M A K E B U I L D H A C K C R E AT E

[Link] October 2019 Issue #23

A LLO WE E N
H ILDS MAKE SPO
AND UNCA OKY,
NNY SCA

U
C
HA HAHA HA REATIONRY
B HA HA

IFTTT
S

TEENSY
TEENSY Add your devices to the

4.0
Internet of Things

The fastest
microcontroller?
PRETTY PCBS
LEARN TO
TO
DESIGN CIRCUITS
IN INKSCAPE
NAIL ART
BRAZE Oct.2019
Issue #23 £6
BECOME A
TEMPORARY CYBORG
SKULL SYNTH
Molten metal joints
MAKE MUSIC ON
A DEAD RACCOON

COSPLAY PROPS VULCANOLOGY 3D PRINTING

 WELCOME EDITORIAL
Editor
Ben Everard
[Link]@[Link]

Welcome to
Features Editor
Andrew Gregory
[Link]@[Link]

HackSpace magazine Sub Editors

David Higgs, Nicola King

DESIGN
Critical Media
This month we can dispense with practicalities. We can [Link]

put aside function, and dispense entirely with features. Head of Design
Lee Allen
October, particularly its final day, is all about looks – spooky,
Designers
scary looks to be precise. It’s a time to have fun with your Sam Ribbits, Harriet Knight

skills – maybe this means an opportunity to try something Photography

Brian O’Halloran
new, maybe this means the chance to show off some new
CONTRIBUTORS
technique you’ve learned, or maybe it’s simply a chance to Lucy Rogers, Andrew
Huang, Jo Hinchliffe, Emily
stand a few hairs on end. Velasco, Mayank Sharma,
Jo Hinchliffe, Andrew
The beauty of making things for Halloween is that it’s Lewis, Sophy Wong, Gareth
entirely about having fun – whatever that means to you. For Branwyn, Les Pounder,
Marc de Vinck
some people, this means concentrating on electronics and
PUBLISHING
building some intricate mechanisms, for others, it means big Publishing Director
Russell Barnes
elaborate statement pieces, and there are those who might go russell@[Link]

in for really detailed, realistic builds. It doesn’t matter, as long Advertising

Charlie Milligan
as it’s what you’re interested in. [Link]@[Link]

If you’re struggling for ideas, then we’ve got plenty to spare! DISTRIBUTION
Take a look at page 42 to dive into the spooky selection. If you Seymour Distribution Ltd
2 East Poultry Ave,
prefer to hide from trick-or-treaters with the lights turned off, London EC1A 9PT
then fear not, we’ve also got a magazine jam-packed with all +44 (0)207 429 4000

the usual hacking and making. Turn the page to get stuck in. SUBSCRIPTIONS
Unit 6, The Enterprise
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Got a comment, Editor [Link]@[Link] Sussex, RH10 9PE
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about HackSpace 01293 312189

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This magazine is printed on
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h
 ackspacemag HackSpace magazine is published
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SA 3.0). ISSN: 2515-5148.

3
Contents 124

06 SPARK 41 LENS
06 Top Projects 42 Halloween
You’re a clever bunch, you lot Darkness falls across the land; the making hour is close at hand

16 Objet 3d’art 58 How I Made: Rackety Raccoon

Additive automotive manufacturing Incorporate a dead animal into a synthesizer

20 Meet the Maker: Michael Dales 64 Volcanology

Meet the Leo Fender of the makerspace Affordable science with the team from Sheffield University

24 Columns 72 Improviser’s toolbox Socks

Shoot down some pesky UFOs Warm, comforting makes for cold toes

26 Letters
Repair your stuff, repair the Earth. Simple
Tutorial
28 Kickstarting School of making:
Control paper aeroplanes from a smartphone
Learn to braze
30 Rockets
Powered flight at the International Rocket Week

32 Space of the month

Radiona: a hub of learning in beautiful Zagreb

36 Forged in foam
Inspiring builds from a master of cosplay

Cover Feature

ALLOW EEN
H EATION
CR IGH
STEN YOURSEL
90 Stick things together with fire
and hot metal

F R YOUR OWN CREATIVITY

F
WITH ! 102

42
4
 CONTENTS

How I made
Rackety Raccoon 06
36
Interview
Sheffield volcanologists

58 Summon spooky sounds

with a dead trash panda

64 What links NASA, Raspberry Pi

Camera Modules, and Jules Verne? 16
77 FORGE
78 SoM If This Then That
Link smart devices through the Internet of Things 111 FIELD TEST
82 SoM 3D printers 112 Direct from Shenzhen ESP32-CAM
Explore the anatomy of this makerspace workhorse A tiny WiFi-enabled camera module for £6.66

84 Tutorial PCB art 116 Best of Breed

Link Inkscape to KiCad to create electronic art Power solutions for Raspberry Pi

90 Tutorial Learn to braze 122 Can I Hack It?

116
Stick things together with rods of molten metal Hot Wires – a tactile (and hackable) electronics kit for kids

96 Tutorial NFC nails 124 Review Teensy 4.0

Prepare your cuticles for electronic augmentation Fast, small, cheap – pick two. No, pick all of them!

100 Tutorial Servos 126 Review Adafruit MONSTER M4SK

Turn a cheap server into a continuous motor An oracular spectacular for Halloween

102 Tutorial Cosplay wings 128 Review Programino

Combine your skills to make a slick wearable project A more user-friendly way to program Arduino code

108 Tutorial Serial 129 Book Review Power Carving Manual

Transfer data over this ancient protocol Create high art with your rotary tool

Some of the tools and techniques shown in HackSpace Magazine are dangerous unless used with skill, experience and appropriate personal protection equipment. While we attempt to guide the reader, ultimately you
are responsible for your own safety and understanding the limits of yourself and your equipment. HackSpace Magazine is intended for an adult audience and some projects may be dangerous for children. Raspberry
Pi (Trading) Ltd does not accept responsibility for any injuries, damage to equipment, or costs incurred from projects, tutorials or suggestions in HackSpace Magazine. Laws and regulations covering many of the topics
in HackSpace Magazine are different between countries, and are always subject to change. You are responsible for understanding the requirements in your jurisdiction and ensuring that you comply with them. Some
manufacturers place limits on the use of their hardware which some projects or suggestions in HackSpace Magazine may go beyond. It is your responsibility to understand the manufacturer’s limits.

5
Top Projects

REGULAR

Ball balancer
By Johan Link [Link]/snzXeW

I
‘m an 18-year-old Swiss maker, self-taught on electronics
and programming. When I started learning how to use
OpenCV, I wanted to put my knowledge into practice, that’s
how I started this project. This robot is able to balance a ball
on its flat surface. Three servo motors are used to tilt the
plate to compensate the motions of the ball. A USB camera
is perched above the platform, and a Python program analyses
the images to detect the ball position, then the computer controls
the servos via a custom PCB inside the robot. I quickly realised
that I was not the only one who had the idea of this kind of robot,
that’s why I wanted to stand out by making a robot as elegant
as possible.

Right
Clean 3D printed
parts gives this
experiment a lovely
finished look

6
SPARK

7
Top Projects

REGULAR

Above
Hipsters love 12-inch
vinyl – now it’s time
for cassettes to get
their moment in
the sun

8
 SPARK

Cassette art
By Chris Barton [Link]

C
hris Barton is an artist with an interesting
background in the film industry; creating
animatronics for successful franchises including
Star Wars and Harry Potter. Having developed an
artistic appreciation for the once-ubiquitous music
cassette, he now recreates them in every detail but
64 times larger as sculptural pieces of art.
The construction is meticulous, with hand-painted acrylic on
canvas inlays, bespoke cases, and handmade cassettes, faithful in
every detail to the original. They are created from a combination of
acrylic and a laser-cut wood composite. Operating from his studio
in Northamptonshire, around 22 titles have so far been bought
by art collectors around the world, with new ones being regularly
commissioned. More examples of Chris’s work can be found on
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook using @chrisbartonart or on his
website – [Link]

9
Top Projects

REGULAR

Giant Game Boy

By Willie Colón @thegamegraveyard

I
made the initial designs on Illustrator, and from there
I made the front and back plates of the Game Boy. I took
my designs to a CNC router, got them cut out, then sanded,
and finally, I stained them by hand. I used a cheap TV monitor
with an HDMI to connect the Raspberry Pi, and used arcade
buttons for the controls on the front plate to make it functional.
Thanks to the help of my good friend Isaac Gelman (another
amazing maker), I was able to get some help on the finer details by
laser cutting the D-pad and buttons.
The reason I built a giant Game Boy was to see if I could do
it! There was a gamer-centric gallery happening where I work at
Nickelodeon, and I was trying to figure out if it would be possible
to take on such an ambitious project. I have also always been
passionate about the original DMG, so it was a perfect fit. It is
currently hanging in my living room for everyone to see and play,
but when I’m home alone, I use a special Bluetooth Game Boy
cartridge, and put it into one of my self-modded Game Boys to
control the XL. I love gaming! Video games have always, and will
continue to be a huge part of my life. Growing up in Chicago, I
was always on the go with my Game Boy Color, so I wanted to
take that iconic shape and build what is the Game Boy XL.

Right
When using
emulators, make
sure you get your
games from a
legal source

10
SPARK

11
Top Projects

REGULAR

Flatpack toaster
By Kasey Hou [Link]

T
he project was Kasey’s graduation project for her
study at the University of Edinburgh. She started it
with an investigation on E-waste. The project chal-
lenges how most products are made unrepairable by
demonstrating how a toaster can be made repairable.
People should have the right to repair broken products,
rather than having to dispose of them. The DIY aspect of the project
enhances the repair experience because people would feel more
comfortable to repair the toaster if they learned to assemble it first.
The chassis of the toaster is made of several CNC’d stainless steel
plates. A mechanical timer, three heating elements, and a couple of
wires were used to re-create the toasting mechanism.

Right
The right to repair
isn’t just about legal
rights – it needs to
be built-in. Kasey’s
design uses no glue
or plastic clips, so
anyone can fix it

12
SPARK

13
Top Projects

REGULAR

14
 SPARK

RetroPie console
By Martin Mander [Link]

T
his portable retro gaming console is giving a new
lease of life to a 1963 Sky Tourer car radio. Martin
drilled out the top to make room for a joystick and six
buttons, and cleared out the old electronics to make
room for a Raspberry Pi 3 and a Pimoroni Picade
board. To make the radio’s fascia glow, he’s built in
a Pimoroni Blinkt! LED strip, used Sugru to neaten the build, and
spray-painted the whole thing from the original drab grey to a nice
bright red.

15
Objet 3d’art

REGULAR

Objet 3d’art
3D-printed artwork to bring more beauty into your life

16
 SPARK

L
ook more closely at this 1962
Volkswagen bus, made by
Volkswagen and augmented
by Autodesk: the wheel rims,
steering wheel, wing mirror
mounts, and other bits are 3D-printed
metal. And, rather than being mocked up
first in AutoCAD, they’re designed
automatically in software in a process
called ‘generative design’.
Generative design, like declarative
programming, is design worked backwards.
Instead of drawing up a plan, then building
the project, you start with a set of
constraints, and get the software to
generate the form that you need.
“In the past, if you’ve designed, let’s say,
a vehicle rim, if you’re going to design one
of those, in the very far past, you had to
basically sketch it by hand”, says Erik
Glaser, Principal Product Designer,
Volkswagen Group of America. “You had a
draughtsman who had to draw the whole
thing out – very long process, very tedious.

17
Objet 3d’art

REGULAR

With generative design, instead of manually top of that, nature is the best designer,
designing the actual shape, you give the and we end up with parts that look a lot
software constraints. I need it to be this big; like biomimicry. So we know that we’re
I need it to support this much weight in able to produce something that’s beautiful
these kinds of directions. You feed it some and is not going to compromise the
physics information, basically.” performance, either.”
Generative design is something that’s “If you speak to any designer or
only just making its way into mainstream engineer, they’ll tell you that producing
manufacturing, but it’s all around us in stuff in the real world always takes
nature. That’s why the forms produced longer than you think. One of the great
here and in other generative designs look things about using generative design
so organic. Termite mounds and beehives here is we were able to go from ideas
are great examples of common structures in our head to a fully manufactured
built to a requirement, or if you like to vehicle in about six months, which is
think bigger, H.R. Giger’s designs for the unprecedented and unheard of. Being
Alien films. able to do that while maintaining design
Paul Sohi, Fusion 360 evangelist and and engineering is incredible, and it
iconic projects lead at Autodesk, says of enables us to produce something that’s
the VW collaboration: “From a design point really quite beautiful to look at.”
of view, generative design enables you to
create really, really beautiful objects… On [Link]/aIRKHB

18
SPARK

19
Meet The Maker

REGULAR

Meet The Maker:

Michael Dales
The person behind the custom-built guitars

W
hen the gods handed the who don’t do exactly what you’re trying to do, but
first guitar down from Mount these are the kind of people who will say ‘let me
Olympus, humanity was help you’.
given a mighty gift. When “There’s all that experience you can tap into, so
you pick up a guitar, you’re part I wouldn’t have been able to do this without a place
of a global lineage that includes like Makespace.
Hendrix, Mick Ronson, Nancy Wilson, and any
number of musicians from every continent. SOFTWARE TO SOFTWOOD
We doff our caps therefore to Michael Dales, “[In my day job] I’ve done bits of hardware; I’ve done
who for the last three years has been making guitars digital circuit designs, FPGA stuff. And I’ve done a
under the name Electric Flapjack. We spoke to lot more software in my career than hardware. That’s
Michael to find out how working in a makerspace also why I enjoy woodwork so much, because it
has shaped his attitude to the noble craft of making exercises a completely different part of my brain. It’s
guitars, his tools, his attitudes, and why it’s good still problem-solving, but it’s very different.
to share. “You kind of find with places like this, that you
“The first guitar I made was just out of parts. I have a general set of tools available to the populace,
hadn’t done any woodwork since high school, which but [if you try] anything niche you end up by yourself.
was a long time for me. I took up the guitar again, The makerspace isn’t here to cater for luthier [guitar
but the guitar I had didn’t really do it for me any making] requirements. That comes from in part just
more. I didn’t want to get rid of it because it had getting into enabling me to have the confidence to
sentimental value, so I bought parts and then kind of try things.
tweaked them. My brother, who is in a band, asked “I watched a lot of YouTube videos, and the luthier
me to make him one – that was guitar number two community is very good at sharing; there are lots of
– and I made the body for that one, which was a big great tutorials by professional luthiers on how they
leap forward. do stuff.
“Since then, I’ve done a little bit more each time. “I don’t have all the luthier tools, but I have
Three years and nine guitars later, here I am. identified that there are some that are quite
“I’m a software engineer by trade, so I have no important; they’ll save you a lot of time and effort.
abilities in the real world – that’s why the location The Japanese saw for doing the fret slots is a good
from which I do all of this has been hugely important example of that. I have a specific requirement of
to me. It’s a community workshop, and everyone that saw, because it had to be narrow enough that
focuses on the workshop side; there’s lots of shiny when I put a fret in it’ll stick, so it had to be a narrow
toys and stuff – but equally as important is the blade and quite sharp. That was one where it was
community aspect. Because there are people around working for money, which enabled me to do that.

20
 SPARK

Above
Two of Michael’s takes
on the classic Fender
Telecaster design

21
Meet The Maker

REGULAR

“The first year was fine, but then everything went rather than a straight slot – but I can use the tools
Above wrong. My first commission was late – I said it around me to my advantage. The nice thing is that I
It’s nice having
access to a
would take three months, but it took me a year. The know that other people use that tool. Even if they
laser cutter CNC router stopped working, so I had to learn how don’t have a laser cutter, that’s how a whole bunch of
to do it by hand. Like when any automation breaks people generate their fretboards now, using that little
down, it exposes whether you understood the thing tool that I made. It’s nice to be able to give back to
you were automating or not. the luthier community, which has given me so much.
“It’s been an interesting journey. Thankfully the guy

”
who commissioned the guitar was very accepting; he
was happy to be part of that journey. I kept him Being in a maker
involved as much as I could, and it worked out well.
space, you have tools
MAKERSPACE WORKING
available that traditional

”
“Being in a makerspace, you have tools available
that traditional luthiers don’t. And this is the counter luthiers don’t
to the fact that I don’t have all the tools that a
traditional luthier would have. So, for example, I have
access to a laser cutter. “It’s fun being in an environment like a
“One of the bits you really have to get right, makerspace, where you don’t have everything you
otherwise it’s not a musical instrument, is the fret need, but you’ve got more stuff. ‘How can I solve
spacing. Those have to be right, because otherwise, my problem using the tools around me? If there are
it’s not going to sound correct. So, being a software better tools, how do I find someone who can point
engineer and having access to a laser cutter, I wrote me in the right direction?’
a small tool that lets me type in ‘22 frets, 25 1/2 inch
scale length’, and it will etch a design. ART & SCIENCE
“I still have to cut the slots by hand – the kerfing “Necks are totally under-appreciated. When you look
on the laser cutter means that you get a V-shape at a guitar, you tend to look at the body and the

22
 SPARK

pickups and the controls, Those are the eye-catching “I’d always had a Telecaster so I knew what it
bits. But all the labour and effort is really in the neck should feel like. And on each one, I try to do a bit Above
Michael makes his
– if you don’t get that right, it’s not a musical more. The builds I’ve got going at the moment, one guitars at Cambridge
instrument. It’s, at best, a bit of art. of them is the first one where the body design is my Makerspace,
benefiting from the
“On the second guitar, I did the fretwork, which I own. And it’s got some features from a Les Paul – shared knowledge
shouldn’t have done, because that made the project it’s got the electronics cavities in the rear. That, to there as much as
from the tools
run over way more than it should have done. I broke me, is a very sensible design decision. Whereas the
my own rule and made too big a jump. I bought a fact that you have to take the strings off to do
neck without frets, and I ended up having to do the anything with the electronics on a Fender design just
frets three times before I got it right. strikes me as insane.
“Guitars three and four were built together, and “What I want to get to is making guitars that
I’m about to replace the neck on guitar three. It was people like, in the shapes that they like, and I bring
an OK first effort, but I’m a slightly better guitarist along the engineering elements that make them a
than I was two years ago, and it now annoys me. good instrument.”
“A guitar has to speak to you in many ways. We
are emotional beings, and our relationship with our
instruments is partly based on how we feel when
we look at them. I care about getting the details right
so that the person who gets it has that sense of
pride. I want them to go on stage. What makes me
happiest is when people are on stage playing a guitar
that I built. That’s the most awesome thing in the
world. I went to one of my brother’s gigs, and he
was there on the stage playing a guitar that I’d
made. In some small way I was responsible for the
audience having a good night. That’s an amazing
sensation – nerve-racking as well, because if the
guitar breaks, it’s all my fault.

THE QUEST CONTINUES

“Ultimately I’d love to do archtops. I think those
jazz-style guitars are amazing. But it’s just a journey.
I started with a Fender Telecaster, because it’s the
simplest, dumbest guitar. It’s the original solid-body
guitar, right? It’s a great starting place for someone
who’s got no experience.

23
Lucy Rogers

COLUMN SPARK

UFOs
Spring – er, autumn– clean your workshop shelves

H
ow many UFOs can you in the box – but I was missing a switch
see in your workshop? – so I ordered one off the internet, and
Unfinished objects (UFOs) then spent a happy few hours putting all
were taking up too much the bits together – wondering why I had
of my mental and physical ever shelved the project.
space, so I made time Other projects I wondered why I
this summer to either finish them or had ever started, such as the
bin them. electroluminescent wire bow-tie. Some
There are many reasons I have projects had been superseded by
unfinished objects – maybe I got stuck, technological advancements or by more
didn’t have the right tool or part, or affordable commercial products – like a

Lucy Rogers
more pressing (paid) work got in the video doorbell. Or my life had changed
way. Or, more likely, when things are – I no longer own ducks, so the duck egg
tidied away and out incubator project
@DrLucyRogers of sight, they lose also got cancelled.
their importance. Some of my I reclaimed, or
Lucy is a maker, an engineer, Rummaging recycled, all the parts
and a problem-solver. She is through the UFOs are books and crossed them off
adept at bringing ideas to life. unmarked brown that I either my mental list.
She is one of the cheerleaders cardboard boxes, Some of my UFOs
for the maker industry, and is I discovered that
haven’t started or are books that I
Maker-in-Chief for the Guild some projects still finished reading either haven’t started
of Makers: [Link] made me smile. For or finished reading.
example, the one It’s always a pleasure
that hit me with a soapy, metallic, to give myself permission to read a book.
creamy sort of smell – the smell of brass I binge read, so once I’m in, I’m in for a
polish. It reminds me of my childhood good while. This summer I’ve enjoyed
– polishing the brass items was my job, Adam Savage’s Every Tool’s a Hammer
and I always had to have a shiny Girl and Emilie Wapnick’s How to Be
Guide badge. In the box was an old Everything – as well as Ursula K. Le
carriage lamp. I’d wanted to make it into Guin’s Earthsea series. I find fiction
a table lamp. I’d taken it apart and stories, especially science fiction or
cleaned it – hence the smell. But it still fantasy, always recharge my creativity.
needed a new light fitting and switch Now I also have a lovely table lamp,
installed, and a stand making for it. The more parts in my parts boxes, more shelf
wood for the stand was lurking in the space in the workshop. And a slightly
workshop, hidden under a pile of other less nagging ‘you should finish that
wood, the new light fitting and cable was before you start a new project’ feeling.

24
Bunnie Huang

COLUMN SPARK

The incredible shrinking

chip package
Squeezing more sand into your computers

T
he vast majority of chips designers to mix and match chips from
today consist of a single processes optimised for logic, RF, analogue,
fleck of silicon, usually in and memory into a single, high-
some sort of a package to performance package no larger than your
protect the chip and make it traditional single-chip package. The new
easier to mount to a circuit packaging technology is also disruptive
board. In the 1980s, silicon was wire because it improves I/O density and on-
bonded into DIP lead frames; in the 1990s, chip performance. Increased I/O density
the industry transitioned to surface-mount means more I/O bandwidth, which is good
flat-packs and ball grid arrays; and in the news for today’s memory bandwidth-
new millennium, chip-scale packages rose bound CPUs.

Bunnie Huang to dominance. Regardless of how the chips

came, the rule was typically one chip per
The on-chip performance advantage
isn’t quite as obvious, but the performance
package, with the main exceptions being of chips isn’t just constrained by how fast
@bunniestudios flash memory chips which could be easily transistors can switch on and off. It’s also
stacked using constrained by how
Andrew ‘Bunnie’ Huang is a conventional wire much power you can
hacker by night, entrepreneur bonding techniques, get into and out of the
by day, and writer by
AMD’s Ryzen ‘chiplet’
and a few mobile package. Desktop
procrastination. He’s a phone CPUs that architecture and CPUs can draw over
co‑founder of Chibitronics, could afford 100 amperes of
graphics chips using
troublemaker-at-large for the exotic processes. current (the typical
MIT Media Lab, and a mentor This may soon no stacked HBM are just a wall outlet in your
for HAX in Shenzhen. longer be the rule. In hint of what’s to come house is limited to
what appears to be a about 10–20 amperes,
hedge against the albeit at a much
end of Moore’s Law, foundries are investing higher voltage). At these phenomenal
heavily in next-generation packaging ampacities, even tiny imperfections
technology that allows a single ‘chip’ to introduced by the package will make the
contain multiple silicon die. AMD’s Ryzen CPU unstable. The latest round of
‘chiplet’ architecture and graphics chips packaging technology promises to push up
using stacked HBM are just a hint of what’s the power ceiling by an amount that will
to come. TSMC recently revealed a buffet equate to at least one generation of Moore’s
of mouth-watering packaging options that Law improvement in performance.
will blur the distinction between individual The slowing of Moore’s Law may be bad
silicon chips, and the package containing for increased transistor densities on a
them. Three major trends – through- single chip, but it also marks the beginning
silicon vias, integrated fan-out, and chip- of a new race to improve the incredible
on-wafer-on-substrate – are allowing shrinking chip package.

25
Letters

REGULAR

Letters ATTENTION
ALL MAKERS!
If you have something you’d
like to get off your chest (or
even throw a word of praise
in our direction) let us know at
[Link]/hello

3D PRINTING have blown his mind! Imagine what Ben Says: I, for one, can't wait to see
The 3D-printed record seemed like the weird technologies await our children. I what the future holds. The ingenuity of
stuff of science fiction. I can almost play with a 3D printer a little, but I’m not humans knows no bounds. More 3D
imagine the record slowly rising out of that confident with it. Can we have printing content you say? We might
the goop of UV-cured resin in the more 3D printer content, please? have a thing or two up our sleeves.
printer. Imagine showing that to Keep your eyes peeled over the next
Thomas Edison whose phonograph was Jane few months, and hopefully, you’ll be
a precursor to the vinyl record? It would Brighton pleasantly surprised.

26
 SPARK

REPAIR Ben Says: I heartily

I really enjoyed reading about the agree, Roger. There’s
Restart Project in HackSpace 23. It’s no point in just waiting
frankly embarrassing how much stuff for someone else to take
we throw away, especially as we claim responsibility, because it’s
to be a civilised society. Surely any becoming clear that
civilised society has to take some politicians and businessmen
responsibility for the planet they’re aren’t going to solve this
living on, and not just keep dumping problem for us. It looks like it's
waste into the ground and carbon up to us to save the planet. Over
dioxide into the air? Let all of us to you, dear reader, what can you
makers make a stand and say enough! repurpose, repair, or upcycle to
We’re not going to buy new trinkets, keep it out of landfill? Spread the
but keep our old ones running. word, tell your friends, and maybe
offer to help your local Repair Café if
Roger you have the skills. Together we can
Derbyshire make a difference.

