Since 2019, a few of YouTube’s most notable makers have held a secret Santa occasion whereby every channel units out to construct a helpful and/or wacky creation to present to a different channel. This time, creators together with Colin Furze, Xyla Foxlin, Ali Spagnolia, and several other others have developed flamethrowers, attention-grabbing robots, and basic life-improving devices.
Button-activated flamethrower // Colin Furze’s present to Children Invent Stuff
Identified for his wild innovations, love of British rock-and-roll, and all issues hearth, Colin Furze wished to get a bit out-of-the-box for his present to Children Invent Stuff. The latter channel constructs actual gadgets from drawings that children ship in, so the thought was to construct a rear-mounted flamethrower that mimics farting when the wearer bends down. In any case, what child would not discover that humorous?
The results of hours of tinkering with a solenoid, some propellant, a nozzle, and an igniter was a scarily efficient system that would mild something in shut proximity on hearth.
Ice cream blaster // Children Invent Stuff’s present to Brothers Make
Ruth and Shawn, the duo who run the Children Invent Stuff channel, had been pondering alongside the identical line of “can we quickly launch this factor” as Furze once they chosen Finn’s drawing of an ice cream blaster. Their undertaking began out as an experiment to find what mixture of propellant, canister, and ice cream sort labored greatest collectively.
As soon as discovered, the contraption took the type of a hopper on high mixed with a chamber for pressurizing the launching gasoline and a valve for releasing the strain. As a result of the present was going to Brothers Make who take care of recycling plastic into new gadgets, Ruth and Shawn rebuilt it from an outdated site visitors cone, electrical panel field, and a cordless tire inflator.
Plastic waste recycling // Brothers Make’s present to Emily the Engineer
Almost all makers are used to the method of 3D printing, and though it produces much less waste than conventional subtractive manufacturing, strings of extra filament and small damaged items nonetheless add up over time. Matt and Jonny Browning of the Brothers Make YouTube channel wished to show these extra PLA scraps into one thing wonderful for Marvel fan Emily the Engineer, so that they got here up with a easy, environment friendly system to type new plastic elements from waste.
The method includes making a silicone mildew of the half to be replicated- on this case, an Infinity Gauntlet from the Marvel Avengers films, earlier than lining the within with a gold powder for an excellent, shiny coloration. Subsequent, the plastic waste is pulverized and melted earlier than being extruded at a continuing temperature which helps reduce cracking and warping. The top consequence was a really convincing duplicate that did not require any new materials.
Multitasking third arm // Emily the Engineer’s present to This Outdated Tony
After watching a few of This Outdated Tony‘s movies, Emily of the Emily the Engineer channel seen that he solely ever exhibits his two arms, so what’s higher for productiveness than including a 3rd one? Her preliminary design did end in one thing arm-shaped with a hinge and gripping mechanism, but it surely was general fairly unwieldy. A second iteration swapped the stepper motor’s fine-pitched threaded rod for coarser threads and positioned the hinge on high, nearer to the wearer’s elbow. Emily’s final main revision used versatile TPU plastic for the gripper as a substitute of inflexible materials for improved grip and even higher productiveness.
Fancy pants clamps // This Outdated Tony’s present to Becky Stern
Constructing electronics from the ground-up, as YouTube maker Becky Stern does, can open up an enormous realm of unbelievable tasks. One problem that some run into, nonetheless, is easy methods to maintain a PCB or different half in-place whereas soldering or slicing. Machinist This Outdated Tony was in a position to take the thought of serving to palms and adapt it right into a pair parallel clamps. His video exhibits each step in nice element of how he turned a bit of metal and a few brass rod right into a handcrafted masterpiece.
Face-tracking Equipment-Cat clock // Becky Stern’s present to Xyla Foxlin
Launched in 1932, the Equipment-Cat Klock is that extremely recognizable clock formed like a cat’s physique which options two eyes and a tail that rhythmically swing forwards and backwards. Becky Stern‘s secret Santa recipient, Xyla Foxlin, is allergic to cats, so this substitute is a sneeze-free different with an added creepiness issue. As a substitute of swinging the eyes forwards and backwards, this modified clock leverages a Seeed Studio Xiao RP2040 equipment and imaginative and prescient board to carry out real-time face monitoring and transfer the eyes accordingly because of a servo motor.
Upgraded Iron Man helmet // Xyla Foxlin’s present to James Bruton
As Xyla Foxlin factors out in her secret Santa construct video, Iron Man’s helmet is way too heavy given the density of iron, so why not recreate it in one thing lighter and stronger for the iron man of makers, James Bruton. The helmet began out as a sequence of 3D printed molds that obtained a beneficiant coating of mildew launch earlier than having carbon fiber items and epoxy inlaid. A couple of days of curing later, Xyla moved onto the step of fastidiously slicing, sanding, and portray her helmet parts, with the ultimate consequence being a glimmering show piece that’s now 1/7 the load of the unique iron model.
Big robotic Furby // James Bruton’s present to LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER
The YouTuber LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER is known for a pair earlier tasks, however none are maybe as memorable as his big Furby organ that performs music via a grid of 45 Furbies and a keyboard. James Bruton wished to proceed the legacy with his big, 3D printed animatronic Furby. Micro servo motors are answerable for transferring the eyes and ears whereas a pair of auto automobile lock solenoids rock the bottom forwards and backwards. An Arduino MEGA 2560 controls the entire motors, an MP3 board for taking part in loud Furby “noises”, and the IR proximity sensor for some exterior human inputs.
Coronary heart price drum machine // LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER’s present to Ali Spagnola
The inspiration for a heartbeat-driven musical instrument initially stemmed from LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER‘s (Sam Battle) coffin synthesizer idea which stops the music when the occupant… stops. Combining heartrate monitoring, a controllable instrument, and Ali Spagnola‘s current health channel made excellent sense, so Sam set to work constructing it. The drum relies on an Arduino Nano R3 and heartrate sensor which permits the board to increment the beat when the sensor’s output crosses a threshold. A matrix of switches is used to toggle which WAV file sounds are energetic at every beat inside an eight beat cycle, and all of this info will get displayed on the LEDs to the aspect.
Customized file and USB drive // Ali Spagnola’s present to Colin Furze
The closing present within the 2023 YouTube Maker Secret Santa from Ali Spagnola to Colin Furze is an ode to Furze’s love of enjoying loud, rocking music whereas working. Ali composed a tune from current clips of Furze talking, some MIDI notes, and even had some help from Xyla Foxlin and her bass guitar so as to add a number of low-frequency notes. In the long run, Spagnola had made a pressed vinyl file, customized artwork, and even a sculpted USB drive with the digital model of the tune.
This yr’s secret Santa had some unbelievable tasks, and will probably be thrilling to see what the makers on this listing provide you with subsequent yr. To look at the complete playlist of making presents and utilizing them, you possibly can go to it right here on YouTube.
