The task of making 3d models for games can feel daunting. In 2022, we have many tools to rapidly creating 3d models using scanning methods. I’m amazed how this robust computer science and computer vision technology has become accessible to makers and creatives. Let’s say you need to create a 3d model of a statue and 3d print a copy. In our post today, I wanted to connect our readers to a wonderful app called Trnio and a few others. For IPhone and Ipad users that have ARKit, maker can create impressive 3d models by recording a scan of their target objects or capturing pictures. The following video outlines the process for Trnio.
Under the hood, 3d scanning works by exploring each frame and computing the estimated camera position of the device. Using the camera position and feature points extracted from the frame, the system can do analysis of the movement of feature points over time. Using algorithms that extract 3d structure from motion, the app can estimate a model of the 3d object. Really cool stuff.
When testing this application with my kitchen table and few other car parts, I found the app easy to use with notable results. You can inspect some of the results of scans on SketchFab.
In the more recent editions of iOS devices, users have access to LIDAR scanners on these devices. The LIDAR sensor provides depth information more robustly to algorithms increasing 3d model quality. Fernado Herrera does a nice review of a few other scanning options that leverage LIDAR. He mentioned that the LIDAR scans worked best on large structures. I appreciated his comments on Qlone which focuses on scanning smaller items using a QR code template. The reviews looked a bit mixed on the app stores though.
We love to hear from our readers. If there’s another tool that you love for 3d scanning, please share in the comments. If you make something cool, please share that with us too!!
Happy New Year friends! On this beautiful New Year’s day, I wanted to reflect upon some lessons from 2021 and learning opportunities for 2022. In 2022, we will continue to focus on ideas that help students love learning through exploration, making, and tinkering. As parents, we dream about helping our kids become the best version of themselves. It’s been fun to see how “maker education” and project based learning at home has encouraged growth in families.
Lessons from 2021 and learning at home
At this point, I would like to give a huge shout out to our teachers and professors who have served through this pandemic. We are so very thankful for the ways that you’ve invested in our kids and helped them to grow. They have helped our family adapt to learning from home for a significant portion of the year. Our kids did return to a traditional public school setting in the fall. We’re thankful for all the efforts of the staff and teachers to mitigate the concerns of COVID while fostering a positive learning environment.
At the Rosario home, I have tried to pay attention to hot spots of motivation and curiosity. If the kids start tinkering on the piano trying to figure out the Avenger’s theme, I’ve tried to make myself more available to encourage their musical exploration. My kids still enjoy creating their own music with Bandlab. We’ve also encouraged a good amount of traditional art with the kids. With the kid’s interest in Pokemon and Anime, they’ve become curious about drawing in this style. It’s been amazing to see the lessons they’ve learned through various drawing teachers on YouTube. Given that dad works as a software developer, it’s wonderful to see the kids engage in coding and building software. In future blog posts, we look forward to unpacking some of our more fruitful Scratch and Unity 3d tools. If your middle schooler or teen shows interest in video game development, the team at Unity 3D have continued to evolve their learning platform to be relevant to student creators. As a big kid myself, I’m still glad that our family enjoys Lego building together.
Space and wonder: I personally believe our SpaceX and NASA programs give our kids a sense of vision and potential. Over the Christmas break, the kids and I took in documentaries from NOVA on the Mars Perseverance rover and related missions. It’s so amazing the progress of our space programs in the past year. I do feel that the exploration of our universe and space travel helps keep a sense of awe and wonder about our world. It’s good the meditate upon how wonderfully complex and beautiful creation is.
Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality: In 2022, I look forward to exploring apps, trends, and tools that empower students to create XR experiences. I still continue to love the XR platform used for teaching and learning. It’s been fun to see the kids explore the International Space station in VR. In yet another experience, the Obama family unpacks the history of the white house in VR. I love that platforms like CoSpaces have started to empower young makers to build VR experiences with block coding. ( cospaces.io/edu/ )
Robots: My oldest son has expressed tons of interest in deep sea exploration. I have a feeling I’m going to start learning about playful games and simulation experiences to help him explore this. He’s found a very cool game called Subnautica that explores some of these ideas. In Subnautica, you are trying to survive an alien deep sea world using your resourcefulness and exploration skills. I do think that sea exploration using robots is really interesting. We look forward to explore trends and tools related to DIY IoT and robotics.
