We at Hackaday are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Murray-Smith. The prolific experimenter had spent over a decade on YouTube, creating more than 2,500 videos where he gleefully demonstrated his seemingly endless collection of homemade contraptions. At least eighteen of which ended up on the pages of Hackaday since we first crossed paths with him back in 2013.
Like many of you, we were also shocked to find that Robert made the decision to end his own life. As cliché as it might sound, he simply didn’t seem like the type. His demeanor was always boisterous in his videos, exhibiting an almost child-like joy as he showed off his latest creation with a laugh and smile.
But as explained by his brother Dave in the brief announcement video posted yesterday, his outward appearance was a well-rehearsed mask that covered a deepening depression. Regular viewers of Robert’s videos knew he lost his wife, as he shared a memorial video for her in April of 2024. What he was less open about with his viewers was his own health, which it turns out had been rapidly declining for the last few months.
We now know that simply getting up and walking around had become painful for Robert, a fact obscured by the fact that most of his videos saw him seated at his workbench or in the back garden. That he was able to continue making so many videos at all speaks not only to his passion for technology and engineering, but the great love he had for the community that he’d built.
From the video we also learned that Robert found it very difficult to discuss his declining mental and physical health with friends and family. For men of his generation, the “strong and silent type” was often the ideal. Given all that he was going through, nobody could fault him for experiencing a sense of hopelessness, and yet his brother explains that Robert would never admit to the difficulties he was facing. Whenever pushed to talk about his feelings, he’d respond with that phrase which we’ve all heard (and maybe used once or twice) — “I’m fine.”
Because of this, Robert’s family has partnered with the suicide prevention charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) to try and raise awareness about men’s mental health. They ask that anyone who wishes to honor Robert make a donation to CALM, in the hopes that they can help others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
It’s no great secret that many in the hacker and maker communities face their own daily struggles. Whether it’s from being neurodivergent, or the inability to fit in with mainstream society. Several of the staff here at Hackaday are from marginalized groups, and even among those who aren’t, let’s just say we have it on good authority that most of them didn’t get to sit with the “cool kids” back in high school. We also know that, just like Robert, many in the community find it difficult to communicate with others about how this impacts their mental health.
The lasting legacy of Robert Murray-Smith will of course be his incredible body of work, which will continue to inspire millions of viewers. But we can also honor him by making sure that we’re looking out for the well-being of friends, family, and even ourselves. There are resources available, and there’s no shame in asking for help when you need it.
RIP, this morning was a real shock
Rest in peace, good man.
Oh dang, he had such an infectious curiosity, he will be missed, RIP.
This was one of the unknown (to the general public) giants on which shoulders the civilisation will rise tomorrow.
The thinkers, thinkerers and hackers tend to get away from the social life and get lonely sometimes both because we are built differently and because we enjoy doing what we do a bit to much.
Nobel, Tesla are known examples.
Instead of being cherised we’re getting exploited then thrown away when job is done or we are no longer useful or simply kept at a distance for being freaks.
RIP in a place where the fire inventors, the first wheels makers, the first stone thowers are gathering to talk about those amaizing things they have discovered.
The most neglected pioneer per unit merit, was George Westinghouse. General Electric promoted Tesla and Edison for commercial reasons, but Westinghouse was more worthy of emulation. Charles Proteus Steinmetz deserves study too, and Jagadish Chandra Bose, and Oliver Heaviside.
what a special soul he was and will be deeply missed. I hope his wife’s with him now!!! Her passing broke this legend of a man
I was floored when I heard this yesterday. I have to say that I did almost expect it though because when Patti died, it was 100% clear he was gutted. When he returned his first video made it seem like “we’ll see how long I can do this to occupy my mind” kind of thing but then he seemed 99% back to the person he was; the first warning sign. That said, I get it and I probably wouldn’t respond much different if truth be told.
Thoughts and prayers for this man. I’ve never watched his channel but I am praying for him. I can only imagine how painful it must have been for him to lose his wife while getting sick himself… I hope and pray that others going through similar struggles can still find joy in this life.
Rest in peace Robert.
I’m fine too – f***ing incapable of naming emotions.
No need to be a dick
Damn Insensitive Cabbage Killer? No, that can’t be right.
I don’t think you are being a dick, try to open up sometimes
Very very sad. I only started following his channel after his wife’s death, and it was clear he was grieving, but this is a shock. What an open hearted man he was
Farewell, Sir! His universal interest in the natural sciences, his palpable desire to share this interest with others, and his belief in the principle of empowerment were childlike and highly contagious in the best sense of the word. Truly sad news…
An enlightened thinker, who set the bar very high. What a splendid legacy he’s left us.
