Henry Kidman thought to himself, ‘why not try building a 16mm motion film picture camera from scratch?’, and went about it using only a 3D printer, an Arduino, and a stubborn refusal to accept that there are some things that just might be too difficult to get done alone. His project shows what’s possible with … Read more
More than 130 million pieces of space junk – from old rockets to exploded payloads – zoom around Earth at over 7 kilometers per second. A single paint chip coming from the other direction can punch a hole in a spacecraft’s hull or an astronaut’s suit. For decades, engineers have used the same old solution: … Read more
Photo credit: MasaKeeA modder who goes by MaSaKee unveiled the world’s first NES-Boy Advance last week. This thing takes the guts of a Nintendo DSi and puts them in an NES controller shell, all wrapped in a 3D printed case. The result is a portable console that plays Game Boy Advance games on a crisp … Read more
In the early 1950s, America was on the cusp of a new era. World War II was fading into memory and the country was full of hope thanks to science and industry. Amidst all this progress General Motors unleashed the 1953 GM Futurliner, the embodiment of the era’s unlimited optimism. This was a 33-foot-long, 30,000 … Read more
Photo credit: Michael MillerAt the University of Cincinnati, a small lab is humming with the faint whir of tiny fabric wings cutting through the air. Inside, a coffee cup-sized drone, called Flapper, takes to the air, its four tiny legs a whirlwind. There are no big rotating fans chomping through the battery or onboard computer … Read more
Peter Sripol came up with a crazy concept, building an airplane wing out of cardboard. What he’s looking for is a working ultralight airplane wing that can lift off the ground, and he’s documented the entire process like a child on a sugar high. Sripol starts by asking a simple question: can you slice cardboard … Read more
Nissan engineers studied the everyday activities of electric vehicle drivers. Most days consisted of brief visits to the grocery store or school, and to be honest, plugging in still feels like a hassle. Their solution is a solar setup called the Ao-Solar Extender, which sits atop of the Sakura, Japan’s most popular little electric car. … Read more
Robert Gcode unveiled a 3D printer few months ago that is roughly the size of a kitchen appliance – tiny enough to just place on a shelf if desired. Now the Quark has arrived, marking yet another attempt by Gcode to truly push the bounds of compact. This one measures only 100 millimeters on each … Read more
Shield AI debuted its latest creation Wednesday in front of a crowd of military leaders, lawmakers, and industry watchers in Washington, D.C. The company already received a $200 million contract from the US Coast Guard last year for their smaller V-BAT scout drone, but the X-BAT puts them in heavier ground, literally: it’s a Group … Read more
Rahmanshaber remembers the pocket computers of the early 2000s, but then smartphones took over, smoothing out the edges with glass screens and swipes. Now, with parts like the Raspberry Pi widely available, anyone can bring that era back in the form of the MutantC v5.1—a handheld PC you assemble yourself, piece by piece, until it … Read more