The Art and Science of Building a Machine

Machine building is both an art and a science. There is artistry in designing machines to solve problems creatively, and there is a science to applying engineering principles and technical know-how to build tools.

Hackster’s Machine Builder Competition was an open challenge to the community to develop an innovative and functional machine. Partnered by Nordic Semiconductor, Autodesk, Particle, and PCBWay, the contest ran for six months and ended on June 6th, 2025.

We contacted the winners to learn what goes into making a functional, innovative machine.

Rad Ghost: Cup Moving Robot Arm

We'd all like robots to take over the menial tasks, rather than the world, and Rad Ghost is no different. Rad is no fan of doing dishes and intends to create a dishwashing robot to take care of it.

In service to this long-term goal, he built a robotic arm to move cups from one point to another. The arm’s joints are powered by a cycloidal drive for smooth and precise movement. The project employs NVIDIA Isaac Sim as a digital twin for the physical robot.

Rad plans to complete the joint assembly and end effector. His prize, the myCobot 280 robot arm, will be used for software development and testing to avoid interference from the mechanical and electrical parts of the cup moving robot.

Gabriel Alejandro Giraldo Santiago: Cosmic IoT Communicator

Santiago's machine is an IoT platform for simulated satellite reception and communication, and it won the Most Likely to Attract Aliens award.

The Cosmic IoT Communicator is designed to receive and decode real SSTV signals from satellites, upload the decoded data to the cloud via the nRF9151 kit, and simulate communication with aliens using AI-generated patterns. These patterns will be sent by users around the world via the Sateliot low-earth orbit network, which is expected to be fully active in 2026.

Santiago created platform to promote the use of satellite communication technology by non-specialist users. It is still in active development due to the unavailability of some critical components. He says his team is preparing to launch a pilot phase with Sateliot to “validate real-world performance and further refine the system before full deployment.”

Stephen Kruglewicz: KitchenMind

The robot uprising could very well begin in your kitchen. The KitchenMind is a smart inventory assistant that tracks your food, suggests recipes, and reduces food waste. It combines Seeed Studio's SenseCap Watcher, the Nordic Semiconductor nRF7002 DK, and the DFRobot UNIHIKER to provide an effective kitchen management solution.

KitchenMind builds on Kruglewicz’s original, award-winning design document for a smart inventory assistant, adding predictive analytics, smart reminders, and real-time inventory tracking. Kruglewicz plans to expand the inventory assistant’s current features to include food recognition, expiration tracking, and dynamic recipe recommendations.

Cameron Coward: CamRo

Cameron Coward, serial hobbyist and Hackster PRO contributor, won the Machine Builder Grand Prize for CamRo, a camera robot capable of capturing dynamic, 360-degree product videos.

CamRo was built for Coward's YouTube channel, Serial Hobbyism, where he reviews electronics and showcases his creations. In the fast-paced world of YouTube, presentation is just as important as execution, and “strong visuals” are needed to stand out. So, he devised an open source camera robot to capture product videos.

CamRo moves in two axes: a rotating turntable and a pivoting arm. Its CubeMars actuators can handle heavy DSLR and mirrorless cameras without strain. They also allow the smooth, non-jittery movement needed for product videos.

Coward picked up CNC programming and manual machining while he worked as a mechanical designer. He says a big part of machining is having a plan of operations before turning on the mill or lathe. Planning will prevent most mistakes, and they’ll be easier to correct when they do happen.

In typical maker fashion, Coward plans to expand the robot’s capabilities and build an app for more control.

Jaime Andres Rincon Arango: Intelligent Health Care Beacon

Arango is a researcher at the University of Burgos, Spain. His work is centred on assistive robotics for elderly individuals living alone and in remote areas. He is passionate about applying emerging technologies to medicine and improving people’s quality of life.

The Intelligent Health Care Beacon has sensors for measuring heart rate and oxygen saturation, and includes a robotic arm for capturing heart and respiratory sounds. It is built on the nRF9151 kit and leverages the Particle Boron 404X and other components for signal acquisition.

Arango is a big sci-fi buff, and the intelligent health care beacon was inspired by films like Elysium and Prometheus. The beacon builds on a previous robot arm project and handles signal acquisition and ECG pre-diagnosis at a lower level, reducing cost and complexity.

He will be working on new versions that include LoRa and algorithms for imitation learning.

Nekhil: Smart Pill Dispenser

Nekhil’s smart pill dispenser automates medication reminders and dispensing using a web app and the Particle platform. He says it addresses the failings of manual pill organizers, and he started constructing it after seeing a loved one struggle with their medication schedule.

The smart pill dispenser is powered by the Particle Photon 2 and offers real-time notifications and schedule management via a web app interface. It features a momentary push button and a 2-inch display that shows the current time.

The dispensing mechanism was the most challenging part of the project. Nekhil chose to build on an existing pill dispenser design instead of creating a new one from scratch. A stepper motor is used to turn the pill tray and drop a pill into a waiting cup.

Genozen: The Guardian

The Guardian is a firefighting robot designed to aid first responders autonomously. It can drive to GPS waypoints, spot flames and hotspots, and carve a fireline to stop spreading wildfires. It also has a built-in water pump to douse small flare-ups.

Genozen became interested in wildland firefighting after the Southern California wildfires. He had the idea for an autonomous ground rover “that could assist firefighters directly and enhance their situational awareness.”

He plans to add more features to the Guardian robot, including a web interface, Bluetooth networking, sensor fusion, and a robot arm for tool handling.

The winners of the Machine Builder Competition all chose to create tools to solve problems near and dear to them. The best solutions come from tackling problems you have personal experience with.

It is okay to take inspiration from those who have worked on similar projects, and if you are trying to get more eyes on your project, remember what Coward says: “Presentation is just as important as execution.”