Dearest Robert, May you find your repose. You offered so much yet asked so little. Those that followed you from the beginning knew you may not have been the sharpest tool although you knew how to sharpen them. For you are as socratis you bring the better out in people. Provoked other than mass thinking and consumption. You sir ARE a light that cast few shadows. May you still watch over us. G.G.
RIP
As a dumb Yank, I just loved this colorful and charismatic Brit Robert Murray Smith to death. From his large output of videos about graphene and graphene battery research that he was involved in pursuing, to his more recent output on all manner of DIY topics that might be of interest to we hands-on types of all stripes, he was such a great and generous presenter and teacher. You felt that the world around us was much more interesting, beguiling, and yet more comprehensible and understandable than one might presume, all due to his uniquely prescient and clear presentations of all of the phenomena and tools that might be brought to bear to apprehend the world around us. He left even Canadian youtubers in the dust.
As a long time watcher of his channel I am deeply saddened to read of his passing. I never expected to wake up to read this today. Only a few days ago I watched his last video saying he was making no more, I didn’t think this was the final outcome. How very sad. Rest in peace fellow tinkerer.
Whenever I watched one of his videos I always got the urge to get tinkering, he spoke about his projects with so much passion and knowledge. It always felt like you were sitting together at his work bench
Rest in peace Robbert
Thank you Robert for making a such a big, positive, difference and thank you to the other commenters for finding the words that I can’t
May you now rest in peace Robert.
Thank you for educating, entertaining and inspiring us; your legacy will continue to do so…
Eccentric British blokes in sheds have made some great contributions to humanity. He seemed like a very affable, smart, and curious chap.
Oh no, not him.
I watched so many of his videos. I learned so much from him. This was an incredibly smart man that created amazing videos. I love watchinig his videos for his passion and was always amazed by the quality of his work. Even things I would never replicate are just interesting because of how he made them and how he spoke. Very sad to hear such a great man went trough such pain.
I’ll keep his family in my prayers.
Not many stories here make me pause and think like this one has. Someone which a lot of us thought we knew has shown us that the outer shell that many of us also have, is often a mask for underlying mental issues. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s in my late 60’s and it explained so much. I am a classic lone inventor character but I am blessed with a wife who now understands me well enough to know when to intervene. Like Robert my life would be shattered without her. I have made a donation to the charity and hope that I will never need it. To all of us affected by this story, there is hope and try to believe that we are not alone.
It’s like all the best of us are leaving lately… may he be at peace and overwhelmed with love from his wife.
God bless his soul.
I’ve seen his work on these pages over the years. Sorry to hear the news.
As a tribute, add to your copy a list of all his appearances on Hackaday if you could.
Don’t want to mess up the mood by being pragmatic, but I’d like to see his family offer a compilation of his videos on physical media (CD, thumb drive), and the proceeds could go to the charity they’ve chosen. That would ensure they were always available regardless of the vagaries of Youtube , etc. I know I would definitely like to have all of them in a medium that didn’t rely on the internet. It seems like all of the knowledgeable older inspirations are going away……..
Good idea. I was going to say “But…”, and then realized that the whole (astonishing!) corpus could fit on a single USB drive. CDs? Maybe not: that would be a closet full of them.
1) Get good internet connection and a decent hard drive.
2) `yt-dlp https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingandTinkering`
3) Go out to the shed for a cup of tea. 2,400 videos will take a while.
4) Receive an IP-ban from Google. They probably investigate those bans by hand and if you have a (mostly) static IP they will ban all your Google Accounts too.
Happened to me when I tried to download “danooct1” channel. Susan’s reign was a mess but new CEO really tightened the screw on ad-blockers, yt-dlp and apps like revanced.
Lesson learned: don’t use gmail for any essential services.
That’s where VPN services come into play. Or CGNAT, if you’re (un)lucky to be in an area that uses it.
I’m in tears, you will be missed Robert, thank you for all the inspiration and charisma over the years. You are such a huge influence to me and so many others. I think I have been watching your videos for about 5 years now and it was always a honor to learn from one of the best teachers around. 🙏RIP
It would be much appreciated if a HaD staff member could apply the robert-murray-smith tag to those other 18 known articles Tom mentioned as well. It would make it easier for me to figure out where I’ve seen his work before.
This, please. I second the motion
Good call, I’ve gone back and tagged them now. Also went through and normalized his name across all posts (sometimes he was credited as Robert Smith, sometimes the hyphen in Murray-Smith was omitted, etc) so they should be easier to find via search going forward.