MUSIC
Blimey, Matt Bradshaw’s Glockenspiel looks
ace! I enjoy music, but just never seemed to
get the co-ordination to play an instrument
(or perhaps I was just never dedicated
enough to spend the time necessary to
learn). I’ve spent the last 20 years as a
programmer though, so hopefully I’ve got the
technical skills to get a robot to work. Not
sure a Glockenspiel is quite up my street
though, but I’m going to get going on a robot
drum kit. Thanks for the inspiration!

Paul
Minnesota

Ben Says: Fantastic news. Of course, not

everyone wants to copy projects verbatim (in
fact, we suspect very few people do), but the
great thing about projects you make yourself
is they can be endlessly tailored. Drum kit,
glockenspiel, piano – it doesn’t matter to the
servos or linear actuators doing the playing.

27
Crowdfunding now

REGULAR

CROWDFUNDING
NOW
POWERUP 4.0
Give your paper planes an electric boost

From $59 [Link] Delivery: April 2020

W
e’ve looked at POWERUP’s electrified paper
planes before. In Issue 11, we crash-landed their
DART in our neighbour’s garden, and had great
fun. In short, it’s a motor-and-controller unit for paper
planes that links to your phone via Bluetooth, and lets
you zoom around your local park [Ed – Make sure you comply with
local regulations and are respectful of other people in the vicinity].
Well, they’re back with the POWERUP 4.0, with a couple of new
features: extra sensors and an extra motor. The extra sensors are in
the form of a gyroscope and an accelerometer. These two give you
far more control over the plane than on previous versions (hopefully
this will mean that our neighbour’s veg patch is spared a repeat of its
aerial assault).
The extra motor gives more thrust, and that means that you can use
a wider range of materials to make your planes from – unlike earlier
models that required paper, you can now use foam, balsa wood, or
almost anything else, provided the airframe is under 20 grams.
There are also some improvements to the robustness, with a
carbon fibre frame and rubber bumper on the front.
The POWERUP 4.0 – like previous versions – isn’t the most flexible
way of making a plane. There’s only one controller and, (while you can
download flight data for later processing), no way of interacting with a
flying plane from your own software. The unit is also fixed in one
shape, so your plane has to fit around this.
However, what you lose in flexibility, you gain in ease of use. This
is by far the easiest way of making a powered plane. It’s fantastic fun
to transform folded paper into a flying machine that you can control
from your phone. If you develop your planes to the point that they
hit the limits of the POWERUP 4.0, then you’ll have to move on to
more powerful hardware, and tackle the complexities that come
with that.

28
 BUYER
BEWARE !
When backing a crowdfunding
campaign, you are not purchasing
a finished product, but supporting
a project working on something
new. There is a very real chance
that the product will never ship
and you’ll lose your money. It’s
a great way to support projects
you like and get some cheap
hardware in the process, but if
you use it purely as a chance to
snag cheap stuff, you may find
that you get burned.

” The extra motor gives

more thrust and that
means that you can use a

”
wider range of materials

29
International Rocket Week 2019

REGULAR

International Rocket
Week 2019
The sky’s the limit

I
nternational Rocket Week (IRW) is a for high-power rocketry, and train range safety
Above fantastic annual event that has just held officers (RSOs). All flyers are also members of the
A small scratch-built
rocket called VR2
its 34th year. It’s a week where the amateur British Model Flying Association, who provide the
launching off the pad rocketry community from the UK and beyond insurance (provided people are adhering to the UKRA
Right come together to build and fly an eclectic safety code).
A young rocketeer mixture of model, high-power, experimental, There are all kinds of competitions at IRW
retrieves the Estes
‘Baby Bertha’ rocket and research rockets. It’s split between two sites. including landing a rocket, duration flights for boost
he had built and flown ‘Base Camp’ at Lapwing Lodge provides the gliders (a glider released from a rocket), helicopter
Below accommodation and workshop areas which are a recovery duration contests where they release
Peter Waddington’s
scratch-built,
hive of activity from 9am until the wee hours of the rotating blades on the way back down, and a really
upscaled version morning, as people continue to tweak and build their interesting ‘confectionery’ competition where a
of a smaller ‘Estes
Quinstar’ spotted in projects. Fairlie Moor is the launch site, which is
the workshop with a around 30 minutes drive away from Base Camp, and
HackSpace magazine
sticker on it on decent weather days, this is the sanctioned flying
site. With all launch equipment set up and a NOTAM
(notice to airmen) submitted to air traffic control, this
flying site can be busy! In one day alone, 55 rockets
were launched, ranging from small model rockets to
a huge M-class rocket that flew to 18,000 feet.

DUE NORTH
The IRW is run by the brilliant Scottish Aeronautics
and Rocketry Association (SARA), and is affiliated
to the UK Rocketry Association (UKRA) who
maintain the safety codes, the certification scheme

30
 SPARK

rocket either has to contain sweets, or be largely built

from sweets or sweet containers!

MEETING PEOPLE
The workshop areas are fabulous to work in and
hang out with people helping each other and sharing
skills. The range of tools that people bring to IRW
is fascinating; people tend to have made all kinds of
tooling and jigs to help with rocket builds, and it’s
really interesting to see and discuss. This year, as
well as the usual hand tools, we saw 3D printers,
a small band-saw, disc and belt sanders, and much Left
A collection of larger
more – it’s very well equipped, and everyone shares rockets in one of the
workshop areas; there
what they have. People work on all manner of related are so many rockets
projects, so it’s not uncommon to see someone to look at and learn
from at Base Camp
sewing a parachute or soldering avionics or spray-
painting an airframe – this year, a team were working Below
Dr Jonathan Rhodes
on a scratch-built, steerable GPS parawing to try and working on a section
be able to return rockets close to the launch site. of his high-power
rocket in one of the
At Lapwing Lodge there’s a friendly on-site vendor, IRW workshop areas
‘Rockets and Things’, with all manner of kits, spare

”
parts, and materials to get you flying.
It’s not uncommon to see someone sewing

”
RETURN TO EARTH a parachute or soldering avionics
The lander competition was won in spectacular form
this year by Sharon Calver, with her fabulous rocket
that splits into two sections during flight and then In essence, IRW is a large group of rocket-obsessed
deploys the landing gear. It was a complex build – makers who set up an impromptu hackspace with
following a spectacular failure the previous year, it had a focus on building all manner of flying things. It’s a
been meticulously rebuilt by Sharon. It landed a few
great event in two perfect locations – we hope to see
hundred metres from the launch position with the three
you all there next year! Many thanks to the IRW team
lander legs fully deployed in a textbook landing,
earning her a well-deserved win. for hosting us. Check out their website for details of
next year’s IRW here [Link]

31
Space of the month

REGULAR

Space of the month:

Radiona

R
[Link] is a Zagreb-based
makerspace founded in 2011 in
order to enhance the visibility of
open-source culture, with the aim
of connecting STEAM fields
(Science/Technology/Engineering/
Radiona Art/Mathematics).
The lab focuses its activities on workshops,
[Link] exhibitions, research projects, hardware production,
[Link] projects with artists and designers, maker-in-
residence programmes, international collaborations,
@RadionaOrg
maker/hacker camps and hackathons, social
RadionaOrg innovation projects, festivals, and many more. Its
community is in the centre, as a main driving force for
all activities that include production of new kits and
technology solutions, artefacts for exhibitions and
museums, education programmes with a cross-
section of cutting-edge, open-source hardware and
software lecturers, and a combination of high-tech
and low-tech approaches to the maker/hacker culture.
Radiona has organised more than 180 international
and domestic workshops, 26 international exhibitions,
nine hackathons, two international festivals,
numerous performances and lectures, and many
more events. There are diverse sections and
accompanying tools and machines for everyone
interested in making things: microcontrollers and
hands-on electronics, robotics and hacking,
programming, biohacking, audio editing, restoration of
vintage electronic organs and modular A/V
synthesizers, FPGA, 3D printing, CNC, 3D scanning,
e-textiles, interaction design, design thinking and
gamification, IoT and smart city technology –
LoRaWan, programming, flying objects, etc.
The lab is fostering innovative approaches based on
hands-on practice and lifelong learning on sustainable
foundations, inclusion, and participative practice driven
by access to all philosophy. Radiona is taking part in
several international projects with science centres and
museums to foster the use of technological solutions
with creativity, successfully creating solutions for
exhibitions, or hackathons like Museomix.

32
 SPARK

Above
Want to support
Radiona? Buy a
Synthomir:
[Link]/synthomir

Images
Radiona (CC)

33
Space of the month

REGULAR

The production of artworks and designing

exhibitions are one of the strongest frames of the lab,
with three to four yearly international exhibitions in
galleries and museums across Croatia. Among many
projects developed through the years, recently the lab
has gained a lot of international recognition with the
ULX3S powerful ECP5 board for open-source FPGA
development, and has covered a big part of Zagreb
with LoRaWAN using Raspberry Pi inside the
gateways. One of the lab members also made an
hgTerm Raspberry Pi mini-computer that gained a lot
of interest on Hackaday, an online platform where
Radiona members regularly take part in competitions.
The education programme of the lab is one of the
most recognised areas of the lab, with an impressive
list of guest appearances from international media
artists, makers, and hackers. If you are planning to
visit Zagreb, be sure to check Radiona and its
community of makers, or follow all activities via social
networks: Twitter – [Link]/RadionaOrg,
Facebook – [Link]/[Link], GitHub –
[Link]/RadionaOrg, or [Link].

CONTACT US
We’d love you to get in
touch to showcase your
makerspace and the
things you’re making.
Drop us a line on Twitter
@HackSpaceMag, or
email us at hackspace@
[Link]
with an outline of what
makes your hackspace
special, and we’ll take it
from there.

34
 SPARK

Below
Radiona attracts a
string of international
makers, among them
Marc Dusseiller from
Switzerland, who led
a workshop making
this 8-bit synth

Left
This image was taken
at an event ominously
called “Brain Hack”

35
Forged in foam

REGULAR

Forged in foam
How a Halloween costume started a career

C
osplay, the word we know to be
defined as dressing up in a costume
to portray a character from a comic,
video game, anime, manga, book,
TV show, or movie, is still a
relatively new term used in the
Krista Peryer broader scope of time when relating to just how
long people have been costuming as their
@missladygeek_ favourite literary and film characters. In a short
history, the first time the term ‘cosplay’ was used
Krista is a cosplayer was in 1984 when the Japanese reporter, Nobuyuki
and craftswoman
with a list of ongoing Takahashi, frankenworded ‘costume’ and ‘play’ to
projects longer than explain his experience while attending Worldcon in
Daenerys’ titles on
Los Angeles. Takahashi thought that translating
Game of Thrones. Above
‘masquerade’, the traditionally oft-used word to Joining the collective
describe costuming, felt too old-fashioned to translate
to his modern Japanese audience, and thus, sci-fi conventions began to look like masquerade balls,
‘cosplaying’ was born. complete with costume contests for ‘best costume’.
Although the term ‘cosplay’ didn’t make its debut Ackerman continued to support and cosplay his
until the 1980s, cosplay has existed since the early beloved sci-fi, and eventually became a key figure in
1900s. The first documented instance was in 1908, establishing sci-fi fandom. In the years since, many
when Mr and Mrs William Fell of Cincinnati, Ohio, more sci-fi conventions have developed worldwide,
attended a masquerade ball dressed as Mr Skygack with legions of fans attending dressed in cosplays
and Miss Pickles, Martians from a newspaper comic made from a variety of materials to showcase fandom
of their favourite characters from popular modern and

”
classic sci-fi such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Star
He and his father worked together to create Wars. Bruce Holt is one of them.
the costume, effectively igniting an enthusiastic

”
PLAYING WITH COSTUMES
passion for cosplaying A cosplayer, master craftsman, and teacher
specialising in intricate EVA foam cosplay creations,
that first ran in the Chicago Day Book. Forrest J. Holt remembers the first time he heard the term
Ackerman, a sci-fi writer and fan, became one of the ‘cosplay’. It was in the 2000s, and he was in Tulsa at
first sci-fi cosplayers when he was the first person to Hard Rock Casino for a costume contest. Wearing a
attend a sci-fi convention, New York’s first World Star Trek Borg costume that he’d made out of plastic
Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon, wearing what and leather, another attendee approached him to ask
was dubbed a ‘futuristicostume’ (another fun if he’d made his cosplay out of foam. Holt had not
frankenword!) complete with a cape and tights, in only never heard the term ‘cosplay’ yet, (even though
1939. The outfit, designed by his girlfriend Myrtle R. he’d already been hired to guest host panels on
Douglas (better known as Morojo), sparked interest in costumes and makeup at this point in his costuming
fan costuming, or cosplay as it is now known, and career), he’d never even considered using foam

36
 SPARK

Left
Warning: this shield
will not protect you

Below
Two Wonder Woman
breast plates ready
for cosplay

as a material for costume creation. Although the the time consisted of leather, plastic, and fabric. He
Borg costume was what had initially put cosplaying joined his school’s theatre group and participated
regularly, especially competitively, on the map for every year to increase his ability as a maker. As he
Holt, he had been making costumes since childhood. grew older and received more and more positive
feedback for his makes, he began dreaming of
SMALL BEGINNINGS moving to California permanently to make costumes
Growing up in southern Utah, his parents divorced all the time. However, in 1979, after meeting his wife
when he was nine years old. His father subsequently of 40 years now, Joyce, he was set on a whole new,
moved to California, got remarried to a seamstress, wonderfully different trajectory when they married
and together Holt’s father and his wife created and settled in Cassville, Missouri.
costumes for local school productions and events,
such as plays and cheerleading. Holt mentions that
he’d never had much interest in material costuming,
until one year while spending summer with his father
at the age of 14, he decided to ask his father for help
making an elaborate Halloween costume. They
worked together to create the costume, effectively
igniting an enthusiastic passion for cosplaying that set
Holt on a fast track that eventually became the
cosplaying business he now owns and operates
– Crazy Costumes.

LEARNING THE TRADE

That first costume he and his father made together
was ‘a reverse man’, as Holt recalls. ‘Reverse Man’
was such a huge hit at Halloween that year; each year
after he strove to make more elaborate costumes out Left
One of Bruce Holt’s
of any materials he could get his hands on, which at early costumes

37
Forged in foam

REGULAR

Despite moving halfway across the country, Holt opportunities. Holt was told that his Borg costume
continued his love for costuming, travelling to sci-fi was so incredible that he should consider entering
conventions wearing the Star Trek Borg costume that into a local bar’s Halloween costume contest the next
he’d continued to wear throughout the 2000s, and year, and they give away cash prizes for contest
Right attending Halloween parties. It wasn’t until some winners. Holt entered the contest the next year with
Bruce has come a time in the 1980s, after being approached at a his Borg costume, and won. He states that when he
long way
Halloween party while wearing the Borg costume, realised there were prizes to be won, money to be
Below that Holt realised there was money to be made in won, he began to get more creative with his craft.
Protecting humanity
from bugs in style costuming, opening up an incredible door of new One of his bigger and more elaborate cosplays was a
Star Trek Klingon. Holt had honed his skills quite a bit
more by that point, and the facial prosthetics were
praised as looking ‘movie quality’.

BECOMING A CRAFTSMAN
Since then, Holt has gone from a novice costumer
making costumes of plastic, leather, and fabric, to a
master EVA foam craftsman and cosplayer with
numerous awards, conventions, cosplays, and happy
students to show for it. Holt states that while he
loves cosplaying, it’s actually his love of teaching
that keeps him going and wanting to learn more so
he can share his love and knowledge for cosplaying
with communities throughout the world. Holt travels
frequently, attending three to five conventions a year
to showcase his makes, act as a guest panellist, and
hosts workshops to teach EVA foam cosplay
creation. Creations for his workshop business called
‘Forged in Foam’, range from making a shield over
two days (three hours per day) to something as big
as making a Starship Troopers costume over a

38
 SPARK

weekend like he recently did in 2018 with 18 Lady Sif, as well as taking commission work for
students at Visioncon in Branson, MO. Holt recalls almost anything your cosplaying heart desires. It’s Above
Sif, Goddess of
that this was an extremely exciting workshop for easy to tell, by the way he lights up when talking the Earth
students because Casper Van Dien of Starship about cosplaying, that while it’s fun for him, and
Below
Troopers was a celebrity guest on the roster at he’ll always love cosplaying, his true passion lies Odin is often thought
to be Norse, but was
in educating and growing us all to be makers of

”
worshiped by many
our own. Germanic peoples

When he realised there Left

Inspiration can come
were prizes to be won, from games

money to be won, he began

to get more creative with

”
his craft

Visioncon that year. After completion of the

workshop, the students were surprised with the
opportunity to do a photo shoot with Van Dien
wearing their costumes – Van Dien also wore a
special costume designed by Holt himself.

FINAL FORM?
Some of his present, much more evolved, fantastical
EVA foam cosplays now consist of Morphysses
from World of Warcraft, Wonder Woman, Odin, and

39
LENS
HACK MAKE BUILD
Uncover the technology that’s powering the future
CREATE

PG
42

58
PG

HALLOWEEN There’s one month

to go! Let’s build
HOW I MADE the spookiest
A SKULL October yet
SYNTHESIZER
What would you make
with a dead raccoon?
PG

PG
72
64 IMPROVISER’S
INTERVIEW: TOOLBOX:
THE VOLCANOLOGISTS SOCKS
We meet the people hacking Clear space in your drawers
Raspberry Pi cameras for science for a new season’s woolies
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

LOWEEN
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ways, an d ar e
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kn every sk stumes –
unities at m-built co then
are opport g e cu st o le ve l,
rin te d p arts, to hu e , b u d g et, and skill
or 3D-p fits your ti
m
cide what ’ll be
have to de lves, there
t m ak in g. ap p e ar s on the she ar te d,
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magazine r. If you’ve
When this utfit to g e th e u so m e
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42 days to e n e xt fe w pages w ill p la n n ing,
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42
 LENS

HA
HA
HA
HA HA HA
HA

43
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

THERE BE
T
LE
LIGHT ,BLINK , AND ILLUMINAT
GLOW R WAY TO THE PARTY
YOU
E

L
ights are an important part of the electronics behind the mask are the Adafruit HalloWing
Halloween festivities. The annual and NeoPixel LED strips. The mask shines with the
holiday can be traced back to the help of a flexible one-way mirror film that you can buy
ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, online. Erin also tells you how to make your own to
where people would light bonfires and help keep the costs down. The best thing about the
don costumes to ward off evil spirits project is that you can do it without any soldering. Erin
and ghosts. used a needle and thread to stitch the NeoPixels
Erin says you can Erin St. Blaine is a fashion and LED around the outer edge of the mask. The HalloWing
optionally add a small artist and has combined the two to create glowing adds another unique dimension to the mask, but you
cabochon over the
HalloWing’s screen mirror masks ([Link]/wWAOsh). The tutorial can skip it to simplify the build.
to give the animation covers two designs, but Erin says the technique can If you want a mask that’s a bit more sinister, Noe
some dimension
and shape be used on masks of any shape and size. The main Ruiz has just the thing for you. His sci-fi inspired
3D-printed gas mask ([Link]/YLpHdz) will surely
turn heads on Halloween. The project has three main
components: a mask, a respirator, and the goggles. As
you would have guessed, the respirator glows thanks
to a couple of NeoPixel LED rings that are wired to a
Gemma microcontroller. Noe recommends using
silicone-coated wires that are more flexible than
standard ones, and a good choice for all types of
wearables. The other components of the mask are
3D-printed, and if you use Noe’s design, you can just
snap the electronics in place. He’s also made some
changes to the standard costume goggles to match the
rest of the mask. Finally, an EL wire that’s strung
through the various components of the mask gives it a
more ominous appearance.
If a mask isn’t your thing, Nathan Dunbar has got
another type of headgear. He’s replicated the two
helmets worn by Daft Punk ([Link]/0UuwLM).

44
 LENS

If you only have

time to build one,
Nathan suggests
you replicate the
silver Thomas
helmet, which is
easier because
it doesn’t require
vacuum forming

A major part of the build involves crafting the helmets Costume designer Sarah James has another idea of Michael didn’t tuck
the components
using a combination of 3D printing, vacuum forming, lighting up the night. The key ingredient in her Light Up inside the glove,
and we feel this
and sanding. Nathan has covered this aspect in great Costume ([Link]/aazOsx) is electroluminescent adds another
detail, and also goes out of his way to explain the (EL) wire. She used green wires of different thickness; dimension of
wickedness to
principles behind the vacuum forming process and how a 4 mm thick wire for the body and a 2.2 mm thick wire the gauntlet
you can build your own vacuum former. for the gloves. In her Instructables, she shares her

H E
The two helmets are visualised differently and
therefore use different electronics. The silver Thomas
helmet with a scrolling marquee LED uses an Adafruit
HE’S RE PL IC AT ED T
Pro Trinket, and is controlled from a smartphone over

O H EL M ET S W OR N
TW
Bluetooth. The scrolling effect is created using four
MAX7219 dot-matrix modules linked together. The

BY DAFT PUNK
helmet also has LEDs around the ears and are
controlled by another Trinket. Similarly, the other gold
Guy helmet uses several LEDs controlled via the
Parallax Propeller microcontroller. The project is one of
the more difficult ones to replicate, but three people n t
s o us
ye are j
have already done so on Instructables. design process, which involved creating a mock-up ee
Th suit wls
o
with rope, before hand-sewing the EL wire. the ge b with
lar ered sin
RUN THE GAUNTLET If you want something more extravagant, y
la ar re them
cle give al
We aren’t sure if Michael Darby is a fan of French here’s an impressive colour-sensing n
to ditio h
electronic music, but by the time he came out of the chameleon costume ([Link]/PNGwHi). ad engt
str
theatre after watching Infinity War he knew he had to It was made with about 600 LEDs, and
make the Infinity Gauntlet ([Link]/Xxqf0N). Initially, required over two dozen lithium-ion battery
Michael just wanted the gauntlet to be an aesthetic packs. The suit has a colour sensor in one of
only project that you could wear on Halloween. But the hands. When it touches any coloured
then he decided to use the glove to wreak Thanos-like surface, an Arduino changes all the LEDs in the
havoc by eradicating half the artificial life he’d created suit to match that colour.
in an earlier project ([Link]/KCgJnh). The suit is fabricated with foam by Klay Jones
He started with a pretty standard Thanos Gauntlet who does this for a living (Partybot Designs).
that’s available in most costume shops, which he Besides detailed instructions, his Instructable has
then activated using an Arduino Pro Mini, some lots of useful information and advice for anyone
different coloured LEDs, a couple of buttons, and a interested in this fabricating foam. The project is a
bunch of other electronics. The finished product lights major undertaking, from constructing the suit to wiring
up just like the real thing, and unfortunately for the and powering the electronics. But one look at Klay’s
artificial life forms in his other project, does pretty videos of the finished product is enough to compel
much the same damage. anyone to put in the effort.

