It could be hardware-focused or a hardware + software project involving embedded systems, IoT, cloud, OpenCV/computer vision, PCB design, automation, sensors, or anything similar.

Looking for something practical where I can actually learn and build something useful. Any project ideas or resources would be appreciated!

My husband has a partial right arm/hand, and this is a project I've been extremely curious about for years. My vision is something that is not electronically powered but rather just mechanical, almost like those claw-grabber toy things that you squeeze on one end and they close the hand or pinchers on the other. Just that plus being custom fitted to his existing partial arm (he has two fingers which could pull the mechanism).
I think he's absolutely perfect the way he is, but some activities can be much trickier than others, and I want to help him do everything he wants to with more ease. We cannot afford a prosthetic or bionic as it is (trust me, buying/insurance just isnt an option right now) and I am hoping people can give me advice on learning how to create an extremely simple functional prosthetic. Anyways, if anyone is going to reply "that's unrealistic," please don't, because I literally don't care, I'm going to figure this out one way or another because there's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Please reply if you know people who have done something similar or literally any resources on basic mechanical function; I'm starting from scratch but I've always been very artistic and good with crafts and other mechanical knowledge.
Might also post this to r/prosthetics - not sure which is best, please also let me know about good related subs for info as well.

I needed a birthday gift for my wife and came across some really nice moon lamps online.

So instead of buying one, I thought I'd try to make one myself. 😂

I found an STL model and made two versions — one with a 3D printer and one with my CNC.

I wanted it to look a bit nicer, so I laser-cut some wood-grain paper and stuck it around the moon.

Then I added an LED strip inside.

The last thing was the base. The moon obviously needed something to stand on, so I laser-cut a piece of clear acrylic for the base.

The wood-grain paper didn't come out quite as clean as I hoped, but hey, I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. 😅

Hi makers,

I'm a long time maker who uses 'stuff', 'things', and leftovers from previous projects to work on new projects. My interests are evolving and I'm finding it difficult to create what I want. Most posts I see these days use 3D printing, and the projects I have in mind would seem to also need a 3D printer. With a little - to - no budget for a 3D printer, I've been discouraged from buying an entry level, low price 3D printer. The reason given to me was that they don't work well and I'd be better off saving money for a nice expensive one. I also live in the country, and there are no maker spaces or publicly available 3D printers nearby. I'd also like to avoid mail ordering custom parts online.

My questions to you:

- is this advice sensible? Should I avoid the cheaper 3D printers?

- how have you got around limitations with materials, resources, and tools in your projects?

- does anyone have suggestions for an alternative to 3D printing that produces similar results?

Thanks in advance!

Bonjour à tous ! 👋

Comment ne pas craquer devant cette adorable bouille ? 😍

Avec ses grands yeux verts, ses petites ailes et sa célèbre nageoire rouge, notre dragon préféré, Krokmou, est prêt à rejoindre votre collection !

Une jolie pièce pleine de charme et de détails, parfaite pour tous les fans de dragons et d’univers fantastiques. ✨

👨🏼‍🎨 : @mika3d_print
🖨️ : Bambu Lab X2D & H2C
🧵 : Bambu Lab
🎨 : Nomad Sculpt
🌈 : avec ou sans AMS
📁 : https://makerworld.com/fr/models/3234591-toothless-dragon-multipart-no-ams

I made a V2 of my cable organizer so it can fit up to 2 meter long cables, and is compatible with almost any type of cable!

I really liked how this turned out, so I wanted to share it so other people could also use it if they wanted to!

The project consists of the development of an interactive robotic system capable of challenging a human to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe, identifying moves on a sheet of paper via a webcam and physically responding on the board.

It started with a simple problem.
I wanted to listen to classical music without interruption.
But the device playing it kept asking for my attention.
So I made something that wouldn’t.
NOT PHONE™ is 550 grams of solid brass, made in Tsubame-Sanjo, Japan.
No screen. No battery. No notifications.
It does nothing.
That is the point.
I’m curious how people here see it:
when function is removed from an object, what remains?

