Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show! - electronics

RoboBrrd to the Rescue!

Super-Awesome Sylvia — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 21:06:54 +0000

While we were at Bay Area Maker Faire 2012, out of nowhere, Robotgrrl came up to us and asked if I wanted her one and only, WaterBrrd! Of course I said yes!

I bet you're wondering what this RoboBrrd stuff is all about....

RoboBrrd started out as an interactive robot made of felt, popsicle sticks and an Arduino. Now, Robotgrrl is making it into an easy to solder board and lasercut kit for making your very own open source RoboBrrd!

The kit isn’t quite done yet (it’s hard to put together a kit!), so I just got the wood parts that she made using the laser at Evil Mad Science Laboratories!! Muahahaha!

To make the wings flap, we used paper clips as armatures connected to little blue servos mounted in the rectangle holes behind the eyes.

For the beak, it was a lot trickier! With the top and bottom beak parts loose, I figured out that with some cardboard and a paperclip triangle, you could keep it steady and open and close it. The servo at the back just pushes and pulls the cardboard.

When its fully completed, I want to make my WaterBrrd say my tweets by chirping and flapping its wings twice, or have it tell me the weather and current temperature. The possibilities are endless!

For right now, its flapping its wings, beaking around, blinking its eyes, and talking with an old android phone my dad hooked up. The programming was all done by me.

I used an Arduino Uno and programmed it very easily. It is just like scratch, except with words and semicolons. The robobrrd will be a great kit and I can’t wait till it comes out! GO ROBOBRRD!!!!!

Tags

at home, robots, Robobrrd, Robotgrrl, servos, electronics, wire, armature, Arduino, code, laser, wood, paperclips, water, led

Maker Faire Education day

TechNinja — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:04:33 +0000

(Continued from Maker Faire Kickoff) After a short snafu with a missing labcoat, we managed to find a brand new one at LabPro in Sunnyvale, and with it we arrived in scientific style at Maker Faire Education Day.

When we arrived, we were amazed at how much everyone had worked to get there, and wanted to enlighten both kids and educators. With Intel making a huge presence volunteering to lead the huge troves of student groups, eagerly awaiting a glimpse at the wonders awaiting inside the gates.

We found our way to the exit accidentally, and Sylvia hopped on board to sign about 100 of the special "School's Out" MAKE Magazines being handed out to students as they leave! Sylvia had a blast playing celebrity for the moment, then it has back to the cool stuff.

What few makers were setup, still had lots to show off. From a kickstarter we'd only seen last week was Makey Makey, an instant touch interface for makers to turn anything conductive into a keyboard key. With beach balls and bananas kids were amazed at how easy it was to turn every day objects into interfaces with just alligator clips and a simple little board.

After the students had all left, it was time for the teacher education portion of the day, and with us squarely in both categories, we stayed for the fun. MAKE: Education was announced, with conversations by AnnMarie Thomas, Gary Stager, Steve Davee and many more big personalities in real world hands on education.

After a fun romp talking to educators, signing magazines and eating pizza, we headed out to Evil mad Science headquarters, for an impromptu tour and opportunity to try out their brand new industrial embroidery machine.

And all this before the actual event! Friday is shaping up to be a lot of fun on its own, and maybe with a bit of luck and elbowgrease, we can find a time and place to remake our DML demo for a new audience at Maker Faire 2012.

(Continue the adventure with Maker Faire: Day 0)

Tags

Maker Faire, away, electronics, touch interface, education, Makey Makey, Vacation, banana, Intel, teachers, students, autograph

Sylvia's Squishy Circuits

Dadmin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:56:25 +0000

Mini

Are you curious about experimenting with electronics, but the fear of electric shock or soldering iron burns keep you away? Why not try squishy circuits! With a special recipe of food-safe, kitchen-made, pliable dough developed at the University of St. Thomas, kids of all ages can easily use their hands to mold their very own simple circuits right before their eyes! Lets go!

