Make: Kit Reviews

Turn anything into a drum set with your Arduino and this simple kit. Some makers build custom drum sets from fine hardwoods, while others take the easy route and make practice sets from mouse pads and sheet metal. Instead of building my own, I used the included piezo elements to trick out my Rock Band […]

Musical Instruments: Arduino, drums, music, musical instruments

Indie makers RLT Industries of New Braunfels, Texas, sells this lovely wooden model kit of the classic “south-pointing chariot” mechanism. Set the chariot down with the vane pointing in an arbitrary direction — south, north, whatever — and a geared differential connected to the wheels will keep it pointing the same direction regardless of which […]

Wheels: heirloom tech, Wheels

Learn about the sense of smell with eight perfume oils and a variety of jars, mixers, and pipettes. Experiments range from fragrance extraction to composing your own perfume scents. My friend and I enjoyed one experiment where we prepared test strips of all the fragrances and then guessed which we were sniffing. I got two […]

Science: fragrance extraction, perfume, Science

In MAKE Volume 25, Sparkle Labs showed how to hack your TV remote control to make it solar powered. Just add a tiny solar panel and rechargeable batteries. It works with any AA- or AAA-powered remote. Now they’ve put together this easy kit: a flexible 4.8V solar cell with soldered leads and connector pads, and […]

Home & Shelter: home, remote control, solar energy, TV

Old-fashioned Nixie tubes are beautiful, but driving them in a circuit can be complicated since they often require voltages as high as 250V DC. The ArduiNIX board for Arduino makes it easy to add standard clock functions to your next project. Just be sure to design an enclosure that will keep those high voltages safe. I […]

Clocks: Arduino, clocks, Nixie tubes, old-fashioned

The Real Time Clock Kit Parts Bundle includes everything but the casing to build the PIC-based clock designed by Sparkle Labs and featured in MAKE Volume 09. Be sure to read the article for detailed explanations of how the PIC, Real Time Clock, and LED driver all work together to make a functioning clock.

Clocks: clocks, LEDs, microcontroller, PIC

Who doesn’t love blimps? They’re quiet and slow but leave a huge impression. This kit goes together easily using basic hand tools and the included directions, and has almost everything you need to get airborne; you supply R/C gear, servo, battery, and helium. The vinyl balloon can be decorated with paints or computer-cut graphics, which […]

Radio-Controlled Vehicles: blimp, indoor, RC

This unique, rugged R/C trainer is assembled by bending carbon fiber rods, binding with Kevlar thread, and then covering with polyester fabric. The build takes an evening or two; add a radio, servos, and batteries, and enjoy a remarkably good airplane for beginners and experienced pilots. Plus, it folds flat, so you can take it […]

Radio-Controlled Vehicles: indoor, plane, RC

Mr. General is a solderless breadboard on wheels — one of my favorite ways to play with robotics. Mr. General puts it all on a sturdy frame, throws in a nifty servo-operated object detector, and even 140 colored wires. You supply the microcontroller; I recommend a small all-in-one board, like the BASIC Stamp, Boarduino, or Arduino […]

Robotics: robotics, robots