“Originally designed by J Silver, when I first saw the Drawdio at Maker Faire I knew it would be a great project for beginners: A lot of fun with instant gratification! Essentially, its a very simple musical synthesizer that uses the conductive properties of pencil graphite to create different sounds. The result is a simple toy that lets you draw musical instruments on any piece of paper.”

I am unfathomably excited by this project, combining as it does two loves of mine: abstract expressionism and atonality. Sorry, I mean sketching and music!

Ladyada posts a great video presumably taken at Maker Faire showing Mr. Silver and a whole host of people playing with the invention - there is a great social aspect to the experience too as users can create more possibilities by holding hands whilst interacting with each other’s doodles. It is worth noting that Jay Silver comes straight from that hotbed of maker talent, MIT’s Media Lab, specifically the Life Long Kindergarten group.

I wonder if there is potential for a Drawdio/Photomake mashup? You could certainly have any sketches that you think are worth preserving converted into a lasercut outline without much effort..

via ladyada’s ranting

Check out their blog/twitter/site with some great examples of Digital Fabrication, Computational Design, Text & Theory.

Very Nice

Brought to you by the hard working Erin - go check it out.

Today let’s give you some ideas on how to give you more time to create, save your customers some cash and cut down on carbon emissions.

To do this you need to setup your Showroom so your products are made and shipped direct from Ponoko to your customers.

To start off, check out a really good example of a Showroom set up to ship a product direct from Ponoko.

You’ll see it has a number of examples of shipping costs (John continues to add more when buyers in specific locations ask him to). It also sets the expectation that the buyer will be receiving something direct from Ponoko (in the video it shows the buyer will need to pull the protective tape off the material, and self assemble).

To see how it works (what the buyer pays and what you get paid) I recommend you click the green ‘Buy’ button in the example and follow it through to the point you need to put in your CC (no need to make a purchase).

What you’ll see is how the money flows
FIRST #1 - You get paid by your customer the amount you advertise (which is the sum of the product cost in the green color PLUS the shipping cost you advertise below this);

THEN #2 - You pay us the amount quoted in a separate transaction within your MyPonoko account (which is the sum of making + materials + shipping costs).

You just need to make sure that #1 is higher than #2 (both including shipping costs to your customer’s specific location):

Now onto how to make this happen …

How to determine the shipping price to include in your Showroom:

1) First, think about some key places you want to ship to (you’ll see the example above now has 8 locations). Remember you can add to these over time as people ask you to, but it’s good to cover a few base destinations first.

2) Now go to your MyPonoko account and run your product through the quoting system as if you are delivering to the different example locations you have nominated (in the example above this means John went through the quoting system 8 times).

3) Make sure you use the exact product design that you are selling, because the shipping price is different for different designs.

4) As a result of your efforts the quoting system will give you the shipping prices direct from Ponoko to your nominated locations.

5) Write these down and then enter them into Step 4 of the ‘Show’ your item process in your MyPonoko account. They will now appear on the product page in your public Showroom.

Congrats! You know you’re done when your Showroom looks like the example above AND the visible shipping prices you charge buyers are the same as (or higher) than the shipping prices you will pay Ponoko to ship direct to your buyers on your behalf.

How this all comes together

1) Buyer makes a purchase – the amount they pay you is the product price + the shipping price you have stated in your Showroom using the process above.

2) You get a sale email alert from Ponoko – so visit your MyPonoko account to see the details of the order. It will include the shipping details for the buyer which (should) match the shipping destination option they chose in your Showroom.

3) You confirm you have received the money and have some ‘thank you’ conversations with the buyer. You may get to clarify some things with them too - and spark up a relationship for your future products.

4) You then place an order with Ponoko to make and deliver your item direct to the buyer, by entering their shipping details (instead of yours) during the quoting process in your MyPonoko account.

5) After you pay, Ponoko will then make and ship your item directly to the buyer.

Cool! You know you’re successful when the buyer has paid you in a single Ponoko Showroom transaction a sum of money which is more than you have paid Ponoko to make and ship direct to the buyer.

Of course this means you will want to provide self assembly instructions. Something I will cover into the future

Please let me know if you have any questions by posting in the Comments section below.

Juan talks about vectors in relation to type but the principles are the same for drawings for a new necklace design or a personalized set of coasters. They are also applicable to all the vector drawing software we suggest, whether it is Illustrator, Corel, or the freebie Inkscape.

The first post is about the basics of vector drawing where he outlines the definitions of the terminology used in vector software packages and how to construct your shapes.

In the second he goes through 8 common vector drawing mistakes, showing examples of where to put your points, how many to have, and how to balance the handles.

Thanks for the tips Juan and I’ll be keeping an eye on your blog for any future advice.

via swissmiss

Behrokh Khoshnevis , a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California and The Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies is making Gibson’s vision a reality with a process of CAD/CAM technology, which ‘prints’ out a computer model as 3-D object using layers of plastic. Kohsnevis’ Contour Crafting automated system uses a giant computer-guided nozzle to lay down layers of concrete, while the machine’s robotic trowels give the walls shape. You may have seen the experimental concept at Design and the Elastic Mind.

Now Caterpillar, the world’s biggest maker of construction equipment, has announced it will fund research of Koshnevis’ robotic building machines through a grant to the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The overarching vision for the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT) is to develop the science and engineering needed for rapid automated fabrication of objects of various size up to mega-scale structures such as, boats, industrial objects, public art and whole building structures.

The grand challenge for CRAFT is building a custom-designed house in a day while drastically reducing the costs, injuries, waste and environmental impact associated with traditional construction techniques. The vision is a revolution in housing construction, whether it be to provide affordable housing for the 30 million U.S. households facing cost burdens or overcrowding; emergency housing for victims of disasters; extraterrestrial buildings constructed from in situ materials; new styles of housing based on curved organic designs rather than straight surfaces; or inexpensive first ownership housing for an emerging middle class in the developing world. With national construction-related expenditures currently totaling close to $1 trillion annually, the potential impact is enormous.

Via 2Modern

MPGuino is “a reasonably low-cost device that will gauge your MPG, even for cars that do not have an OBD-II interface in their car… this device uses inputs from the Vehicle Speed Sensor(VSS) and one fuel injector control wire, both of which are easily found in just about all electronic fuel injected cars.”

think Blik vs Ponoko vs garage sale…

Cheers to trendhunter

The event will showcase the glitterati of Mass Customization including Frank Piller & B. Joseph Pine II with keynote addresses highlighting key aspects of matters today in mass customization and an opening address by William Mitchell, MIT Smart Customization Group.

The industry will also be represented by Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, CustoMax.com Founder & CEO Bas Possen, Adidas Director of Mass Customization, Alison Page and many more(sans Ponoko).

If anyone is able to attend please feel free to send me a report, I would love to attend vicariously if I can’t in the flesh.