HackSpace

Gears scavenged from old toys were useless if they didn’t mesh together, or if you didn’t have a way of holding their axles in the right position When I was young, experimenting with mechanisms could be a really frustrating activity because things needed to fit together, and they seldom did. Gears scavenged from old toys were useless if they didn’t mesh together, or if you didn’t have a way of holding their axles in the right position. Some systems, such as Lego Technic, got you a bit closer, but I often found that I was missing the bit I needed to complete my machine. Thanks to 3D printers, those days are behind us. If I need a gear with 32 teeth and a module of 1, I can just pop…

Kevsrobots.com Say hello to Bubo, the 3D-printed steampunk owl by Kevin McAleer. Bubo has a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 in one eye, and can recognise hand gestures to take photos and send the results to Twitter or to Mastodon. Gesture recognition is provided by CVZone running on a Raspberry Pi, while each eye has a NeoPixel ring controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico. Bubo can also blink, thanks to Kev’s own 3D-printed mechanism and a servo for each eye. That’s the technical aspect: artistically Bubo is inspired by the clockwork robot from Ray Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans, Tik-Tok from the nightmarish Return to Oz, and the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.…

hsmag.cc/Haxophone The Haxophone is an electronic take on the weird brass/woodwind chimera, the saxophone. Its maker, Javier Cardona, modestly reckons that it’ll never be a substitute for the sound of a saxophone, but it is a lot more portable, and is likely to be a hell of a lot cheaper than a decent sax. It’s also OSHWA-certified open-source hardware, so if it breaks, you can just 3D-print a replacement part. The Haxophone is a Raspberry Pi HAT programmed in Rust, and will be appearing on Crowdsupply.com soon.…

carlbugeja.com We’ve seen the flexible PCBs of electronics guru Carl Bugeja before – now here’s a semi-rigid PCB that folds up to become a robot rover. Carl has incorporated another of his trademarks, the PCB motor, into the design, with a motor and a driver for each wheel. Control comes from an ESP32, which enables the user to connect to a Sony PlayStation controller via Bluetooth. True to form, Carl’s already working on the next version, ironing out the kinks that he discovered when he folded this up and tested it out. It’s already working as a proof of concept though: check out the video on his site to see just how workable a folding PCB really is.…

hsmag.cc/RC-car Do you remember the Tim Burton version of Batman? With the Batmobile that was little more than a big jet engine on wheels? That’s what this build, by Rambros, reminds us of. It’s a radio-controlled car with a 3D-printed chassis, body, steering assembly, and power transmission (including a differential for the rear wheels). Only the electronics, wheels, bearings, and the screws that hold it together aren’t made of plastic.…

hsmag.cc/CircularKnittingMachine We’re always fascinated by the application of new technologies to old crafts, and this 3D-printed knitting machine is a perfect example of that. More than that, it’s absolutely mesmerising to watch. Mr Innovative, its creator, designed the machine in two parts: the stator and the rotor. The rotator spins, winding the yarn around the needles, and pushing the needles up and down within the stator. Just like knitting with needles, it’s hard to get your head around, but that makes it all the more satisfying when you see it in action.…