45
 Halloween Builds

FEATURE

UTOM ATIC
AMOVEMENTS E YO
U R OUTF IT WIGGLE,
HA MAK
POP,
SCROLL
, AND DANCE

HAA L
ights aren’t the only thing you can
use to dazzle a Halloween
evening. There’s nothing quite like
an unexpected movement to make
the hair stand on end. In that regard,
guess, he’s used the HalloWing as well. Instead of one
though, he’s used a couple that were first synced
together to mimic real eyes. Dano points to another
Adafruit tutorial ([Link]/CDQZqe) that shows you
how to wire up multiple boards. Just remember to

H
Adafruit’s aptly named HalloWing string the boards together with a long enough length of

HA
board is just the thing you need. wire to position them inside the eye sockets in your
Mark Stevenson has used one to mask. He complements the eyes with an LED on the
create an Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody costume for his nose. Follow Dano’s advice to make sure all the wires
son ([Link]/bgAaFm). A majority of his and electronics are secured properly to the mask, and
Instructable is about perfecting Alastor’s get-up by also kept away from your face.
creating the various elements of the costume, from If you really want to turn heads, follow ace costume
the duster coat to the wooden staff. To create designer Andrew, who’s an engineer by day and
the mad eye, he’s pointed to Adafruit’s Bionic
Eye tutorial ([Link]/PUCYUS) while
detailing what he did differently.
The HalloWing Following the tutorial, he 3D-printed the
enables you to
easily replace eyeball, socket, and motor mount for the eye
the deer eyes
used in this
and went one step ahead and 3D-printed
project with the goggles that he adapted from a model
something else
over at Thingiverse. He then sewed a
black elastic to the side of the goggles and
loosely sewed the wires along the inside
of the strap to make sure the wires don’t
hang, but also don’t restrict the elastic
from stretching. He then focussed on
making sure the contraption is comfortable
enough for his son to wear all night.
If you’re looking to add some thrills to
your Halloween costume, Dano Wall, the
Deputy Director of Manufacturing at Adafruit Andrew first
has just the thing. He’s taken a standard downloaded photos
of the Ninja and then
foam reindeer mask and turned it spooky scaled them for his
height using a formula
with animated eyes and a glowing nose that he’s shared in
([Link]/oiYcMp). As you can probably his Instructables

46
 LENS

cosplayer by night. His Raiden Cyborg Ninja costume

([Link]/uNeaHC) uses a motorised face shield that
looks awesome. The major part of his Instructable
focuses on fabricating and sculpting the costume from
EVA foam using patterns crafted from cardstock. He
created the face shield using two high-torque servos
and a Pololu Maestro Servo controller. The
microcontroller is programmed to move the two servos

THE BOOTS HAVE Anatoli even has a

INFRARED SENSORS
custom suitcase to
store his costume
that’s branded

THAT LIGHT THEM UP

with a Predator
icon and an
Instructables logo

simultaneously at the push of a button. He also created Jerome Kelty, a bicycle designer turned jeweller also
a sword and then wired some LEDs in the sheath loves creating elaborate costumes. One of his most
Jerome has
diffused with a blue Mylar folder to get the right effect. extravagant ones was put together when his friend created an
Andrew’s also created a Stealth Iron Man costume approached him to animate his fibreglass Iron Man MkIII animatronics
forum for makers
that has a mechanised helmet ([Link]/dysXIl). costume ([Link]/stqMPa). He decided to replicate to help each other
Again, the majority of his Instructable is about crafting as many functions of the suit as depicted in the movie. as they animate
their builds
the costume to perfection. Just like before, the helmet Jerome’s project uses an extremely large number
is powered by two servos glued to the back that are of electronics. For instance, in addition to 20 servos,
operated by the Pololu Maestro Servo controller. LEDs the suit uses four Arduino Pro Mini boards. There are
in the gloves, eyes, and chest piece complete the look. two on the hands, one on the helmet, and the fourth
on the boots. A couple of digital mini servos and XBee
The LEDs in the radios control the helmet. Two RFID tags in the left
eyes are wired
to a reed switch
glove trigger the helmet, hip pods, and back flaps.
that switches Similarly, the RFID tags in the right glove trigger the
them on and off,
depending on forearm missile and shoulder rockets. The boots have
whether the face infrared sensors that light them up and make
mask is open
or closed mechanical movement sounds when the boot is lifted
from the ground. Replicating the build is no easy task,
but Jerome’s Instructable has extremely detailed and
illustrated instructions.
Just like Jerome, Anatoli Arkhipenko also loves to
animate ready-made costumes. However, his choice
is sure to freak out everyone at a Halloween party.
That’s because Anatoli’s Predator costume doesn’t
only sound like one, but is complete with a head-
tracking plasma gun and laser sights as well
([Link]/Zlvkre). Anatoli has combined elements
of a ready-made costume with some 3D-printed
components such as the faceplate and gauntlets. The
motion, light, and sound effects are controlled by a Wii
Nunchuk controller, while a Teensy 3.5 microcontroller
is used for the head tracking. It took Anatoli over a year
to complete the build working only on the weekends,
but you can replicate his costume in a fraction of that
time thanks to his easy-to-follow instructions.

47
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

U D IO
AEFFECTS
E CR
ASH!
BANG
! WALLOP!

W
hat’s Halloween without an Adafruit Feather 32u4 Basic Proto microcontroller.
sounds? Scary or not, sounds It uses an accelerometer to trigger the sounds from
can make inanimate objects the Audio FX Mini Sound Board and make the
come to life. If you can’t afford NeoPixel Ring and Jewel light up. Assembling the
to invest the time it takes to electronics took him about an hour and a half, and
build Jerome’s or Andrew’s besides textual instructions, there’s also a video of
Iron Man Suit, how about just the process, which is easier to follow for the visually
the gauntlet? Richard inclined. Richard’s also shared a bunch of sounds for
Albritton’s superhero glove ([Link]/HYkZde) you to download into the Sound Board. Besides a
The mask has a rotary reacts to your movements and lights up and plays slide switch to power-up the glove, there’s also a
selector switch that
you can use to switch sounds accordingly. button to disable the motion control and the
to another sound effect The 3D-printed glove, which he’s sanded and associated sound effects to ensure your friendly wave
from the collection you’ve
uploaded to the mask painted over to camouflage its origins, is powered by to a friend doesn’t ‘blast’ away others.

WHAT ’S
HALLOWEEN
WITHOUT
MONSTERS?
The Audio FX Sound Board is a wonderful device to
give a voice to your wearables. Prolific maker John
Edgar Park has taken apart a talking Chewbacca Mask
to increase its audio repertoire ([Link]/JSmgNe).
The crux of his build involves replacing the mask’s
original sound-board that had limited audio capabilities
with an Audio FX Sound Board that can playback your
favourite sounds. He’s kept the mask’s existing
switches and speakers, and has complemented them

48
 LENS

WEARABLE CELL PHONE

Halloween isn’t only about scaring people, is it? Over the years, Halloween
The gauntlet can
be charged easily has become an outlet for a maker’s creativity and ingenuity. And maker
via the USB port extraordinaire Bryan Cera has the perfect wearable to impress everyone at
thanks to the built-
in charger on the the party: a fully functional mobile phone that you put on your hand like
a glove ([Link]/oOOwZR). Bryan says his project is “the literalisation of
Adafruit Feather

Sherry Turkle’s notion of technology as a ‘phantom limb’, in how we augment

with an amplifier, rechargeable batteries, and a power ourselves through an ambivalent reliance on it, as well as a celebration of the
switch, in addition to the Audio FX Sound Board. freedom we seek in our devices.”
A major part of the build involves tearing down the The first part of the build involves fabricating the custom glove. Instead
original electronics from the mask. Needless to say,
of using fabric, Bryan decided to 3D-print one to give the project a more
but the teardown instructions will only work with the
robotic look and feel. The next step involved ripping apart the Burg Watch
kind of mask that John is using, however, you can
Phone that has small tactile buttons that are well suited for the project. In
follow them in principal to get an idea of what’s
involved. The second part of the build process is where addition to the buttons, he also reused the battery, microphone, and speakers
you put together the new circuit, which involves from the phone. His Instructable has detailed instructions and videos of the
soldering the amplifiers and other components to the different parts of the build process.
Audio FX Sound Board, and is a lot more involved and
time-consuming. Again, there’s a video of the process
that’ll be easier to follow than the illustrated guide. collar is controlled via the Bluefruit LE app that sends
instructions to the collar over Bluetooth to trigger the
TALKING HEADS sound samples stored on the Audio FX Sound Board
Once you’re done vocalising Han Solo’s friend, you can and make your furry friend come to life.
do so with yours as well. The intrepid Becky Stern Talking of furry creatures, what’s Halloween without
uses the Audio FX Sound Board to build a talking dog monsters? Adafruit’s Creative Engineer, Phillip Burgess
collar ([Link]/gYoMwj). Her project uses the brings together two of his favourite things, electronics
Bluetooth-enabled Bluefruit LE microcontroller to play and Halloween, to bring a demon to life ([Link]/
sounds through a mono amp connected to a mini metal WSeiRW). The main aspect of the costume is the
speaker embedded in her dog’s collar. The build is monster mask, which combines a couple of Phillip’s
inspired by the talking golden retriever named Dug earlier tutorials.
from the movie Up, who vocalises his thoughts via a He starts by first using the Adafruit Wave Shield to Becky advises
special collar. create a voice changer ([Link]/BcigOE). He prototyping the
project on a solderless
Becky’s replica uses some 3D-printed bits that also mounts it inside a mask from a craft store that he had breadboard, which will be
conceal the speakers, a couple of LEDs, alkaline to modify significantly in order to wear it. Instead of of great help, especially
for inexperienced makers
batteries, and other electronics. Her video makes the following his lead, Phillip suggests you mount the like the feature’s author
process look easy and, once you’ve assembled all the voice changer inside a mask from a costume store
components, all it really requires is a good amount of that’s actually designed to be worn.
soldering longer wires. Once you’ve tested them, you The monster’s animated eyes ([Link]/mcPeaC)
can glue the bits to the circuit, and you’re done. The are another significant aspect of the
project. Instead of directly attaching the When you put
matrix backpacks to the mask, he mounts together the
mask, make
them on a flat acrylic plate that’s attached sure you follow
to the mask via elastic bands. Make sure Phillip’s advice
to help protect
you place the LEDs slightly above your eyes the electronics
from all the
to be able to see. The mask is camouflaged moisture and
under a see-through sheer perspiration
Bryan’s
Instructable fabric, and Phillip also
has a wealth of shares a couple of
information for
anyone interested ideas to hide
in hacking the speakers
electronics and
digital fabrication as well.
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

LT IM A TE
UACCESSORIES HA SCAR
S TO SPOOK,
PROPE, AND DELIGHT
HA
HA
HA

If you lack the

skills to build

H
your own,
Otto also sells
disassembled
ready-to-fly kits
alloween decorations are an for about £1500
important aspect of the
celebrations. With a little electronics
though you can take their spookiness
to unprecedented levels. Erin St.
Blaine has taken a leaf out of
Shakespeare’s Macbeth to create a
‘real’ eye of newt ([Link]/0YaIQG).
The project runs off the Teensy microcontroller,
which controls the OLED display breakout board. Erin
grabbed the images of the newt eyeball from the web
– she then photoshopped to her preferences. She’s
shared them, along with the code for the project and FLYING WITCH
detailed assembly instructions. The project uses a Not content with scaring only a room full of
people, Otto Dieffenbach instead terrorises the
photocell to make the pupils dilate in low light, which is
a nice touch. Erin’s also created a fabric case for the
You can use the Eye whole neighbourhood with his remote-controlled
prop, which hides all the electronics and displays the
flying witch ([Link]/eaUnW0).
of Newt as a creepy
prop, or add it to your eye through a cabochon. Before you set out,
Halloween costume to
raise the chills remember that the project might look easy but The flying witch is mainly made of Depron
involves a lot of soldering. foam pieces, along with some plywood. Otto
Sometimes projects come has cleverly incorporated the essential elements
about accidentally. It wasn’t of flight (lift and steering) in the design of the
until after John Thurmond had witch. For instance, the cape controls the lift,
bought an animatronic while the broom does the steering. The build
triceratops skull on impulse, uses an electric motor and a 10-inch propeller
did it occur to him that it for propulsion. As you can imagine, the build
is fairly complicated and involves a fair bit of
wasn’t particularly interesting.
John, who is a founder
woodworking, but it is well worth the effort.
member of the Guild of
Makers, then did what any
Make sure you follow the instructions to the
maker would do; he turned it letter, or else you’ll end up throwing away its
into a talking skull that greets centre of gravity. Otto has created more than one
people ([Link]/OLGWBz). flying witch, and besides detailed instructions, he
John ripped open the skull has also shared the changes and improvements he’s
and replaced most of its made to the build process.

50
 LENS

BODY BOARDS
If you’re reading this magazine, chances are you’ve dabbled with microcontrollers
Using an Echo Dot
to do interesting things. Wearable microcontrollers are specially designed to be
can be a security concealed in clothing and can be sewn into costumes. Many of them are also
washable, so you don’t have to remove them before chucking the costume in the
issue. Since we don’t
want random people
to talk to Alexa,
always remember to
washing machine.
mute its microphone The LilyPad Arduino was the first board that featured sew-through contacts
for stitching soft circuits. It’s still popular and currently available in several
internals with an Amazon Echo, an Arduino, and a versions and can be easily extended with sewable LEDs, sensors, and more.
speaker. He also placed an Adafruit Motor Shield inside LilyPad inspired the Adafruit FLORA, which has a lot more sewable modules.
If you don’t require too many swappable modules, SquareWear might have
the skull and connected it to the skull motor. The
contraption was programmed to turn the motor and
everything you need for your wearable project.
move the jaws of the skull. The whole animation,
audio, and jaw movement were triggered by the skull’s
Adafruit’s Gemma is another popular microcontroller that is ideal for tiny
original motion sensor. wearables that don’t require a lot of I/O. If you need more I/O without
compromising on the size, there’s the TinyLily Mini, which lacks some of the
MAKE THEM JUMP conveniences you get with other boards. There’s also the Teensy, which isn’t
On similar lines, the Haunted Jack in the Box designed for wearable as such but is popular for them because of its minuscule
([Link]/potCxt) also took shape as its maker size. Despite its size, this Arduino IDE-compatible microcontroller packs in quite
went about building it. Sean Hodgins tells us that he a punch. Several projects in our feature use the Adafruit HalloWing, which
knew what he wanted to build, but “just didn’t know was designed specifically for powering Halloween projects. It features a TFT
exactly how it was going to get there”. Sean used display, light and motion sensors, a speaker driver, and more so that you can
roll it into your Halloween costume or prop with ease.
his background in automotive technology and AI to
put a Raspberry Pi to good use and automatically
cranks the popular prop making it a lot scarier.
First, Sean 3D-printed a shell for the contraption. them, making them throw flames will definitely turn
He then paired a Raspberry Pi Camera Module to a heads. Markus Haack’s fire-breathing Jack-O-Lantern
Raspberry Pi 3 that runs a face-detection script to ([Link]/YfSczk) is IoT-enabled using MQTT.
fire up a servo motor that cranks the music box and Before you begin, please understand this build
fires up Jack. You can find the Python script, along is extremely dangerous because it deals with fire.
with the complete schematics for the project, in Please replicate this build after taking appropriate
Sean’s Instructables page. He warns us that anyone protections. We’d also like to repeat Markus’s
looking to replicate his build must be prepared to warning: make sure you place the pumpkin at a
deal with a lot of wires strewn about the toy. safe location to not harm any person or property.
From one Halloween staple to another. Jack-O- We’ll add our own warning: compressed flammable
Lanterns are the most common props you’ll find gasses and candles are a hazardous combination.
on Halloween, and while you can be creative with Take responsibility for your own safety and only Markus uses the
Homie project to add
work with them if you’re confident of the safety of MQTT support to his
your approach. build in order to make
the pumpkin spit fire
The project basically involves triggering a can of from a mobile phone
WD-40 to spray its contents across a burning candle
inside the pumpkin, which erupts outside giving the
impression that the pumpkin is throwing flames.
Needless to say, the first part of the project involves
building the flamethrower. Markus has built one atop
a wooden platform. The key element of the platform
Sean encourages is a servo-controlled piece of wire over the nozzle of
anyone who the WD-40 can. The servos, in turn, are triggered by
wants to replicate
his build to come PIR motion sensors that detect when someone is
up with some
different ‘scary’
approaching the prop. The project is simple to wire
sequences and is run via the minuscule ESP8266 board.

51
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

BEDDIN G
M
E
S
WIND OWS

E
TO THE

Y
(ELECTRONIC

EO
)
SOUL

n the front cover of this While this works, there are easier ways of
month’s HackSpace magazine, achieving this effect these days. You can get the
you’ll see one of our favourite effect out the box and ready to include in your
Halloween effects, Uncanny Halloween build using a HalloWing from $34.95 (for
Eyes. These are eyes displayed a single eye) or MONSTER M4SK $44.95 (for two
on small screens that can be eyes). The effect can be powered by Arm Cortex-
embedded in any projects and M0+ cores, (running 128×128 pixel displays) or more
casually look around, blink, and generally freak powerful M4 cores (running 240×240 pixel displays).
people out. It’s the quality of image that’s different between the
Although we’ve become accustomed to brilliantly two display resolutions, not the physical size.
realistic graphics in games, these graphics require Of course, while microcontrollers might still need
huge amounts of processing power to create. As all their processing might to generate eyes like this,
most people don’t want a dedicated graphics card
in their Halloween costume, we need a powerful
microcontroller and some clever code. You just
simply can’t get this level of processing on an
Arduino Uno or similar AVR board.

WE NEED A POWERFUL
MICROCONTROLLER
AND ... CODE
Powerful microcontrollers and coding tricks
necessary to make these eyes work came together
thanks to Phil Burgess (known to the Twitterverse
as PaintYourDragon), Creative Engineer at Adafruit,
You can get a
and the Teensy 3.1/3.2 microcontrollers. You can surprising range
still find the guide for doing this (from 2015) here: of emotions from
just 64 LEDs
[Link]/HjGMUs.
 LENS

HA
more general-purpose computers find it easier. The
Raspberry Pi has always had a powerful graphics
5-inch screens are widely available for quite
reasonable prices, and these can be used if you HA
HA
processing unit (GPU), so even the first version want a larger eye in your build.

HA
– which had limited processing power – could
achieve quite complex graphical processing. There is LOTS OF LEDS
still quite a bit of CPU processing to be done, so if Realistic eyes are a great effect on some projects,
you want to achieve this look with a Raspberry Pi, but they’re not the only option. Smallish LED
we’d recommend the Raspberry Pi 2 or greater. matrices, such as 8×8 grids, can produce eye effects
There are instructions here: [Link]/boepBv. At that while maybe not realistic, have a cyberpunk
the time of writing, these don’t work with Raspberry charm that’s right for more robotic projects.
Pi 4, but we have a pre-release version that does Of course, you don’t have to create your eyes
work on the latest hardware (and eagle-eyed readers using light; you can create a physical set of eyes and
will spot it on this month’s cover), and this should move them around. Careful use of ping-pong balls
make it through to the website soon. and servos can work, but the devil, as always, is in
One advantage of the Raspberry Pi version is that, the details, and mounting everything can be a bit
while it can use the TFT (or OLED) screens like the tricky. Fortunately, if you’ve got access to a 3D
microcontroller versions, it can also use HDMI printer, Thingiverse user jim2386 has done the hard
screens. This obviously includes monitors and TVs, work for you, and you can print out your very own That’s the eyes sorted,
but there’s also a wide selection of smallish HDMI set of animatronic eyes based on his designs at now you just need to
decorate the rest of
screens that are great for embedding. 3.5, 4, and [Link]/AGuRlL. your pumpkin

53
Halloween Builds

FEATURE

O U ND
SEFFECTS D SP OOK Y
U
, SCARY, AND
N DS TO YOUR PROPS
AD PY SO
EE
CR

T
here are countless ways of previously pre-programmed it to do something
adding sound effects to the different) you can download the code from
project, but one of our [Link]/UiCkAv. You can use this in the Arduino
favourites is using a Bare IDE (see here for how to set it up for the Touch
Conductive Touch Board. This Board: [Link]/bGGeqn).
is a great choice for two reasons. Once the code is uploaded, you’re ready to go.
Firstly, it’s incredibly easy, and There are three touch-sensitive pads down one
secondly, sounds can be triggered side of the board labelled E0 to E11. Each of these
with touch input, which makes it perfect for reactive triggers an MP3 file on the microSD card to be
sounds. This board is designed to work with played. E0 will trigger file TRACK000.mp3, E1 will
conductive ink – and it does this really well – trigger TRACK001.mp3, etc. All you have to do is
but it works equally well with anything conductive. create MP3 files with the sounds you want and load
The pads are large enough for crocodile clips. them onto the microSD card.
Your board should come pre-programmed with The Touch Board includes almost everything you
the Touch MP3 sketch, but if it doesn’t (or you’ve need for your sound effects, but it doesn’t have a
speaker. Any speaker that plugs into the headphone
Touch the port should work. You can get small portable
pad and
the sound speakers that are great for little sounds, or you can
is played
– audio
hook it up to a large hi-fi or PA system if you really
effects the want to shock people.
easy way
The other thing you’ll need is a way of triggering
the sounds. The pins are touch-sensitive, and this
transmits along wires, so if you attach a crocodile
clip to the pin, touching the other end of the wire
will trigger the sound. If you attach the other end of
that crocodile clip to something conductive, then
touching that will trigger the touch sensor. There’s
no easy way to calculate exactly how long this chain
of conductive things can be before it stops being
touch-sensitive, but the shorter the better. You might
need to turn the board off and on again after
attaching wires to recalibrate the touch sensors.

54
 LENS

The Adafruit Audio FX

Sound Boards are easy to
use, but require buttons
to trigger sounds rather

ALL YOU HA
than touch events

TO DO IS CREVE
You can make the final prop for the user to touch out
of anything conductive. Large-headed pins or nails
MP3 FILES ATE
are a good option, as is tinfoil (provided it doesn’t
need to be too rugged). Conductive thread or cloth
can make fabric touch-sensitive (but make sure it’s for you depends on how you want your effects
not against your skin as it’ll always be triggered). to work.
There are a few varieties of conductive paint and ink You don’t have to use hardware designed for
that also work. This is where you need to get sound effects. Many general-purpose
creative for the maximum effect. microcontrollers include the hardware necessary
for playing sounds, including the Circuit Playground
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES Express (CPX). There are details of how to do this
The Bare Conductive Touch Board is a fantastic here: [Link]/ZkJzbC. There’s a small built-in
tool for adding sound to projects, but at £53, it’s speaker on the CPX, but you can also attach an
not the cheapest option. Adafruit has a few external speaker with a bit of wiring.
options under the name Audio FX, and SparkFun At the very cheapest end of the spectrum, you
has a similar range under the name Soundie. They can get electronics designed for toys and greetings
have different options in terms of amount of cards from a direct-from-China website. For around
memory, method for connecting to speakers, and £1 you can usually find a module that plays
types of audio supported, so take a look through predefined sounds (set at the factory), whereas for
and see which one fits your needs from the around £2 to £3 you can usually get something that
diminutive Audio FX Mini Sound Board – WAV/OGG will play a pre-recorded sound (recorded via a
Trigger – 2MB Flash for $19.95 that will need an microphone connected to the board). The sound
additional amplifier to connect to speakers. Other quality is usually terrible (as you’ve probably heard
options include audio-out jacks, the ability to play on cheap toys and greetings cards), and they can be
MP3 files, and more memory. All of these, however, a bit tricky to get started, but if you’re on a tight
play audio on a trigger voltage and are not touch- budget – especially if you plan on making several
sensitive. This means that you’ll need buttons to objects with integrated sound effects – they can be
trigger the sound. Whether or not this will work worth investigating.

55
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How I Made: Rackety Raccoon Synthesizer

FEATURE

How I Made
RACKETY RACCOON
SYNTHESIZER
Combine the Mozzi library for Arduino and a dead animal to conjure magic

By Emily Velasco

I
t’s not every day I get to build a Ultimately, things didn’t work out between
synthesizer that doubles as a him and me, but the raccoon corpse stayed
cabinet of curiosities for a raccoon and over the course of nearly a year, I turned
skull, but then, it’s not every day I it from a slightly car-crunched dead animal
get gifted a raccoon carcass. into a set of clean, white bones I could
The roots for this project, use in my projects.
which I’m calling the Rackety
Raccoon Synthesizer, stretch THE SYNTHESIZER
back to last August when an ex Independently of my bone-
of mine showed up at my related ventures, I’ve recently
front door with a gleam in begun exploring Arduino-
his eye and a beaming based synthesizers.
smile on his face. He Usually, I prefer working
meant to get us back with analogue circuitry,
together, and he thought but a few months back,
his ticket back in was the I had a synthesizer project
enormous dead raccoon in mind that was better
he had brought me. suited to a digital solution.
After a bit of research,
I stumbled on the Mozzi
audio synthesis library for
Arduino, and I was
impressed. I’ve seen plenty of
Arduinos synthesize sounds
before, but they were always
simple, square-wave tones – the kind
you hear in 8-bit video games. By
comparison, the sounds coming out of an
Arduino running Mozzi were positively lush.
There were the expected bleeps and
Above bloops, but also warbling, vibrato, echoes,
Why make a box and tones that softly faded in and out. So
when you can
re-use one? I downloaded Mozzi and got to tinkering.

58
 LENS

Left
A bit of protoboard joins
the Arduino and amplifier

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Then I started to get myself in over my

Deciding where to start with Mozzi was my head when I decided it might be fun to build
first challenge because it can do so many a synthesizer that played back samples of
things, and the sketches that come raccoon sounds to go with the skull I
preloaded with it sound amazing right out harvested from the raccoon. In theory, this
of the box. There’s an eerie theremin should be easy with Mozzi because it comes
sketch, a sketch that varies tones based on with a pair of Python scripts that are
feedback from temperature and light supposed to do most of the heavy lifting for Above
The cigar box brings character as
sensors, and even a sketch that will play the user. One script compresses audio well as providing a secure enclosure
back short samples of recorded audio. samples so they’re small enough to fit into an
It was all very exciting to play with, but Arduino’s meagre flash memory. The other
my enthusiasm for writing my own Mozzi takes the samples and converts them into a
sketch soon found itself tempered by two format that can be played back by Mozzi.

I spent many hours sitting cross-legged on

the shag rug in my den, tweaking existing
sketches to see what results I could get
things: 1) I’m a terrible coder, and 2) The In practice, neither was easy to use. The
documentation for Mozzi leaves a lot to file conversion script kept spitting out an
be desired. error I didn’t understand, and it took me
Nonetheless, I spent many hours sitting several days and some insights from a friend
cross-legged on the shag rug in my den, to figure out that “too many initializers”
tweaking existing sketches to see what means “your audio file is too big.” The
results I could get. At one point, I had a compression script took me on an even more
sketch that varied the playback speed of a meandering path that first led me to try
sample with the turn of a potentiometer. At installing a series of Python libraries that the
another point, I had a sketch that modulated script needed. When those attempts were
a chorus of heavenly tones based on the unsuccessful, as they required a version of Above
position of a joystick. Python that was incompatible with my Pink LEDs, because why not?

