Best of MAKE Last Week: Robot Gift Guide, Art on Wheels, and More!

Here’s the best of the best last week from our friends over at MAKE:

The ultimate robot gift guide from MAKE

In the last few years, the world of hobby robotics has exploded.
Driven by the plummeting prices and ubiquity of microcontrollers, servomotors, and other electronic and mechanical components, the growth in personal fabrication technologies, and the success of such commercial toy, hobby, and domestic robots as Lego Mindstorms, the
Robosapien line, Japanese mini humanoids, and iRobot’s cleaning machines, robots are finally becoming rather commonplace (if still only in niche domains). And, of course, the robot growth being seeded by these new technologies is watered by the Big Muddy of the Internet, with its rapid information and idea exchange. The next generation of engineers and industrial designers who’ll build tomorrow’s robots are growing up with Vex kits and Arduino microcontrollers in their hands today.

Minneapolis Art on Wheels – MAKE: television

Each episode of MAKE: television includes in-depth profiles of prominent Makers. Here’s a quick preview of an upcoming profile of
Minneapolis Art on Wheels. Ali Momeni and his fleet of mobile video projectors transform public spaces into real-time sound and light shows on a massive scale.

Making a BlinkM reindeer ornament

A red and green blinking pattern for a BlinkM programmable LED, it was hooked it up to some AA batteries, and shoved it up the reindeer’s nose. (Well, technically into the back of his head.)

Green Holiday Crafts video!

Join Molly de Vries and pick up some new holiday tricks with a green conscience. She shows us how to make a festive fabric garland from attractive scraps, then shows a furoshiki fabric gift wrapping technique. Molly is a sustainable textiles maven and creator of
Ambatalia "The Fabric Society."

Video makers gift guide – Video solutions, tutorials, on-the-go and more…

Video technology sure has come a long way in the past 30 years. In the early days the first video recorders used by TV production crews were large quad decks about the size of refrigerator lying on its back and recorded video onto 2-inch wide videotape. Now you can easily find camcorders that fit in your pocket and even shoot high-definition video. This holiday season millions of people will give and receive some form of video, whether it’s a LCD TV, video game system, camcorder or other device.

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