Our fearless Faire Director, Sherry Huss, texted today to remind me that the “Call for Makers” for the Bay Area Faire closes tomorrow (March 21). If you haven’t submitted yet, brew yourself a pot of strong coffee, beget your big ideas, and fill out this form. Here’s some of what we’re especially looking for. Does this look like you?
Entries The first step to participating in Maker Faire is to submit an entry that tells us about yourself and your project. Entries can be submitted from individuals as well as from groups such as hobbyist clubs and schools. Please provide a short description of what you make and what you will actually bring to Maker Faire. Please link to photographs or videos of what you make. We particularly encourage exhibits that are interactive and that highlight the process of making things.
Here’s some suggested ideas for topics that we’re looking for: * Student Projects * Robotics * Music Performance and Participation * 3D Printers and CNC Mill * Textile Arts and Crafts * Home Energy Monitoring * Rockets and RC Toys * Sustainability * Green Tech * Radios, Vintage Computers and Game Systems * Electronics * Electric Vehicles * Biology/Biotech and Chemistry Projects * Food and Beverage Makers * Robotics * Puppets * Kites * Bicycles * Shelter (Tents, Domes, etc.) * Unusual Tools or Machines * How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.)
You can find full details and the “Call for Makers” entry form here.
Maker Faire Detroit “Call for Makers” Also, the Maker Faire Detroit “Call for Makers” will launch on Tuesday (March 22), so tune in for that!
If you ever wanted to see a NES guitar in action, here’s your chance. The one-man band is called The Gizzards and he packs lots of circuit-bent goodness. [Via GetLoFi]
Friday afternoon, I was vising my friend Amon Millner at Olin College. After finishing up, he invited me to go with him to the nearby Wellesley College and their Engineering Studio. Not knowing quite what to expect, but always interested in seeing hands-on learning spaces, I went along for the ride. What I saw took my breath away. It is still a bit mind-boggling to consider what this lab has, and the amazing ideas that are coming from it.
The lab is run by Robbie Berg, professor of Physics at Wellesley. He’s worked together for many years with Mitch Resnick of MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the Media Lab. Among the projects he’s had a hand in developing are the PICO Cricket robotics kits and the PICO Sensor board. I’ve seen both of these systems used to help kids learn about programming and interaction along with Scratch at the Learn 2 Teach program in Boston’s South End.
As far as gear goes, it was all drool-worthy. The 3D printer was refrigerator sized, with some suitably large and complex prints on hand. The lasercutter was also biggified, with loads of examples of amazing products created by students. The laser-cut 3D objects weren’t just 2D images cut in fine detail, but also many hand cranked and motor driven mechanisms. The electronics componens collection would make any self-respecting hackerspace blush. And the Legos! So many that it would take a week to just count them, let alone build anything you can imagine — they’re stored by type in hardware bins along the counters. Underneath the work surfaces were rolly carts with locking doors containing more infrequently-needed tools. The casters on the bottom allow them to be reconfigured and their wooden tops encourage their use as work surfaces. Everything is stored at the ready, for curious minds needing the parts to make their dreams come alive (and walk across the table or up a wall).
Everywhere were examples of creative work and ideas in progress. This is the middle of the semester, so there were bits and pieces of projects on every horizontal surface. Physical manifestations of ideas were everywhere you could see. Projects were intermingled with supplies, finished products alongside prototypes and sketch models.
This version is designed to accept three 20oz bottles of soda or three 12oz cans. If you haven’t heard about evaporative coolers, they use warm water and evaporation to cool a medium in a way similar to the human perspiration system. Apparently they were used in ancient times to cool water and other things.
I was looking to create some Lego spaceships, but ran into a brick wall when it came to design. I mean what hasn’t been done to death already?! So, to kick start my creativity, I decided to do a scpaceship based on each latter of the alphabet. Enjoy!
Ryan Micallef and friends put together a backyard luge challenge that they call the Mario Cup, but were having trouble making accurate measurements of participant’s tract times. Fortunately, they are also hackers, so they threw together an automatic race timing system to help make precise measurements.
Their system consists of two parts: A countdown timer/control unit at the starting line to kick off the race, and a sensor at the finishing line to end the race. A pair of Arduinos with attached xBee radios were used for communication, and a photocell buried under the snow detected when riders passed over it. [via NYC Resistor]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.