We are very thankful for our readers. Please know we pray for the very best for you and your family in 2022! If you have some cool projects that you’re doing with your kids, please drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.
Hello! Hope that you and your family are having a great summer! Like many families, we’ve tried to find fun and constructive ways to engage the kids through the summer while they’re out of school. One of my friends asked me if I had any fun maker activities that involved coding. In this post, I wanted to give a shout out to a few things that have engaged my family.
Dance Pary 2019 from Code.org
One of my kids has become very motivated through the art of dance. With that in mind, I introduced her to this fun “hour of code” lesson from Code.org. In this lesson, makers become connected to block based programming while directing cartoon dancers. In the early lessons, students learn to trigger dance moves based on keyboard events. I find that students become very engaged with good music. These lessons enable students to design their own dance party to various popular songs. Check out Dance Party 2019 from Code.org. Please know that you can find many more engaging hour of code lessons from Code.org with your kid’s favorite characters. They’ve currated lessons that involve Minecraft, Frozen, Lego, and more.
CSFirst from Google – Digital Story Telling
In the maker education community, Scratch has become a cornerstone tool for teaching students to code. The gallery of Scratch.mit.edu enables you to review a broad range of stories and games built by the community. Scratch offers students a general purpose platform for creating games and interactive experiences. Google has put together a pretty cool set of lessons to guide students through their initial interactions with Scratch. Lessons involve experiences with art, digital story telling, and game design. My kids have enjoyed some of the game design lessons.
As artists and makers, we enjoy the process of creating something new from something old or familiar. The Makey Makey makes this possible. Makey makey is a USB device for your Mac or PC enabling makers of all ages to experiment with human computer interaction and inventing. The Makey makey interface enables you to design playful circuits and switches. The following videos describes the Makey makey in great detail with example experiments.
In our family, we’ve enjoyed playing with musical instrument building, controlling Minecraft with fruit, and constructing novel Nerf gun targets.
If you’re looking for project ideas with step by step instructions, you can check out the following link from Instructibles.
Hello makers! Like many in the computer industry, I had the dream of learning how to build video games. When the math class seemed difficult, I found inspiration to move forward since I had strong motivation to learn how to build video games someday! Unity 3D and their amazing community of game creators have created powerful opportunities for curious makers to build games that amaze your friends. From my first encounters with Unity 3D, I felt that they have done a good job of educating their users. In the past few years, I greatly admire the new strategies they have created to engage learners in their tools.
The idea of “modding” has engaged generations of gamers. (Thank you Minecraft and Roblox!). We’ve become used to the idea that games setup a robust environment where you can build big and crazy things. In lots of games, you’re placed into a position of saving the world. (i.e. you’ve been given a motivation to do something bigger than yourself that’s fun). The Unity 3D “microgame” tutorials provide students with the basic shell of well crafted game experiences. In this context, the Unity 3D team have created tutorial experience to gently guide learners through the Unity 3D environment, programming concepts, and their system for building Unity “lego” blocks. In this experience, you get to select your adventure. Do you want to build your own Lego game? Do you want to make your own version of Super Mario brothers? You can challenge yourself by building a cool kart racing game. In the videos below, I wanted to give a shout out to the Lego action “game jam” and the Kart Racing tutorials.
I always enjoy learning new Unity tricks from other developers. It has been fun to pick apart aspects of these games. In the newest Kart racing tutorials, you can also learn about the newer machine learning capabilities of Unity 3D. ( ML Agents ) It kind of blows my mind that these ideas can now appear in tutorials for early stage coders. As I’ve tested these experiences with my kids, they have enjoyed creating novel kart racing experiences and environments. My older son has enjoyed customizing his own shooter game.
