14 DAY TRIAL // Toys are one of the things that will benefit the most from the rapid advance of 3D printing technology, since every consumer printer can be used to make such a thing, from little figurines to multi-part action figures.
Humanoid or robotic items are just two of many things that can be done for entertainment though. There are many other types of toys, after all. Toy cars are among the best known ones, and they are pretty gender-neutral too.
Wishing to capitalize on that or to allow other people to capitalize on that, UK-based Maker Club has introduced the RC Car.
The remote-controlled 3D printed car
Based on a normal RC car, the little toy vehicle uses Arduino hardware to run a 3D printed frame, which is why the team behind the Maker Club company has decided to call their project Carduino.
Intended for both home use and for learning how to prototype things in school, the Carduino can have a bright pink body or a bright yellow frame instead.
You should even be able to customize the body while you print it, though you'll have to follow some guidelines, otherwise they won't fit with or hold well the electrical parts, which you need to order.
Not that you can really do that yet, since Maker Club is only now setting up an Indiegogo campaign. And even once that's online, you'll have to wait a few weeks before shipments start, assuming that the crowdfunding goal is met, whatever it is.
The .STL files containing the 3D models of the car chassis parts will be shipped along with the electronics. Speaking of which, the minimum pledge you'll have to make from your own cash will be lower than the retail tag that will eventually be slapped on the assembly kits.
That said, the Carduino is just one of four projects that the Maker Club people have in the woodworks.The other three are a customizable lamp, a quadmonster (quadruped robot), and the Grabber robotic arm (mini arm anyway). See them in the video below.
Eventually, some add-ons may become available, like a distance detector that would let your vehicle automatically avoid collisions (to a point) or a mobile GoPro camera to record the “journey.”
Before you ask, no, we don't know how long the latter is supposed to last, especially with those add-ons in the equation. Oh, well.
How you control the car
Instead of a special controller, you just need a smartphone and the associated app installed on it. Even kids should have an easy time using it, provided that you even trust your phone in their hands. Movement, lights, direction and speed can all be controlled over Bluetooth.
