383: The Monkey's Not Gonna Work

Embedded.fm · 5 Aug 2021 · 57m · Episode 383

What this episode covers

Mario Marchese, known as Mario the Maker Magician, discusses his unique intersection of robotics and traditional magic, detailing how he builds accessible, cardboard-based robots like Automabot to inspire young makers. He explains the engineering challenges of synchronizing multiple circuits for illusions like the Coin Matrix and shares how he turned technical failures, such as a snapped ground wire on his robot monkey Marcel, into entertaining features of his live show. Marchese also covers his book 'The Maker Magician's Handbook', his work with Piff the Magic Dragon, and his philosophy on using accessible tools like Arduino and 3D printing to lower the barrier to entry for creative technology.

Mentioned

Companies
Freccia Brothers
Products
Automabot, Marcel, The Maker Magician's Handbook
Chips
Arduino
Also
Piff the Magic Dragon, Make Magazine, Sesame Street, Penn and Teller's Fool Us, Tannen's Magic Camp, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, Aldo Colombini

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