If you make something cool, please share a link below in the comments!
Your First Game Jam: LEGO Ideas Edition
In this edition, you will discover how to build a quest in your LEGO® Microgame using the newly released “Speak” and “Counter” LEGO® Behaviour Bricks. Learn step-by-step with a special guest from the LEGO® Games division and our Unity team to create your own unique, shareable game.
Build Your Own Karting Microgame
It’s never been easier to start creating with Unity. From download to Microgame selection, to modding, playing, and sharing your first playable game, this video shows you what you can accomplish in as little as 30 minutes!
Like many other families, we really enjoy creating DIY Christmas ornaments. We collected a few inspirations for ornaments made with 3D printing, laser cutting, and origami. Hope you find something that inspires you!
Interested in Building Your Own Christmas Ornament using a 3D printer? Check out my getting started video here. In this video, we’ll help you build simple objects in just 5 minutes. TinkerCAD.com is crazy fun for makers of all ages. Keep in mind that your local library sometimes offers free 3D printing services.
This week we learn to fold a tropical bird, the very vibrant flamingo. Go all out with your creativity and make this #OrigamiFlamingo your own. Don’t forget to share your creations with us using #TimesPaperShaper and tag us for a chance to get featured. https://t.co/TD7I0LZaFo
Love organizing your little knick-knacks? Then choose the size and colour of your folding sheet & join us to fold your very own #Origami Star Box and remember to use #TimesPaperShaper & tag us while sharing your creations for a chance to get featured. https://t.co/yO8wBT8k4Z
I’m a big fan of the work of the AFrame.IO community. Thank you to Mozilla, Diego Marcos, Kevin Ngo, and Don McCurdy for their influence and effort to build a fun and productive platform for building WebVR experiences. In this post, I’ve collected a few Github repositories and resources to support you in building AFrame experiences.
Talk Abstract: In the next few years, augmented reality and virtual reality will continue to provide innovations in gaming, education, and training. Other applications might include helping you tour your next vacation resort or explore a future architecture design. Thanks to open web standards like WebXR, web developers can leverage their existing skills in JavaScript and HTML to create delightful VR experiences. During this session, we will explore A-Frame.io, an open source project supported by Mozilla enabling you to craft VR experiences using JavaScript and a growing ecosystem of web components.
Experiment with AR and A-Frame
AFrame now has support for ARCore. Paint the real world with your XR content! Using FireFox Reality for iOS, you can leverage ARKit on your favorite IPad or IPhone.
AFrame Layout Component
Automatically positions child entities in 3D space, with several layouts to choose from.
Animation
An animation component for A-Frame using anime.js. Also check out the animation-timeline component for defining and orchestrating timelines of animations.
Super Hands
All-in-one natural hand controller, pointer, and gaze interaction library for A-Frame. Seems to work well with Oculus Quest.
Thanks to the amazing work from Mozilla, WebXR usability has improved leveraging specialized FireFox browsers
– FireFox Reality
– FireFox Reality for HoloLens 2 – For raw ThreeJs scripts, it works well. I’m still doing testing on AFrame scenes.
If you live in Central Florida or Orlando, consider checking out our local chapter of Google developer Group. We enjoy building a fun creative community of developers, sharing ideas, code, and supporting each other in the craft of software. Learn more about our community here:
As adult learners or students, we’re all looking for new fruitful activities that we can share with our friends and family. In this hands-on workshop, we’re partnering with Google Developer Group of Central Florida to learn how you can build 3D stuff for a 3D printer, a Unity game, and Minecraft!
WHO: Families, developers, tinkerers
WHERE: Online Google Meet
WHEN: June 20th at 1pm
In this workshop, we’ll build amazing stuff in Minecraft that will WOW your friends! You’ll learn the basics of 3D modeling using TinkerCAD, a free tool for modeling! You’ll have fun constructing 3D worlds and playing them in Minecraft. Using TinkerCAD, we’ll convert your 3D worlds into Minecraft schematics that can be imported using WorldEdit.
