Local maker Tom Van den Bon created something different for the recent Market Hack 2017 that incorporated the famous Red Bull wings, as the company was a sponsor for the event.

His “maker hats” are built into some costume top hats that attendees assembled on the day.

Near the top of the hat a 3D printed bracket houses two small servo motors, a 4X AA battery pack and an Arduino Pro Mini.

The motor shafts stick out the sides of the hat and are connected to a pair of 3D printed wings. Once the batteries are connected the Arduino will occasionally flap the wings a few times before going dormant again.

It was a good time watching people walk around Market hack with these hats as the wings flapped around with a mind of their own. Kids and adults alike had a lot of fun with the simple project and we could definitely see Red Bull taking this idea and replicating it for future events.

We’d love to see a version of this project stuffed into a regular baseball cap, maybe with some LEDs to make them more visible in a large crowd.

If you’d like to make your own maker hat Van den Bon has uploaded the code for the Arduino, as well as the files to 3D print the required parts, to his GitHub page.

Market Hack forms part of the Fak’ugesi Digital Innovation Festival taking place in South Africa right now, so if you missed it be sure to attend one of the other great events taking place.