Final Take on the Machine: winners

So, who else noticed this author has been gone for a week? You thought I was fired? Psh, HAD couldn't get rid of me if they wanted to.

It's finally here, the last episode of Scion's Take on the Machine with Mitch Altman. In this episode all the teams are given a recap over their success and failures, and the clear winner is placed on top. We're not ones to spoil the surprise so you'll just have to click the link and watch to find out. But lets take a moment to remember each team, The Transistor and their live action zombie … [Read more...]

The Transistor Takes on the Machine

Oh god, get it away from me, no no, noooooooooooooooooooooo bbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssssssssssssss.

It only took 4 hackerspaces, but we finally get to see a zombie movie inspired project; hackerspace The Transistor Takes on the Machine with a Dawn/Shawn of the Dead movie theme. Race cars disguised as zombies swarm toward the players, who then use laser tag like guns to "shoot" down the approaching undead. The whole thing is a mess of Arduinos communicating with xBees to a central iMac G3, but it … [Read more...]

Large magnets spark on Halloween, who knew?

I remember one halloween I went as a mad scientist, and this brings the question, what did you guys dress up as? (As for myself, I was StarFox...chicks dig fluffy tails).

This overly large magnet certainly completes the mad scientist look (for an even crazier look, take a jar of water with red food coloring and place in one large cauliflower, instant brain in a jar). The base of the magnet is painted foam cut with a makeshift hot-knife; to get the magnet sparking [Macegr] laser etched acrylic with a fractal pattern and embedded LEDs in the ends of the acrylic. … [Read more...]

Mechanical mustache envy

Or a steam punk beard, or steam punk Hulihee, or steam punk soul patch, or a steam punk SHAVE YOUR FACE.

While this mechanical mustache isn't made for a Halloween costume, it certainly looks like part of one. Copper clad, brass, cable, and a few other bits come together in a similar style to tension based hands; the piece is then worn much like a Mardi Gras mask. To complete the rustic "old tyme" look [John] was after, the copper was tarnished using the vapor from a vinegar and salt solution. The … [Read more...]

TV out for TI calculators using the link port

Frankly, Casio is far better than TI. But the real question is, who even uses graphing calculators anymore?

Do people enjoy wasting 300$ on a bulky convoluted system, that only works for special "Teacher Edition" calculators, and is several years out of date; E.G. the TI-Presenter? [Benryves] certainly does not. So instead of purchasing a TI-Presenter, he made his own TV out system for the TI brand of calculators by using an ATmega168, a few passive components, and some clever code. The only draw backs … [Read more...]

Artisans Asylum Takes on the Machine

When breakfast requires you defending yourself with a plate and wearing a face sheild, you know you've gone too far.

You'll probably lose your appetite after watching part one and part two of Artisans Asylum as they Take on the Machine. Based around the Wallace and Gromit "automated" set of contraptions, the team from Boston set out to make their own breakfast machine. Of course, with only three weeks to work it didn't exactly turn out as planned. They certainly had some good ideas though, and we were amazingly … [Read more...]

Portal…shirt?

Except portals can't be placed on moving objects, doh!

[Ben Heck] is in the Halloween spirit with his Portal inspired "see through" t-shirt. That is, a thin lcd is mounted on [Ben's] chest, with a not as thin camera mounted on his back; when the system is running, everything behind him is captured by the camera and displayed on the LCD. The concept isn't exactly new by any means, often by the name of "gaping holes" or "hole through body" or more, but … [Read more...]