For families, we hope that you consider bringing your kids with you and learning together.
For developers, we’ll cover a few API’s to build 3D models using JavaScript too.
You’ll need to register for a free account on TinkerCad. You’ll also need to obtain the Minecraft Java Edition. You may want to install WorldEdit ahead of time too: Setup WorldEdit on Minecraft
Hey, Music makers! In the past few months, my family and I have discovered an amazing web-based music recording tool that we just had to share. I believe that some of the best ideas in life come from ideas mixing. In the world of music making, we love having the opportunity to elaborate or jam upon the ideas of other musicians. It’s a core experience. The website BandLab.com makes it possible for music makers to build music in a fun and social manner.
I had the amazing opportunity as a kid to learn musicianship deeply. From my mother, I learned a great deal of discipline and habits required to become a proficient violin player. I learned to appreciate classical music and the joy of making music with others. These lessons also empowered me to serve in my church and use my gift of music to uplift others. My father, gifted me with the perspective and skills of a rock keyboard player. My brother and I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock with Elton John, Billy Joel, Eagles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Chicago, etc. While I loved classical music, I also desired to play like an Elton John. Being computer geeks, my dad invested very early in getting us access to MIDI music recording equipment and a simple keyboard. As a teen, I can remember losing many hours during the summer learning how to record electronic music. We even recorded some of my dad’s songs too. These are some of my most precious memories.
With this story in mind, I want to create these experiences for my kids too. It’s been fun to explore BandLab.com with my kids and explore their musical creativity together. For my little singer, we record some Disney tracks. One of my boys really enjoys building techno right now. And BandLab.com makes it easy. I hope you consider checking out BandLab.com to explore music making in your family too!
It just works in the browser: BandLab.com is like Google Docs for musicians. To get started, you don’t need to install software onto your computer at all. Open up a web browser and navigate to BandLab.com and register for an account. From there, you hit the “create” button and you’re ready to start making music.
It works with your MIDI/audio controller: In our house, we have a pretty inexpensive MIDI/audio recording box. It’s a USB device that connects my laptop to my MIDI keyboard and our recording mics. It blows my mind that Google Chrome and BandLab.com can interface with audio recording and MIDI devices. Putting geek stuff aside, I can use BandLab.com to record small keyboard and audio fragments completely in the browser. Crazy!!
For R&B and techno oriented creatives, BandLab.com has a robust library of audio loops for mixing. All of these loops can be layered and arranged in a multi-track manner.
The best ideas come from mixing with other musical ideas. With BandLab.com, you can now share your music in the same manner that you would share a Facebook post or a Google document. This creates an opportunity for creators to market their skills, connect with new musical friends, and gain inspirations from others.
A great deal of band lab works on mobile devices and phones too. This can be fun if you’re feeling creative on the go!
Quick tour of features
BandLab.com provides an user experience to support multi-track recording. For creatives who want to leverage basic software-based synths in their MIDI creations, you can expect the common piano roll interface. I have to say that I enjoy the simplicity as compared to other recording tools. Unfortunately, I have not found a way to output my MIDI back to my external keyboard device. This matters for professional musician use cases where you have an amazing library of sounds on your keyboard. I do like that the multi-track experience enables you to mix different types of musical ideas: MIDI keyboard recordings, raw audio, drum loops, and audio loops.
The Drum patterns interface enables you to define a collection of drum patterns. For the pattern A, you might define a drum pattern that works for a verse. For pattern B, you might define another drum pattern for your chorus. You can define another pattern that you might use on a bridge. As I’m trying to engage my kids in music making, I like to share the drum pattern maker with them. They instantly get it and enjoy iterating on ideas.
Are you curious about BandLab.com, but don’t have a keyboard? Don’t worry! They have you covered. They have a simple interface for playing notes using your normal computer keyboard. For simple techno recording, you can still have fun with this interface.