59
How I Made: Rackety Raccoon Synthesizer

FEATURE

Right
Potentiometers
in position
ready to make
some noise

MacBook, I even went as far as reviving an adjustment for vibrato intensity and rate. I
old laptop as an Ubuntu machine so I would liked what I heard from the short video he
Mozzi have free rein over what I did with Python. included in his Instructable, so I downloaded
After a couple weeks of being lost in my the sketch and started gathering parts.
The Mozzi library is designed to let you
own personal Python hell, I shoved
create sound on Arduino boards that
don’t have digital-to-analogue converters everything aside and started over again. My THE AESTHETIC
(DACs). These can’t play true audio, but can original goal was to build a synthesizer, not a Since I knew for sure that I wanted the
approximate it using clever trickery and a box of raccoon sounds, and I had gotten synth to feature a skull, I let that drive
digital output pin. It requires minimal circuity, very off-track. I started looking around online some of my decisions about the design.
and you can get up and running quickly with for someone who had already built a Drawing from the cabinet of curiosities
just a board, a pair of headphones, and a
synthesizer using Mozzi, and I found a nice aesthetic, I went in search of a wooden
way of connecting the two. Find out more at
[Link]/Mozzi Instructable from user Dorahan, who built an enclosure. A really excellent source of
Arduino synthesizer with five small, wooden project boxes is cigar shops.
potentiometers for controlling pitch, vibrato Despite our living in a modern era where
intensity, vibrato rate, and the range of nearly everything comes encased in plastic
blister packs, cigars still often come in
wooden boxes of surprisingly high quality.
It used to be that you could get these
boxes from a cigar shop for free, but now
the shops usually charge a few bucks
apiece. Still, even at $5 a box, they’re a lot
cheaper than metal project enclosures, and
they add some old-school DIY electronics
classiness (think Apple I prototypes).

Left
The speaker mount

60
 LENS

Left
Clamping and
gluing the
supports for
the acrylic

For this project, I picked up a few cigar THE GUTS Unfortunately, I installed a copy of the buggy
boxes at a local tobacco shop, but then I The first thing I needed to do was assemble driver on my computer, and I lost a day of
stumbled across a stunner of a cigar box at the guts of the synth. I didn’t want to progress while fixing the problems it caused.
one of my favourite thrift shops. It was sacrifice an entire Arduino Nano to the After getting the driver issues sorted
clearly a few decades old, worn enough to project, so I opted to use a knock-off Nano, out, I slightly modified the Mozzi sketch I
have a lot of character, and it had a hinged which resulted in some complications down downloaded from Instructables and loaded
lid, which is rare in wooden cigar boxes. I the line. One of the things that drive the price it onto the knock-off Nano. Then I soldered
paid $2.50 for it. of an Arduino is the use of an FTDI chip for the Nano to a small piece of perfboard to
The other aesthetic give myself more room to
I was dead-set on with
this project was lighting
I didn’t want to sacrifice an entire wire things up. I selected
five of the analogue input
it with pink LEDs. Several
years ago, I saw a video
Arduino Nano to the project, pins (A0–A4) and wired
each to the wiper leg of
of a drone synthesizer
somewhere online. Its so I opted to use a knock-off Nano a potentiometer. Each
potentiometer was also
case was made of acrylic, connected to ground and
and it was lit internally by pink LEDs. I had USB-to-serial communications. The knock-off the 5 V pin of the Nano.
never seen pink LEDs before, and I marked Nanos cost less, in part because they use a I soldered the small amplifier to the
them down in my brain as something cheaper alternative, the CH340 chip. The perfboard as well, and then wired its input
to use in a project someday. I found a CH340 chip behaves in basically the same pin to digital pin 9 of the Nano, which is
hundred of them for $6 on Amazon and way as an FTDI chip, but with one crucial where Mozzi outputs audio. To power the
placed an order. disadvantage for me – Mac computers don’t amplifier, I connected its supply voltage pin
I rounded out my supplies for the project come with a CH340 driver. This should be a to Vin on the Nano, and then tied their
with a sheet of acrylic, some potentiometers simple fix: just download and install the grounds together. Hooking up a speaker
and knobs, a tiny mono amplifier that runs appropriate driver, but one must be careful: was as simple as sticking its leads into the
on 6–12 volts, and assorted bits from my there are versions of the CH340 driver screw terminals on the amplifier and
collection of junk, including a small speaker floating around the internet that have a bug tightening them down. I soldered a pair of
and a limit switch. that causes a kernel panic in Macs. the pink LEDs to current-limiting resistors

61
How I Made: Rackety Raccoon Synthesizer

FEATURE

Right
The electronics fitted snugly
in the side of the box

Below
The finished instrument

and long leads that connected to the positive fit inside the cigar box. This was one
and ground rails of the combined Nano- of the simpler parts of the build, just
amplifier board. requiring me to design the panel with CAD
All that was left was to supply the software and then cut it on a laser cutter.
combined parts with 9 volts to see if it all I gave it mounting holes for two of the
worked. I soldered a 9-volt battery connector potentiometers, and some cut-outs to allow

With the most tedious part – the electronics

– out of the way, it was time to really
have some fun
and a limit switch to the board, and plugged sound from the synthesizer to project out at
a battery in. the user.
Now, I’m not the most skilled person The panel was mounted inside the box by
when it comes to soldering, but in this case, way of stand-offs I fabricated from a piece of
I did everything right, and I had functioning scrap cherry I had in my workshop. After
synthesizer guts sitting on my workbench. cutting/sanding the stand-offs, I gave them a
coating of tung oil to condition the wood, and
FABRICATION then rubbed them with mahogany gel stain
With the most tedious part – the electronics to give them a similar colour as the
– out of the way, it was time to really have mahogany box. The stand-offs were daubed
some fun. with wood glue, and clamped into the
Since I wanted the raccoon skull to be corners of the box until the glue had set.
visible to the user, but protected from As much as I hated to modify the cigar box
damage, I fabricated an acrylic panel to because of its advanced age, I wasn’t going

62
 LENS

to be able to get away with leaving it in The pink LEDs were glued to the inside of
original condition. So, I compromised and the skull, so they would light it from within. Above
Candles are a
allowed myself to modify it, while trying to By the way, bones make gorgeous diffusers recommended extra
keep such modifications to a minimum. for LEDs. The skull got glued down on top of
That meant drilling holes for mounting the speaker, mostly hiding it.
potentiometers and other hardware was OK, To complete the synthesizer, I attached a
but cutting a big opening for the speaker was holder for a 9-volt battery to the inside of the
not. Instead, I chose to mount the speaker box and then attached the limit switch so
face-down to the bottom inside of the box. that when the lid of the box is shut, power to
This reduced the volume of the output, but it the synthesizer would be turned off.
also used the wood of the box as a resonator,
softening up some of the harsher sounds SO, UM, WHY? Animal Bones
from the synth. Again, this required some When I show this synthesizer off to someone
Some of the very earliest tools were made out
CAD work. I whipped up a design for a new, the first question out of their mouth is
of animal bones, and they’ve been a staple
speaker-mounting flange and 3D-printed it. usually, “Is that a real skull inside?” When I material for makers for millennia. It’s only
affirm that it is indeed a real skull, their next in the past hundred years or so that they’ve
OUR LOYAL FRIEND, HOT GLUE question is often, “Why?” started to be seen as an unusual material.
Now I had all the parts needed for final I can answer a lot of questions about my However, making anything with biological
assembly, which made liberal use of one of projects, but explaining why I made a materials carries hygiene risks that you need
to understand and mitigate. Working with
my favourite tools, the hot glue gun. The synthesizer with a roadkill raccoon skull
animal parts isn’t necessarily dangerous,
speaker and its flange were glued to the inside is not easily explained. The honest
but can be. Make sure you know what to do
bottom of the box, and the Nano-amplifier answer is I don’t really know. It just seemed before someone turns up on your doorstep
board got glued to one of the inside walls. like a cool thing to do, and now I’m probably with a dead raccoon.
I slipped three of the potentiometers the only person on the planet with a
through the holes I drilled in the walls of the pink-lighted, electronically screaming raccoon
box and secured them with their nuts. skull in a box.

63
The Volcanologists

e
INTERVIEW

h
T lc
HackSpace magazine meets…

The Volcanologists

o
Raspberry Pis go in where others fear to tread

V
S

lo
cience is, sad to say,
expensive. You need a ton of
gear, a lab, a travel budget…
and if the powers that be
decide you can’t have a
grant, you get no funding
and the research just doesn’t happen.
That is, unless you’re a maker – then you
can just build your own instruments.
We travelled to the University of
Sheffield’s Geography department
to find out how one small team of
volcanologists are using the tools you
have in your local makerspace to deepen
our understanding of planet Earth. With
3D-printed parts, self-taught Python
skills, and cheap Raspberry Pi kit, they’re
putting knowledge in the hands of local
communities and massively increasing
our understanding of what’s going on
under the Earth’s crust. Strap in for
some science…

Right
The Sheffield
volcanologists (from
left): Tom Pering,
Andrew McGonigle
Tom Wilkes,
Tehnuka Ilanko

64
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an o
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ogi 65
The Volcanologists

e
INTERVIEW

h
T lc
HackSpace You’re monitoring volcanic it. We couldn’t get the grant that we filter absorbs all the UV. What we did
activity, with a Raspberry Pi Camera asked for, so we decided that we’d make was we worked out – after a lot of trial
Module. How on earth does that work? one ourselves. and error – a way of getting that filter off
We would have thought you’d be taking We started looking at hacking the without killing the sensor.
samples of gases, or using a seismograph Raspberry Pi Camera Module, and it’s It just so happened that the Raspberry
to measure vibrations under the earth. surprisingly sensitive to UV, once you Pi version 1 camera had a sensor where
How does taking photographs help you take the Bayer layer off. There are certain we could, relatively easily, get it off. The
discover what’s going on in the centre of ways that you do that to make it as good version 2 cameras, we think we’ve done
a volcano? as possible, and it’s actually better than it with hydrofluoric acid, but that’s not
some systems you can buy for £10K. really ideal. For which reason, when the
Andrew McGonigle One of the main version 1 cameras were discontinued, we

o
components of volcanic gas release is Tom Wilkes I guess the idea came bought in 400 of them, which are sitting
sulphur dioxide [SO2], which absorbs from astronomy, but it’s actually just a in my office, so we’re future-proofed.
really strongly in the UV range at a smartphone sensor so it’s modified gear
wavelength of about 300 nanometres. The that’s actually just used for basically HS And what version of the Raspberry

V
gases come out of the top, so if you can anything you could think of. People use Pi are you using at the moment?
develop a UV imaging camera and point it for surveillance, wildlife studies, so it’s
it at the volcano, some pixels are going to just your bog-standard camera sensor AMcG We’re using Raspberry Pi 3 at the

lo
be darker, because of that absorption of that you’d find in a smartphone. What’s moment, because we need the built-in
the UV light. You can see that absorption, great about it is how cheap it is; that’s wireless capabilities. We connect from
and you can process that to work a laptop to the camera using the

”
out the amount of gas coming out wireless that’s built-in. We don’t
per second. need to move to Raspberry Pi 4; I
What you end up with is Using the don’t think this application needs
something that looks like the output Raspberry Pi [the extra power].
of a thermal camera, but showing Camera Module is
gases escaping, rather than heat. HS What was the eureka moment
Scientific-grade UV cameras are
actually better than that led you to build a camera?
really expensive. It was almost an some the systems
you can buy for £10K

”
accident that we started working TP It was just a random idea.
with Raspberry Pi technology, but a We needed the cameras, but we
good accident, in terms of costs. couldn’t afford them. I’d done
some work previously on low-cost
HS How expensive is ‘really expensive’? the main thing. Because so many people measurements; Tom came along and
use these cameras, they have such wide gave it a go, and it turned out to work
Tom Pering The UV cameras traditionally applications, they can be made for next really well. We tested it at Drax power
used in volcanology are meant for to nothing, and so that’s the advantage station [near Selby] to begin with, then
things like astronomy, and they’re of this. went to Etna to test it, alongside the
adapted for our purposes: that’s why You can use either type of Raspberry Pi commercial system.
they’re so expensive. The commercial Camera Module; once we remove the lens
systems that we used to use, and system, they’re exactly the same sensor TW We’ve got two versions: one in the
that our colleagues in Italy use, cost (the NoIR just has the near-infrared filter bigger box that uses a USB power pack
somewhere in the region of £10K to removed from the lens system). to power both Raspberry Pis, and there’s
£14K, that level. Using Raspberry Pi, we this one that runs off mobile phone
can make one for a couple of hundred AMcG The key issue is that we strip batteries. I had this running for six/seven
quid, which is absolutely amazing. Even the sensor down so that it can see hours off 3.7 V batteries. That’s another
the design and development stage, we ultraviolet light, and then we rebuild advantage that we don’t think about so
probably only spent four or five thousand the system with new lenses that are UV much: the fact that these things use a lot
pounds. We undercut the commercial transmissive. There’s a thing called the less power than expensive UV cameras.
system immediately. Bayer filter on the sensor that makes That’s really important when you’re
Part of the reason we started looking it see red, green, and blue pixels to get going somewhere as remote as Papua
into this is that we couldn’t buy the colour images, but for what we do, we New Guinea, where power’s an issue.
commercial system: we couldn’t afford need to see ultraviolet light, and that A 20 amp power bank will last all day.

66
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an o
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ogi
Right
This July, one of the
cameras was lost
during an explosion on
Stromboli, in Italy

67
The Volcanologists

e
INTERVIEW

h
T lc
Right
The cameras create a
wireless hotspot that
the accompanying
laptop connects
to – the team are
working on updating
the software so that
the cameras don’t
need a laptop in order
to operate

Vo
lo
68
 LENS

n o
AMcG It was an educated guess as well. TW The more detail you go into with
The architecture of the sensors has the cameras and the physics, the more

a
changed a lot in smartphones over the complicated retrievals of SO2 you can
last couple of years. get, but a lot of volcanologists know a lot
On a previous design, the front- about rocks, but don’t necessarily know

c sts
illuminated CMOS, you’d have the active a lot about gas measurements, so they
area, which detects incoming photons, want to be able to use this technique
then you’d have all the wiring at the top. without needing to know all this detailed
So the light gets blocked by all the wiring. theory. So the idea is that this can be
But the back-illuminated CMOS, which relatively simple.
was developed by NASA, all the wiring’s A lot of the commercial systems
on the back. That technology has only don’t come with code anyway, so people
been applied at the smartphone camera have got to write it. There are so many
level relatively recently. volcanologists groups writing their own
We knew that this would provide far code to do the same things. Recently a
greater possibilities in terms of getting paper released some Python code that’s
UV sensitivity. We knew that people had open source that can do all of this. My
done this sort of thing previously, but with thought is that it’s a great piece of code,
SLR cameras, removing the Bayer filter but the problem is it’s still not very useful

i
and getting UV because it still

”
sensitivity. To our doesn’t have a
knowledge, no- There are so many GUI attached.
one had tried it Maybe more
volcanologists

g
with smartphone commercial
cameras. But, groups writing systems assume
based on the their own too much
physics and the
code to do the knowledge

”
architecture from other

o
of the sensor, same things volcanologists,
we had an either in
idea that this computer
would be a sensible thing to try. And programming or in gas monitoring. We
if it didn’t work, it didn’t matter; we’d try to simplify everything so the end-
just spend a few hundred pounds user can point and click. SO2 absorbs UV
destroying sensors. at a certain wavelength. So we take two
Our end-user market is volcanologists images: one wavelength where the SO2
who live in parts of the world where there absorbs, then we do another wavelength
isn’t a whole lot of money, so part of the where it doesn’t, and we basically contrast
motivation is to develop low-cost gear. It them. We essentially divide one image by
wasn’t just a case of our wanting this for the other.
our research purposes; it was also a case
of making things accessible for others. HS Apart from Raspberry Pi hardware,
We’re now involved in a project where how else are you keeping the cost down?
we’re starting to get the bits of kit out into
the field to end-users. Tom’s just been in TW The lens caps and mountings are
northern Chile with guys who are using 3D-printed, it’s relatively simple, and
some of our gear. We’re hoping to set there’s Blu Tack used at the moment to
something up in Peru. help things fit together. This is graphite-
reinforced nylon, printed using selective
HS Can you give the equipment to people laser sintering. When I first tried, I did
in the field and have them start using try with typical fused filament, but found
it straight away, or does it take a bit that, because of the thread on it, I couldn’t
of training? print with the detail we needed. There’s

69
The Volcanologists

e
INTERVIEW

h
T lc
a bed of powder and a laser, and where
the laser hits, the powder solidifies. It’s
to an accuracy of something like 0.1 of
a millimetre.
The great thing about having a
3D-printed part is that we can make this
bespoke. We can change the filter as and
when we need to look for other gases.
And it makes good sense. We can
actually build scientific-grade instruments
using stuff that high-school students know

o
how to do. How cool is that?

Above Below AMcG The reason for using that approach

Sulphur dioxide concentrations show up in The kit comprises two Raspberry Pis, two camera
is that you can measure the gas release

V
real time on the captured images modules, 3D printed parts and a UV-transmissive lens
very quickly, at the frame rate of the
camera, once a second or so. And that
enables you to look at really quick

lo
processes going on in the volcano. So
the time resolution is really important –
you’re basically taking the volcano’s pulse.
Previous techniques could only measure
a few times a day, or a few times an
hour, so now we’re getting a much better
handle on what the volcano’s doing. The
reason for that is that volcanic activities
are driven by gas; the gas is pressurised,
and that causes explosions. Often those
gas release patterns change very quickly
depending on bubble bursts. That’s why
people got into cameras. Previously there
were spectroscopic techniques whereby, in
10 or 15 minutes, you could work out how
much gas was coming out. That’s a useful
workhorse in measuring gas release in
volcanoes across the world.
But if you want to understand
something like ‘how does an explosion
work’, an explosion on Stromboli would
last ten seconds. Taking a measurement
every ten minutes would be useless.
But the two techniques are quite
complementary. If you use spectroscopy
along with UV monitoring, you can get a
better calibration for your remote sensing.

HS Haven’t you also had interest in this

kit from NASA?

AMcG The whole business model of NASA

has changed. Rather than landing single
objects that cost a billion dollars, like an
Apollo lander, they’re now more interested

70
 LENS

n o
Left

a
On the right, the Raspberry Pi Camera module in its
natural state; on the left, the module with its lens and
Bayer filter removed to expose the sensor

c sts
sensors, in the visible range they’re really
sensitive, the quantum efficiency could
be 70–80%, which is incredible, but you’d
expect that efficiency to drop in the UV,
mostly because of all these filters, but the
quantum efficiency of the Raspberry Pi
version 1 camera at 310 nanometres is
in lower-cost units, but maybe sending the sensor module. With the project, 40%, so it’s absolutely unbelievable.
multiple rover units to the moon. They they’ve got to technology readiness level It’s comparable or better than some of
reached out to us to say that they had 4, so it’s already reasonably mature in the commercial systems. I’ve seen one
an application that requires a very low terms of where it’s got, and it’s passed a quoted at 8% at 310 nm. Which is why
weight UV sensitive detector; would you whole series of tests. But the amazing this has worked so well. There are other
like to partner with us? issues to do with noise as

”
We developed well. That is just absolutely

i
some sensors for The quantum efficiency of the amazing. It’s why it’s
them. With Raspberry worked. It shouldn’t have
Pi sensors, they’ve
Raspberry Pi camera version 1 worked, but it did.
developed prototypes for is absolutely unbelievable – it’s
comparable or better than some

g
spectrometers to go to HS What’s next?

”
the moon.
There’s a limit to what
of the commercial systems TP We’ve bought in some
I can reveal, but the stuff from Pimoroni. The
whole unit that they’ve Enviro+ has all sorts of

o
built is about 150 × 100 × 100 mm in size, thing about it is that NASA asked us to interesting applications. There’s a mini
and it’s got to come in under 60 grams, look at the quantum efficiency of the gas sensor on it, which I’m not sure will
so it needs to be really lightweight. I sensor. If you get 100 photons falling be useful for us, but the thing that will be
suspect it isn’t 3D-printed, like ours. on the detector, how many electrons useful is that particulate matter sensor
But our contribution has been to deliver are generated? With these kinds of that you can add on to it. That’s looking
at the size of particles in air pollution, but
I don’t see any reason why we can’t use it
to detect ash particles on a drone flying
through a plume.
A lot of work I’ve been doing recently
has been on using mini cameras, flying
through gas plumes at the same time
with mini gas samplers.
The other massive advantage of all
this, from a volcano perspective, is that
things get blown up. Just this summer
there was an explosion and loads
of kit got wiped out. If that kit costs
thousands of dollars less to replace, it
just makes sense.

Left
Tom’s written a GUI for the software, so you don’t
need to be an expert in Python programming on
Linux filesystems to study volcanoes

71
Improviser’s Toolbox: Socks

FEATURE

SOCKS
Don’t work your socks off. Instead, take them off
and put them to creative uses

T
Mayank Sharma
hey might seem like a modern-day from Nottingham, invented
@geekybodhi invention, but socks are one of the knitting loom in 1589. He
the oldest types of clothing that was, however, denied a patent by
Mayank is a Padawan
are still in vogue. In fact, you can Queen Elizabeth I, who wasn’t impressed
maker with an
irrational fear of drills. use them as a barometer to track with the quality of the knit. That’s when
He likes to replicate the changing fashion and taste France’s King Henry IV came to the
electronic builds,
and gets a kick out through history. Like many man-made marvels that reverend’s rescue and decided to fund
of hacking everyday have survived through the ages, the secret behind his venture, only after Lee moved
objects creatively. the timeless existence of one of the simplest pieces the manufacturing unit to France.
of clothing lies in how it
serves our need for both
fashion and function. Many “ The earliest instance of a knitted
historians believe that
pair was discovered in a tomb in Egypt
dating back to 1000 CE“
even the early cavemen
covered their feet in
the same fashion as
we do today, albeit with
a rudimentary version of the modern-day pair of By the time the Industrial Revolution took over
socks. For a long time and across civilisations, the the manufacturing process, socks became easier
socks were some sort of leather fashioned from an and cheaper to manufacture, which made them
animal’s skin, tied around the ankles to hold them accessible all over Europe. Through the ages, the
in place. The earliest instance of a knitted pair was sock took on many different lengths and patterns,
discovered in a tomb in Egypt dating back to 1000 influenced primarily by the prevalent fabric of choice.
CE. In a major fashion faux pas, historians say that Cotton became the favourite in the 17th century, and
it was very likely these knits were paired with the continued for several hundred years. The next major
popular footwear of the era: sandals. milestone in the evolution of the sock came with
For a long time, stockings were a privilege the advent of nylon in the 20th century. Nylon gave
of the rich and the affluent. Knitted and them much needed elasticity, and quickly became
woven socks became a status symbol of a hit with the masses. The palette of fabrics and
the nobility throughout much of Europe, designs have increased manifold since.
and their manufacturing process was Although they are designed to be worn on the
a closely guarded secret. That was lower limbs, these ingenious makers can’t wait to
until William Lee, an English reverend get their hands on them.

72
 LENS

SOCK
DOLLS
O ne of the most popular uses for old
socks is to convert them into soft
toys. The process isn’t expensive; all
it essentially requires is an odd sock
Project Maker
Lee Wai Han
Project Link
[Link]/JZlONo
and some skills with thread and
needles. Singapore-based artist Lee Wai Han is
very passionate about transforming socks into
cute dolls. She has been doing it for a long time,
and has an impressive portfolio over at DeviantArt
([Link]/REtshT). She created the owls with an
ankle-length sock that she first turned inside out,
“ She created the owls
before sewing it close to the top and snipping away with ankle-length
the rest. She then snipped the toes and filled the sock socks that she first
with cotton, while shaping it and then sewed it shut.
This created the basic head of the owl, and she glued
turned inside out “
eyes, nose, and a mouth
to complete the look.
While the exact steps for
creating the dolls vary,
the general principle
remains the same. Also,
you can create the dolls
with any socks, but
by carefully selecting
the socks, Lee is able
to use the patterns on
them to accentuate the
design of the doll. You
can obviously use a plain
white one and just glue
Right or sew on the elements
Here’s another tutorial
([Link]/CEQERC) once the basic structure
where Lee uses lace
on the socks to fashion
of the doll’s head
a dress for the bride is ready.

73
Improviser’s Toolbox: Socks

FEATURE

UPCYCLE
OLD SOCKS
W
Project Maker hen you’re done making sock identifier. She calls it the coasty sock, and it’ll again
Corina Yen puppets, follow Corina Yen’s lead need some sewing before it can be used as such.
and turn old socks into something The leftover bit is put to use as a key chain pouch
Project Link more useful. In her Instructable, that insulates the keys from scratching the phone,
[Link]/fbiUNt
she shows you how to repurpose a or anything else in your pocket or wallet. Corina has
single sock into three useful products. The first is illustrated the process for crafting all three products,
a wristband with a pocket that she calls the sporty including the sewing bits that can be done without a
sock. It is made from the elastic top and half of sewing machine, which makes this build accessible
the sole portion of the sock. You can use it as an to everyone.
exercising accessory to secure your keys and other
useful knick-knacks. Follow Corina’s Instructable to
sew the pocket that’s cut from the sole portion to
“ You can use it as an
the tubular top. The heel portion of the sock, which exercising accessory to
still has some of the elastic bit from the sock’s
tube, is refashioned as a pull-on coaster or a cup
secure your keys “

Right
As if snipping one
sock into three
different products
wasn’t enough, Corina
used the leftovers
to create a small
hand puppet

74
 LENS

PHONE CASE
W
Project Maker hen Kerry, a self-professed fan
Kerry Michelle of Pac-Man, was gifted a pair of
Pac-Man socks, she couldn’t bear
Project Link the thought of wearing them as
[Link]/fksskQ
such. She had been saving them
for a creative useful hack for sometime, when she
decided to use them to create a cover for her new
mobile phone. Like all the other builds, this one
will require a bit of needlework as well. Kerry first
measured her phone against the sock. She then
stitched the sock as per the phone’s length, and then
snipped away the remaining unwanted portion of the
sock, saving it for another future hack. Replicating
Right Kerry’s hack isn’t time-consuming and only requires
Although she only had a simple stitch. You can enhance your sock phone
to stitch one side of the
sock, you might have to case further by adding a couple of buttons to
stitch the sides as well, to keep the cords for the earphones neatly organised
make sure your phone is
a snug fit ([Link]/wwwYVz).

