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If you spend any length of time soldering, you'll be aware of the need for smoke extraction - if not directly, then by the feeling in your lungs after a particularly lengthy build session. There are plenty of commercial smoke extractors and filtration systems available on the market, but the maker way is usually simpler: an old PC case fan and an activated charcoal filter, held upright by a simple wire stand. That's the traditional build, but Engineer of None's latest project is an interesting variant on the theme: building a smoke extractor into an existing desk lamp. Published yesterday...

Arduino users are, typically, blessed by an embarrassment of inputs and outputs. The Arduino Uno, by far the most popular model, packs a whopping 14 digital input-output pins and a further six analogue inputs, and for those who find that too restrictive the Arduino Mega increases this to 54 digital and 16 analogue pins. Sometimes, though, a project becomes complex enough that you run out - or perhaps you're building around an ATtiny or other Arduino-compatible chip with far fewer user-accessible pins. There are a number of methods to resolving a lack for pins, including shift registers and charlieplexing, but...

Our good friend Ben Gray, fellow maker and UK Maker Belter, has been busy over the last few months - and now we know why: he's partnered with another Ben to launch Mime Industries, a new company dedicated to do-it-yourself robotics and electronics for education. Ben Gray's partnership, which has been in the works for some time, is with open-hardware turtle-style robot kit Microbot creator Ben Pirt. We've covered Ben P's homebrew manufacturing tools in the past, and got to see the Mirobots in action at Maker Faire UK 2016 earlier this year. Frankly, they're fantastic: laser-cut bodies powered by...

With various low-cost and - in some cases - extremely long-range - radio modules available, it's natural to turn to the Arduino when planning a remote sensor project. While you may have sorted communications, though, you're left with one thorny problem: power. If there's nowhere to run a serial cable, there's likely no handy socket - so what can you do to keep your sensors ticking over? Raj Bhatt over at Embedded Lab has at least one answer: low-cost, two-component solar power. Using a 6W solar panel and an ultra-low-cost 5V buck converter module, Raj has been able to successfully...

Sometimes, a maker builds a tool rather than buying it because doing saves a fortune. A homebrew pick-and-place machine costs a fraction of an off-the-shelf industrial model, as do automated ROM flashing machines and PCB drills. Other times, though, a maker builds a tool rather than buying it simply for the challenge. Simon Sörensen's latest project is exactly one of these times: building an electric screwdriver out of a battery and hobby servo, following the untimely death of his commercial screwdriver. Based around a cheap hobby servo - though Simon recommends switching the plastic-gear servo he had lying around for...