To give you more perspective, check out this YouTube video from Eumonik. I like his honest review and tour of BandLab.com.
Hope you enjoy BandLab to create async-JAM sessions with your music friends and family.
Like many parents, my wife and I seek out activities that have a fun factor while we learn small lessons about math, science, art, or crafting. It’s fun to find activities that help avoid the default desire for screen time. I started putting together a plan for our kids over the next few weeks. Like many makers, I enjoy checking out new projects ideas on Instructables.com. If you haven’t checked out Instructables, I am certain that you can find a project for you there! I thought I’d share seven projects that looked cool.
In our house, the kids really enjoy building forts. I really like the idea of using PVC to frame the structure of the fort. It looks like a pretty cheap build. Honestly, building forts with cardboard works just fine too. Big box forts can keep our kids playing for hours!
Lego Crossbow:
Sometimes, kids enjoy being little warriors. This looked like a fun build for fans of Lego technics. The build reminds me of the activities from the book “Weapons of Mini-Destruction.”
Lego chess:
In general, I think we might start exploring the idea of building board games using Legos. I got this concept after seeing this simple chess set. It has been fun starting to teach chess to the kids too.
DIY Cardboard Lamp:
This just looks very cool. It might be fun to do a 3D printing twist on twist on this project too!
DIY Board Game:
Speaking of board games again, I really appreciated this post on building board games that teach. Besides that, the author had very practical tips to prototype board game layouts with common objects and simple computer tools like power point. Thanks YourClassRoomHelper.com for the awesome ideas.
Duct Tape Bird House:
With the family staying in the house more, we have started enjoying bird watching more. This hack with boxes and Duct tape got the attention of one of my little ones.
Hello, makers! In our blog post today, I wanted to share a simple way to remotely control IoT devices using NodeJs and Google Firebase. Let’s say you’re trying to remotely control a small lego crane like this. You’ll notice there are two servo motors connected to an Arduino. You can learn more about how you can build this in our post on Arduino and Lego motor control. For the scope of this blog post, let’s say we wanted to remotely control the servo motor at the bottom from any place in the world. How would we do that?
Firstly, check out Johnny 5, a very nice NodeJs library for controlling IoT devices like Arduino’s, Raspberry Pi, and more. I really appreciate the clarity of their documentation and API. You can do a lot with a small amount of javascript.
I started to wonder if we could connect Johnny 5 to the real-time database of Firebase. What’s a real-time database? In a traditional relational database like MySQL, you need to declare database tables and structures. You can make a database table to store a list of persons and their addresses (see sample code here). After doing that, you can insert data into that table. In this traditional database world, you can’t listen for inserts into a database table and easily write code to reach to that event.
The Firebase real-time database organizes information in a tree structure. You can store information in that tree any way that you want. Other users who have access to the database can listen for data changes at various locations in the tree and write code to react to that event. Check out the following video to learn how the Firebase Real-time database works. Especially listen to how the value change event works.
So, let’s explore the code for moving a single servo motor using Johnny 5 and Firebase.
At the top of the JavaScript file, we import johnny-five and firebase-admin. We start our firebase
database session by calling “initializeApp.”
On line 9, we create a “Board” object. I have my Arduino connected to my computer by a serial cable. Johnny5 handles this situation by default.
Once the board enters “ready” state, we create an instance of a servo motor connected to pin 10.
On line 14 and 15, we connect to a storage location called ‘servo_angle.’ Using the servo_angle “on value” event, we listen for changes to this location and
set the angle of the servo. And that’s it!
To write values into “servo_angle”, check out the following code.
In this script, we connect to the Firebase database in the same way. On line 10, we accept an angle from command line arguments. On line 16, we write that angle to ‘servo_angle’.
It’s a very simple pattern for making internet connected robots or home automation.
We love to hear from our readers. Leave a comment below if you get other ideas for internet connected robots, toys or devices.
