My friend Tully lives in Shenzhen, China, and has access to lots of cool resources there.
Together, Tully and I found the best inexpensive soldering tools available,
and put them together in this toolkit for you.
There really is everything you need to get soldering:
- Soldering Iron (110VAC, 30W)
- Soldering Iron Stand (with sponge)
- Solder
- Wire Cutters
- Soldering Is Easy! Comic Book (in English)
Project: Make your own "I Can Solder" Badge Kit
"I Can Solder" Badge kits are available for sale!!
Anyone can learn to solder!
This kit was designed for people who have never made anything before.
Simple step-by-step instructions show you how.
Once you finish, you get a cool colored blinky light badge you can wear.
Plus, it doubles as a flashlight!
This kit takes about 30 minutes to complete.
For detailed assembly instructions, please go to
"I Can Solder" Badge Kit assembly instructions.
The schematic is available at
"I Can Solder" Badge kit schematic.
The list of parts (with part numbers) is available at
"I Can Solder" Badge kit Bill of Materials.
The PCB layout is available at
"I Can Solder" Badge Kit PCB layout EagleCAD files (zipped).
"I Can Solder" Badge Kit PCB Gerber files (zipped).
To see a video of this project in action, please go to
"I Can Solder" Badge kit project video.
Project: Make your own Trippy RGB Waves Kit
Trippy RGB Waves kits are available for sale!!
The Trippy RGB Waves project (see further below) was so popular that I created a kit for it.
Thousands of people of all ages have made this kit, including
kids as young as 4 years old.
For detailed assembly instructions, please go to
Trippy RGB Waves Kit assembly instructions.
For the firmware source code and technical description, please go to
Trippy RBG Waves Kit firmware.
And here is the
makefile.
The schematic is available at
Trippy RGB Waves Kit schematic.
The list of parts (with part numbers) is available at
Trippy RGB Waves Kit Bill of Materials.
The PCB layout is available at
Trippy RGB Waves Kit Gerber files (zipped).
To see a video of this project in action, please go to
Trippy RGB Waves project video.
Here is a video of someone
(very quickly) building the kit!
Project: Make your own Mignonette Game
At the San Francisco Maker Faire in May, 2008, Mitch and Rolf released our Mignonette Game kit.
Mignonette is a small hand-held game that has an LED matrix instead of an LCD.
It is very simple to build, even for people who have never built anything before,
and great for learning how to make things with microcontroller chips.
Based on the
Mignon Game Kit,
but with two-colored LEDs, and other added features,
Mignonette comes with a game we wrote called Munch (with more games to come).
All hardware and firmware are open source, and are easily hack-able.
We have a separate website for our
Mignonette Game, where you can find detailed info,
including schematic, firmware, and PCB layout.
Project: Make your own Arduino-compatible LEDcube Kit v2!
An animated 3D cube of LEDs!
This is a small 3x3x3 single-color version of the amazing
color 3D Borg cube
by
Das-Labor.
To see a video of the kit in action, please go to
LED Cube video.
Here are the the complete
assembly instructions
for the LEDcube v2.
Here's the
Arduino sketch for the LEDcube kit v2.
Unzip the file into your Arduino "libraries" folder, and you will see several example sketches in the Arduino Examples menu.
for the LEDcube Kit v2
Here is the the
LEDcube v2 Bill of Materials
for the LEDcube v2.
Here is the the
LEDcube v2 Schematic
for the LEDcube v2.
MiniPOV! kit, by Limor Fried
Many of the projects on this website were originally made by hacking the MiniPOV3! kit
(and the others were inspired by it).
For excellent instructions on building the MiniPOV3! kit please go to
Ladyada's MiniPOV3! kit.
For the firmware source code for the MiniPOV3, please go to
MiniPOV3! firmware.
And here is the
makefile (these are not needed for the other projects on this page).
Unfortunately, you can no longer purchase a MiniPOV3! kit. But the open source files are all available
or on the
MiniPOV3 website.
You can download a
Message Generating Program
for the MiniPOV3 (for Windows). -- 284KB
This was written by Ben Perkins, who gave me permission to share it. -- Thanks Ben!
Other Message Generating Programs for the MiniPOV3 are available on the
Adaftuit User Forum
Atmel AVR microcontrollers
All of the projects on this page use Atmel AVR family microcontrollers.
