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  • Aneta Genova 2:39 pm on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    3 Things I loved at Maker Faire – Aneta Genova 

    The first thing that caught my eyes was the USB typewriter from Jack Zylkin. I provokes a nostalgic feeling for the disappearing typewriter and the art of typing, knowing that you can’t just delete and rewrite a whole sentence or rearrange the whole paragraph. I am also attracted to the overall design aesthetic of the old fashioned keyboards juxtaposed to the modern sleek look of the iPad or iMac. It’s not very portable, but it makes for an amazing display piece.

    The second project or actually product that I was specifically looking forward to see was the Conductive Ink form Bare Conductive. I am super excited about working with and creating products with soft circuits, so this was top priority for me. The inks are created by the team at Bare Conductive: Matt Johnson, Isabel Lizardi, Bibi Nelson and Becky Pilditch. The ink is quick drying and nontoxic, so it can be used by artists, hobbyist or serious inventors. Needless to say I am in love with this product 🙂

    Here is Isabel Lizardi showing me how you can draw on fabric.

    And last but not least I really enjoyed the simple bots by Randi Sarafan, at the instructables.com booth. I was fascinated by the idea that simple objects from your house can be wired and put together into fun little bots, that take on a life of their own.

     

  • josefayala 5:56 am on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: 3D printing, , DoItYourself, , New York, New York City, New York Hall of Science, Open source   

    3 Things I Liked At Maker Faire by Josef Ayala 

    Going to Maker Faire this year made me realize how much I REGRET not going to Maker Faire last year in 2010. I had such a really good time all under the impression that I would look at it all and yawn. I will eat those words now, and most likely be at Maker Faire in 2012!!!!! It was not only great to see how people’s minds work but also how everyone attacked their tasks and executed assembly in a very unique way but also good to see a really nice and well rounded community for this sort of event. It was peculiar, interesting, entertaining and nerdy all rolled into one. It was also quite scary to see 8 year olds speaking to me using terms such as “open-source”. When I was 8, “open-source”  didn’t exist and I wasn’t playing around with sensors (See sling shot photograph from my first post)! The world might just have a bright future after all.

     

    That said, here are some of my favorite exhibits from Maker Faire: VIDEOS COMING SOON!!!!

    1) GetLoFi – Contact Mics:

    These guys were great, I am heavily into anything related to the sound field. Even though, people might have thought that this was a very simplistic setup and effect, I was still greatly surprised by the ingenuity and talent that goes into something like this. After all that they still managed to pull off a very nice aesthetic for these extremely awesome mics. I plan to try to build one for myself in the future. :

    The microphones are “piezoelectric” which essentially means is that they respond by in large to pressure. Piezo electricity contains the ability of some materials to produce a voltage when subjected to pressure—to convert vibrations into an electrical signal.

    2) Drum Machine/Synth TV Set:

    Again, music oriented Arduino projects win me over. I liked this set up because it incorporated what I believe was an Arduino set up to the television set which triggered an Animation on the adjacent television screen. The drum machine had a similar set up which incorporated what I believe was a light sensor which detected the absence of light and triggered different drum sounds based on how you marked up the projector screen disc. It was a fun set up and I got to play Fur Elise and The Entertainer.

     

    3) 3-D Printing:

    This never ceases to amaze me. It is growing on me more as I am now learning about “parametric design” for products in my Thesis section but overall, it’s nice to see how things are made and processed. Below I believe are examples of algorithmic product development.

     

    honorable mentions:

    aren’t these helmets cool !?


     

     


     

     

  • strawberrymillefuille 4:45 am on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    maker faire 

    Maker Faire was really fun! actually I spent most of Saturday looking at stuff with fellow classmates, then Sunday my housemate wanted to go so I went to try the rides I missed like the Water Swing and stuff cos the queues were much shorter the next day. My favourite item from the Arduino tent was Ember:

    ember hack

    Maker website: Ember Kit|| Lower East Kitchen

    It’s conceived by this engaged couple; he’s a plasma scientist and she’s a writer and they worked together to come up with this really cheap yet effective arudino kitchen appliance hack. Basically it’s a box controlling the heating/cooling of an appliance precisely so you can achieve perfect sous vitae temperatures (I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s infinitely useful) This really really really excites me because I used to be a backyard chemist, and maintaining temperatures on a consistent level was one of my greatest difficulties (the other one is humidity). Most of the examples listed on the blog/website are developed for Heston-esque cooking techniques, but it can be easily applied to things like distillation of alcohol (70C), 1st stage polyermisation of thermoplastic (85C), making resins/epoxy (104C), bain marie (40C) etc etc… I really want to get one!!!!!!! I think you could even hack to get higher temperatures by combining it with a pressure chamber,  which would be really good if you’re trying to maintain temperature in a  non-conductive element.

    I also really like it ’cause it’s very reasonably priced compared to some of the other items at Maker Faire…. like some of the 3-d printers cost thousands while the more complicated circuits could run into hundreds! Here, it was a complete kit with prices ranging from $50 (the total DIY) to $80 (pre-assembled, just drill and affix)

    Anyway I really enjoyed going to Maker Faire, I hope they have another one next year!

     

  • mayaweinstein 2:27 am on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Maker Faire 



    The Reverse GeoCache Puzzle
    Mikal Hart

    The Reverse Geocache Puzzle is a wooden box containing an Arduino, the exterior of the box has a small LCD displaying a set of numbers. The user takes the box, places something inside, and programs it to open only in a specific place. The user then gives the box to someone else and that person can only open the box when they get to that specific place, the LCD displays the total miles away from the spot. Hart often produces these boxes as engagement gifts, with the ring inside only to be found and opened when the spot is located. I love the idea of a box of secrets that only opens in a certain spot, the only thing I would change is that I think the boxes could have some more intricate woodwork.



    Seedbombs
    ioby

    Seedbombs start out with a ball of clay, the user takes that clay and rolls it in a mixture of compost, grass seeds and wildflower seeds. The user then tosses that ball into a plot of land where it can grow. The idea behind Seedbombs could be thought of like urban guerrilla farming, if there is an abandoned lot surrounded by a tall fence all one would have to do is throw a Seedbomb over the fence and a garden would be planted. I found it very refreshing that these were one of the few people I met at Maker Faire that were not trying to sell me anything. The company itself is a nonprofit and truly believes in finding new ways to better the community. The idea itself is simple but effective and requires little cost on the side of the user.



    Vertical Theory
    Karen McKay

    Vertical Theory is a form of urban gardening using felt and hydroponics, it takes up a small amount of space and is relatively easy to maintain. Although we are inundated with new urban gardening techniques at the moment I was really drawn to this piece. The use of simple materials such as felt, buckets, funnels and hoses made this particular form of urban gardening feel very accessible. With little money, space, and time I could easily set this up inside my apartment and have a harvest within a month. It really goes to show that you don’t need a lot of money and a huge backyard to have a small garden of your own.

     

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