Thanks for doing this. TBH, while I recognized his name, I couldn’t remember any specific article or video. Now I know.
Depression is worst than hell
For some people, it is much easier to find a neutrino than it is to find a reason for getting out of bed and live one more day
I never knew Robert personally, hell, I only left a comment or two on his videos over the years…but, this has hit me in a way that I didn’t expect. I’m simply blindsided. Even now, several days later, I’m still having a hard time dealing with it.
I didn’t expect to be so affected by the loss of someone I’d never met before.
He just had such an infectious joy about him, you could tell he had a boundless curiosity, and a deep fascination for the mysteries of our reality.
I too am deeply curious and fascinated by the hidden workings of our reality. Even when circumstances broke my mind and sent me spiraling into worsening depression and health, Robert was always there with another video—with his spark—even when I’d lost mine.
Requiescat in pace, Robert.
You will be sorely missed
I’ve been following Rob since way back. I was working on a research project that was making use of graphene oxide, and as some may not know, Rob was actually essentially the world’s foremost GO expert. He made full synthesis videos from start to finish way back before he started posting numbered videos. That was back when I started following him.
When I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to be a scientist. I wanted to be the guy in the labcoat inventing things, so I went to school and started working towards that. Of course, the reality of what academia actually was hit me like a freight train. I didn’t want to spend my entire life groveling to professors, administration, and government to fund research I didn’t actually care about. It was right at that point that I found Rob’s channel (then called FWG, I believe). His love for the science was so infectious that it reminded me that what I actually wanted to do didn’t need academia. He was truly in it for the love of the game.
Call it parasocial, but this news is hitting me harder than it should. I only ever chatted to Rob once or twice. I wish I had done more. He actually had a real, measurable impact on me.
Graphene and conductive ink videos. Already miss him. :(
its affecting alot of people i bet. He was special and will b sorely missed
This is terrible. I will really miss him. I’ve watched hundreds and hundreds of his videos. I hope they will be archived somewhere. There’s really no one else on the planet that had such a wide ranging set of video’s of this sort.
Never heard of him. But his death diminishes me. Safe home, Mr. Murray!
Well said Tom.
I just had an awful feeling when I watched him announcing it was his last video. RIP Robert.
There is no shame in being not OK, I speak as someone who’s lived miserably, made plans with intent but I am incredibly lucky to have a fantastic support network who saw me even though I’d not seen them.
https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/talk-us-phone/
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/
http://www.papyrus-uk.org
https://andysmanclub.co.uk/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/mental-health-helplines/
Robert, I hope that you have found peace, your videos have shown me the joy of discovery.
Robert was a man full of ideas which he researched, built and shared. Just imagine what the world would be like if everyone approached life like that.
No one asked us to come to life,how possibly that coulld be? anyone is tellling us what to do with our lifes, what not to do, what to believe and what is good and bad.But we have the right and choice of decide when to leave. He had what it takes. Peace to the fallen.
What a shame…RIP Robert, you’ll be missed.
Thank you Robert for the many years of exploration.
You will always be remembered by those you have infected with your curiosity.
I’m gutted, what a genius, but I get it, I count myself fortunate as I reached out for help some years ago, but the dark days are still dark, I’ve learned to look for the chink of light and count my blessings, their are always a few, unfortunately I’ve lost many a friend and too many others I’ve known over past 66 years who have taken this route. I’m in no position to say anything other than, talk to someone and reach out for help. It is available. Even for us neutodivergents ;)
This really hurt me to hear. I was a fan from day one. He always replied and was so nice to interact with. I wish I had met him in-person and spent some time talking. I fully understand his actions. If my wife of 35yrs passed, I would be lost and devastated. They seemed so well matched. He was a top notch class act. I envied him his easy way of talking to the world like they were in his lab. It’s selfish to wish he was still with us, but I find I watched his channel more weekly than I realized. I once gave an equation I use for capacitance timing w/o explanation in a comment. A day or 2 later I found that unintended ‘flippence’ had irked him that I didn’t go into it deeper and why I like it, so he did a vid deriving it for everyone. When I saw this I immediately apologized and explained that I didn’t mean to leave it open ended like that. it’s the old Vc = 1-e^(t/tau) ln/log charge curve. He was an awesome thinker and teacher!!!! God bless him. BR Lee Studley from Phoenix.
So very sorry to hear this. Robert was such a lovely and interesting guy. I was working on some battery stuff and travelled across from Belfast to visit him in his workshop. That is a morning I will treasure for the rest of my life. Sincere condolences to all his family.