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The beauty of the maker movement is that it's possible to build devices that are tailored precisely to your requirements, or that cost significantly less than an off-the-shelf alternative - or both. Imgur user TheShortWalk proved this recently with an impressive Arduino-powered external monitor for his digital SLR camera. Using an Arduino Pro Mini and an array of infra-red LEDs as a remote control for the camera, the monitor's body is assembled from laser-cut plastic with foam-padded grips while the buttons for its controls are 3D printed. The full image gallery does a great job of showing the various stages...

 The open ethos is very dear to our hearts here at oomlout, with many of our creations - from the OOpen Building Block System to the ARDX Arduino Starter Kit - being released under permissive licences. We believe that running a business doesn't mean giving up on sharing and openness, and we're not alone: plenty of other makers, from the UK Maker Belt and further afield, have similar ethics. As proof: the Open Source Hardware User Group is running an event on the 22nd of January which brings together some of our local friends and acquaintances to describe how they've...

Computer numeric control (CNC) is a term most usually associated with mechanical manufacturing with routers, mills, lasers and plotters. The designer sets up a series of directions (the 'numeric' part) which are transmitted to the manufacturing hardware (via 'computer') and translated into the movement of a tool ('control'). Eberhard Rensch found another use for hobbyist-level CNC equipment when he needed to flash a number of ATMega microcontroller chips - the same chips that power most Arduino models - in an automated fashion. The Pleasant Flasher, built in July but recently brought to our attention via Hackaday, takes a DIY CNC...

Sometimes, we find a project which uses an Arduino in a manner we'd never previously considered. Katsuomi Kobayashi's latest creation is exactly one of those times: an Arduino-powered virtual reality table-flipping simulator. It's something which makes a little more sense if you're familiar with the Japanese idiom of flipping the tea-table in anger: chabudai gaeshi. Immortalised as the emoticon string (ノ`Д)ノ彡┻━┻, chabudai gaeshi has already inspired an arcade game - Cho Chabudai Gaeshi - and now thanks to Katsuomi's work can be enjoyed in the comfort of one's own home. The project, documented on Katsuomi's Frame Synthesis site, takes the...

Christmas may be over, but as we head into the New Year you've still plenty of excuses for busting out the soldering iron and some LEDs to brighten up the home or office. While we like to pretend we're all about the serious applications here at oomlout, we couldn't resist showcasing Charlie Turner's latest IKEA Hackers build: the conversion of the company's Lack table into an audio visualiser. Based on a far smaller variant designed by Adafruit, the visualiser swaps the compact 8x8 bi-colour matrix of the original build out for a hand-made equivalent roughly the size of the table's...