HEAT PACK SOCKS

D
o you have poor circulation in your
feet and are your toes always freezing?
Project Maker As a mum and an adventurer, Juanita
Juanita understands our predicament and the
need to keep our feet warm. Her hack
Project Link repurposes two pairs of old unused socks into one
[Link]/IFYVpY
pair of insulated socks that’ll do a lot of good on cold
rainy nights. First, turn one pair of socks inside out and
wear them. Then wear the other pair over them the
right way out, so that the inside of both the pair on
either leg are facing each other. Then refer to Juanita’s
Instructable and use chalk to draw lines on the sock,
around the base of the foot and running up. Then,
remove the sock carefully and use a backstitch to stitch
along the lines. When you’re done, you’ll end up with a
Right
Unlike the other hacks, series of pockets in the socks. Fill these with rice and
this one requires a fair stitch some more, and you’re done. Now, microwave
bit of stitching to create
the pockets the socks for 30 seconds, and put them on.

75
3 ISSUES from £5
on a quarterly subscription

Visit: [Link]/345
FORGE
HACK MAKE BUILD CREATE
Improve your skills, learn something new, or just have fun
tinkering – we hope you enjoy these hand-picked projects

PG

84
ARTISTIC PG
78
PCBs
Use Inkscape to create art
for KiCad PCB designs SCHOOL OF
90
PG

MAKING
LEARN Start your journey to craftsmanship
with these essential skills
TO BRAZE 78 If This Then That
Use fire to join bits
of metal together 82 At a Glance: 3D printers
PG

96 PG

ELECTRONIC 102
NAILS COSPLAY WINGS
Embedded electronics Add movement and flair to your
on your hands outfit with pop-out wings

PG
PG

100 108
HACK SERVOS SERIAL
Convert these cheap devices Communicate with your devices
into continuous motors the old-fashioned way
Send data with If This Then That

SCHOOL OF MAKING

Send data with

If This Then That
Control almost anything with CircuitPython

I
f This Then That (IFTTT) is a really simple If you’re using commercial devices and services,
bit of glue that lets you link a condition such as smart bulbs, weather forecasts, and smart
with an action, both of which are taken hubs, you can do everything without having to touch
from web services. All IFTTT applets are in a line of code, but you can also use IFTTT with your
the format If ‘condition’ then ‘action’. This own devices. There’s a service called Maker
simple form is surprisingly powerful because Webhooks that lets you send data into the service
Ben Everard it’s linked to a huge number of internet services and by firing it at a URL. We’ve created a simple wrapper
web-connected devices. The sheer range of services library that lets you send data to this using
@ben_everard that can link together, and the fact that everything CircuitPython. Let’s take a look at how to do this.
can be configured by clicking on things in a website, There are three parts to this project: the input,
Ben loves cutting stuff,
any stuff. There’s no
make it a great platform for basic Internet of Things which will be our CircuitPython device (you can use
longer a shelf to store devices and experiments. any device that has WiFi), the IFTTT applet that
these tools on (it’s now
two shelves), and the
door’s in danger.

Right
Webhooks let you
trigger IFTTT applets
from any device with
an internet connection

78
 FORGE

Right
It’s well worth
searching through
the different services
to IFTTT, as there are
many that you might
not suspect, and
there are some great
examples to whet
your appetite

SENDING EVENTS
We’ve used the IFTTT library in this tutorial to make
it easy to send events via webhooks, but it’s actually
fairly easy to send webhooks directly. To understand
what we’re doing, you need to understand that there
are different types of requests that you can send
to a web server. Probably the two most popular
are GET and POST. The former is what you send
when requesting a normal webpage; the latter is
usually what happens when submitting a form on a
webpage. We can use either in our webhooks, but
in order to send data, we have to use a POST.

shunts the data to the right place, and the output.

We’ll use the IFTTT app on a phone as the output –
this lets us send notifications to our phone from a
web-connected CircuitPython device.

GETTING INPUT
Let’s start at the beginning of our data flow – the
CircuitPython device that will send the data to IFTTT.
We’ll detect this based on a touch – press the
touchscreen, and it will send data to IFTTT. This could
easily be used to create a notifier where people can tap
a button on a touchpad to get your attention. It could
also be used with other sensors to alert you to a
particular condition, such as using a soil moisture
sensor to let you know when your plants are running
updated”)
dry. The important bit in all of this is the link to your
[Link](10)
phone via IFTTT, so let’s focus on that.
The main loop that does the work is as follows: This requires a few bits set up in order to work. The
ts object is the touch sensor for the screen – it’s set
while True:
up with the following line:
p=ts.touch_point
Above
if p: ts = adafruit_touchscreen.Touchscreen(board.TOUCH_ You can link lots of
print(“touched”) XL, board.TOUCH_XR, different events to
the phone app, so it
ifttt.send_message(wifi, secrets, board.TOUCH_YD, board.TOUCH_YU, makes a great
“circuitpylink”, debug=True, value1=”touchy touchy source for all
your notifications

79
Send data with If This Then That

SCHOOL OF MAKING

”
it needs to include your WiFi SSID, WiFi password,
You can have as many different event types and IFTTT key (more on this later). You’ll need a file
as you like associated with your account, each on your CircuitPython device called [Link] that

”
contains the data structure in the following form:
triggering a different applet
secrets = {
‘ssid’ : ‘XXX’,
‘password’ : ‘XXX’,
calibration=((7000,59000),(8700,55000)),
‘ifttt_key’ : ‘XXX’
size=(320,240))
}

The WiFi object is an adafruit_esp32_wifimanager You can bring this into your main [Link] program
object that’s created with the following: with the following code:

esp32_cs = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_CS) try:

esp32_ready = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_BUSY) from secrets import secrets
esp32_reset = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_RESET) except ImportError:
spi = [Link]([Link], [Link], board. print(“WiFi secrets are kept in [Link],
MISO) please add them there!”)
raise
esp = adafruit_esp32spi.ESP_SPIcontrol(spi,
You can see how this all comes together as
esp32_cs, esp32_ready, esp32_reset)
this is the example on the IFTTT library here:
[Link]/XzdCAs.
status_light = [Link]([Link],
You’ll also need to include the MPY file for the
1, brightness=0.2)
IFTTT module. You can download this from
wifi = adafruit_esp32spi_wifimanager.ESPSPI_
[Link]/lFqTxx. Make sure you get the version
WiFiManager(esp, secrets, status_light)
that matches the version of CircuitPython you have.
Finally, secrets is a dictionary containing things Unzip the file and copy the MPY file to the libs
that you don’t want to share publicly. In this case, directory on your board.

80
 FORGE

WEB OF THINGS Notification From the IFTTT App’. Here you can enter
We’re almost there with the CircuitPython board, so the text that you want to appear in your notification.
let’s turn our attention to the setup on IFTTT. First, go As well as plain text, you can add ‘ingredients’ which
to [Link] and create a free account. are tags that will be replaced by data that’s sent. IFTTT
Scripts in IFTTT are known as applets. You can lets you send three values names: Value1, Value2, and
create many of them in your account and have them Value3 – we’ll only use the first.
running concurrently. To create a new applet, click on The message for our notification is then:
your profile in the top-right, then select Create. In the
Message from CircuitPython: “{{Value1}}”
new screen, you should see, in big letters, If This Then
That. Clicking on ‘This’ will let you select the action that That’s the glue for our system completed. The only
you want to trigger your applet. Select ‘Webhooks’ and thing left is the final part – we need to set up our
then ‘Receive a web request’. Web requests are phone to receive and display the notification.
‘events’ in IFTTT lingo. You can have as many different Fortunately, this is easy. Just install IFTTT from your
event types as you like associated with your account, phone’s app store and log into it.
each triggering a different applet. However, so that
IFTTT can tell which is which, each needs a name. KEYS TO SUCCESS
We called ours ‘circuitpylink’ (you might recognise this We’re almost all the way there now. The only thing left
from the code above), however, you can use any text is the IFTTT key that we need in order to authenticate
string you like (we had difficulties with strings with our requests. This lives in the [Link] file. We’ve
spaces in, so we’d recommend avoiding these). left it until now because we need to get it from the
You should then be taken back to the If This Then IFTTT app. We don’t know why you have to get it from
That screen, and you can click on ‘That’ to select the the app rather than the webpage – it’s possible that
action to perform. Select Notifications, then ‘Send a this is a bug and will change by the time you read this
as the online help suggests that you should be able to
get it from the webpage.
OTHER IFTTT INPUTS Go into the app and select Webhooks, then click on
AND OUTPUTS the cog in the top left. You should see your account
There are other ways of getting data into an IFTTT applet. info here which includes a user_url which will be in the
You can scroll through the huge list when you press the format: [Link]/use/<thisisyourkey>.
‘Plus’ button, but here are a few of our favourites:

” After a few seconds, you

Adafruit – this links your IFTTT applet to an [Link]
feed. This way, you can feed data into your trigger while
still retaining a copy to use elsewhere. should see a notification

”
Button Widget – this works the opposite way to our appear on your phone
applet, in that data goes from the IFTTT app to where
ever you want it to.

GitHub – start applets when events happen to your Copy the text that’s in the place of <thisisyourkey> into
source code. the appropriate place in your [Link] file. Every time
Twitter – tweet your applets into life. you make changes to your webhooks setup, your key
changes, so if you stop getting messages through, it’s
You can also send data to a wide variety of sources worth checking that your key hasn’t changed.
including: Once that’s in place, everything is set up. Touch the
screen of your PyPortal (or do whatever you’ve set up
Android SMS – this uses your phone to text details to
whoever you like. It uses your SMS plan, so this may
to trigger the message), and after a few seconds, you
cost you money, and it’ll only work if your phone has should see a notification appear on your phone. If it
an internet connection. doesn’t, check that both devices have internet access,
and the IFTTT key is correct.
Email – send a message to anywhere in the world.
While we’ve covered a very trivial use in this article,
littleBits – control your littleBits hardware. this method of sending data to IFTTT from
Google Sheets – save your data in an online CircuitPython devices gives you a powerful way of
spreadsheet. linking builds together across the internet and
monitoring them in real time.

81
At a glance: 3D printing

SCHOOL OF MAKING

CONTROL SYSTEM
Your printer needs something to tell it what to do.
Usually, these take files in G-code format and convert
them into the physical movements of the motors. Some

At a glance:
printers require you to transfer your files over on an SD
card, while some let you plug your computer in via USB.
Note that some printers may need to be connected to a
computer for the entire time of the print.

3D printing
Find out what makes up a desktop fabricator

F
used filament fabrication or FFF,
(sometimes called under the
trademarked term Fused Deposition
Modelling or FDM), is the most
common form of 3D printing. It can
work in a few ways, but by far the most
Ben Everard common is a printer taking a filament of plastic,
heating it until it’s soft, and placing it on a print bed,
@ben_everard building up an object layer by layer. FFF printers
differ a bit in their exact setup, but they all have the
Ben loves cutting stuff,
any stuff. There’s no
same basic parts. Let’s take a look at what they are.
longer a shelf to store
these tools on (it’s now
two shelves), and the
door’s in danger.
STEPPER MOTORS
The extruder is positioned by three sets of stepper
motors – in the X, Y, and Z axes. On some printers,
the extruder is moved while the print bed stays still,
in others the print bed may move in one or more axis.
Some printers have more unusual set-ups of motors.
The gearing and model of the motors affect both the
speed and accuracy of the printer.

FANS
Molten plastic comes out of the extruder in the
correct place, but if it stays molten, it won’t stay in
the right place for long. Fans help the plastic cool and
solidify quickly, which helps you print in finer detail. It
might sound like this is the exact opposite of what we
said about a heated print bed, but actually, they’re
both part of the same thing – controlling the cooling
process. The more control you have over it, the better
your 3D printing experience will be. Some people go
even further, and put their printers in heated boxes
where they can control the air temperature around
the prints, but this is only needed for exotic filaments.

82
 FORGE

FRAME FILAMENT
Everything is held together in a frame. There are This is the material that your printer makes objects
many materials this can be made from, but the from. The most important thing is to make sure that
rigidity of the frame is critical to the accuracy of the your printer is compatible with the filament, and the
printing. The stiffer the frame, the more accurately most important points here are the temperature your
you’ll be able to print. printer can achieve, and the diameter of filament
your printer can accept.
There’s a dizzying array of filaments available, and
they vary in terms of colour, strength, flexibility, and
look. Most printing filament is made of polylactic acid
(PLA) a bioplastic that’s fairly easy to work with. One
problem with PLA (and some other filaments such
as ABS) is that it absorbs moisture from the air, and
this causes problems when printing, so it needs to be
stored in as dry a place as possible.

PRINT BED
This is the bit that is printed on. While it may sound
basic, there are a few things to consider. Firstly,
the print bed has to be exactly level. Each layer of
print is only a fraction of a millimetre thick, so if the
print bed is off by even a tiny amount, it can cause
problems with the print. Some printers require you
to level it manually (such as using screw adjusters),
while others have auto-levelling.
You print hot plastic and then it cools to solidify.
If you print hot plastic directly onto a cold print
bed, this can cause problems like warping. Having
a heated print bed gives you more control over the
cooling process, and results in better prints.

EXTRUDER
There are three basic parts to an extruder – the
motor that pulls in the filament, the heater that melts
it, and the nozzle through which it’s pushed into the
printer. All three functions are critical. If the motor
can’t grip the filament properly, it can slip, and this
causes print problems. The heater has to be held REEL HOLDER
at the right temperature for the material being used
(different filament types need different temperatures, You get filament in reels, and this needs to feed
and not all printers can get hot enough for all freely into the printer. Many printers ship without reel
filament types). Nozzles can wear out, particularly if holders, and printing your own holder is a common
you use one of the more abrasive filaments. first project for 3D printer owners.

83
Make artistic KiCad PCBs with Inkscape

TUTORIAL

Make artistic KiCad

PCBs with Inkscape
Use svg2shenzhen to give your circuits a little more style

T
here are some amazing art PCB To get started, we need to navigate to the amazing
projects out in the world, and badgeek’s GitHub repository for svg2shenzhen here
approaches to making non-standard – [Link]/BQpUAJ. Click the green ‘Clone or
shaped PCBs have varied and download’ button in the upper right-hand corner, and
often been complex. Svg2shenzen then select ‘Download ZIP’. Once it’s downloaded,
is an Inkscape extension that allows open Inkscape and double-check where your user
Jo Hinchliffe Inkscape to draw directly on KiCad equivalent layers extensions are installed. Do this by clicking Edit >
and export these from Inkscape as KiCad projects. Preferences > System and then note the location of
@concreted0g These projects can either be sent directly to ‘User extensions’ (Figure 2).
manufacture, or can be tweaked and added to using Close Inkscape and then unzip the downloaded
Jo is a contributor the usual KiCad workflow. This enables PCBs to be svg2shenzhen zip file to the location you found
to the Libre Space
Foundation, and is created that couldn’t be made using KiCad alone. in the previous step. When you reopen Inkscape,
passionate about all
things DIY space. He
loves designing and
scratch-building both
model and high-power
rockets, and releases
the designs and
components as open
source. He also has
a shed full of lathes,
milling machines, and
CNC kit!

QUICK TIP
After installing Figure 1
The completed PCBs,
libraries, it’s a good
made using a combination
idea to close and of Inkscape, svg2shenzen,
restart the and KiCad
Arduino IDE.

84
 FORGE

Figure 2 SEND DIRECT

Using the Inkscape preferences menu
to locate where to install extensions In this tutorial, we are going to export the design from Inkscape using svg2shenzhen,
and then further manipulate the design using the KiCad regular workflow. However,
svg2shenzhen is also designed to be able to create complete art PCBs in KiCad that
could be sent directly to manufacture. The authors of svg2shenzhen use PCBWay and
even have an option in the export dialog box to open the PCBWay website after export.
PCBWay needs you to upload separate Gerber files from KiCad for manufacture. Later
in this tutorial, we will use OSH Park to order PCBs, as the site directly takes the KiCad
‘PCBnew’ file and doesn’t require Gerber files to be generated. It also has the benefit of
providing in-browser renders of the layers of the board, which is useful for double-
checking your design.

you should find that, if you select ‘Extensions’, and traces to the front copper layer in the standard
svg2shenzen will appear in the drop-down menu. KiCad workflow, so we decided to add the more YOU’LL NEED
Hovering over svg2shenzhen in the drop-down decorative items to the back copper layer of the
A laptop
menu should reveal the extension has three board. Before we add some decoration, let’s looks
with KiCad
options: ‘Help’, ‘Prepare document’, and ‘Export to at how the mask layers work. Currently, the mask and Inkscape
KiCad’. Click the ‘Prepare document’ option. You layers are set to ‘disabled’. To enable them, simply installed
should see a dialog box in which you can set the select the layer and rename the layer by removing Some familiarity
size of the document. It’s not critical, apart from the ‘-disabled’ text. For example, the back mask with basic use
it needs to be big enough to contain your desired layer would change from ‘[Link]-disabled’ to of Inkscape
design; input a size and then click ‘Apply’. Close ‘[Link]’. This actually (due to the nature of PCB
the dialog box. fabrication) sets the mask layer to not appear where
If you now open the layers window, either by you draw a black item. In this configuration, you
clicking Layer > Layers or with the CTRL+SHIFT+L have to manually draw where you want mask to not
keyboard shortcut, you can see that the Inkscape appear. Changing the mask layer name to ‘[Link]-
document has now been set up with numerous invert’ sets this layer so that what you draw is where
layers that match some of the physical layers of a you get mask on the PCB, but for the rocket project,
PCB, named as they are we found the simplest

”
labelled in KiCad. solution was to change
Let’s begin by drawing Once you have made an the mask layer to
on the ‘Edge Cuts’ layer outline shape of your PCB, you [Link]-auto. In auto
– this is the layer into mode, when you
might next want to add some

”
which we draw the edges add an object to the
of the PCB. Within KiCad details, shapes, and lines corresponding copper
we are limited to arcs/ layer ([Link] in this
circles and straight lines, case), it automatically
whereas in svg2shenzhen we have no limitations to removes the mask in that area, allowing the object
the geometries we can draw. To draw the outline of you have drawn to be seen through the removed
the rocket PCB (Figure 1), we used the Bézier tool mask as copper.
and some common path tools in Inkscape, including
Union and Divide. A rule for edge cuts created with LET’S GET MASKED!
svg2shenzhen is that they must be a single path that Having set the [Link] layer to auto-select the [Link]
is completely connected. It’s easy when drawing (Back Copper Layer) and draw our items onto this
perhaps with multiple tools in Inkscape to create layer, we add the copper rounded triangular sections QUICK TIP
an outline that has a couple of unconnected nodes, seen on the rocket (Figure 1), and it automatically Whilst on the
making it incomplete. adds these shapes onto the mask layer to allow svg2shenzhen
Once you have made an outline shape of your them to be revealed through the solder mask. This GitHub repository,
check out the
PCB, you might next want to add some details, means that if you want to disable the visibility of
images of amazing
shapes, and lines that will appear as exposed copper the [Link] layer in Inkscape (we will do so later when designs made in
when the board is manufactured. For the rocket we want to place an object on the other side of the svg2shenzhen
PCBs, we wanted to also add some components PCB), you will need to close both the [Link]-auto for inspiration.

85
Make artistic KiCad PCBs with Inkscape

TUTORIAL

QUICK TIP and [Link] layer visibility ‘eye’ icons to make the Inkscape due to the placement of items on the [Link]
shapes disappear. and [Link]-auto layers. Simply toggling the visibility
A rule for the edge
cuts layer is that Next, we enabled the [Link] layer by removing eye icons removes these items from view, allowing
you shouldn’t group the ‘-disabled’ text and add the HackSpace magazine us to place the logo correctly (Figure 3).
items. If you do use logo icon. As we are working on the back layer of Having finished everything we need in Inkscape
groups, make sure the PCB, we need to imagine that the PCB is lying for this project, we need to use the svg2shenzhen
you ungroup and on a surface and we are drawing on the bottom of extension to export the project into a KiCad project
make it a single path
the PCB. Considering this, we realise that we need file and PCBnew file to allow us to continue the work
before exporting
the project to reverse any items we place on the back layer for in KiCad. Save your work first, if you haven’t done so
from Inkscape. them to appear correctly on the PCB. already, and then click Extensions > Svg2Shenzen
> Export KiCad. You should see a dialog box with
SORTING THE SILKSCREEN numerous options. The first is the path to where you
As silkscreen layer items are generally a single want the files to be exported. The second drop-
colour (often white), we made the HS logo by down menu allows you to select between exporting
subtracting the HS as a KiCad project, a

”
letters from a solid filled KiCad module, or a PNG.
circle, so that on the As a test to see if it worked, We are going to set this
finished board we will we added a simple circuit that to the first option so that
see the HS letters as it creates a KiCad project
is a breakout board for an

”
the underlying mask and a PCBnew file for
colour. Finally, using the ATtiny85 microcontroller us to open in KiCad.
horizontal flip tool, we The second option
reversed the HackSpace is useful if you want
magazine logo and then added it to the [Link] layer. to use svg2shenzen to design a module that you
One layer we haven’t used in this tutorial is the drill can export and use in any KiCad projects. We left
layer. In svg2shenzen it is treated largely in a similar the ‘threshold’ and ‘export dpi’ options set as the
way to other layers. A slight difference when placing defaults, and also left ‘auto flatten Béziers for edge
a drill point in svg2shenzhen, rather than in KiCad, is cuts layer?’ checked.
Figure 3 that drawing a circle creates a simple hole and we The debug mode, when checked, gives some
Toggling the visibility
of copper and mask need to remember to add a copper pad surrounding debug messages when you export which may
layers so you can
see areas of
it if needed. be useful for debugging or reporting back to the
silkscreen layers The last job in Inkscape (other than corrections svg2shenzhen team if you discover an issue, but
Figure 4 later!) was adding the concreted0g logo to the may be unchecked for most usage. As we aren’t
Opening the project other side of the board. As this was placed on the using svg2shenzhen to do the entire design (we are
in KiCad for the first
time allows you to front silkscreen layer ([Link]), it did not need to going to add some components in KiCad) and as we
see your svg2shenzen be reversed. However, we did want to place it in don’t want to use the PCBWay service, uncheck
design in the KiCad
3D viewer a position where currently it couldn’t be seen in the ‘launch PCBway’ option. Finally, you can set the

86
 FORGE

Moving back to PCBnew, we then read the netlist QUICK TIP

and that imported the components and the rat’s nest You can use the
perfectly, whilst still keeping the elements we drew KiCad 3D viewer to
in Inkscape. Perfect! We then laid out and routed the check everything
PCB with the new components. We were interested is correctly laid out
and orientated on
to see that KiCad correctly observed the board edge
the different layers.
cuts, particularly when it came to flooding the PCB
areas with copper fill zones. As you can see from
Figure 5, it’s simply a case of using the ‘Add Filled
Zones’ tool to draw an area larger than the PCB and
KiCad will detect the board edges and pour the filled
area within the PCB edges. Finally, it’s also worth
noting that if you notice at any time something you
need to correct in Inkscape (in our example we had
placed the HackSpace magazine logo too low initially
as it clashed with the header pins), you can go back
to the saved Inkscape file, make a change, and re-
export the KiCad layers from Inkscape and overwrite
Figure 5 the earlier files. This won’t affect the Eeschema
KiCad recognises the edge cut lines made in Inkscape
and floods inside them correctly documents or netlists within the KiCad project file,
but it will overwrite the PCBnew file. This means
dialog to automatically launch the exported project in that you will lose any work you have undertaken in
KiCad. Check this option and then click Export. PCBnew (our added components and routing for
You should now see KiCad boot, and it should example), so it’s worth triple-checking you are happy
open the PCBnew application and have your with the Inkscape layout parts of the board before
design already there. One of the first useful things adding lots of work in KiCad.
to do is to check that everything is as it should Having completed the design in both Inkscape and
appear by clicking View > 3dViewer and you KiCad, it’s worth double-checking the board again in
should see a rotatable 3D model of your PCB as it the 3D viewer before placing your order (Figure 6). If
stands (Figure 4). you are using OSH Park, which allows you to directly
Whilst it is totally possible to build an entire PCB upload the PCBnew file, then after finishing your
in Inkscape using svg2shenzhen, we were interested design you simply need to save your work in KiCad
to see if the svg2shenzhen output could be added and upload. QUICK TIP
to using the typical KiCad workflow to enable a We were really impressed with svg2shenzhen, All the techniques
combination of two approaches to PCB design. finding it a highly usable piece of software and used in KiCad in
this tutorial are
As a test to see if it worked, we added a simple indeed it makes creating complex or organic shapes
included in the KiCad
circuit that is a breakout board for an ATtiny85 for KiCad simple to achieve. If you give it a try and tutorials featured in
microcontroller. First, we saved our work in PCBnew create something, make sure to send us a picture or HackSpace magazine
and closed it and opened Eeschema. Opening share a tweet with us @hackspacemagazine. issues 17 and 18.
Eeschema gives a dialog box that the project does
not contain a schematic file, and asks if we want
to create one. Having created one, we have a blank
Eeschema document. Into this, using standard
KiCad workflow and libraries, we added an ATtiny85
component, power and GND inputs, a bypass
capacitor across the VCC and GND pins on the
microcontroller, and an 8-pin header to which we are
going to break out the ATtiny.
We then wired the schematic using the wire tool
and again, as we did in the KiCad tutorials of issues
Figure 6
17 and 18, annotated the schematic, assigned Final checks of the
footprints to the schematic symbols, and created complete design,
again using the 3D
a netlist. viewer in KiCad

87
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Basic brazing: Tin can caddy

TUTORIAL

Basic brazing:
Tin can caddy
Learn to braze and make a caddy for your brazing rods

B
razing is an extremely useful
technique for joining metal, and
while people often say that
‘welding is stronger than brazing’,
that’s not strictly true. It all depends
what metals you’re trying to join, and
Dr Andrew Lewis what type of brazing rod you’re using to join them
together. In this project, you’ll learn how to gas braze
@monkeysailor
some old cans together to make a handy container to
store your brazing and welding rods.
Dr Andrew Lewis
is the owner of
[Link], a BRAZING ISN’T WELDING
restorer of old tools,
Coffee cans with plastic lids are great for storing
a fabricator for hire, a
research scientist, and things in, but they’re too short to store welding rods
a founder member of or other long items. Joining multiple cans together is
the Guild of Makers.
a great way to learn how to braze, and illustrates
some of the advantages of brazing over soldering
and welding. Above
Brazing equipment comes in all different shapes and
Start by preparing your coffee cans. Lots of the
sizes, and the tools that you use will depend on personal
cans available in the supermarket have a metal lip at preference and the job that you’re working on

90
 FORGE

BRAZING SAFETY
Working with anything hot carries certain dangers. The most obvious one is burning
yourself, so make sure you don’t touch hot metal. All smoke and fumes are bad for you
and some are more dangerous than others. Ensure that the place you’re working is well
ventilated and make sure that any smoke goes away from your face. Make sure that
you’re aware of any risks with the particular metals you’re joining. Avoid working with
anything containing zinc unless you have the appropriate skill and equipment.

