Volume 14: Optics

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Volume 14: Optics

Keep an eye-out for Make Vol. 14, which has a special section on optics. You'll learn how to make an inexpensive but powerful digital microscope that will allow you to display bacteria colonies on a video monitor, a vintage-looking opaque projector that can display artwork from books onto a wall, a model of a crazy-angled room that makes things appear to change size, and a cool kaleidoscope. Also in the issue, we'll show you how to build the following: a mesmerizing taffy pulling machine, a remote control dune buggy with a built in video camera, a dollar-store parabolic microphone, and many more fun and fascinating projects.

View a list of all links referenced in this volume

Table of Contents

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Make Like Picasso by Mark Frauenfelder in Welcome
When you create something amazing, it makes sense to honor it with physical appeal, too. Page 12

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Too Much Time on My Hands by Cory Doctorow in Make Free
All creative endeavor begins with just fooling around. Enjoy it. Page 14

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Earth, Wind, Inspire by Linda Permann in Made on Earth
Page 16

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Musical Engineerity by Peter Kirn in Made on Earth
Want robots to be musical, creative, and expressive? Better brush up on your engineering. Page 18

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Pedal Pure by Megan Mansell Williams in Made on Earth
The five designers of Aquaduct were thinking of creating access to clean water for everyone. Page 19

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Status: Stinky by Bruce Stewart in Made on Earth
Want someone to know how many times you applied deodorant today? Neither do the creators of Zero Privacy. Page 20

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Auto Erotic by Eric Smillie in Made on Earth
After five ratchet-welding years, Liz Cohen has created a lawnmower that becomes an El Camino. Page 21

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Yabba Dabba DIY by Ed Troxell in Made on Earth
Bill LeMaster built the Flintstone car for his grandkids' Halloween costume. Page 22

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Dirty Car Art by Dale Dougherty in Made on Earth
Scott Wade wanted to do better than write "Wash Me" in the dust of dirty cars... so he drew caricatures. Page 23

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The Power of Things by Saul Griffith in Making Trouble
Reusing and energy consumption have been consuming Saul Griffith's thoughts. Page 24

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Timothy and the Chocolate Factory by David Pescovitz in Proto
How a space shuttle technologist and the founder of Wired magazine hacked together a homebrew chocolate lab. Page 28

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Mall Living by Howard Wen
Artist Michael Townsend and his wife Adriana Yoto lived in a mall, rent free, for four years. Page 34

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Cars Without Drivers by William Gurstelle
Teams compete to win the U.S. military's $2 million grand prize. Page 38

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Flying School Automaton by Annie Buckley
Technology-loving artist Diane Landry discusses her background, her inspiration, and how kids respond to kinetic sculpture. Page 42

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Ready, Set, Make! by Gever Tulley
Twenty-five teams, 1 box of parts, 4 hours, winner takes all -- welcome to the 2008 XD Design Build Prize. Page 44

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Pushing the Performance Envelope by Michael Betancourt
Mary Hallock-Greenewalt was a musician, engineer, inventor ... and exceptional. Page 47

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Homebrew Digital 3D Movies by Eric Kurland
Build your own stereo video camera and 3D viewer. Page 50

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Recycled Kaleidoscope by Carolyn Bennett
Make a classic optics toy from an old CD case. Page 57

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Print-and-Fold Ames Room by Ranjit B.
This classic illusion makes objects - and hobbits - seem to change size. Page 60

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Lensless Microscope by Tom Zimmerman
A webcam's image chip is an ultrafine shadow-imaging stage. Page 64

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Cosmic Night Light by Kris DeGraeve
Make a glittering LED constellation jammed in resin - with no soldering! Page 70

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Wall Eye by Steve Lodefink
Build your own opaque projector. Page 74

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Scanner Camera by Mike Golembewski
Mod a flatbed scanner to take photos that decontruct time and motion. Page 78

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Make Noise! by Charles Platt in Upload
Turn your desktop computer into a musical instrument. Page 86

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Page Yourself by Brian O'Heir in Upload
When you want to put up your own website, how free can a freebie be? Page 88

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As Good as Old by Richard Kadrey in Upload
Once upon a time, photographers took pictures on a delicate, wonky medium called "film", which was plagued with defects such as dust, scratched negatives, grain, and colors that faded with time. Page 91

