Finally! Use your Raspberry Pi without spending what feels like forever connecting external peripherals and dealing w/ a cable monstrosity: Configure your Pi to be headless! (not the scary kind tho) This is particularly helpful for folks teaching workshops with the Raspberry Pi, since it can be cumbersome (and expensive) to provide monitors, keyboards, and…
The household floor piano is a dream no more! The Makey Makey microcontroller makes it super easy (and affordable) to build your very own “foot-strument” out of common household materials. Grab a Makey Makey kit, some cardboard, and your musician shoes and let’s get building! Difficulty Level: Easy Estimated Build Time: 60 minutes Cost: $50 (for Makey Makey…
Intro Nearly all of our wireless communication is done using radio waves*, including phone calls, text messages, and WiFi. With its built-in radio transmitters and receivers, the Micro:Bit microcontroller makes it super easy to build all sorts of projects with radio communication. This particular project is a simple & quick way to send text messages…
Every time we leave our homes, we are photographed and videotaped in public and private spaces. Facial recognition software identifies our unique facial features and can be used to tag us in photos that are taken with or without our consent. This tutorial is about exerting our right to control our personal privacy. It is…
Now more than ever, folks like you and me have to step up and take a stand to protect and preserve our environment (and, quite honestly, our species). One great way to do that is to incorporate renewable energy technology into projects that use electricity. Even if the environmental aspect isn’t enough to get you…
Introduction Create, build, and play an obstacle course for Brush Bots! This is an activity for all ages that teaches the basics of circuits and design thinking while encouraging and inspiring creativity, discovery, and collaboration. Most importantly, it’s super fun! (But seriously though, watch the video it’s adorbs and will make you smile) This tutorial…
Create, build, and play with your very own LEGO-inspired circuit blocks! Explore the basics of electricity and circuits, discover how sensors work and use ’em to design your own experiments, and incorporate upcycled materials to improve on your materials-sourcing & MacGuyver-ing skills! That old gum wrapper? Make it into a resistor or a switch! But…
Keep an eye (er, ear) on your beloved bbies while you are away! This project monitors the volume of sound in your home and if your pet gets too anxious and starts barking or making other loud noises, soothe their sad lil’ soul by turning on music or your own (pre-recorded) voice! This tutorial will…
Light-up cards incorporate two of the best worlds of making (electronics and crafts) with the added bonus of making somebody smile. Heck yes! Here’s my approach to light-up cards and my favorite recent discoveries: pop-ups and cotton balls. Read time: ~ 5 min. Build time: ~ 30 min -1 hr (mostly crafting the card) Cost:…
Secretly change settings for your wearable outfits or use this button as a secret prank trigger! Here’s a quick & easy tutorial on how to build and program a “state change switch.” AKA a button that cycles through different settings. It’s super easy and has tons of practical applications! Read Time: ~ 5 min…
