Community Quality: 3
(5=Most community) How much of a community is there around the kit? Are there builder groups, online forums, circles, and meetups? Is the kit used in class- rooms or after-school programs? Do the kit makers or builders have a presence at events like Maker Faire?
66-inch Indoor Blimp
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 […]
T-IFO Indoor Trainer
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 […]
Trail Finder Truck
This 1/10 scale kit has amazing realism and performance, with aluminum and steel chassis and body components like those of a full-sized vehicle. You’ll feel like a mechanic building it. You add motor, speed control, radio, servo, and battery.
Killer Krawler
In my opinion the coolest innovation in R/C vehicles is the crawler. As the name implies, crawlers are incredible crawling machines that are super fun to build and to run. Like a good video game, they’re easy to pick up but hard to master. Crawlers are built to climb over serious terrain, and some are […]
Trippy RGB Waves
Do you like interactive art? Imagine a bunch of little lights on a table, each about the size of a chess piece, each independent of the others. Arrange them any way you want. Each light continually and slowly changes colors on its own — but when you wave your hand over them, they create waves […]
Mignon Game Console
Although 5×7 pixels aren’t a lot to work with, it’s easy to get lost in Olaf Val’s Mignon Game Kit. This minimalist handheld gaming system is hands-on in more ways than one. The first step is to put it together; second is to hack code for the Atmel ATmega8 microcontroller that powers it; and third, […]
Simon
All components are through-hole, making this Simon kit great for beginners. Reviewer Thomas O’Brien from San Antonio writes: “The instruction booklet is very well written and goes step by step with clear explanations. My grandson Ben, 5, helped put components in the holes of the circuit board, then I soldered them, and he clipped the […]
Mechamo Inchworm
Make a mind-blowing remote controlled “Meka-Inchworm” robot with this fun, no-soldering-required kit. You’ve got to love a machine that moves like a bug! It’s Japanese, but we’ve got English instructions at makezine.com/go/inchworm. MAKE is proud to be the exclusive distributor in North America for these brilliant kits, part of Gakken’s Mechanical Animals Series. Reviewer Tyler Bennett […]
Toys & Games: Gakken, Game, robots, toys
Pendulum Challenge
How are your reflexes? Ken Delahoussaye’s Pendulum Challenge (featured in MAKE Volume 26) is a fun and clever handheld game that you assemble on a printed circuit board. The game’s arc-shaped array of 15 LEDs (14 red and 1 green) simulate the path of a swinging pendulum, which you try to stop at the bottom […]
3-Axis Monster Mill Stepper Motor Driver Kit
Make Kit Reviews
Probotix
3-Axis Monster Mill Stepper Motor Driver Kit
$350 (as tested $624)
Reviewed:
Make Kit Reviews
Probotix
3-Axis Monster Mill Stepper Motor Driver Kit
$350 (as tested $624)
Reviewed:
Probotix offers several kits that add computer numeric control (CNC) to the X2 Mini Mill. I used their 3-Axis Monster Mill Stepper Motor Driver kit, plus a Ready-to-Run bundle that includes some additional components required to get it operational. For the computer itself, I used my old ThinkPad, but if your laptop is too new […]
