Projects

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The following lists are organized by challenge level. You can select whatever challenge level you are comfortable with. Use the Resources section here on the Creator's Studio web site, or discover others, to help you with your project. For each project, be sure to post at least one blog entry telling us what you learned!

Level 1: "I'm just getting started"
  • Try out Turtle Art to create a line drawing using code.
  • Use the Makey Makey kit with some play dough to control an online game.
  • Build a wearable using conductive thread, batteries, and LEDs.
  • Explore the lessons in TinkerCAD to create your first 3D drawing.
  • Complete an Arduino lesson from Adafruit or other online resources.

Level 2: "I get it now...feeling the groove"
  • Create a work of art using the Turtle Art programming language (remember to post the art and the code on your blog).
  • Make a video showing how you used Makey Makey successfully with something other than play dough.
  • Using an Arduino lesson as a starting point, modify the code and program the board to do something different than what is taught in the original lesson.
  • Program a wearable item using a FLORA, or Sparkle kit.
  • Create an original 3D object in TinkerCAD or Autodesk 123D (see my tutorials) by combining multiple shapes/elements.
  • Complete a Scratch tutorial and share a link to your work.
  • Complete a Processing tutorial and share a link to your work.
  • Use a soldering iron to build a project, like a Drawdio pencil.

Level 3: "Bring it on!"
  • Write your own Arduino code, programming the board to perform some kind of action.
  • Create an original 3D object in TinkerCAD or Autodesk 123D by combining multiple shapes/elements that is 3D print ready.
  • Create an original Scratch program, share out the project in your blog or to the Scratch community.
  • Create a game in Scratch and use Makey Makey to control it. Make a video to help document your creation.
  • Write your own program using Processing.
  • Explore Raspberry Pi ("RPi" for short) and set up your own mini computer.
  • Program the Boe-Bot Robot shield for Arduino to navigate based on light, distance measurement or other environmental factor.

Not enough for you?
  • View the Project Inspiration section below to find a project of your own (present to me for approval before proceeding).
  • Class project: Are you working on a project for another class? Design and build it here (present to me for approval before proceeding).
  • Still not enough? Take on one of our own current Challenge Projects.

Project Inspiration

The following sites offer a large variety of projects that others have done and have chosen to share with the larger maker community.
  • Instructables - Instructables is an incredible site that lets you explore, document and share your creations.
  • Make: Projects - This is the projects section of the official website for Make Magazine.
  • PIE - The PIE Institute stands for Play, Invent, Explore. This Exploratorium web site is a great resource for project ideas.
  • Super Awesome Sylvia - Young Sylvia's DIY webshow on everything cool and worth making.
  • The Tinkering Studio - This site, hosted by the Exploratorium in San Francisco, is a great place to find project ideas.
  • Young Makers - Do you want to see what other people are making around the world? Check in on this site for more information.
  • Howtoons - Great starter projects can be found here.
  • Curiosity Machine - This is a nice site for all types of maker projects. A number of them relate to topics covered in this course.
  • Adafruit's Learning Center - In addition to being a great place to buy materials, Adafruit offers an extensive learning library covering a variety of projects.
  • HackNMod - The name says it all, amazingly cool hacks, mods and projects.
  • Soft Circuit Saturdays - Projects and tutorials on wearable technology are available here.
  • Element14 - Find projects as well as resources for learning more about Arduino, robotics, 3D printing and more.
  • Tronix Stuff - Organized mostly for Arduino, this site offers a number of different electronics projects.
  • DIY.org - A large variety of projects can be found here. Use the search button to find your area of interest. Earn badges along the way.
  • MakeUseOf - This site has a collection of Arduino projects to choose from.
  • Design Squad Nation - This site, hosted by PBS, has a tremendous amount of very unique projects, including both digital and real life projects.