The Atmel ATmega328P is the microcontroller used in the Arduino Uno, and many projects on this projects webpage.
For the datasheet, please go to
Atmel AVR ATmega328P datasheet.
The Atmel ATtiny2313 is the microcontroller used in the MiniPOV3.
For the datasheet, please go to
Atmel AVR ATtiny2313 datasheet.
For those into assembly language, the AVR family instruction set, please go to
Atmel AVR family instruction set.
For a really great online user community of support for all Atmel AVR microcontrollers
AVR Freaks is the place to go, where geeks from all over the world are awake
day and night wanting nothing more than to answer your questions!
You can easily set up your computer to program AVR microcontrollers!
Easy-to-follow instructions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
are available on the
Mightyohm website.
Ordering Parts
I order most of the parts I use from:
Mouser
Jameco
Digikey
AliExpress
Project: Make your own Brain Machine (from MAKE Magazine #10)
Relax and rejuvenate as your brain synchronizes to a wonderful meditative state,
and enjoy as you hallucinate beautiful colors and patterns from your subconscious mind!
This was my first AVR project.
It is easy for anyone to make because it is hacked from the super easy to make
MiniPOV3 Kit.
Here is a fun 5-minute video
for the Brain Machine project, which was created by Bre Pettis when he did Weekend Projects for MAKE Magazine.
(And the same video in MP4 format.)
Since writing the Brain Machine article in MAKE, I have learned how to make
the Brain Machine better.
Here is an
updated and annotated version
of the original MAKE Magazine article.
If you bought a Brain Machine Kit from me, it came with a single-page instruction sheet.
A copy of the instruction sheet is available
here.
I made a slight update to the Brain Machine firmware: use a more pleasing base frequency for the sound.
For the updated firmware, please go to
the latest SLM firmware.
The sound with this updated firmware will be even better if you use 2.2K ohm resistors for R5 and R6 instead of 1K, as it says in the MAKE article.
For an updated schematic, please go to
the latest SLM schematic.
For a detailed description of the firmware and how it works, please go to
Brain Machine Firmware Theory.
Here is where to download the
original cool graphix for the glasses.
And check out these additional
cool graphix by Michael Wertz (thanks Michael!).
- For a template for cutting out the graphix when using
these standard shaped safety glasses
please go to
Glasses Template 1.
- For a template for cutting out the graphix when using
these standard shaped safety goggles
please go to
Glasses Template 2.
Unfortunately, the Brain Machine kit (which is not hacked from the MiniPOV3),
is no longer available from
Ladyada's website,
But several people have created Brain Machine projects using Arduino, including
this one
from
LaughingOnWater
.
TripGlasses
Relax and rejuvinate as your brain synchronizes to a wonderful meditative state,
and enjoy as you hallucinate beautiful colors and patterns from your subconscious mind!
This is a manufactured, ready-to-use (not a kit) version of the Brain Machine.
www.TripGlasses.com.
TripGlasses are no longer available for purchase.
Project: Make your own open source TV-B-Gone (hacked from a MiniPOV 3 Kit)
For the TV-B-Gone Kit please scroll up!
This is NOT the TV-B-Gone Kit -- see above for the TV-B-Gone Kit.
This is an open source version of my TV-B-Gone remote control, hacked from a MiniPOV3 Kit,
(and, of course, also hacked from my original
TV-B-Gone.)
It is not super reliable, since it relies on the internal oscillator of the ATtiny2313 chip (which isn't super accurate).
But it works most of the time.
For the firmware source code for North America, please go to
TV-B-Gone NA firmware.
For the database of North American TV POWER codes, please go to
TV-B-Gone NA POWER codes.
For the firmware source code for Europe, please go to
TV-B-Gone EU firmware.
For the database of European TV POWER codes, please go to
TV-B-Gone EU POWER codes.
For the makefile for both NA and EU firmware, please go to
makefile.
For the schematic, please go to
TV-B-Gone schematic.
Project: Make your own LEDcube Kit v1
For the newer LEDcube Kit please scroll up!
NOTE: This is NOT the newer LEDcube kit (see above)
An animated 3D cube of LEDs!
This is a small 3x3x3 single-color version of the amazing
color 3D Borg cube
by
Das-Labor.
