via female
headers and is programmable via the Arduino IDE (also preloaded).
Along with this flexibility comes ease-of-use: Installing Android is easily
accomplished in under 10 minutes and the board has integrated wi-fi, so
you don’t have to dig around the house for that 10-foot Ethernet cable
you put somewhere.
MKLK01 $66

3D ROBOTICS QUADCOPTER KIT


The Quadcopter Kit from 3D Robotics is great for those who are
looking to add some autonomy to their flying experience. The Arduino
Pilot Mega board that comes with this kit can reliably stabilize any
configuration of multirotor and is easy to set up. It’s a flexible, powerful
board that not only keeps your craft stable in the air, but can send it on
a preplanned path (which you specify in the free software), command it
to automatically land, or even follow you from the air. Geofencing, a
robust airframe, and various failsafe features will keep your quad in
sight, stable, and off the ground.
MK3DR01 $506

WILDFIRE
Typically, connecting your Arduino project to the internet requires at
least one shield and far more work than it should. Thankfully, Wicked
Device has a single-board solution, the WildFire. This Arduino-
compatible microcontroller comes with the TI CC3000 wi-fi module
and a ceramic antenna built in. A free mobile app from TI makes it
possible to connect your WildFire to your phone right out of the box,
and the ATmega 1284p processor has a hefty-sized memory, making it
easier to build connected devices with greater data requirements.
MKWD11 $90
BEER MAKING KITS FROM BROOKLYN BREW
SHOP
If your passion is craft brewing, you’re in luck! The Shed carries a slew
of products that will kickstart a hobby in beer making. We have
Bruxelles Blonde, Chestnut Brown Ale, and Everyday IPA (for folks
who like a little extra hoppiness in their brews). Each kit contains all the
supplies needed for the fermentation of one gallon of delicious beer.
Though the supplies for bottling are not included in the kit, Brooklyn
Brew offers a supplemental pack that contains a bottle capper and 50
bottle caps. Start saving your (sterilized!) beer bottles, and you’ll be
brewing your own beer in no time.
MKBBS6 (Bruxelles Blonde) $40
MKBBS7 (Chestnut Brown Ale) $40
MKBBS1 (Everyday IPA) $40

Make:Makerplace
HOMEBREW

My Own Pinball Machine


Written by Tom Kuehn

Kelly Short
TOM KUEHN
is a mechatronic engineer from Newcastle, Australia. He loves tinkering with
electronics, mechanics and everything in between.

PINBALL MACHINES HAVE ALWAYS FASCINATED ME, and after studying


engineering for two years in 2005, I felt I knew enough to build one
from scratch. After all, how hard could it be?
Seven years later, I finally have a finished machine to show for all my
hard work. The player takes the role of an archetypal James Bond
villain; the scoreboard tallies the player's percentage of world
domination.
I started out with a blank sheet of plywood and began sketching the
layout of the main parts, such as flippers, pop-bumpers, slingshots,
ramps, and drop targets. With the help of some pinball simulation
software, I was able to playtest my designs before even picking up a tool.
Once I was sure about the layout, the fun started, as I cut, drilled, and
routed my playfield to accommodate the parts. I built many of them
myself, including target arrays, plastic ramps, wire frames, and ball
guides.
I then built a cabinet to house the playfield, using a recycled shower
screen for the glass top. With the help of an artist friend, I painted
cartoon artwork on the playfield and sealed it in with a clear coat. I also
built an LED backlit scoreboard using 7-segment displays and artwork
printed on translucent film.
For the brains of the machine, I designed a custom circuit board with
an ATmega32 and some interface chips, allowing me to individually
control 256 LEDs and accept 64 switch inputs. I added two sound
modules to play sound effects and music from SD cards. Finally, after
lots of programming, testing, and debugging, my machine came to life!
After playtesting the machine for a while now, it seems I made things
too difficult. The high score is a measly 18%, but taking over the world
was never going to be easy…

+ See more photos: worlddominationpinball.wordpress.com

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