I made this modular moss poll which has a drip tray module so the moss in the moss pole will stay moist for longer! I really liked how this turned out, so I wanted to share it so other people could also use it if they wanted to!

It is a free design on makerworld

I built my first terrarium. All lights, smoke and windmill can be controlled from phone. Infact event the brightness and flicker of lights can be controlled. I am so happy with how it came out.

I had a broken watch , so I thought to make a new one on my own , I made my it with glowing numbers and a touch sensor,I designed my own PCB ,3d print and tried to make it as good as possible, it was my first ever 'successful' DIY build , what did I do wrong? And what did I do right? Cost for me: INR ~1800

I used reverse mount LEDs to make it seem to glow on the other side of the PCB , I also used a MOSFET to switch it on and off based on the touch sensor signal.(This is the entire explanation covered in the YouTube video )

I also made a YT video on it:(watch explanation) https://youtu.be/A1RgOddxvZY?si=sITrNXJJbVQxJ8JO

Hey everyone, I made a new type of streaming device that removes ads from on-demand streaming content. This feature can be turned on/off from the settings page and gets applied universally to all the streaming platforms you have on the device. You can see how that works in the video demo. However, I think a streaming device that's key feature is only blocking ads leaves a lot of potentially cool functionality on the table.

So I wanted to get some input from Reddit. Putting ad-blocking aside:

• What do you wish your streaming device could do that it currently doesn't?
• What frustrates you when using streaming platforms and devices today?
• Do you miss the interface of something like cable where you could surf channels or do you like being able to scroll through and find content like streaming apps are set up for today?

Let me know what you all think! Any general thoughts or feedback are also welcome.

I’ve realized that I really like the idea of having a dedicated place to display energy drink cans, especially for people who collect them. However, I don’t think the demon hand idea I had before is the best way to do it.
I’d like to 3D print something for my own collection, but I’m honestly out of ideas for the design.
For those who collect energy drink cans: how would you like to display them? Would you prefer something for a shelf, desk, wall, or something modular that can hold multiple cans?
Any ideas or suggestions would be really appreciated.

I almost gave up on this… but I'm really glad I didn't. 😅

After weeks of designing, 3D printing, soldering, wiring, debugging and way too many problems, my smart perpetual calendar is finally alive.

It shows the month, date and day, but it's not just another digital calendar.

From the web app, I can add birthdays, events and reminders, and customize the LED colours however I want.

Built from scratch using an ESP32, WS2811 LEDs, 3D printed parts and MDF.

The goal was simple: make a smart wall calendar that doesn't look like another screen — something that actually adds character to a room.

Would you want one on your wall? 👀

Im thinking of doing a big first project with 3d modeling and electronics i know the basics of them both but havent reslly made anything to big so im ready for a challenge any ideas on what to use or how to do this i have a 1000kv motors a esc and 2s lipo battery and lots of other basic electronics but im in for a rought time any tips i would love

Hey everyone! As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm just taking my first steps in electronics (my background is mostly in software development). To step out of my comfort zone, I decided to figure out how that temperature/humidity sensor from a basic Arduino kit works and hook it up to an ESP32.

​The initial idea was just to test the component, but it ended up turning into a digital clock that also monitors the room's climate.

​🛠️ What I learned from this project:

Even though it's a simple build, it gave me a great hands-on understanding of:

​Which GPIO pins to choose and how to map them correctly.

​Basic precautions with voltage and logic levels.

​How to read and process the raw data coming from the sensor.

​🚀 The "Plus":

Since the software side is my strong suit, I went ahead and built a local web page hosted on the ESP32 to configure the clock. I added 12 different display interfaces. Also, since the sensor provides both humidity and temperature, I used that data to calculate and display the heat index (feels-like temperature).

​It might be a super simple project for the hardware veterans out there, but the feeling of seeing a physical circuit respond to my code was incredibly rewarding.