This original version was hacked from Adafruit's MiniPOV3 kit (which is no longer available).
To see a video of the kit in action, please go to
LED Cube video.
Here are the the complete
assembly instructions
for the LEDcube.
For the firmware source code of the test firmware for the LEDcube Kit, please go to
LEDcube Kit Test firmware.
For firmware source code for a more interesting animation for the LEDcube Kit, please go to
LEDcube Kit firmware.
And here is the
makefile for both of the above.
Visually program your own LEDcube animation sequences!"
Andrew Stock
created a super-easy-to-use web-based tool
that lets you
visually design your own animation patterns for the LEDcube.
The results can be easily pasted into my firmware and programmed into the LEDcube.
(When creating Code, choose "Height-depth-width order").
Here is his web-based tool:
http://have.funoninter.net/LEDCube/
This works best using Firefox.
Here is the the
LEDcube Bill of Materials
for the LEDcube.
Project: Make your own LED Cube
For the newer LEDcube Kit please scroll up!
NOTE: This is NOT the LEDcube kit (see above)
This was the first project made at
NYC Resistor,
a hacker space that started in New York in 2008.
After coming back from the
Chaos Communications Congress,
we were so inspired by the
color 3D Borg cube
by
Das-Labor,
a German hacker group, that me, Bre, and George decided to build our own miniature LEDcube.
For a Weekend Project video for how to make this project, please go to
Make an LED Cube.
For the firmware source code, please go to
LED Cube firmware.
And here is the
makefile.
To see a video of this firmware in action, please go to
LED Cube video.
To see some close up photos of the hardware I built, please go to
LED Cube photos.
Project: Trippy RGB Waves
This is NOT the Trippy RGB Waves Kit -- see above for the Trippy RBG Waves Kit.
I created this project while artist in residence for the month of August, 2008 at
AS220,
an arts space in Providence, RI.
Imagine a bunch of little lights (maybe 20 or 40 of them),
on a table, each about the size of a chess piece.
Each is independent of the other.
You arrange them around on the table any way you want.
Each one continually slowly changes colors on its own.
When you wave your hand over them, it creates waves of
colors that follow your hand.
I hacked this project from the Trippy RGB Light (see below),
(which was hacked from a MiniPOV3 kit).
I didn't use a PCB, but soldered all components directly together,
and added an IR emitter and an IR detector to sense when you wave your hand over it,
and when you do, it resets the RGB sequence from the beginning.
The net effect, when you wave your hand over a table-full of them,
is that waves of colors follow underneath your hand.
For the firmware source code and technical description, please go to
Trippy RBG Waves firmware.
And here is the
makefile.
For the schematic, please go to
Trippy RGB Waves schematic.
To see a video of this project in action, please go to
Trippy RGB Waves project video.
To see some close up photos of the hardware I built, please go to
Trippy RGB Waves project photos.
Project: Make your own Trippy RGB Light
A mood light that sequences through all sorts of changing colors. Trippy!
This is a very easy hack from the MiniPOV3 Kit.
This project is the basis for the Trippy RGB Waves project (see above),
which I turned into the Trippy RGB Waves kit (see above).
For the firmware source code, please go to
RGB Light firmware.
For the schematic, please go to
RGB Light schematic.
And here is the
makefile.
To see a high-res photograph of the Trippy RGB Light, please go to
Trippy RGB Light photo.
For detailed assembly instructions, please go to
Trippy RGB Light assembly instructions.
The list of parts (with part numbers) is available at
Trippy RGB Light Bill of Materials.
Project: Make your own Solar BugBot
This excitable critter sings and dances when she eats light.
She is a vibrabot, with an off-balance motor, speaker, and solar panel, hacked from a MiniPOV3 kit.
For the firmware source code, please go to
BugBot firmware.
And here is the
makefile.
For the schematic, please go to
BugBot schematic.
The list of parts (with part numbers) is available at
Solor BugBot Bill of Materials.
To see a high-res photograph of the BugBot, please go to
BugBot photo.
Cool Neon
Benny, of
Cool Neon
gave a presentation using EL-Wire at my booth at San Francisco Maker Faire 2007.
You can order EL-Wire and associated supplies at the
CoolNeon.com website.