QUICK TIP
Certain types of
metal release toxic
and corrosive
fumes when
heated. Check
what’s safe,
wear appropriate
Above and right safety gear, and
Clean paint from the cans with a wire brush to get the best
joint, and remember to cut the bottom out of the can before work in a well-
you braze it in place ventilated area.

” You’ll need to use your can-opener to remove the

lip from all of your cans, and then remove the

”
bottom of all of the cans but one

Stack one of the bottomless cans on top of the

YOU’LL NEED
can with the base still attached, and make sure that it
sits neatly in place. Most cans have a slightly Propane or
MAPP gas torch
reduced base that allows them to be stacked on top
Above of each other easily but, if your cans don’t hold firmly Brazing rods
It’s best to keep your brazing rods labelled, as different alloys (silver or brass
in place, you can use a magnet to keep them steady
can look very similar to each other. Here, you can see silicone- is fine)
bronze (top), brass (middle), and 55% silver rods (bottom) while you’re working. Just make sure that the
magnet is positioned well away from the heat source, Brazing flux
(powder or liquid)
the top where the foil seal attaches. You’ll need to as too much heat will ruin it.
use your can-opener to remove the lip from all of Now you have one can stacked on top of the other, Steel coffee
cans (or similar)
your cans, and then remove the bottom of all of the you can apply some flux and get ready to start
cans but one. The can with the base in will be used brazing. You have some choices about which type of Can-opener
as the bottom of your storage tube, and the other flux and brazing rod that you use. If you’re familiar Wire brush
cans will be brazed on top of this can. with soldering, you probably know that flux stops the or wheel
Whenever you’re preparing to braze something, heat of the gas flame from oxidizing the metal you’re
Needle-nosed
it’s important to make sure that your joining surfaces trying to join, and that helps the filler metal you’re pliers
are clean, dry, and have any surface coatings using to flow nicely around the joint. If you want a
Spray paint
removed before you start trying to heat them up. very smooth joint, you can paint all of the way around
Use a wire brush or some abrasive wool to remove the part that you are joining with a liquid flux, and use Personal
any paint or other coatings from the inside and a silver alloy brazing rod. The silver alloy flows very protective
equipment (safety
outside of the can where they will be joined, and easily and evenly into the heated joint by capillary glasses, flame-
remove any oil, dirt, and rust that you can see. action. If you’re not worried about the joint looking resistant clothing)

91
Basic brazing: Tin can caddy

TUTORIAL

JOINING THIN METAL

Trying to weld very thin metal is very difficult, and
often results in ‘blowout’, where the power of the arc
or flame is so high that sections of metal melt away
leaving a hole. This is a particular problem when
you’re trying to weld thick metal to thin metal, and
while there are all sorts of techniques to counteract
this, it’s not easy. Brazing doesn’t rely on melting
the metals that you’re joining, so blowout is much
less likely. In fact, if you manage to get blowout, you
were heating the metal far too much. The brazed
joint will be weaker than a welded joint, but that
doesn’t mean it’ll be too weak to do the job.

perfect, you can use powdered flux and a brass or

bronze rod to just ‘tack’ around the can in two or
three places. Powdered flux looks like fine, dry sand
and will stick to a hot brazing rod. The easiest way to
use flux powder is to preheat your brazing rod with
the gas torch, and then dip the rod into a jar of the
powder for a second before removing it. You can
then use the flux-coated rod on the joining surfaces,
and re-dip the rod whenever you need more flux. The
instructions in this article assume that you’re using
brass rod and flux powder for the rest of this project,
because it’s the cheapest and easiest way to braze.
The basic technique for brazing is the same as
soldering. You need to heat the metals you’re joining,
and use them to melt the brass filler rod. You’re not
trying to melt the brazing rod with the flame. Start by
using your gas torch to heat up the join between the
two cans. Try to apply the heat evenly all around the
joint at first, and then linger for a few seconds on the
area that you want to melt the brazing rod to get it up
to temperature. Heating all around a joint is good
practice because metal expands when it heats up,
and will distort if it’s heated unevenly. It’s probably
fine with a tin can, but when larger projects cool
down unevenly, the tension created by the distortion
can be strong enough to break the brazed joint.
PICKING YOUR GAS
Different types of gas burn at different temperatures. NOT TOO HOT, NOT TOO COLD
Butane is the coolest, followed by propane, MAPP, Keep the tip of your gas torch pointed at the joint,
and then acetylene. For smaller projects, you can get and touch your flux-coated brazing rod to the section
away with using butane or propane torches with thin you’re heating. The alloy should melt quickly, and
QUICK TIP (about 1.2 mm) brazing rods. For larger projects, you
flow into the joint. Push more of the brass rod into
Metal conducts will need the extra heat of MAPP or acetylene to get
the joint hot enough to melt the brazing rods. Hotter
the joint as it melts, moving along to increase the
heat. Make sure length of your braze, re-dipping the rod in flux
you’re working on isn’t always better, though, and you can completely
melt small projects with an aggressive gas flame. powder as needed. If the brazing rod seems to just
a heat-proof, non-
flammable surface, Remember that when you’re brazing, you’re trying to slump or just sit on top of the joint without melting,
and be careful melt the filler rod and not the metal that you’re joining. then you haven’t applied enough heat. Either go
what you touch! slower, use a hotter flame, or use a thinner rod.

92
 FORGE

Continue brazing all the way around the joint, and

then allow it to cool. Test the strength of the joint by
trying to pull the cans apart and grunting dramatically,
and then you can continue stacking cans and brazing
them until you reach the desired length for your
container. Once you’re finished, clean the joints with
a wire brush or abrasive pad, and spray the outside
of the can with acrylic paint to make it look pretty.
If you’re feeling particularly efficient, you can use
different colours to indicate different types of
welding rod.
You can start experimenting with brazing other
projects and build your skills. Look into using different
types of brazing rods and finding out the strengths of
each type. There are some special rods for joining
specific metals like aluminium and stainless steel, and
there are other general use rods that have different
temperature and flow properties. Silver brazing rods
flow very well when they’re heated, and that means

” You can start experimenting

with brazing other projects

”
and build your skills

they can penetrate a joint through capillary action. The

more silver the rod contains, the better it will flow.
This means that high silver (about 45%) alloys are
best for joining where you have tightly fitting parts, Above QUICK TIP
Get the joining surfaces hot, and use them to melt the brazing
but aren’t very good for filling larger gaps. Low silver
rod. Try to keep the heat even, so that the surfaces don’t warp Hold the brazing
(about 30%) alloy rods, bronze rods, and brass loaded too much rod with needle-
rods are better for filling gaps. You can even build up nosed pliers to
layers by keeping careful control of the heat and rate keep fingers safe.
you feed the alloy in.

TERMINOLOGY
Words often get misused when it comes to brazing,
welding, and soldering. Hard soldering is actually
silver brazing, and is sometimes called (incorrectly)
silver soldering. Silver brazing uses an alloy with
roughly 50% silver. However, silver solder is much
weaker and uses about 5% silver. Cast iron welding is
usually a brazing operation using a nickel rod, QUICK TIP
although it is possible to weld cast iron given the right
You can also use
tools, a controlled heating and cooling process, and
brazing to create a
special welding rods. In contrast, brazing rods for
decorative effect
cast iron are more thermally stable, and lower heat
by applying a thin
means there’s less chance of the stress causing the
coat of alloy
iron to crack as it cools.
over the top of a
base metal.

93
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Embed NFC tags in your nails

TUTORIAL

Embed NFC tags

in your nails
Add electronics to your hands and become
a cyborg (for four weeks)

R
FID implants, including Amie dirt and grease, and has a good surface for adhesion.
DD’s Tesla-opening one in her Starting with clean hands, check for any broken or
arm, are rapidly becoming more rough parts to the nail and smooth them with a file.
mainstream. However, some You don’t need to file the surface, just the edge.
biohacking has been mainstream Where your skin joins the nail is a bit called the
for longer, with varying degrees cuticle, and it is largely dead skin. Push along the
Tanya Fish of permanence. Merriam-Webster defines

”
biohacking as “biological experimentation done
@tanurai to improve the qualities or capabilities of living
By attaching something
organisms.” We’ve been putting cochlear implants
Tanya has a day job and pacemakers in people for decades. to your nails you can have
as a crew member at
However, you don’t have to go to such extreme
Pimoroni – making it embedded and part

”
learning materials for lengths to get started: putting functional tech in your
schools, devising and
nails is a form of biohacking, albeit ‘soft’ biohacking. of you at all times
running workshops, and
writing tutorials. In her By attaching something to your nails you can have it
spare time, she makes embedded and part of you at all times… until the nail
stuff because she can’t
help herself, enthuses
grows out, at least. For a three- to four-week nail with the orange stick from the top of your nail
loudly about all things commitment, we look at how to make a small circuit towards your hand, and push off any dead skin you
STEAM, and herds waterproof, scuff-proof, and perhaps workshop-proof find. Do not push the stick under your skin.
chihuahuas. She also
lectures for Sheffield (as long as you don’t use acetone a lot).
Hallam University on PRIMER
emerging technologies
and has experience
PREPARATION Now the cuticle is sorted out, it won’t get under the
as a conference As with all fabrication, preparing the working surface edge of the acrylic and let it lift up. Nails have natural
speaker and is an essential starting point, and it’s no different with oil in them, so we need to dehydrate the nail. To do
technology presenter
at STEM events and
nails. Just as you would prepare a wall for painting, this, wipe with isopropyl alcohol. Try not to touch it
digital festivals. you need to prepare the nail so it is smooth, free of with your fingertips from now on, as it could put

96
 FORGE

grease back on. We have got to the stage where seconds to shape the blob, whereas with the gel you
our wall is sugar-soaped. To prep the surface, use get as long as you want. Above
Before, during,
a mix called ‘acid-free primer’. You can pick this up and after removing
the cuticle
at beauty stores for around £5. Paint a thin layer on, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
and you will see the nail turn matte as it dries. We If you have set A (liquid and powder), you will want
have a prepared nail! to practice this a few times in a well-ventilated space.
Put the liquid in the glass dappen dish, and open the
CHOOSE YOUR ACRYLIC pot of acrylic powder. On some waxed paper or a
The next stage is to apply a base layer of acrylic. This silicone baking sheet, first, dip the brush in the liquid
will be a thin layer so that we have a smooth surface and tap off any drips. Pull it gently across the acrylic
to put the light or data tag on. If it turns out bumpy,

”
we can file it.
YOU’LL NEED
There are two options here – acrylic liquid and The liquid and powder A willing
volunteer
powder, or acrylic gel. The process is similar in that sets in the air, while (or your own hands)
both make a blob of plastic that’s mouldable over the
Paper towel to
the gel sets under

”
nail, but the liquid and powder sets in the air, while protect your table
the gel sets under a UV lamp. The liquid and powder a UV lamp Nail file
is cheaper than the gel, however, you only get
Orange stick
(a blunt stick with
powder, and you will see a blob form. Push that blob a flat surface)
Below
Painting primer on the nail – look for when it turns matte down onto your paper or sheet, and dip the brush Lint-free wipes
straight back in the liquid. Wipe the brush on some
Isopropyl alcohol
kitchen roll. Use the brush to mould the blob by
Acid-free primer
gently tapping it until it sets. Get a feel for how
quickly it sets and how long you have to work with it. Sable brush
(not a plastic brush)
Too much liquid will make it runny, and set too fragile,
leading to acrylic lifting off the nail or cracking. Too Dappen dish
or shot glass
much powder will make it crumbly, and set lumpy
and breakable. Silicon baking
sheet for practice
If you have set B (gel and UV lamp), you just need
to put a dab of the gel on the nail, dip the brush in the One of these
two sets:
slip liquid to stop it sticking to the gel, and push it into
shape, before curing under the lamp for the time A Acrylic powder
stated on the packaging. and acrylic
monomer liquid

APPLY THE BASE LAYER B Acrylic gel,

gel slip liquid,
When you’re ready, apply a small blob to your nail and UV lamp 36 W
tap it out to spread it. Once it gets close to your skin, or above

97
Embed NFC tags in your nails

TUTORIAL

QUICK TIP
The first acrylic
nails came out of
the polymers for
dentures – OPI, who
make fancy nail
varnish, used to be
a dental supplies
company.

stop tapping, as it will spread a little more afterwards. smooth arch shape across the nail. Don’t worry if you
Above As the acrylic sets, it becomes more and more matte now have an out of focus-looking tag inside there,
Left – liquid and looking. When it looks matte, tap the acrylic with one you can make it clear as glass by putting a top layer
powder. Right – gel
of your other nails. You will hear a clear tap if it’s set, on later. This layer should be thicker than the last one.
Below
Use your nail, or the but a dull one if it’s still setting. With the gel, you will
other end of your need to cure it for the time it states on your brand, FINISHING OFF
brush, to smooth the
tag down, to avoid which is usually between 30 and 60 seconds. Finally, once you’ve smoothed out any bumps, apply
putting oils from your a thin layer of clear nail varnish if you want to see the
fingers on it
APPLY THE TAG circuit inside. If not, decorate with nail varnish or
Below Now, apply the data tag (that’s what I’m using, a glue-on gems. For the lights, it’s important to leave a
Check for any flaws
before varnishing MIFARE Ultralight NTAG213) or LED, and smooth it small gap in any varnish just around where the light
down. Rub over it with the back of your nail, making itself is.
sure all edges are stuck down and that there are no
air bubbles under it. Take your time over this.
Now repeat the acrylic layer step. You need to
make sure all of the tag is covered, and that it is a

HOW DOES ACRYLIC SET?

The liquid is ethyl methacrylate (EMA) and some
inhibitors. The building blocks of a plastic polymer
are monomers, which is the EMA. The inhibitors stop
them from joining together in the bottle. The powder
is a polymer with initiators in. The catalyst in the liquid
triggers the initiator in the powder to combine with
a monomer, which combines with another monomer,
and so on until they form long chains of polymers,
trapping the tiny polymer beads from the powder,
creating a strong plastic structure.
In the UV gel, the monomers are in the gel, and
the initiators are also in the gel, but they are inactive.
When UV light hits them, the photoinitiators set off
the chain reaction to make the monomers join into
polymer chains. Note there are no polymer beads
in this type, which makes it more flexible.

98
 FORGE

QUICK TIP
Acrylic nail materials
can be used in
other projects for
fabrication of small
items or repairs.

Left
Check for any flaws
before varnishing

Below
Thanks to Sheffield
Hardware Hackers
and Makers at
Sheffield Hackspace
for being hand
models.
(@shhmakers)

” Apply a thin layer of clear nail varnish if you

want to see the circuit inside. If not, decorate

”
Above
with nail varnish or glue-on gems
Surface-mount components used for decoration

EMBEDDING ACTUAL COMPONENTS

If you want, you can embed actual components for
decoration. Before you add the top coat, use
superglue to position the components on the surface
of the nail. For strength, you can use another layer of
acrylic over them, making sure to build it up between
the components by pushing it into the gaps, or just
varnish over them.

REMOVAL
When you are ready to remove the acrylic nail, trim off
the top edge as you would trim your nails. You may
find that snips/nippers are better than nail clippers for
this. Use a file to lightly file the top layer, to allow
acetone to penetrate it. Put some acetone on a cotton
wool pad and place it over the nail. You can hold it in
place with some kitchen foil. After a few minutes,
remove the foil and pad, then push the softened acrylic
away from the finger, towards the top of the nail. If it
hardens, repeat the process until you have removed
all of the acrylic. Rub some oil (olive oil works fine)
onto the nail to restore flexibility.

99
Modifying servo motors for continuous rotation

TUTORIAL

Hacking servo motors

for more rotation
How to remove the control circuitry and mechanical stop on a standard servo motor

S
mall hobby servo motors are If you don’t need this control, but do like the form
commonly found in radio-controlled factor and need the ability to spin more than 180
planes, in miniature robots, and in degrees, you can convert your servo into a geared
many other types of projects that motor. Let’s find out how.
require precisely controlled To transform our servo into a regular DC motor
movement, slow motion, and decent with gearbox, all you have to do is complete the
Gareth Branwyn torque. Servos are relatively cheap and come in all following two simple ‘hacks’.
sorts of sizes, and usually come with a set of ‘link’ or
@garethb2 ‘control horns’, nylon plastic arms and disks that REMOVING THE FINAL GEAR TAB
attach to the motor shaft, and have tie holes that The large ‘final gear’ in the servo’s gearbox has a
Gareth has been a allow you to attach control rods, wheels, and other mechanical stop on it that prevents the motor from
lifelong practitioner
(and chronicler) of objects. It can position these fairly accurately with a travelling outside of its fixed 180-degree arc. To
DIY tech, media, and 180-degree arc using pulse width modulation (PWM) remove this stop to allow continuous rotation, do
culture. He is the author
or pulse code modulation (PCM). the following:
of ten books, including
Make: Tips and Tales
from the Workshop, Step 1: Remove the bottom screws and top plate
and is a former editor
for Boing Boing, Wired,
There are commonly three parts to a servo motor’s
and Make:. plastic case: the top plate, the main housing, and the
bottom plate. All of these are usually held together
by four long Phillips screws located on the bottom
plate. Use a suitable driver to carefully remove these
screws. With the screws removed, carefully pull off
the top plate. You should now see the three main
gear assemblies.

Step 2: Remove the middle gear

Carefully remove the centre gear from the assembly
and set it aside. It will go back where it came from.

Step 3: Remove the final gear

The final gear will have a small, clearly visible tab on
it. Remove this gear.

Step 4: Remove the mechanical stop

Using a pair of angle cutters, razor knife, or another
suitable tool, remove the little tab from the final gear.
Right
A standard hobby File or sand it down so that nothing will interfere
servo taken apart to with its full rotation when you put in back. Note: If
show the top plate,
the main body (with you have metal gears in your gearbox, the stop will
gear-box), and the usually be a small pin. You can use the tip of your
bottom plate with
four screws side cutters to gently pry the pin from the gear.

100
 FORGE

QUICK TIP
Because of the
popularity of servo
motor hacking to
create continuous
rotation motors,
many servo motor
makers now sell
versions of their
servos without the
electronics and the
mechanical stop.
These motors are
usually marked
‘Continuous
Rotation’ on the
motor casing.

Left Above
The PCB and DC motor of the servo. All The middle and final gears
three wires get desoldered from the PCB, removed and the mechanical
and the red and black wires get soldered stop on the final gear about
directly to the terminal on the motor to be snipped off

Step 5: Replace the final and middle gears Step 2: Desolder the power wires
Replace the now-altered final gear, and then carefully Locate the solder points on the PCB for the red
reseat the middle gear. Make sure that all of the and black power wires and desolder those. Also,
gears mesh as they are supposed to. desolder the two short power wires from the PCB
that are currently attached to the motor terminals.

” These are usually held

together by four long
Step 3: Remove the PCB
With all three connections desoldered, you can now

”
remove the PCB from the servo housing. You won’t
Phillips screws be needing it here.

Step 4: Solder the power wires to the motor

REMOVING THE CONTROL ELECTRONICS Now, go ahead and solder the red and black wires
With the gears sorted out, it’s time to remove the directly to the terminals on the DC motor. On your
circuit board motor controller, desolder the wires on motor, the polarity of the motor will likely be
the PCB, and solder the power wires directly to the indicated by a mark or colour letting you know which
terminals on the motor. Heat up your soldering iron terminal is negative or positive. Here, our positive
and do the following: terminal is marked by a red dot.
YOU’LL NEED
Step 1: Identify the wires and desolder the Step 5: Put everything back together Standard hobby
control wire With the PCB removed and the power wires servo motor
There will be three wires. One, the control wire, connected directly to the motor, it’s time to put Small Phillips
likely yellow (or white or orange), is for controlling everything back together. Snap the top plate back on, screwdriver
the electrical pulses that create the precision the bottom plate, and screw the assembly back
Angle cutters
movements of your servo. We won’t be connecting together with the four screws.
that to anything. The other two, likely red and black, Small file

are the power wires. Go ahead and, using your iron That’s it. You have transformed a servo motor Soldering iron
and a solder sucker or solder wick, heat the solder into a continuous rotation gear motor that you and solder
point on the control wire (yellow) and remove this can use with an off-board motor controller/MCU Solder sucker or
wire from the PCB. in a robot drive train or similar application. solder wick

101
Motorised wing

TUTORIAL

Motorised wing:
making your
cosplay move
Add a servo for breathtaking effects

A
dd movement to your cosplay cardboard. A laser cutter makes quick work of cutting
Sophy Wong with a servo motor! In this out the wings, but if you don’t have access to one,
intermediate build, we’ll make an use scissors or a craft knife to cut the cardboard by
@sophywong
articulating wing that opens and hand. Our cyberpunk-style wing template includes
closes at the touch of a finger. This design lines that can be engraved or traced on the
Sophy Wong is a
designer, maker, project is a perfect add-on to a sci-fi surface of the wing for more texture. Download our
and avid creator. Her robot costume, a steampunk aviator, or any costume template at [Link]/issue23, or create your own
projects range from
with a shoulder pauldron. We’ll bring our wing to life custom wing shape from scratch. Just make sure
period costumes
to Arduino-driven with some crafting, soldering, and a little bit of code! the pivoting side of the wing is a nice, round circle,
wearable tech. She We’ve kept this build simple with everyday for smooth movement. Once cut, paint the wings
can be found on her
YouTube channel and
materials like cardboard and string. Clean, used to match your costume – a coat of silver spray paint
at [Link] shipping boxes are a great source of 4 mm corrugated made our cardboard shine bright.

