Tim Goddard used Lego to masterfully recreate NASA’s Curiosity rover.
Towards the end of 2011 NASA’s latest rover will be launched towards Mars. If all goes according to plan it will land in August 2012. This model is of the Curiosity rover as it will appear on the Martian surface; you can see the six independent wheels mounted for maximum stability, the mini nuclear reactor at the back for power, as well as loads of scientific instruments to investigate the chemicals present on and in the planet.
The real Curiosity rover is about the same size as a Mini Cooper car and its primary mission is to investigate if there is or was life on the surface and also to analyse the soil to gather information for manned missions to Mars in the future.
On an unrelated note, the real rover totally needs a “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” bumper sticker. [Via The Brothers Brick]
If you like having lots of bells and whistles attached to your computer, we’ve got you at least partially covered here. Using a microcontroller and a homemade solenoid inside a desk bell, Instructables user Meseta walks you through how to create a USB-based dinging notification system. The bell can be used to notify you of new email, instant messages, or perhaps when you make a sale. One of the things that I really like about this project (I guess you could say it rings my bell) is that the bell still works when you tap the button on the top. So if there are any bellhops out there that want to get into electronics-making, this is the project for you!
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The virtual presses are cranking to life over at Maker Faire Daily, as the carnival of Maker Faire Detroit does the same. Dale Dougherty and a few other contributors will be posting images, thoughts, and video snapshots throughout the week, as the Faire takes shape, and by next weekend, we’ll have an even larger pool of eyes, ears, and futurephones pressed into service at the Henry Ford Museum grounds. So, bookmark the page, subscribe to the RSS feed, or via email to get a remote peek at the event, the makers, and their inspiring projects. And every night starting next Friday, I’ll be recapping the days events here makezine.com.
Here are some of Dale’s snaps and impressions from today, on visits to makers around the Detroit area prepping for the Faire. I can almost hear the calliope music and smell the funnel cake off in the distance, or maybe in our case, it’s Tesla Coils and paella.
We are in the backyard here seeing the cool stuff, which is shown once a year just before Halloween. Amazing. Here’s part of the marquee that they are bringing to Maker Faire.
This is the kind of large-scale heavy duty dragon thing that I had hoped to find in Detroit. We are visiting Ryan near the Russell Industrial Center. Gon-KiRin will be at Maker Faire in full fire-breathing regalia.
We visited the metal shop and home of Carlos Nielbock. He has made a beautiful wind turbine from parts sourced fhat were made in Detroit. It’s a prototype for wind power generation.
Jeff Sturges conducts learn to solder sessions at Eastern Market with Young Makers as teachers. Josh from Omnicorp Detroit explains what Maker Faire is all about. He is also showing his boom box suitcases.
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