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Living Room Baja Buggies by John Mouton
With wireless cameras on board, these radio-controlled racers give you virtual reality telepresence. Page 96

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Taffy Pulling Machine by William Gurstelle
Make a simple mechanism that stretches delicious candy while it stretches the limits of multidimensional math. Page 106

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The Pixelmusic 3000 by Tarikh Korula
Re-create a mid-1970s video trip by plugging this box into any TV and audio source. Beneath the fake wood paneling, a Propeller microcontroller simulates Atari's classic music visualizer. Page 114

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Piggy Bank by Tom Parker in Make Money
Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself. Page 124

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Wireless Motion Sensing Made Easy by Tom Igoe in DIY: Circuits
XBee radios track every hit in roller derby action! Page 125

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Mini Bike Light by Trevor Shannon in DIY: Circuits
Make an easy LED headlight from a garden hose adapter. Page 129

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Evasive Beeping Thing by Brad Graham, Kathy McGowan in DIY: Circuits
Infernal noisemaker turns pals into enemies. Page 131

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Safety Spectrometer by Eric Rosenthal in DIY: Science
Device identifies dangerous liquids by analyzing light. Page 134

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Parabolic Microphone by Jim Lee in DIY: Spy
This dollar store DIY spy mic lets you listen from afar. Page 136

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Covert Spy Sunglasses by Kip Kedersha in DIY: Spy
Record what you see and hear with these low-cost stealthy sunglasses. Page 138

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The Machinist's Phonograph by Royston Maybery in DIY: Music
This time-tripping player handles all cylinder record formats. Page 141

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Wii Will Rock You by Bill Byrne in DIY: Music
Play real air guitar (or keys) with the wireless game remote. Page 145

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Molecular Gastronomy by Michael F. Zbyszynski in DIY: Kitchen
Spherify your food for a new culinary experience. Page 149

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The Gomicycle by Marque Cornblatt in DIY: Vehicles
A Honda Rebel 250 motorcycle goes electric. Page 153

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Life Models by Douglas Repetto in Art Work
Page 156

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Three-Dimensional Printing Methods by Tom Owad in Personal Fab
Build one platform, and you can experiment with everything from cookie dough to laser sintering. Page 158

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Solar Power System Design by Parker Jardine in Primer
How to use solar panels to supplement your home or workshop electricity needs. Page 160

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Spinning Top Illusions by Joost Bonsen, Nick Dragotta, Saul Griffith in Howtoons
Page 168

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MakeShift: Under Siege by Lee D. Zlotoff in MakeShift
The creator of MacGyver challenges you to signal for help from an isolated laundry room while three burly men wait to attack. Page 170

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Reader Input in Reader Input
Where makers tell their tales and offer praise, brickbats, and swell ideas. Page 172

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Puzzle This by Michael H. Pryor in Aha!
MAKE's favorite puzzles. Page 174

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Toolbox by Ken Delahoussaye, Kes Donahue, David Grosof, Brian Jepson, Alan Kalb, Tim Lillis, Steve Lodefink, Sam Murphy, Meara O'Reilly, Joseph Pasquini, Sholady, April Zamora in Toolbox
Go cuckoo for coconuts, munch on the ultimate brain food, turn day into night, and build your own greenhouse. Page 176

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Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle in Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world. Page 183

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My Homebrew 3D Scanner by Tim Anderson in Homebrew
Imagine a camera that captures the shapes of things, and a printer that prints out those shapes. Page 192

Mulitimedia for this Volume

How to Video (.mp4) from Evasive Beeping Thing

Download now: MPEG

How to Video (.mp4) from Recycled Kaleidoscope

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How to Video (.mp4) from Taffy Pulling Machine

Download now: MPEG

Pixelmusic 3000 in Action! from The Pixelmusic 3000

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MAKE: Amends Errata for this volume.

Where it appears Evasive Beeping Thing, Page 131
The error Schematic Missing Measurements: The schematic is indeed missing the info with regards to which capacitor goes where, etc. We've uploaded a new version here. The schematic that made it into the magazine also had a line extending between the 8-ohm speaker and Ground. This should not be connected; follow the schematic online for the correct set up.

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