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

robman2100I never understood the flow of electricity until now.. I am 26 years of age and love this show. good job.
guitarbradSylvia is energetic, fun and is teaching other kids about electronics and other projects in a thorough yet safe manner. You go girl! You are awesome!
Loki95531You rock Sylvia! Most excellent description of how a circuit works.
HachinizationMonths of grade 9 science rolled up in less than 7 minutes.. But more entertaining. LOL well done!
arcaderat100You make science way more interesting!
RocstoneauI'm 54 and this is the 1st time I understood how electricity works. My old teachers should have done this, I would have learnt more and not looked out the window all the time.
vincentleestthis is awesome!! greeting from an electrical engineering student!! Its always exciting to see your show!! :D friggin Copper atoms and their electrons.. ;p

Season

Sylvia Sews Super-Soft Circuitry

Dadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:03:15 +0000

Mini

I bet you didn’t know that there’s a soft side to the hard edged fiberglass boarded electronics you know and love, and it’s called Soft Circuitry! With a little bit conductive thread, some fabric and a little more imagination, you can make your own glowey eyed cuddle monster in an afternoon. Let's go!

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

amigaknightSylvia is too cool for school!!
StoneVHSylvia, You Rock, Girl!! A gifted treasure of inspiration tucked inside a whip-smart, adorable little girl. The world needs more like you! And, you've got cross-over appeal, too!! Young....and not so young love your show. Keep it up!
HammerFETEPIC POINTING THING!!!
LedgerLinesMan I have yet to make one thing from your show (well some I had already done when I was younger), but I tune in EVERY episode. You have a great presence on camera kid, and I bet I'll be seeing you on TV some day maybe discovery or science channel. Keep up the awesome show let's see craft mom and tech dad!

Season

Sylvia shows how to etch copper

Dadmin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:57:21 +0000

Mini

Did you ever want to upgrade your bread-boarded circuits to something more permanent? Or maybe you’ve got a hankering to make your own metal jewelry? In this episode, I’ll show you how you can do both. With super simple copper etching. Let's go!

If you're looking to make the awesome things I did in this video, here's the resources for the Celtic Rose, and the Nootropic Design video experimenter shield.

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

3DeityThat is bloody excellent - I've been looking for a way to make preamp and amplifier face plates. Copper and Letraset plus lacquer is expensive, looks rubbish and you're limited to what fonts you can get. This open the lid on creativity! Many thanks! :o)
DosbomberI don't think this was mentioned in the video, but if you're making a circuit board (PCB), make sure your image is reversed from how you want it to appear from the copper side. In other words, make your copper layer as through you're looking at it from the component side. If your traces and pads end up in the wrong orientation, your ICs won't install correctly and you could even damage some components. Also, a laminator works MUCH better than an iron, if you can afford one.
nicholsa55This is the next Kari Byron from mythbusters!!!
BadBadMannersSSAMMS - best thing on makemagazine.
lazrpoThis kid wins at everything.
metalx1000I always love Sylvia's show. They are simple and fun. I've seen other video on this subject, but this was explained way better. I also love the fact that she uses Linux.
whisperingsageWell, this takes the fear out of doing this. It's good to see an example.
DrDissentThis kid should be on the Discovery channel.
shegar2011the pendant was awesome :D
MattDarezThanks smart bot :D
makedaevilmageBee scientific :P
dunnoson2009Excellent mini show as always! keep it up!
TheEmeraldThis show always inspires me to make somethin'
jpoopistReally, REALLY awesome

Season

Sylvia Builds the Monochron Clock Kit

Dadmin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:59:21 +0000

Mini

Need to tell the time, but looking for something less boring than a regular clock? Why not try the Monochron clock kit from Adafruit! Soldering, LCDs programming and clocks, the best things you can get in a project.

Once you get your own Monochron up and running, make sure to try out the MarioChron! Our very own Mario themed clock face. Get the source code here, or get the Intel HEX file ready to upload directly to the Monochron here. If you're not sure how to update the clock, be sure and check outLadyada's instructions here.

