Category: Cool

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From MAKE: In the Maker Shed: Big Bad Beetlebot Kit

Are you looking for a great kit to introduce your children to the joys of making and robotics? The Big Bad BeetleBot, available in the Maker Shed, is a simple kit to make a quick and basic obstacle-avoiding robot – no soldering required! Use only a screwdriver to put it together, then watch it zoom and smartly bounce off anything in its path! No microcontrollers, ICs, or transistors are used – just two switches wired cleverly together form the brains of this robot. We recommend this popular kit to all our new makers. It’s a Maker Shed favorite!

Features

  • Simple screw-together mechanical construction (we even included the screwdriver!)
  • Plug-in wiring
  • Sturdy, preformed wire sensors
  • Laser-cut acrylic shell
  • Detailed construction manual with large, clear graphics
  • 4 AAA Needed but not included
  • Body measures a big 4″ x 4.5″ x 1.25″

 

 

from MAKE

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From MAKE: Make: Talk 006 – William Gurstelle, Backyard Ballistics

Make-Talk-1

Here’s the 6th episode of MAKE‘s podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I’ll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is William Gurstelle. He’s a contributing editor to MAKE and his books include Backyard Ballistics, Adventures from the Technology Underground, and Absinthe and Flamethrowers. In addition, Bill writes frequently on culture and technology for national magazines and blogs including The Atlantic, Wired, and Popular Science.

Here’s are some projects William has done for MAKE:

Two-Can Stirling Engine Bullwhip Double Pendulum
Super Tritone Shop Whistle

 

from MAKE

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From Engadget: Qualcomm Atheros flaunts 802.11ac WiFi module for Snapdragon S4

The 802.11ac WiFi standard may sound like an alphabetical step backwards, but for high-bandwidth tasks like 1080p streaming it promises to wipe the face off 802.11n. Qualcomm Atheros wants its share of the billion unit pie and has just launched a series of products to flesh out its 802.11ac ecosystem. Top billing goes to the WCN3680 WiFi/BlueTooth/FM combo module, which plugs into the new Snapdragon S4 (MSM8960) and offers speeds of up to 433Mbps to complement that blistering CPU performance. Since the S4 already includes built-in b/g/n WiFi (not to mention its 3G/4G/LTE baseband), manufacturers who choose to add the 802.11ac component will achieve full WiFi cross-compatibility and make many consumers happy in the process. Meanwhile, you’ll also find similar multilingual abilities in QA’s other 5G WiFi modules for PCs, laptops, routers and enterprise, which are all detailed in the PR after the break. Rest assured that we’ll bring you more hands-on impressions of the latest Snapdragon just as soon as things kick off at MWC— and hopefully in the form of a finished, market-ready tablet or handset.

Continue reading Qualcomm Atheros flaunts 802.11ac WiFi module for Snapdragon S4

 

from Engadget