The Maker · Any one of three
Built something with scale, ambition, or technical complexity beyond a normal project. Built a structure or vehicle a person can safely use (treehouse, shed, kayak, go-kart, e-bike) that has been used for 30+ days without failure · built a robot or autonomous machine that completes a defined task reliably · built a working physical product that went through 5+ design iterations with documented changes.
The Maker capstone is scale: a vehicle, a structure, a robot, something heavier and more consequential than anything your kid has built before. The discipline shifts to failing safely. Bigger builds fail bigger. What happens when this breaks under load. Where does it land. Who's standing next to it. The maturity of the build shows in how it fails, not in how it stands.
- Pick the project: usable structure, autonomous machine, or 5-iteration product.
- Plan how it fails safely. Identify failure modes before building.
- Document design, build, and iterations throughout, not at the end.
- Use it for 30+ days. Real use is the proof.
A capstone-scale build, used 30+ days without failure, with full documentation. The thing plus the docs is plenty.