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

Early666is it just me or does Monochron sound like glados?
MueleskiGreat video, I like the idea of our young ones getting in to making things. Plus this young lady is a regular firecracker.
TwoScrewsLooseThis little girl is better than I am at soldering. o.o
And I'm an electrical engineer.
awesomejoe12I wish my alarm clock had proton torpedoes....and a TARDIS....
NOLAMarathon2010Too cute. (And great video editing.) I'm hitting it with a "like".
Shinigaara85The answer is 42. What was the question?
radicalvashspiegalThe baconwrappedbacon is a lie!
jacgoudsmitAwesome as always! But someone really should donate a better soldering iron to Sylvia...
church132"my life was so simple, nobody tried to kill me, or put me in a little kid's clock, or get attacked by neighborhood kids."

Season

Sylvia Builds the LOL Shield Kit

Dadmin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:08:10 +0000

Mini

Ep. Number

Need to be seen and love soldering in LEDs? Try the LOL (Lots Of LEDs) shield by Jimmie Rodgers! Just solder, plug in your Arduino, program and you've got your very own charlieplexed LED array to use as you please. Lets go build it!

See this post on MakeZine.com

Season

Minipovs are fun to make, and even more fun to hack

Super-Awesome Sylvia — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:58:37 +0000

Sylvia builds the Adafruit MiniPOV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MH0mw-Lgi0

See this post on MakeZine.com

Not just because I got to solder three kits, but I got to draw some fun patterns and do some new camera experiments. And yes, that is my camera in the show.

Head over to the Maker Shed and pick yourself up a few, then maybe build it with your daughter/little brother/sister/grandpa/loved one... If anything, you're getting out there and learning, and that's one of the most important parts.

Anyways, enjoy the show!

PS-- Oh yea! Don't forget to try out my dad's MiniPOV helper app.. You can use it to help make graphics for your MiniPOV, or you can just make something and save it for others to see. Click here to give it a go!

Tags

Adafruit, electronics, led, MiniPOV, soldering, programming

Super Simple Adjustable Strobe for Arduino

TechNinja — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:55:22 +0000

Sylvia's Simple Arduino Projects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xCY2K9kQz4

Welcome to the official project page for Super Awesome Sylvia's Adjustable Strobe for Arduino. If you haven't, be sure and check out the official blog post and video for this project here!

The learning version of the code for the Super Simple Adjustable Strobe can be downloaded directly in it's raw format from github here:

Get the code!
(paste this directly into the Arduino IDE)

Otherwise, the top level repos for the project in both a Learning version, and a Super Awesome version can be found here:
http://github.com/techninja/adjustable_strobe-learning
http://github.com/techninja/adjustable_strobe-superawesome

The Super Simple Adjustable Strobe for Arduino will allow you to stop time! Ok, not really, but it will let you see things that move really fast like fans and water droplets. By timing the flashing LED to turn on at the exact time that the moving thing happens to be in the same position it was in the last time the LED was on, it makes the subject look motionless! This project is less than perfect for stopping things in their tracks, but it'll get you started and experimenting in no time. All it takes is a bright LED and a potentiometer! And if you're feeling really adventurous, fork the code on github and add your own features!

Be sure and check out Nate True's Time Fountain for a great example of a cool home use for stroboscopes.

This software is licensed under the CC-GNU GPL version 2.0 or later.

Tags

Arduino, electronics, led, potentiometer, strobe, light, POV

Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show! - electronics

RoboBrrd to the Rescue!

Tags

Maker Faire Education day

Tags

Sylvia's Squishy Circuits

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season

Sylvia Sews Super-Soft Circuitry

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season

Sylvia shows how to etch copper

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season

Sylvia Builds the Monochron Clock Kit

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season

Sylvia Builds the LOL Shield Kit

Ep. Number

Season

Minipovs are fun to make, and even more fun to hack

Tags

Super Simple Adjustable Strobe for Arduino

Get the code! (paste this directly into the Arduino IDE)

Tags

Get the code!
(paste this directly into the Arduino IDE)