Electromaker Show Episode 10

Welcome to the Electromaker Show, Episode 10! This week, the week of August 10, 2020 saw a bunch of neat projects, gadgets, and crowdfunding campaigns from around the web. Check out the latest maker, tech, DIY, IoT, crowdfunded, and embedded updates!

Crowdfunding Chatter

Elecrow wowed with its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, and math) CrowPi laptop. The Raspberry Pi-based device is an excellent learning tool that balances fun and education. Now, the CrowPi2 has hit Kickstarter, and it's absolutely phenomenal. Boasting a good value and ample opportunity to explore everything from programming and Minecraft modding to retro gaming emulation with RetroPie, the CrowPi 2 is a versatile laptop that's beginner-friendly. It's definitely a must-buy for budding makers. 

The FemtoBeacon is a neat, extremely small open hardware motion sensor device with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth onboard. It's built around an ESP32 PICO D4 system-in-package (SiP) module. Onboard, the FemtoBeacon boasts a 90DoF motion processing unit, RGB LED, dual DAC pins, GPIO pins, a precision altimeter, and more. The coin-sized FemtoBeacon is an ESP32-based inertial measurement unit (IMU) that's tiny and easily integrated into a slew of different maker projects. 

 Voja Antonić degisned the Galaksija DIY computer in 1983. And the Galaksija, despite its age, is still kicking. "Galaksija
The story of the Computer Which Refused to Die" is a documentary that chronicles the narrative of the Galaksija, from its inception to the present day. While its roots are in the 80s, the Galaksija do-it-yourself PC remains current in kits, retro gaming machines, and other niche uses. 

Pretty Cool Projects

I made a thing that plays George Michael's Careless Whisper and blows your hair in the wind to the sound of a sexy saxophone when you tell Google assistant "I'm feeling sexy today" from r/shittyrobots

What's sexier than "Careless Whisper" by George Michael? If you answered "the author of this article," then you are quite mistaken. But if you replied "a thing that plays George Michael's 'Careless Whisper' while blowing your hair in the wind," well you, my friend, have won. What you won, I don't know, but congrats nonetheless. Redditor u/EggShapedBox created this self-proclaimed useless robot that I personally find extremely useful. There's even Google Assistant integration so you can simply state "I'm feeling sexy today," to activate it. While you're here, go check out Apathy's "Martha Moxley (R.I.P.)" which samples "Careless Whisper" marvelously.

YouTuber Mr. Innovative, living up to his moniker, created a super cool Rodin coil winding machine, or a starship. It's powered by three stepper motors, two of which are used for wire feeding, and another for coiling. The entire thing is Arduino-based. It's quite nifty and essentially creates, well, a star, out of coils.  

If you want to learn more about programming, hardware, and the intersection of the two spaces, Meadow is a great place to start. And clever DIYer Jorge offers an excellent tutorial detailing how to make full on .NET apps running on Meadow. More specifically, it's a means of controlling the onboard RGB LED. Fun, functional, and with a low learning curve, this tutorial is a solid starting spot for beginners to the Meadow or .NET. 

The Raspberry Pi Zero is a fantastic little single-board computer (SBC) that's cheap but incredibly functional. One inventive maker, YouTuber N-O-D-E, whipped up a Raspberry Pi computer, the Zero Terminal v3. It's essentially a Raspberry Pi 0-based terminal box that resembles a phone. It's got access to a ton of ports including USB 2.0, microSD, micro USB, and a power switch. The entire thing is modular with add-ons like a QWERTY keyboard. 

Announcements and More

Here at Electromaker, we regularly host various contests. And currently, our Google AIY contest is in full swing. But there's only a little more time to enter! The project submission writeup deadline is August 14, 2020! Enter now for the chance to win cash prizes and bragging rights.

Maker Mitchel Davis delves into Blink in hard mode, an introduction to non-Arduino microcontroller units (MCUs). Davis begins with an Arduino, then takes Arduino concepts and fundamentals and applies those to non-Arduino MCUs like the STM8. It's a great series with a wonderful breakdown that makes complex topics easily digestible. Mitchel gets into low-level hardware programming which is applicable to a variety of different MCUs. 

Electromaker Show Episode 10 - CrowPi2, Raspberry Pi 0 PC, and More

Overall, there have been tons of different projects, crowdfunding campaign updates, and tutorials. From silly but fun George Michael "Careless Whisper" hair-blowing robots to programming resources, cool crowdfunding campaigns, and everything in-between, there's a lot to catch up on. 

While these were our favorite projects from the week, we may have missed something. Comment below with your favorite project that we curated, or another neat maker, tech, and DIY story from around the web!