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MAKE In This Issue... Bay Area Lego Users Group, BAYLUG (video) Counter Intelligence: An Attempt to Keep Curious Cats at Bay Massimo Banzi and Tom Igoe From @arduinoteam on "Ask an engineer" Tonight! More Recent Articles Bay Area Lego Users Group, BAYLUG (video) The Bay Area Lego Users Group builds creations of every size and type imaginable, exclusively using Lego blocks. From entire neighborhoods of buildings, to a scale reproduction of the battleship Yamato, they had plenty on hand to show at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. At their meetings they often have competitions to test their building prowess, in events such as coaster cars and structural stability on their very own “earthquake table.” Subscribe to the Maker Faire Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube. Check out more videos from Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. More: Lego Computer Case Functioning Lego Greenhouse Milling Machine Made Entirely From Lego Gigantic, Creeptastic Lego Victorian   • Email to a friend • View comments • Track comments • • Counter Intelligence: An Attempt to Keep Curious Cats at Bay Steve Winter of Berkeley, CA designed Counter Intelligence to catch his cats trying to investigate the kitchen counter when he and his wife are not around. Steve used an Arduino Nano with a Maxbotix ultrasonic rangefinder to monitor the countertop. If the rangefinder senses something close by—say, a feline—it fires a toy gun that makes a “p-tang laser sound.” The knob controls the distance that is being monitored and the flexible monopod allows him to point the rangefinder/gun anywhere he needs to. Not only that, but the suction cup base on the monopod lets him mount it almost anywhere (such as the refrigerator). When asked how well it works, Steve says that “the cats are not deterred by the tiny toy laser gun but we get great amusement from it. We know when the cats are on the kitchen counter, but by the time we walk to the kitchen the cats are long gone (undoubtedly laughing at us from the other end of the house).” More: Papercraft Nyan Cat Automata Cat-leidoscope Kitty Twitty Cat Toy from MAKE Volume 22 VCR Cat Feeder from MAKE Volume 03   • Email to a friend • View comments • Track comments • • Massimo Banzi and Tom Igoe From @arduinoteam on "Ask an engineer" Tonight! Quick note! Massimo Banzi and Tom Igoe From @arduinoteam will be on “Ask an Engineer”. Stop by at 10pm ET and ask ALL your Arduino questions! I’ll be behind the camera helping out!   • Email to a friend • View comments • Track comments • • More Recent Articles How Hard Can It Be? A New Maker Show How Humans Perceive Nonlinearity Make: Projects – Hinge-Technique Acrylic Box Construction Using a Router Show and Tell for MAKE at Crashspace in LA – tonight 9/30/11, 8pm News From The Future: Go Out With A Bang, You Are Ammunition

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