News

For many makers, the idea of sharing a creation is both appealing and scary. Sure, the thought that others will directly benefit from your work is exciting - but there's the worry that projects need to be commercial quality to be publicised. That's nonsense, of course - one of the benefits of sharing your work is that someone else with more experience can come along and tidy it up to the benefit of all - but it's also easily avoided with a little learning. You can start with this great explanation of the whats and whys of a bill of...

  The Arduino project has inspired uncountable makers throughout the world, powering everything from robots to games machines. To highlight some of the projects that have been born of Arduino technology, we've asked roving reporter Gareth Halfacree to seek out some of these creations and talk to the people behind the build to get their stories. If you have a story to tell, contact Gareth and he'd be thrilled to chat to you too.Graphic design student Joe Bembridge, alongside fellow Sheffield Hallam University student Sophie Collins, has in his final degree year created a physical infographic designed to draw attention...

Being a maker is a rewarding hobby, but for some it can lead to a career. Growing mainstream interest in maker culture has led to a number of job opportunities opening up, the most recent of which is the call for a Maker-in-Residence at Newcastle's Life Science Centre. Well known for its support of science education, including running the biggest schools' science workshop of any European museum, the facility is looking to bring a full-time maker to its public engagement team. The successful candidate, the job posting explains, will be expected to build on the Life Science Centre's previous work...

The field of low-cost robotics is undergoing a rapid expansion, and that's something we support wholeheartedly here at oomlout. We've previously mentioned our friend Ben Gray's excellent MeArm laser-cut robotic arm design, and have just come across a clever variant inspired by its concepts: the mePed Quadruped Robot. As the name implies, the mePed is a four-legged creation which uses the same clever servo-retaining design as the meArm and features eight degrees of movement. Designed to be laser cut on a 300mm x 200mm machine - a common tool of hackspaces and other collaborative work environments - or, as of...

Nick Johnson's Tsunami is one of those all-too-rare creations: an Arduino-compatible which builds on the existing design but brings something entirely novel to the table, rather than yet-another-Uno-derivative. The creation of Nick's UK-based Arachnid Labs, the Tsunami is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for its first production run. Nick was kind enough to loan us one of only two prototype boards, and for those who have already backed the project we've got good news: you're in for a treat.The Tsunami is a single-board standalone Arduino compatible, designed to be addressed by the Arduino IDE as a Leonardo....