102
 FORGE

Left
The starting point
for our wing

YOU’LL NEED
ItsyBitsy
M0 Express
[Link]/
product/3727

Micro servo and

servo horn
[Link]/
product/169

The ends of the wings are sewn together with with LiPo batteries, this project can also be powered LiPoly backpack
thread, so that when the front panel is lifted by the by a USB power bank via its micro USB port. for Trinket and
ItsyBitsy
servo, the wing spreads open like a fan. You’ll want [Link]/
to use strong thread for this, something that can PROTOTYPING YOUR CIRCUIT product/2124
withstand the stress of being tugged on by the servo. The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure your
LilyPad sewable
Heavy-duty thread should suffice, and still be thin servo works properly, so start by gathering your on/off switch
enough to slide between the panels. If you’ve already materials and prototyping your circuit. If you think [Link]/
products/9350
got a costume to mount your wing to, great! If not, you’ll be using an ItsyBitsy M0 in projects often,
a GoPro shoulder mount makes a great premade consider investing in a second one and soldering LiPo battery 3.7 V
harness. You author purchased the one shown here the included headers into the pins. Keep this 1200 mAh
[Link]/
for about $10 on Amazon. Make sure the wing is held breadboard-ready ItsyBitsy on hand for prototyping product/258
tight to your shoulder so that it doesn’t slide around and experimenting with circuits. (Another option is
Elastic shoulder
when actuating. If you have long hair, keep it far away to build this entire circuit on a solderless breadboard
mount for GoPro
from the servo. and install the whole breadboard in your project, if
If you’ve never worked with motors before, the you have room for it.) Wire and
soldering
servo in this project is a great place to start! A servo
supplies
is a motor that is controlled with position data – you
Figure 1
tell it where to point and it moves there. The servo The basic circuit Copper tape
in this project can rotate up to about 180 degrees, Solderless
but we will only use about 60 degrees of movement. breadboard for
Servos are extremely useful and fun to play with, prototyping
but they can be damaged if mishandled. Do not turn Cardboard
the servo by hand or force its movement, and avoid
Spray paint,
sending it beyond its limit in your code. acrylic paint,
We’ll control the servo with a small microcontroller: or markers
an ItsyBitsy M0 from Adafruit. This board has a special
Bamboo skewer
5 V output pin that is perfect for our servo, and can
be programmed in beginner-friendly CircuitPython. To Plastic bottle cap

make our project mobile and easily rechargeable, we’ll Small plastic
add a LiPoly backpack to the ItsyBitsy. Our power washers
source is a LiPo battery, which must be handled with Hot glue gun and
care for safety. If you’re unfamiliar or uncomfortable glue sticks

103
Motorised wing

TUTORIAL

import time
import board
Follow Figure 1 (previous page) to mock up the import pulseio
Above
A cuttable trace main portion of your circuit. At this point you don’t import touchio
enables a switch need to connect the switch or the LiPoly backpack, from adafruit_motor import servo
Above Right just connect the servo to the ItsyBitsy M0 on pin 5,
The LiPo battery and an open wire on pin A1. That should be enough Next, we’ll set up pin A1 as a capacitive touch
connector powers
our project to program the ItsyBitsy and test the servo. input named buttonTouch. This will act as a ‘button’
to control our wing. We’ll also make pin D5 a PWM
PROGRAM WITH CIRCUITPYTHON output, and set it up as a servo named my_servo.
Connect the ItsyBitsy M0 to your computer with a Finally, we’ll create a variable called wingUp. We’ll
micro USB cable. The board will appear as a drive use this variable to track the state of our wing in the
named CIRCUITPY. Head to [Link]/KNXgNL and code. The value of this variable will be True when
follow the instructions to update your board with the the wing is up, and False when the wing is down.
latest stable release of CircuitPython. We’ll assume that the wing is down when the board
While you’re there, grab the latest library bundle is turned on, so we’ll set the initial value of wingUp
as well from [Link]/HZqwVA. For this code, to False. We’ll also create a variable named upAngle
we’ll only need the ‘adafruit_motor’ library. Copy for the open position of the servo. You can tune this
it from the library bundle into the lib folder on the value as needed to make your wing open fully.
CIRCUITPY drive.
CircuitPython can be written and edited in any # Create a touch capacitive input on Pin A1
text editor, but we highly recommend using a buttonTouch = [Link](board.A1)
code editor like Mu Editor. To learn more about
Mu, and for help getting started with CircuitPython, # Create a PWMOut object on Pin D5
visit [Link]/jJfvcN. pwm = [Link](board.D5, duty_cycle=2 **
Once your board is updated, and the motor library 15, frequency=50)
is installed, you’re ready to code! Open your editor
and create a new [Link] file on your ItsyBitsy. (If # Create a servo object, my_servo
your ItsyBitsy already has a [Link] file, delete it my_servo = [Link](pwm)
and start afresh.)
As always, our code starts with importing the # Track the state of our wing, false when down,
libraries we’ll be using. pulseio allows us to use true when up
PWM (pulse-width modulation) to control our servo, wingUp = False
and touchio gives us access to the capacitive touch
capabilities of the board. The ‘adafruit_motor’ # Position of servo when wing is fully open. Not
library is a big one, and we’ll only need the servo to exceed max angle of servo.
portion of it. upAngle = 60

104
 FORGE

The main loop of our code is a simple conditional BUILD YOUR CIRCUIT
statement (if, elif). The touchio library makes it (FOR REAL THIS TIME)
easy to use capacitive touch inputs to trigger events. Now that you’re sure your servo is working properly,
If the capacitive input is touched and the wing is it’s time to solder the circuit together for good. Start
down, the servo will move to 60 degrees and the by adding an on/off switch to the LiPoly backpack.
value of wingUP will be set to True. However, if the Use a craft knife to cut the exposed trace between
capacitive input is touched and the wing is up, the the two switch pins. Then solder one short wire to
servo will move back to 0, and the value of wingUp each pin of the switch.
will be set to False. A short [Link] in each Solder each wire to one of the pins on the on/off
condition helps us avoid multiple triggers per touch. switch. We used a LilyPad sewable on/off switch that
we love for both sewn and soldered circuits – the flat
while True: bottom makes it easy to secure to wearable projects.

”
if [Link] and wingUp is not True:
my_servo.angle = upAngle
wingUp = True Increase the value in small increments, and
be careful as you approach the maximum angle

”
print(“wingUp = True”)
[Link] (0.5)
elif [Link] and wingUp is True:
of your servo (usually about 180 degrees)
my_servo.angle = 0
wingUp = False Next, solder three wires into the remaining pins on
print(“wingUp = False”) the LiPoly backpack: BAT, G, and 5 V. The backpack
[Link] (0.5) is ready to be connected to the ItsyBitsy, but don’t
solder it quite yet. The ItsyBitsy M0 only has one
That’s it for our code! Saving this code in the ground pin, and both the LiPoly backpack and the
[Link] text file will automatically restart the board servo need to connect to it. The pins on the ItsyBitsy
and run the program. Touching the wire connected are small, so we’ll need to solder both wires at once.
to A1 should make the motor turn 60 degrees and Snip the connector off the servo wires and pull the
stop. Touching the wire again should make it turn three individual wires apart for about five or six
back to zero and stop. If you haven’t connected a centimetres. Insert the ground wire from the servo
servo horn to the spindle yet, a piece of tape can and the ground wire from the LiPoly backpack into
help track the servo’s movement while testing. the ground pin on the ItsyBitsy M0 and solder them
Once assembled, you may need to tune the in place. Then, finish soldering the servo by
upAngle value to make your wing open completely. connecting its power wire to the Vhi pin, and its data
Increase the value in small increments, and be wire to the 5! pin on the ItsyBitsy M0. Finish Figure 2
careful as you approach the maximum angle of your soldering the LiPoly backpack by connecting the 5 V The final circuit
servo (usually about 180 degrees): pushing the servo
too far can damage it.

Below
The ItsyBitsy lives up to its name

105
Motorised wing

TUTORIAL

wire to the USB pin, and the BAT wire to the BAT pin a needle with about 40 cm of heavy-duty thread.
on the ItsyBitsy M0. Starting with the front panel, loop the thread through
Finally, cut another small piece of wire, about the thread hole in the wing-tip and tie a knot on the
5–6 cm long, and solder it to pin A1 on the ItsyBitsy back of the wing. Then, pass the thread over the
M0. This wire will connect to a piece of copper front of the wing and down to the next panel. Loop
tape on the shoulder pauldron for our capacitive the thread through the thread hole on the second
touch input. The final circuit is shown in Figure 2 wing, align the panel in its open position, and tie a
Below
You can follow (previous page). knot on the back of the panel.
our designs or Repeat this process to add the third panel, tie the
get creative with
your own ASSEMBLE THE WING final knot, and snip the thread tail short. Slide the
Using our template, or your own design, cut three bamboo skewer into the pivot hole to check your
identical wing panels out of cardboard. We used a work – the panels should open and close easily
laser cutter to cut our panels, but the shapes are like a fan. The thread will be taut when the wing is
designed to be simple enough to cut by hand. The open, and loose (but hidden between the wings)
straight edges should be easy to cut (carefully!) with when closed.
a craft knife, and the round side may be easier to

”
cut with heavy-duty scissors. You’ll want the round
side to be a perfect circle for smooth pivoting action We used a laser cutter to cut
when the wing opens. Make the holes with a heavy-
duty hole punch, or simply use the bamboo skewer our panels, but the shapes
to poke through the cardboard. are designed to be simple

”
Once the panels are cut out, paint and decorate
them to match your costume. Trace or score the enough to cut by hand
design lines from our template for a futuristic look,
or draw your own surface design. The surface of the
wings must be flat so that the panels can slide past Remove the skewer and cut it in half to make
each other, so stick to paint or markers for your design. it easier to work with. Slide the front panel onto
To previsualise what you are building, stack the the skewer so that the skewer protrudes a few
wing panels on top of each other, aligning the holes centimetres through the front of the panel. Add a
on the left. Fan the panels out to find the fully open small plastic washer to the skewer on each side of
position of your wing: the bottom-right edge of each the panel, and attach each washer with a dab of hot
panel should just cover the thread hole of the wing glue. This front panel needs to be solidly connected
under it. (See our finished project for reference.) Now to the skewer, so take your time with this and make
you’re ready to sew the wing together with thread. sure the glue is completely dried before moving on.
Below For this part of the build, it’s easiest to work with Slide the remaining two panels onto the skewer,
Hot glue makes
everything better the panels facing down on your work surface. Thread adding a plastic washer onto the skewer between
them. Do not glue the washer to these panels – they
should rotate freely around the skewer. Check your
work by resting the bottom edge of the panels on
your work surface and rotating the skewer. The front
panel should rotate upward, fanning the other panels
out behind it. On the front of the wing, snip the
skewer flush with the glued washer. On the back,
cut it down to about 1 cm.
It’s possible to purchase couplers for attaching a
shaft to a servo, but in the spirit of this build, we are
winging it with everyday materials and the standard
servo horn that came with our servo. A plastic cap
from a water bottle will be our coupler! Check to
make sure that the servo horn you’ll be using will
fit inside the cap; if it’s too long (like ours was),
carefully snip the tips off the ends. Screw the horn
into place onto the servo.

106
 FORGE

Drill a hole in the centre of the plastic cap just big

enough for the skewer to go through, and slide the
cap onto the skewer, with its flat side against the
back of the last wing panel. Add a plastic washer and
secure with a glob of hot glue.
Glue the servo horn into the cap with a generous
layer of hot glue. You may need a lot of hot glue for
this step, and there are a couple of things to watch
out for. Use enough hot glue to securely attach the platform out of cardboard layers and hot glue to
servo horn, but do not let the glue rise past the horn support the servo. Hot-glue the platform in place Above Left
Wired up and ready
into the spindle of the servo or its movement will under the servo, then glue the servo securely to for flight
be inhibited. It can also take quite a while for a thick the platform.
Above
layer of hot glue to dry, and you will need to keep Use foam tape to secure the ItsyBitsy M0, the Flight goggles
are optional
the motor upright in place until the glue is solid. Do LiPoly backpack, and the on/off switch to the
not move the wing or actuate the motor until the pauldron behind the wing. Make sure none of the
glue is completely cool and dry. electronic components touch the copper tape trace.
Shorten the trace if you need more room for your
MOUNT EVERYTHING ON THE PAULDRON components. Strip the end of the wire from A1 and
While the glue is cooling, we can work on the connect it to the copper tape trace with another
shoulder pauldron, which is the base of the wing. small piece of copper tape. Below
Copper tape is a
Use our shoulder pauldron template to cut the To secure the battery, use adhesive Velcro so
great material for
cardboard out as before. To curve the pauldron over that it can be removed and replaced if needed. It’s conductive wearables
your shoulder, roll it with a rolling pin while gently a good idea to wrap the battery in gaffer tape for
forming it into a curve. Paint the cardboard to match extra protection.
your wing. Remove the plastic GoPro mount from
the GoPro shoulder harness, and attach the harness SPREAD YOUR WINGS!
to the underside of the pauldron with hot glue. Your build is complete! Plug the battery into the
The partial circle in our design makes a great area LiPoly backpack and turn on the switch. Touch the
for the capacitive touch ‘button’. Cut copper tape copper circle to make your wing open – touch the
to cover the circle, and press into place. Use more circle again to make it close. Very Valkyrie! For
copper tape to run a trace to the back of the pauldron, a sleek look, you can hide the electronics with a
where our electronics will be located behind the wing. decorative panel, but make it removable for repairing
To mount the wing on the pauldron, run a bead and recharging. With the LiPoly backpack installed,
of hot glue along the bottom edge of the back wing the battery can be recharged in place, via the micro
panel only, and press it in place on the pauldron. USB port on the ItsyBitsy M0.
The two front wings must not be connected to the Of course, with all those leftover I/O pins on
pauldron, only the back wing. Add another bead of the ItsyBitsy M0, you can add even more
hot glue to the back of the join for good measure. functionality to your costume. Lights? Sounds?
The servo must be held down securely, so that What will you add? Show us your electronic cosplay
its movement is transferred to the wing. Make a at hackspace@[Link]!

107
Send data like it’s 1970

TUTORIAL

Send data like it’s 1970

An old protocol that’s still got a lot to offer

M
ost of the time you want a void setup() {
microcontroller to be an [Link](9600);
independent device operating on }
its own. Give it power, and let it do
its processing. However, sometimes void loop() {
we need to connect it to something [Link](analogRead(A0));
Ben Everard larger – a general-purpose computer. Perhaps you delay(2);
need the processing power of a PC, or perhaps you
@ben_everard want to send data to the internet from a }
microcontroller without network access.
Ben loves cutting stuff,
Fortunately, there’s one protocol built into almost As you can see, we have to first initialise the speed
any stuff. There’s no
longer a shelf to store every operating system and microcontroller: serial of the UART port. You have to set this on both the
these tools on (it’s now (see box below). Back in the day, when trains ran on sending and receiving end (which we will look at
two shelves), and the
door’s in danger. steam and all this were fields, computers had a next). In general, lower speeds are likely to be more
D-shaped serial port that used the Universal stable than higher speeds. 9600 is about the lowest
Asynchronous Receive and Transmit (UART) protocol, we ever go, and we usually have no problem going
but that has long since gone and now we have only up to 115,000. Once it’s created, we can simply
USB. While this is a different protocol, thanks to a bit push data out of the UART. In this case, it’s sending
of software, and USB to UART bridges in modern the data from A0. If this is unconnected and floating,
microcontroller boards, we can usually ignore the fact you could get a range of values, but you could hook
that they are different and send data out of a UART, this up to a sensor for more meaningful numbers.
via a USB connection, and receive it on a computer. If you upload this code to your board, you can then
Let’s look at a very simple example (you should view the data in the serial monitor (Tools > Serial
find this in Examples > Communication > Graph in Monitor). Make sure that the speed is set to 9600
the Arduino IDE). and it should come through. The Arduino IDE also

Left
The plotter lets you view values
coming from sensors in real time

SERIAL
Technically, the word ‘serial’ refers to any
protocol where data is sent bit after bit on a
single wire. There could be one or more
support wires, but as long as the data is sent on
one wire, it’s serial. The alternative is parallel,
where data bits are sent down multiple
wires simultaneously.
However, in common usage, serial refers to
Universal Asynchronous Receive and Transmit
(UART), a protocol that’s been used since the
1970s to transfer data between devices.

108
 FORGE

NOT JUST COMPUTERS

Here, we’ve looked at how to connect a computer to
a microcontroller and communicate via USB serial,
but there are loads of other devices that you can link
your microcontroller to via serial. One popular option
is Bluetooth serial links. These are hardware devices
that expose a Bluetooth connection as a serial port.
Any data you send down the wired serial link between
the microcontroller and Bluetooth module will be sent
over the Bluetooth link to whatever the module is
paired with. You can use this to send data back and
forth between your microcontroller and mobile phone
(there are several Bluetooth serial apps available), or
other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

has a Serial Plotter that converts numbers sent over byte brightness;
a serial connection into a graph. Above
Serial can send data
The [Link]() function can take a few if ([Link]()) { in both directions
different data types, including floats (as shown here) brightness = [Link]();
and strings. [Link](brightness);
This is a great way of seeing what’s going on in analogWrite(ledPin, brightness);
your scripts, but it can also be used to send data to }
programs running on your PC. Most programming
languages have a library or module for working with }
serial connections, so you can send data directly
from your microcontroller to software running on While [Link]() can take a wide variety of
your PC. formats, [Link]() will always return a single
one-byte character. In this case, we’re using this to
BACK AND FORTH control the brightness of the LED. However, by
So far we’ve seen data sent from the microcontroller default, the serial monitor will also send characters
to the computer, but the serial protocol is for line end and carriage return, so we need to turn
bidirectional (well, really, it’s two unidirectional these off. Change ‘Both NL and CR’ to ‘No Line
channels pointing in opposite directions, but let’s not Endings’. Now, when you enter a character into the
worry about that), which means we can also send box and hit Send, the LED will be adjusted based on
data from our computer to the microcontroller. The the ASCII value for that character. With letters, ‘A’ is
following code (which you’ll find in your Arduino IDE the lowest and ‘Z’ is the highest brightness.
in Examples > Communication > Dimmer) takes data Because of the one byte limitation, it’s easiest if
in and uses it to control the brightness of an LED. you can limit data sent from your computer to your
microcontroller to single bytes. Commands can be
const int ledPin = 13; single letters, etc. However, if this isn’t possible, you
void setup() { can build up data by reading multiple bytes (i.e.
[Link](9600); calling [Link]() several times) and stitching the
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); data together in the way you need.
} Using serial, you can quickly and easily create
custom USB gadgets for your computer, or send
void loop() { data back and forward to control your makes.

109
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FIELD TEST
HACK MAKE BUILD CREATE
Hacker gear poked, prodded, taken apart, and investigated

PG

112
DIRECT FROM SHENZHEN:
PG
116
ESP32 CAM
A cheap, hackable webcam
BEST OF
BREED
that you can program yourself

PG

122
CAN I HACK
Raspberry Pi power supplies: Batteries,
UPSes, and Power-over-Ethernet

HOT WIRES
Electronics meets board-games

REVIEWS
124
Teensy 4.0 128
Programino
The fastest microcontroller? An alternative way to code

 126 MONSTER M4SK  129 Power Carving

Halloween the easy way Spin your way to wood art
Direct From Shenzhen

REGULAR

DIRECT FROM
SHENZHEN ESP32-CAM
A programmable WiFi-enabled camera for under £7

By Ben Everard @ben_everard

A
cheap, hackable, WiFi-enabled
Below camera is a holy grail for makers.
There’s no When we first heard about the ESP32-
mount for the
camera, but the CAM from AI-Thinker, we had to find
TF card port is
conveniently
out if we had such a product for our
positioned maker toolbox. We ordered one for
£6.66 (including delivery to the UK) from
YX Electronic Components on AliExpress.
It came in two parts. The main board
(which is an ESP32 module mounted on
a larger board) and a separate camera
module. The flex cable from the camera
slots into the main board. Although there’s
no specific mounting for the camera, it sits
nicely on top of the memory card slot, so with
a drop of glue or tape, you can secure it easily.
The board is based on an ESP32 module,
which is a programmable microcontroller with
built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, with an additional 4MB
of external RAM. Also on the board is a memory card
slot and a camera connector that can take an OV2640
or OV7670 camera module (the former was included
in the price of our board). In principle, this is a pretty
beefy unit. The ESP32 has plenty of processing
power, with two 120MHz 32-bit processing cores.
The memory card slot is listed as ‘TF’ (which
stands for TransFlash) on every spec sheet we’ve
seen. This is a little odd as this is the original name
for what has now become microSD. We’re not
sure why they’re listed using this name and not the
current microSD, but you can use microSD cards in
this port (though you will have to add support to them
in your software).
Let’s take a look at what it takes to get the board up
and running. There are a few ways of programming
the ESP32-CAM, but we’re most familiar with
the Arduino IDE, so we tried this. To install the
ESP32 boards, go to File > Preferences and add

112
 FIELD TEST

‘[Link] const char* ssid = “”;

to the Additional Board Manager URLs box – this is a const char* password = “”; Above
The Camera example
comma-separated list, so add a comma before it works out of the
if you already have any URLs in the box. In the You’ll also need to set the Partition Scheme to Huge box, but isn’t easy
to read for beginner
Tools > Boards section, you should now have an App and the Upload Speed to 115200 (these are in programmers
ESP32 Arduino section. In that section, you should see the Tools menu). That’s the software side of things
an entry for AI Thinker set up for this board, so

”
ESP32-CAM. However, let’s now take a look at
we weren’t able to
Any USB to UART adapter the hardware.
program the board using should work, and they are You may notice that

”
this. Instead, we used there’s no USB port
available for a few pounds
the definition for another, on this board, so you’ll
similar board: the ESP32 need a USB to serial
Wrover Module. adapter to program it.
Once you’ve selected this, you should find the web Any USB to UART adapter should work, and they
server example sketch, which is a great test to make are available for a few pounds. We used a Particle
sure everything’s connected properly. This is in Files > Debugger because we happened to have one with
Examples > ESP32 > Camera > CameraWebServer. us, but this is overkill for this project.
You’ll need to make a few changes to this sketch. You’ll need four connections between the UART
First, add ‘//’ to the start of the following line to adapter and the ESP32 Camera: 5 V (this may be
comment it out. labelled VUSB) to 5 V, GND to GND, TX on the USB
adapter to U0R on the ESP32-CAM, and RX on the
#define CAMERA_MODEL_WROVER_KIT adapter to U0T on the ESP32-CAM. Also, you’ll need
to connect IO0 on the ESP32-CAM and GND – this
Then delete the // at the start of this line to enable it. puts the board into flashing mode, and we’ll remove
this once we’ve programmed the board.
//#define CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER With that set up, you can plug your USB to UART
adapter into your computer’s USB port, and now you
Finally, you’ll need to enter your WiFi details in the should be able to select a Port from the Tools menu in
following lines: the Arduino IDE. Press the upload button (the

113
Direct From Shenzhen

REGULAR

Right
The same code can
run on other ESP32-
based camera kits,
such as the ESP32
M5Stack, which
is slightly more
expensive but can
run off a LiPo battery

arrow icon) and – after a short wait – your code should The cooling on the board does struggle if you’re
be on your board. There’ll be a message in the black streaming continuously. The board gets very warm,
box at the bottom of the screen saying that the upload and some users report it stopping working. We’d
was successful (or not). You can now unplug the IO0 to expect this to be a bigger problem if the unit is
GND connection but leave everything else connected enclosed, so if you plan to use a case of some sort,
for now. Open the serial monitor in the Arduino IDE, you may need to take this into account with a heat
set the baud rate to 115200 (bottom-right corner), and sink or even a fan.
press the reset button on the ESP32-CAM.
In the serial monitor, you’ll see a bit of debug code UNDER THE HOOD
followed by something like: Getting to this point has been a little fiddly, but not
too complex for anyone familiar with microcontrollers;
Camera Ready! Use ‘[Link] to connect however, going further can be a bit more complex.
In principle, you should be able to integrate this
If you point a web browser to that URL, you’ll see the camera with your projects in all sorts of ways.
camera control page. Press ‘Start stream’ to see the There is a library for basic image gathering
output of the camera. available at [Link]/ulc0JF, and an image
For a cheap IP webcam, this works well if you’re recognition framework at [Link]/uHtRDf.
happy using the Arduino IDE to upload credentials. Both of these are designed to work with the ESP
You can get streaming output at up to 1284×1024 Integrated Development Framework (IDF), but can
pixels (we got a frame rate of about 6 fps at this size, be got to work with Arduino if you would rather
and faster at smaller sizes). The fact that it outputs program in that way. You will need to be fairly
data in a standard format, and so works well with comfortable in C programming to have a reasonable
open-source IoT hubs, is a bonus. There’s also some chance of success in developing with these.
rudimentary face recognition, but we found this to Hobbyists used to dealing with user-friendly wrapper
be quite unreliable. libraries may struggle.

114
 FIELD TEST

One thing that has made the ESP8266 and ESP32 hot glue can’t fix. The external antenna port on the
products easy to use is a community that’s built board is a great addition if you’re looking to place this
firmware to make it easy to flash new features at the far reaches of your WiFi network.
onto your device. Just take a look at the range of If you want to go deeper and integrate a camera
community options for the Sonoff smart relays into your projects, you can do quite a bit with the
for examples. ESP32-CAM, provided you’ve got the programming
We’ve come across a couple of other firmwares for skills to make it work. Casual users who want features
the ESP32-CAM: beyond basic streaming webcams may wish to check
what additional code is available for them to build off
•  ESPHome, which helps you set up a smart before making a purchase, but for under £7 you may
home system using ESP devices (see prefer to take the plunge and see how you get on.
[Link] for more details).

”
•  AutoCamera, which creates a wireless network
on the device and when you connect to this You’ll need to do a little
network, your browser will automatically show work to program it and
the video stream. This uses the same method
that some WiFi networks use to force you to create a mount, but this is

”
a login screen as soon as you connect. See all fairly straightforward
[Link]/VAFmHQ for details.

The ESP32-CAM is fairly new – it came out in early

2019 – and it’s quite possible that more firmware will
be available in the future. We’ll be keeping an eye on
this, as there’s lots of potential for a device that can
do more than a standard streaming camera.
The AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM comes in at a
fantastic price, and if you’re looking for a WiFi

DIRECT FROM SHENZHEN

webcam that you can link in with your smart
home system, then this is a great option.
You’ll need to do a little work to program
it and create a mount, but this is all fairly
straightforward. The soldered headers
and lack of mounting holes make this a
slightly more complex task than it might
otherwise be, but it’s nothing a bit of

Right
The AI-Thinker
ESP32 module
provides brains
and connectivity

115
Power to the Raspberry Pi

BEST OF BREED

ONLYTHE
BEST
Power to the
Raspberry Pi
A variety of products for powering your Raspberry Pi

By Marc de Vinck @devinck

P
owering your Raspberry Pi project:
it’s not something you usually think
about when starting out, but you
will soon realise just how important
it is to have a proper power supply.
Typically, you can simply plug in a USB
cable, or some kind of ‘wall wart’-style plug and get
to coding. And this is true in many applications.
The challenge comes when you need to go
portable with your Raspberry Pi. It’s not as
simple as something like an Arduino.
Raspberry Pi is a fully-fledged computer
and has very specific power needs.
And more importantly, you can’t
simply pull the plug and expect it to be
happy and shut down. And that’s
where many of these accessories
shine. From being able to have
uninterruptable power, to portable
power, or going completely off-grid for
extended times. It’s all possible if you
know where to look.
There are so many power supplies
available for your Raspberry Pi, and in this
article, we’re going to look at some of my
favourite solutions. If you have a specific
power requirement, make sure to check out all of
these manufacturers as there are dozens, if not
hundreds, of different products for getting power to
your Raspberry Pi.