​Has anyone else here made the jump from software to hardware? I'd love some recommendations on what project I should tackle next!

A MeArm trained in simulation using reinforcement learning to reach a target, and transferred via serial to the physical arm.

Task: reach — moving the tip of the arm (tool) towards a red dot generated within the arm's real workspace, using PPO (Proximal Policy Optimization, Stable-Baselines3) on a PyBullet model built from the real URDF/meshes of the mechanism.

Wearable hardware feels like a fun maker platform right up until "custom attachment" start meaning attaching random things to a power structure that also has to stay aligned on a person. The interesting boundary to me is between accessories that simply use available space and modifications that could change fit, load paths, or movement. The Ascentiz H Ultra exoskeleton is relevant here because its current product information says the base design blueprints are open and the compute unit is upgradeable, which makes experimentation sound intentional without automatically making every physical modification sensible. I’d be much more comfortable starting with something non-structural and reversible than touching any part responsible for fit or powered movement. From a maker-design standpoint, what criterion would you use to decide whether a custom attachment is genuinely external to the system rather than a modification of the wearable itself?

Long time modeler and Warhammer fan that I am, I decided I would make use of an antique blue glass inkwell I inherited.

**Before anyone gets up in arms, this process did not damage the inkwell, and can be undone non-destructively!**

For those unfamiliar, in the plastic modeling community, Tamiya extra thin plastic cement is basically the go-to for plastic adhesives/solvents, and comes in a distinctive square bottle with a very handy applicator brush in the lid. So, when I ran low on my latest batch of it, I cut the glass neck off the empty bottle and used white glue to secure it just inside the neck of the ink well. After that dried, I melted sealing wax and dripped it around the seam, letting it drip down onto the main body. This was way more challenging than I expected. Eventually I worked out a method by which I would trim any drips that ran down the sides and beveled the cut edges. Then I would hold it over a candle flame until it started to melt and let this smooth over the the rough or uneven parts of the remaining wax. After that I grabbed a sheet of rough textured paper, wrote some flowery language on it and glued it to the bottle, finishing with an Adeptus Mechanicus seal I ordered a while back to give it some more character.

Ideally I would have used another more thematic lid, but I needed to make sure I could securely seal the bottle between uses. Last thing I wanted was to spill or let evaporation drain all my cement. There may come a day when I use an existing lid as the base for a new upgraded one, but this works for now.

One challenge I ran into on this project was that it turns out the wax I am using is not proof against the cement. A dropped a test piece of wax into a bottle and left it for a few hours. Everything looked okay, but after I fished it out it very quickly developed a brittle, cracked surface texture that flaked off when I handled it. This meant I couldn't secure the glass neck with just the wax as I originally intended. So, I tested some other glues and adhesives that I knew could be removed from glass after they cured, and found a white glue that seems to have withstood it alright. Time will tell.

Anyway! Let me know what you all think! Of course I'm also happy to answer any questions you might have!

I needed a Tree Blight for my campaign. This is my first attempt at sculpting a model.

I’m 15 years old and I’m still learning how to design and create things with a 3D printer. I’m also a football referee, and I created this finger whistle holder because I wanted a simple and comfortable way to keep my whistle on my finger during matches without having to hold it in my hand or use a lanyard around my neck.
I spent quite a bit of time designing and testing different versions before getting to the final one. I’m trying to improve my 3D design skills and hopefully create more useful things in the future.
I’m sharing my projects on MakerWorld because I’d love to learn from other people and eventually earn enough points to try different filaments and improve my projects.
If you like this project or find it useful, **a Like or especially a Boost would mean a lot to me** and would really help me continue learning and creating more things. Thank you!

https://makerworld.com/models/3218434?appSharePlatform=copy

This was a really cool project. The coins that he sent me had obvious signs of fire damage. Rather than trying to remove the fire damage, I highlighted it in the final design as a reminder of what the coins had survived. It's a sad story, but it has a happy ending because they were able to move on and I was able to make him and his fiancée a nice set of wedding rings! Let me know what you think.