Design Squad Nation: Inspiration Archives

Play (Music!) with Your Food

By Design Squad Nation May 15, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

Noisy Jelly is a game, a musical instrument, and a design project all in one! Students in France built this game that uses jelly to make sounds. Players shape colorful jelly into molds that are placed on a game board. The board has a sensor that reads the jelly's shape, what it's made of, and how it's moving -- and it turns all that into sounds! Check out the video to hear some really noisy jelly.

What kind of music maker would YOU like to build? Share your ideas on our Projects page, by clicking on the picture below.

Amazingly Elaborate LEGO Machine!

By Design Squad Nation Apr 26, 2012 1 Comment | Leave a comment

Check out this cool LEGO machine, inspired by the work of Rube Goldberg, an engineer, inventor and cartoonist who in the early 1900's created elaborate inventions for the characters in his cartoons. The systems were very complicated, involving many steps, but served a simple goal like the "Self-Operating Napkin" below.

Snow Way

By Design Squad Nation Mar 22, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

This snowboarder stands out on the slopes, thanks to some LED lights and creative engineering!

LEDs are a special kind of lights often used to brighten signs and traffic signals. The snowboarder in this video is wearing a suit covered with about 5,000 LEDs! It took an engineer over 300 hours to build the suit, which is powered by two wearable batteries.

We saw another fashionable use for LEDs in the Design Squad Nation episode A Cut Above. Adam and Juan used the lights to create a beautiful evening gown.

How would you turn what YOU wear into something more exciting? Share your ideas on the Projects page by clicking on Juan's wish below.

Monster-Catching Machine!

By Design Squad Nation Mar 15, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

How many steps does it take to catch a monster? A whole lot, if you're using a Rube Goldberg machine!

Seven-year-old Audri built this complicated contraption using stuff from around the house. He was inspired by Rube Goldberg, an engineer and artist who created elaborate inventions for the characters in his cartoons.

Click on the video below to see Audri's awesome machine.

Digital Shadow Puppets

By Design Squad Nation Mar 8, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

There are lots of ways that engineers build things. Sometimes they make something totally new that no one has seen before. Other times they take something that's already been built, like a bicycle, and turn it into something new and different. Just like Daniel did with his weather-proof MiBike!

In this video, engineers take the Kinect video game console and turn it into a digital puppet show! The Kinect's motion sensors let players control giant puppet creatures with the movement of their bodies. Check out the video to see the puppets in action!

Sweet Recycled Sculpture

By Design Squad Nation Feb 22, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

In our Trash to Treasure episode we saw some great examples of things you can make by recycling everyday materials. There was MaryAnn's water-saving toilet, Lilly's sibling soaker, and Daniel's weather-proof bike.

Here's another cool idea: turn those old soda cans into a kinetic sculpture! That's what these students at Stanford University did. Kinetic means the sculpture moves. Watch the video to see the sculpture in action.

Want to see how they built this engineering artwork? Check out this longer video:

Amazing! Try making your own kinetic sculptures from recycled materials and share them in our Projects section:

Recycled Chairs

By Design Squad Nation Feb 17, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

What happens when your family throws away an old refrigerator? This designer has an idea for re-using those old fridges: take the plastic from them to make chairs! A 3D printer squirts out the recycled plastic in one long, squishy string. It's like the chairs are being sculpted!

And here's an up-close view of the "sculpting" process:

How would you turn trash into treasure? Show us your fabulous recycling ideas on the Projects page, by clicking Lilly's wish below.

Continue reading Recycled Chairs.

One Small Step for LEGO...

By Design Squad Nation Feb 14, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

Two teenagers in Canada have launched a LEGO man 80,000 feet above the Earth! That's almost three times higher than a jet plane's cruising altitude. The project took the teens about four months and $400 of supplies. They even sewed their own balloon parachute!

Watch the video to see LEGO man's wild ride.

Want to try your own out-of-this-world project? Try building a spaceship that can land safely! Just click on Adam's wish below to get started.

Rosie's Fashion Show!

By Design Squad Nation Feb 1, 2012 1 Comment | Leave a comment

My little pug dog, Rosie, has always been my sidekick. She follows me everywhere I go!

When Adam's mom heard about Rosie, she made the most beautiful pink jacket to keep her warm during the snowy winter. Adam's mom (we call her "Auntie Jeanie") and Rosie had a very special connection after that. With each Design Squad Nation episode, a new box would appear at our doorstep addressed to Rosie. Inside were beautifully handmade outfits just for her! Rosie doesn't normally wear a lot of clothes, but Auntie Jeanie's outfits made her feel special.

In this video, Rosie shares some of her outfits. She hopes you like them!

Next Stop: Hoverboards?

By Design Squad Nation Jan 25, 2012 No comments | Leave a comment

There's a bunch of different ways to get airborne: gliders, planes, balloons, rockets. And now these researchers have figured out how to make objects levitate!

So how would you turn their idea into a hoverboard? Share your creations on our Projects page!

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