We’ve said it time and time again, but the Raspberry Pi is just so dang cool and we believe all designers and engineers should have one in their toolkit—if not on their desktop. While there is a bit of a slight learning curve, it’s nothing that today’s designers and engineers can’t handle on a leisurely Saturday. So why not start now? The Raspberry Pi Mastery Bundle includes 8 courses to get started creating your very own Amazon Echo or even a KUKA-like robotic arm for your desktop (how’s that for office bragging rights). Throw in any of your own 3D printed housing designs, and the opportunities are limitless! For a…
Are you a total n00b? Do you walk around proudly pronouncing fillet like in ballet instead skillet? You may be a n00b. It’s okay if you are. I once was myself. I thought k-factor was when someone had an undefinable special medium quality. I thought kerf was cheap imitation Nerf. I thought we had the world’s hungriest machinist the way he was always talking about scallops and chips. But just like my freshman high school yearbook I can look back now and grimace slightly less. So, let’s have a dialogue on how we can come togeth…… LeeeeEEEEROY JENKINS! Ask a Lot of Questions Questions are your compass. They give you…
Named by Business Week as one of “the world’s most influential designers,” Don Norman has spent a lifetime dedicated to better understanding how humans interact with the manufactured world around them. Suffice to say; he’s seen the gamut of good and bad design. Which is why his book, Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, belongs on the shelf of every designer and engineer. Norman, who also wrote The Design of Everyday Things, deep dives into why we as humans think about our manufactured “stuff” the way we do—and why we as designers or engineers should hold ourselves accountable for making our products attractive, pleasurable, and ultimately, a…
With the Holidays just a few weeks away, it’s probably time to think about what gifts the young kids in your life might like. If they’re into robotics, perhaps Bellrobot’s Mabot Plug-and-Play Modular Robot is just what you’re looking for. Sure it’s a STEM-based learning kit, but it’s easy to put together and program in nearly endless combinations. And with added LEGO compatibility? The icing on the cake. According to Bellrobot, the Mabot comes in kit form and allows you to use modular balls to create different robots with unique functions — including moving, sensing, and interacting with its environment. Five kinds of robotic balls make up the Mabot including…
With more houses becoming almost sentient with their built-in A.I.s and voice-activated functions, it can feel a tad creepy coming back home to find some invisible guardian controlling your personal living space. That said, mui is attempting to bring some of that analog connectivity back into the digital home. It isn’t a hovering know-it-all like Amazon’s Alexa, but rather a wall-mounted, inconspicuous plank of wood which looks about as interactive as a wallboard. But give the mui the slightest touch, and it turns into a smart control hub that connects you to your household appliances, the internet, and mobile devices. The big difference here is the focus on touch element.…
Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with the all-new “We Appreciate Power” from Grimes/HANA before diving into a mix of killer tracks from David Bowie, Tennis, Death From Above, Oracle Sisters, and others before wrapping up with…