iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

Little did I know when I posted this last year that one of my loved ones would pass away a few days later. It really drives home the need show your love and appreciation often because you never know when it’ll be the last time.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

These are some of the projects my students worked on at my Building Automata class taught at Bainbridge BARN. Students ranged from 9-14 years old. We used kits I’ve designed based on the amazing work of automata makers and the Automata Tinkering Kit from Cabaret Mechanical.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

My newest Instructable is up. It shows you how to make this little guy who cheers you on AND helps keep track of the tasks you complete. Efficient? Barely. Cute? Overload! www.instructables.com/Cheerleading...

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

May the 4th be with you! This is one of my favorite moments in the whole of Star Wars. I made this a couple of years ago with two MakeyBits. I love making skins for them to turn them into all sorts of characters and building projects around them. Figuring out the speeder bikes was particularly fun.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Made this one a couple of years ago by hacking an Easter decoration and adding motors and a Microbit. The tires that came with it did not have great traction since they were not meant to be used as such, but they worked well enough.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Thanks fir sharing this. I think this is a perfect summer camp project.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

In honor of the Year of the Snake, here’s a project I made a while back that people either love or hate depending on how they feel about snakes. The rattle always catches them by surprise. The start of the calendar year was horrible for me, so here’s hoping the lunar year starts better!

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

😧 that is horrible! People can be so cruel.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

As 2024 draws to a close, I’m looking back and reflecting on the year. It was a challenging year in my private life, but professionally I had the opportunity to make interesting projects and teach lots of classes. Here’s hoping 2025 gets even better! #2024projects #makersgonnamake #steameducation

A collage of different projects made in 2024.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Merry Christmas! I hope Santa made his way to your homes without crashing as much as the one I made did. Made with a couple of MakeyBits.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Hug your loved ones tightly these holidays, and keep those physically away close to your heart. I hacked this bear head I bought from Target a while back. I opened the mouth and added electronics to make him lip sync. Endless hours for silliness have followed.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Stubborn and unwilling to learn new things? I feel sorry for whoever has them as their therapist, if they are indeed one.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

That sucks. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I had the same experience a couple of weeks ago when I got my vaccines. And the librarians are smart. I hang out at the library a lot, and some patrons sound like they could be patient 0 of the next pandemic.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

In honor of Krampus Night, here’s a project I made a couple of years ago using the MakeyBit and a MicroBit. I wanted the chase to look more frantic so I added toothpicks on the ground that made the characters jerky. The children are Make soldering badges because why not? #krampusnacht

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Perhaps. I’ll have to do some research.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

At least the Grogu one I just posted and the pop up card I made. Or so I’ve been told. I can see them just fine myself. Maybe the issue is on their end?

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

It has come to my attention that the videos I’ve been attaching to my posts are not visible. Is this a problem for everyone? Or is it just for some users? If it is a me thing, what am I doing wrong? @bsky.app

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

It’s chilly today. So don’t mind me if I keep drinking tea with Grogu. This project works with a sound sensor, so if it gets loud (like in the classroom) it’s a reminder to take a sip of coffee/tea and a deep breath. Ironically, it seems at some point I removed the audio from the video?

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

I made this card for #LightUpPoptober this year. The prompt was “order” and I thought about the kids in my life who have been/are obsessed with placing their tot cards in just the right order. Made with Chibitronics light up stickers, which work great for folding cards.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

And just for fun, here’s one of my current lab assistants, Calvin, inspecting my work. I have other lab assistants, but Calvin is the most dedicated and thorough.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

This one is a “classic”. I use it as a demo for most of my petting zoo classes. The distance sensor in the butterfly senses how close you are and the closer you get, the faster the cat wiggles his butt. I made it in honor of my OG cat, Gally, who was (fortunately) terrible at catching butterflies.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

To make Bluesky feel a bit more like “home”, I’ll slowly repost some of my favorite past projects. This crank automata moves, lights up, and plays some music. I was tricky to design the gears right for all of it to work. I learned lots of things on this project, so I’m very fond of it.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I’m trying to decide how to go about this. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, you can find some photos of the parts created in one of my previous posts.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Just a little quick prototype/demo. I’m debating whether to make the pig 3D or not. The cam needs to be longer so the movement is more pronounced. #automata #flyingpig

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

The video from the first post is from Saturday’s workshop and this video is from a different workshop I had a while ago with older students. I’m sharing it in case you are wondering how it works with students of about 10-16 years old as an activity. #steamactivity #robot #steam

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Saturday’s wobblebot workshop ended up being with younger students than usual. It meant the students were a lot more interested making the exact same bot I had as a demo than making their own. And it also meant a lot more hands on helping them and less time to take photos/videos of their creations.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

While doing the alt text I realized this photo does not show the wheels. The robot uses wheels connected with an axle. The motor moves the legs. I designed a couple of different legs students can choose.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

For those of you who are interested in the wobblebot activity, here is a photo with the parts I designed laid out. I used to solder the motors to the battery pack (as seen here), but I have started to add connectors instead so students can easily set up the motor in the direction they want.

Parts of a simple robot laid out on a table. They include a motor, batteries, battery holder, wheels, legs, and more.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

This Saturday I’ll be teaching a workshop at my local library where students will build “wobblebots” like these. It’s always a fun one because students come up with the craziest builds and the bots seem to have a mind of their own.

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Cecilia Hillway @ceciliahillway.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Hello. As many of you, I am escaping that other evil website. I am a maker and an illustrator and love bringing things to life combining art and electronics. As part of that, I teach the classes I wish I had when I was a kid. #microbit #steam #robotics

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