116
 FIELD TEST

PowerBoost 1000C
vs PiJuice HAT
Keep your Raspberry Pi going with intermittent power
Below
A smart power
supply for
ADAFRUIT $20 [Link] PISUPPLY $60 [Link] your project

Credit
Adafruit licensed
under CC

N
eed an uninterruptable power
supply for a portable Raspberry Pi
project? How about hot-swappable
capabilities? If so, the PowerBoost
1000C from Adafruit is for you! What
makes this board really useful is the
ability to make a Raspberry Pi portable with a battery
pack, but also have the ability to recharge the system
via an integrated load-sharing battery charger circuit.
The charger circuitry is powered directly from a
micro USB port and will recharge almost any 3.7 V /
4.2 V LiIon or LiPoly battery at a maximum rate of
1000 mA. The board also features a couple of handy
LEDs that will give you feedback about the charging
cycle and power. Portable power is fairly easy with a
simple battery, but being able to charge a LiPo via USB
and never lose power to your Raspberry Pi, which
happens to really hate losing power, is really valuable
and affordable with the PowerBoost 1000C.

T
he PiJuice HAT is a great way to take
your Raspberry Pi project off the grid
with an alternative energy source, VERDICT
like solar or wind. Its compact format
PowerBoost
fits nicely on top of the traditional 1000C
Raspberry Pi formats, including an
Incredibly easy
area for the battery. This is a feature-rich power and convenient.

10 / 10
supply, with LED indicators, real-time clock, power
monitoring, and lots of options for power in and out.
It’s a compact, cost-effective solution for your next
project. Set your Raspberry Pi free with the PiJuice.
PiJuice HAT

”
A very versatile
Its compact format fits nicely power supply for
Above Raspberry Pi.

9/ 10
Robust and on top of the traditional

”
powerful

Credit
Raspberry Pi formats
Pi Supply

117
Power to the Raspberry Pi

BEST OF BREED

Raspberry Pi
PoE HAT
”
RASPBERRY PI $20 [Link] The board is only
compatible with Raspberry

”
Pi 3 B+ and Pi 4

T
he official Raspberry Pi Power over
Ethernet (PoE) HAT allows you to
transmit power over Ethernet
cables to your Raspberry Pi. It’s a
convenient way to get power to your
project – just keep in mind it has a few Left
From the creators
limitations. The board is only compatible with of Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ and Pi 4, and it won’t fit inside
some cases due to the height of the components.
Also, pin accessibility is difficult when the board is VERDICT
plugged in, but many applications don’t require the Get power and
GPIO pins, and there is a workaround using pass- data with just
through headers. For cooling, the PoE board features one cable.

9/ 10
an on-board fan that is controlled via I2C. To ensure it
gets the power needed, make sure you are using
802.3af-compliant power-sourcing equipment.

Zero2Go Omini
ADAFRUIT $20 [Link]
Left
Let this board
decide what’s
the best option

N
for power
ow, this is a clever little power
supply for your Raspberry Pi. The Credit
Adafruit licensed
Zero2Go Omini will allow your under CC
project to use multiple power
sources. It’s smart enough to be able
to detect the highest voltage and VERDICT
either increase or decrease the power to a clean 5 V. A great add-
There are LEDs that will let you know exactly what is on to your
going on. All you have to do is supply the Zero2Go Raspberry Pi.

9/ 10
with 3.5 to 28 VDC and get building! This is a great
add-on that allows for uninterrupted power from up
to three different power sources.

118
 FIELD TEST

Adafruit PiUART
ADAFRUIT $7 [Link]

T
he Adafruit PiUART is not a HAT, or a
pHAT, but it is a really handy add-on
board for your Raspberry Pi project
that is perfect for certain situations,
especially when creating a headless
setup, since you won’t have to plug
and unplug the USB all the time when developing
your project.
You connect via a micro USB cable for power, and it
also makes a serial connection so you can access
your Raspberry Pi’s console. The board has two LEDs
to show when you’re actively connected to RX and
TX, which is really handy. And there is even a physical VERDICT
Credit
on/off switch for when you are done debugging! Best A great SparkFun Electronics
of all, this little board comes fully assembled, so you addition for CC BY 2.0
can just plug it in and get going. Just keep in mind Raspberry Pi
this board is great for Raspberry Pi Zero and A+, but Zero or A+.

10/ 10
other boards may pull too much power from your
computer’s USB port. Head over to the product page
to read more about the requirements. ADJUSTABLE BREADBOARD
POWER SUPPLY KIT – V1.0
ADAFRUIT $15 [Link]
SPARKFUN BENCHTOP POWER BOARD KIT
Need a simple way to power up your next breadboard
project? The adjustable breadboard power supply kit
SPARKFUN $22 [Link] from Adafruit just might be the perfect solution. Once
At some point, everyone who experiments with electronics comes across an old soldered together, you can use any DC power supply
computer, and other things like printers and keyboards. Sometimes they can be (max of 20 V) with a 2.1 mm plug to get beautiful, and
ADJUSTABLE BREADBOARD

repurposed to serve as a network drive, or run a CNC machine, but other times they are adjustable, power to your solderless breadboard. It’s
best used as a paperweight. It’s those paperweight computers that still may have some a good beginner project that adds another functional
tool to your workbench for prototyping more Raspberry
POWER SUPPLY KIT - V1.0

useful parts, and that’s where the SparkFun Benchtop Power Board Kit really shines.
After about 30 minutes of assembly, Pi projects.
and a connecting it to a used ATX
computer power supply, this kit will
provide you with quick and easy access
to the typical voltages needed when
developing physical computing projects.
You will have access to four different
voltages, 3.3 V, 5 V, 12 V and -12 V. And each
will have its own replaceable 5 A fuse and
ground connector. This is a simple and
affordable way to add a lot of functionality
to your electronics workbench.

119
Power to the Raspberry Pi

BEST OF BREED

Pimoroni
Wide Input SHIM
PIMORONI $30 [Link]

W
ith the Wide Input SHIM from
Pimoroni, you simply supply a Below
Variety is this
3 V to 16 V DC voltage in via a SHIM’s strength
centre-positive 3.5 mm barrel
Credit
jack connector, or the +/- pins Pimoroni Ltd
on the SHIM, and it can
provide 5 V/2 A output for your Raspberry Pi.
That’s really handy when you need power from a
specific source, like your car’s 12 V system or other VERDICT
non-5 V power supply. Very handy when
The SHIM comes with a 2×6 female header, which prototyping with
requires a little simple soldering, a 3.5 mm OD male Raspberry Pi.

9 / 10
to 5.5 mm OD female adapter cable, and a 3.5 mm
OD male to tinned wires cable, which makes getting
up and running really simple and fast.

MINI PUSHBUTTON

LiPo SHIM Below

A simple solution for
adding external power

Credit
POWER SWITCH

POLOLU $3.95 [Link]

Pimoroni Ltd
The Pololu Pushbutton Power Switch is a simple, yet
PIMORONI $13 [Link]
fairly sophisticated, power control alternative to using
a bulky mechanical switch. The main advantage is
having a push-button-based latching power control

T
that allows for one push to turn on the power and
he LiPo SHIM from another push to turn it off. This version (see the
Pimoroni enables website for more options) operates from 2.2 V to 20 V
you to quickly add and can deliver a continuous current up to 6 A.
a LiPo battery to
your Raspberry Pi
project for simple
portability. The SHIM is so small, it’s
perfect for adding discrete power to your
Raspberry Pi Zero, but will work with other 40-pin
varieties too. Pimoroni chose the TPS61232 step-up VERDICT
boost converter from Texas Instruments, which Easy and
provides up to 96% efficiency. There are on-board affordable power
LED indicators for power and low battery, making it management.

8 / 10
very easy to use. Keep in mind this SHIM will not be
able to charge the LiPo battery. It’s a trade-off for
being so simple, affordable, and small.

120
 THE BEST PROJECTS FROM

HACKSPACE
MAGAZINE
THE ULTIMATE SKILLS,
TRICKS, AND MAKES

MUSIC
BOX
Build a touch-activated
music box with no
coding required BUILD A
DRONE
The ultimate guide to making
your own quadcopter

£12.99
LASER-CUT
TURNTABLE BUY TODAY AT
Create stunning 360° animated
[Link]
GIFs with this geared turntable

121
Hot Wires

CAN I HACK IT?

Can I Hack It?

Hot Wires?
Can we hack a kids’ electronics kit?

Les Pounder
@biglesp

Les Pounder loves

taking things to pieces
and seeing how they
work. He teaches
others how to be
makers and tinkerers at
events across the UK.
He blogs at [Link]

Right
They fit together like
Lego and can be
used to build a series
of cool projects. Oh,
and we can hack it!

I
t is easy to think that learning electronics is them apart, we see a component – such as an LED,
now just about picking up an Arduino and button, or transistor – soldered to press studs. These
writing some code, but that is not the case. press studs are used to make physical connections/
From the 1970s, there have been electronics circuits in the experiments, providing a firm, yet easily
kits that offered children the opportunity disconnected, mechanical connection. The press
to create simple circuits from a box of studs are the same as used in clothing, so finding
components. Typically, these kits were laid out like replacements and fitting is a relatively easy process.
a board game, but in the early 2000s the kits were
reinvented and now come under many names, Snap ELECTRONICS
Circuit and Hot Wires being the two most popular. The electronics kit comes with many different
But are they any good, and can we hack them? Well, components, all packaged in plastic bricks that
YOU’LL NEED there is only one way to find out. connect using press studs. However, inside
Hot Wires
the bricks are common through-hole electronic
COST GENERAL CONSTRUCTION components. This means that they can be easily
£42.98
The components are formed into ‘bricks’ of many replaced, should they break. Yes, you can buy
different sizes and shapes. Each piece is made from replacement parts online, but a capacitor brick
WHERE a thin plastic that can be easily broken, so take care will set you back a few pounds, whereas soldering
[Link]/ZAFyhc when taking them apart. But, when we do take a new capacitor will cost you 10p!

122
 FIELD TEST

HACKABILITY
Oh boy, this is a fun kit to hack! Let’s start with the
basics – we can connect the components to boards
such as Adafruit’s Gemma M0 and Circuit Playground
Express using crocodile clips. So this means we can
power the circuit and use the GPIO (general-purpose
input/output) pins to control and react to the same
components. But, what if we wanted to make circuits
using Hot Wires and Raspberry Pi or Arduino boards?
Well, for that we need to use some crocodile clip to
female or male header wires, which can be bought for
under £10. So this means that an electronics kit made
for kids can be used to help children learn more about
electronics with computers and microcontrollers.
But let’s do a little more hacking. Remember that
the plastic bricks can be taken apart. Well, this means
that we can replace the components with others.
So, if you really want NeoPixels, rotary encoders,
or anything else, then so be it. In fact, with a little
SMALL BEGINNINGS
3D printing or laser cutting, we can make our own
Your author has first-hand experience of the power
compatible bricks. An Arduino or Raspberry Pi brick of Hot Wires and Snap Circuits. Children who attend
would be awesome! Blackpool Raspberry Jam have been using them for
Hot Wires are designed for children to learn four years, and they have proven to be an excellent Above
tool. When a new child comes to the Jam, we like There are a series
simple electronics skills, but they can grow with the of components
child as their learning progresses. By adding new to make them feel welcome, and so we dig into the in the box, from
big box of circuits and build something together. standard resistors
components, and connections to powerful devices and LEDs, to NPN/
The helicopter launch project is always a big hit! PNP transistors and
such as Raspberry Pi, we can introduce the child Learning electronics is a lifelong skill and every custom ICs
to new ideas while still ensuring their safety. We day we will learn something new, even about things
Below left
wouldn’t introduce a bare resistor or LED to a small which we are already experts in. These bricks offer Using some easily
child, but with the bricks, we can easily do so. By children, and adults, a safe and engaging entrance found crocodile clip
into electronics. We have often used them to to header pin cables,
making your own bricks, using a laser cutter or 3D we controlled a
design circuits and work out ideas before creating
printer, there is no limit as to what you can do with circuit using a spare
more traditional projects. Their greatest strength is Arduino board
Hot Wires. The easily found press studs also provide their simplicity – it removes any doubt when trying
a strong mechanical connection, while still remaining Below
something new. We simply focus on building, rather The components are
easy to use for little hands. than doubting. standard but soldered
to press studs used
If you have a little engineer in the family, then this for mechanical
would be a good start to their career. connections

123
Teensy 4.0

REVIEW

Teensy 4.0
A 600MHz microcontroller

TEENSY $19.95 [Link]

By Ben Everard @ben_everard

T
he Teensy 4.0 specs are impressive. M4 The same basic core as an M3, but with digital
A 600MHz ARM processor sounds signal processing (DSP) instructions. These are used
more like the sort of thing you’d get extensively in audio processing libraries.
in a general-purpose computer, rather
than a microcontroller. It’s based on M4F An M4 core with additional acceleration for
the ARM Cortex-M7F core, so let’s single-precision floating-point calculations.
take a quick recap of the ARM cores you’ll find on
microcontrollers. The M series (as opposed to the A M7F This includes single-precision and (optionally)
series that you’ll find in ‘Application’ devices, such double-precision floating-point accelerations, as well as
as mobile phones and Raspberry Pis) are 32-bit cores DSP instructions. It’s a significantly more powerful core
designed for microcontrollers. There are many other than that in the M3 and M4, with a larger pipeline and
cores not based on ARM Cortex designs, such as the branch speculation (this is a bit of a confusing feature,
ATmega cores in many Arduinos and the Tensilica but it can result in faster code run time). There’s also
cores in ESP8266 and 32 devices. The most common the option of tightly coupled memory, which allows you
ARM Cortex-M cores are: to use a small amount of very fast memory.

M0 Small instruction set, optimised for small size on CORE CONUNDRUMS

silicon, low price, and low power (at least, relatively There are a few others, but they’re not commonly used
speaking as these are still significantly faster than in the hobbyist world. In microcontrollers, it doesn’t
AVR chips, such as those found in the Arduino Uno). really make sense to have a notion of one of these
Based on the ARMv6-M instruction set. being overall ‘better’ than the others, as it depends so
heavily on use-case. M0 cores are the least powerful

”
in this list, but on the scale of microcontrollers, they’re
In microcontrollers, it doesn’t really make sense still fairly powerful and should accomplish many tasks
to have a notion of one of these being overall without draining your power supply or bank balance.

”
However, if you need to do any DSP or floating-point
‘better’ than the others operations, then you’ll really benefit from an M4F or
faster core.
The M7F core in the Teensy 4.0 is more powerful
M0+ A machine-code-compatible upgrade on the M0 than an M4F core (such as that in the Teensy 3.6), and
that adds a bit more oomph. it can also run at higher clock speeds – 600MHz in
this case (though it may be possible to overclock it in
M3 Based on the ARMv7-M instruction set with the future). The one feature that really has a dramatic
Above instructions not present in M0 cores such as divide speed increase is the support for accelerated double-
The Teensy 4.0 really
lives up to its name –
and multiple-accumulate. Code should run faster than precision floating-point operations, but this is quite a
it’s tiny on an M0 core. specialised use-case.

124
 FIELD TEST

BENCHMARKS
We ran a series of benchmarks on some of the fastest microcontrollers we’ve got, to
compare them to the Teensy 4.0. In each case, the benchmark result is the time taken to
complete a task intensive in that particular area. Lower is better.

Teensy 3.6 Adafruit PyPortal

Benchmark Teensy 4.0 ESP32
(240MHz) (SAMD51 – 200MHz)

Integer
6.00 38.00 40.00 54.00
arithmetic
Float
28.00 79.00 85.00 151.00
arithmetic
Double
30.00 620.00 739.00 614.00
arithmetic Below
The Teensy breakout
isn’t available for
GPIO output 65.00 271.00 451.00 265.00 sale, but you can
create your own
with instructions at
[Link]/ZyDVhx

Take a look at the box above for a comparison of

performance with other high-speed microcontrollers.
There’s no doubt that the Teensy 4.0 is, for almost
any case, the fastest microcontroller geared for
hobbyists by a factor of about three to five (depending
on exactly what you’re doing with it). There are a few
applications that can really benefit from this speed-up.
The Teensy range has been a favourite device for
people working with real-time audio, both because
they’ve historically been fast boards, and because
there’s a great set of support libraries written by Paul
Stoffregen (who also sells the Teensy boards). This
includes a drag-and-drop creator and a set of libraries
that help you write Arduino code to both create and
modify audio signals. The Teensy 4.0 is much faster
than the previous version (Teensy 3.6), and has four
times the memory. This means that you can do a
whole lot more. In audio terms, this means you can
do more computationally intensive effects, and more
of them.

AUDIO ADAPTORS
The Teensy 4.0 does work with the Teensy Audio this, and there is some support for M7 processors,
Adaptor Board, but the pins are in slightly different but as yet, there’s not a straightforward process for
positions, so you have to connect it with jumper wires getting all this running. If you’re interested in running VERDICT
rather than soldering the two boards directly together, TensorFlow on microcontrollers, it’s certainly worth The most
as you could do with the earlier board. keeping an eye out for Teensy 4.0 support. powerful hobbyist
Another area where powerful microcontrollers are The Teensy 4.0 is a significant step up on microcontroller
looking promising is running neural networks, such performance over any other hobbyist microcontroller available at
as using the TensorFlow framework. At the moment, board, and available at a great price. If you find the moment.

9 / 10
there’s a lot of work going on with this (we looked at yourself lacking the processing power to do what
the SparkFun Edge last issue). On paper, the Teensy you need, then there’s really no competition at the
4.0 looks like it would make a good platform for moment – this is the board you need.

125
MONSTER M4SK

REVIEW

MONSTER M4SK
Add animated eyes to your Halloween get-up

ADAFRUIT $44.95 [Link]

By Ben Everard @ben_everard

L
et’s be honest: these are for The quality of the screen and animation is
one thing, and one thing only – stunningly good. The original name for this eye
Halloween. There are two 240×240 animation (when it was first coded by Phil Burgess to
pixel SPI screens connected to a work on the Teensy) was Uncanny Eyes, and they
SAMD51 ARM M4F microcontroller. really are uncanny. For us, it’s the animation rather
There are also three buttons if you than the realism of the image (though this is also
want to trigger different effects, and an audio jack for impressive) that gives real personality.
sound output. There’s plenty you can customise about the eyes,
You’ll almost certainly want to use this on the go, so and there’s a detailed guide for doing this here:
there’s a LiPo battery port and charging circuit. [Link]/oPgysD. You can do much of the
In their most basic use, you just plug the power in, customisation without getting your hands dirty with
Below
These TFT screens emit wait a few seconds, and they’re on and looking around. programming – the device shows up as a USB disk
light, so work brilliantly
in darkened rooms
There are four mounting holes positioned, so it’s easy when plugged into a computer via USB, and you can
to tie (or zip-tie) these onto costumes, if it’s not tweak configurations and image textures without
Right
There’s enough appropriate to bolt them on. These can also be used to having to recompile.
connectivity to add hold on a pair of hemispherical lenses (sold separately) The mask is designed so the eyes are the same
quite a bit of extra
hardware to your to give these a more eye-like look, particularly if you distance apart as on the average human, but if you
Halloween costume, mount them inside some other make – imagine these want more or less, you can detach the two halves of
and power it from your
MONSTER M4SK eyes poking out through a piece of clothing or a prop. the PCB (see the dotted lines around the nose? Those

126
 FIELD TEST

snap). This obviously breaks the electrical connection that you can use just as you would any
between the two halves of the PCB, but there’s a other microcontroller. Above
Save time on
solderable nine-pin JST SH connection. As there’s In a world where landfill is full of obsolete gadgets, messy carving by
adding eyes with
lots of data flowing through this, it can’t be extended it’s important to be able to reprogram and reuse Velcro strips
arbitrarily as electrical interference will distort the your technology.
signal – around 10 cm should be fine, but longer than However, despite the repurposability, there’s no
that and you might find you have problems. getting away from the fact that these are designed to
If you need more input or output, there are be animated eyes. There’s something fundamentally
two three-pin STEMMA connectors, one four- endearing about hardware that’s well engineered to do
pin I2C STEMMA, and a JST connector of a a single job – especially when that job is to make
PDM microphone. people smile. We’ve looked through the technical

”
ON THE SOFT SIDE
There’s no getting around the fact that the code to
There’s something fundamentally endearing
perform this eye animation is complex, but it is well about hardware that’s well engineered

”
structured and commented, so worth a read through
to do a single job
if you’re interested in what’s going on. You’ll find it
here: [Link]/gogAcd.
This is also a good starting place if you want to specs, and how to use it, and how it could be used in
use this board for something different. Obviously, the future, but all these are largely irrelevant. What
a lot of it is very eye-specific, but you’ll also find matters with this hardware is how it makes you feel,
all the details of how to connect to all the on- and it makes us happy. We’re used to being
board hardware. surrounded by high-definition screens covered in all VERDICT
As the board is fully hackable, you don’t have manner of images and details, but these are different.
An easy and
to use it for eyes. You could use it for any project Perhaps it’s because the form factor is so unusual. fun way to add
that needs two square screens. Flip them around, Perhaps it’s because in eyes we see humanity in each ‘wow’ to your
add lenses and you’ve got a DIY VR setup; they other, and therefore with these, we see humanity in a Halloween
could be a screen each for a two-player game; or machine. Perhaps it’s because sufficiently advanced costumes.

10/ 10
they could be simply two screens for outputting magic is indistinguishable from technology and these
diagnostic information. Look beyond the eyes are magic. Whatever it is, it’s one of the most fun
and it’s a powerful, programmable microcontroller gadgets we’ve tested.

127
Programino

REVIEW FIELD TEST

Programino
A featureful Arduino code editor

PROGRAMINO from €29 [Link]

By Ben Everard @ben_everard

Left
The hardware viewer
gives details of
the board you’re
programming for

T
he Arduino IDE has some fantastic The Tools menu includes helpers for designing
things going for it – the range of LED matrix images (though we’d prefer a few more
boards it can program is capabilities here, including the ability to design for
phenomenal, there’s a huge amount RGB matrices), and converting characters. The Web
of example code for it, and it’s menu has some rudimentary tools for creating HTML
simple enough for beginners to use. output for your projects.
However, it also has some limitations – there are There’s nothing revolutionary in Programino, but
few niceties to help you program, and very limited there are plenty of little things that make life a little
tools to help you manage larger projects. easier for the developer. The downside is the lack of
Programino is an editor for Arduino that lets you hardware support. Out of the box, Programino can
write code for the Arduino boards that gives you send code to a selection of older, official Arduino
more tools than the official IDE, but at the same boards. The solution to this is a button to
time, doesn’t bog the user down with excessive automatically open your code in the Arduino IDE and
amounts of configuration or customisation. As IDEs then upload it from there.
go, it’s still on the simple side – beginner or There’s a 14-day free trial. After that, you’ll need
intermediate programmers are unlikely to get lost to pay 29 euro for a private user licence, or 89 euro
and still find the things they need – yet, it still adds for a single user business licence. This is reasonable VERDICT
some features that make it easier to write code. value for money if you’re using the extra features. A useful IDE for
Navigation around your project is easy, thanks to Programino offers an approachable IDE with larger Arduino
code folding and explorers both for the current file enough features to make managing a medium/large projects.

8/ 10
(which helps you jump to a particular section current project fairly straightforward. Ultimately, IDE choice
file), and the project (which helps you keep track of is a personal thing, but if you’re struggling with your
all the files you’re using in the current project). current option, Programino is well worth a look.

128
Power Carving Manual

REVIEW FIELD TEST

Power Carving Manual

Woodcarving Illustrated Editors £12.98 [Link]

By Ben Everard @ben_everard

T
here’s a pretty good chance that, if
you’re reading this, you’ve got access
to a rotary tool, whether that’s
a Dremel or other brand. Did you
know that you can use these tools for
wood-carving? There’s a range of bits
designed for this, including burrs in all shapes and
sizes. If you’ve already got a rotary tool, you can get
the basic bits you need to get started power carving
for under £10, (although you can certainly spend
more as you need a wider range of bits).
The Power Carving Manual takes you through the
basic techniques, and then on to a range of projects.
Each is well photographed and easy to follow. We
struggled to reach the level of detail that the authors
did, but that’s to be expected – we’re new to the
craft of power carving.
Although this reviewer isn’t a particularly skilled
traditional wood-carver, he is at least familiar with
which end of the chisel goes into the wood, and the
experience of power carving is hugely different from
chisel carving. Not least, because the grain is far less
important. While it is relevant, the carving bits on a
rotary tool are much less enslaved by the particular
properties of the wood, and you can almost treat it
like a homogeneous material.
The tearing of the burrs leaves a very different VERDICT
finish to the smoothness of chiselled wood. This A fun way of
isn’t necessarily better or worse, just different. gaining more
We thoroughly enjoyed learning, or at least control over your
beginning, the art of power carving with this book. rotary tool.

9/ 10
Not only have we developed a new hobby, but
we’ve also gained more skill with our rotary tool that
we can use for more practical purposes.

129
#24 ON SALE
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