Maker Faire is a great event to attend not only because you get to see all sorts of cool designs and machinations, but because you can participate as well. At Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, maker [Brett Levine] put together a fun and interactive display he likes to call the DIY Flame Tree.

The concept is pretty simple, and he says everyone who participated got a pretty good kick out of lending a hand. Each participant was given a piece of copper tubing and allowed to bend, twist, and sculpt it to their liking before using a drill to add holes wherever they pleased. They were then allowed to choose where their portion of the project would be mounted on the existing tree.

With everyone standing a safe distance away from the display, [Brett] pumped it full of propane and lit the various sections on fire. In the video below, you can see that the display was blown around a bit by the wind, but we imagine it would look pretty awesome on a still summer evening.

Even if you’re not into this sort of art, you have to admit that it certainly beats a boring old fire pit!

Google’s Maker Faire exhibit space is swarmed with robots…er, androids. Amidst some cool bipeds and Segway-balancers, our inner sci-fi nerd was most smitten with this hexapod design, which they’ve dubbed SKPR Bot. The “Skipper” is on hand to showcase the ease of various Google technologies: SketchUp, Android OS and the Android Open Accessory Development Kit. The whole project came together in less than six weeks.

18 servos are mounted to a framework designed in SketchUp and laser-cut by Ponoko. The low-level servo PWM control is handled by the Dev Kit (essentially a rebadged Arduino Mega, as we’ve seen), while an Android OS phone provides a slick GUI and handles all the inverse kinematics calculations required as the robot takes each step. The coolest bit is that it’s all up for grabs. At this moment you’ll have to scrounge around the ’net a bit to find the plans and code, but some time post-Faire they plan to bring everything together at the SKPR Bot site.

Psst…wanna buy a laser cutter, but not ready to sell your internal organs? Nortd Labs’ Lasersaur project aims to create an open source large-format laser cutter/engraver that undercuts (har har!) the cost of commercial models by an order of magnitude.

As the most direct interface between computer and programmer, keyboards can be a deeply personal, sometimes almost religious thing. Some find solace in their vintage IBM Model M, or luxurious leather keyboard, but maker [Carol Chen] took things into her own hands, quite literally. [Carol]’s Maker Faire exhibit has a half dozen specimens of interesting commercial tactile and ergonomic options…but [Chen]’s personal keyboard, where she commits to her work as a full-time coder, has been made to her own exacting specifications.

 

Not every cool hack needs to involve microcontrollers, LEDs or other bling. We were initially drawn to the Bloxes display simply because we love a good multipurpose construction set, whether it be Lego, 80/20 aluminum, or in this case, a system of interlocking cubes formed from six identical pieces of corrugated cardboard, cut and scored in such a manner as to form a surprisingly sturdy little building block. They can become simple furniture, groovy Logan’s Run-style room decor, or the all-important kids’ forts…then later dismantled and made into something else.

If you’ve been hungry for more power for your microcontroller projects, but reluctant to dump your investment in Arduino shields or the libraries and community knowledge that go with them all, Digilent has you covered. Their new chipKIT boards are built around the Microchip PIC32 MCU…a powerful 32-bit chip that until recently was left out of the cross-platform scene. A majority of code and quite a number of Arduino shields will work “out of the box” with the chipKIT, and the familiar development tools are available for all three major operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux.

We first mentioned these a couple weeks ago, but the software was unavailable at the time. Seeing the development tools in action was quite unexpected…

What’s really fascinating with chipKIT is that the workflow is exactly Arduino-like. The serial bootloader works with avrdude, and you can program both “real” Arduinos and Digilent’s 32-bit work-alikes using the exact same IDE; there’s no need to run two different IDEs for two different boards, as has been the case with Leaf Labs’ 32-bit Maple. As a demonstration, they compiled and ran code for an Arduino Mega with SparkFun LCD shield…then popped the shield off and placed it on the Max32, selected the 32-bit board in the same IDE, and repeated the process. The exact code ran on the new board/shield combo, with stunning performance — all the standard Arduino libraries have been implemented natively for the PIC32; this is not emulation.

Because Digilent didn’t just adapt the Arduino IDE to their one specific board, but rather developed a system by which the IDE can be extended to new hardware, it’s their hope that their work (not an official Arduino project) might be rolled back into the mainline code, and that other developers might jump on the bandwagon to provide Arduino IDE support for their own boards, whether they be based on AVR, PIC32 or a completely different kind of microcontroller altogether. The groundwork has been laid.

The chipKIT comes in two versions: Uno32 and Max32, similar in form factor to the Arduino Uno and Mega 2560, respectively. These can be ordered directly from Digilent’s web site, and the IDE is freely downloadable as of today. We have evaluation hardware in-hand and expect to be providing a proper review in the near future.

It’s a madhouse already at the 2011 Bay Area Maker Faire. Though the show doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, Friday is “Education Day”, a special preview for local schools. As makers scramble to set up their displays, a thousand impressionable young minds seek the most cacophonous mixture of taiko drumming, ArcAttack’s musical Tesla coils, and the beeping and booping of the R2-D2 Builder’s Club.

[Garrett Mace] wrote to us in hopes of finding a few good programmers to help him out with a project he’s been working on for Maker Faire Bay Area 2011.

More specifically, he is looking for Processing programmers who are also pretty decent with graphics. Macetech’s big project for this year’s Maker Faire is a large overhead light matrix constructed from Chinese lanterns. They are using their new Satellite LED modules to light the 128-lantern array, which is laid out in a 16×8 matrix.

It seems that the Macetech crew has been so busy getting the array built and tested that they don’t have much time to program any visualizations for it – that’s where you come in. If you are so inclined, simply download his matrix simulation code, put together some cool displays, and send them his way. [Garrett] says that they will be taking video of the visualizations, so even if you can’t attend Maker Faire, we will all be able to enjoy your hard work (though it would be pretty cool if they sent contributors a Satellite LED module “sample” as well!)

Keep reading to see a quick demo video of the simulation software to get an idea of what they are looking for visualization-wise.

A quick heads-up to those of you that will be at the New York Maker Faire and the Open Hardware Summit.One of our writers, [Devlin Thyne], will be there checking out projects and handing out Hack a Day stickers. Be sure to stop him to say hello and maybe show off your projects. We look forward to seeing you and your projects.

At the Bay Area Maker Faire this past May, we had our first glimpse of Wild Planet’s Spy Video TRAKR, a $130 radio-controlled toy with some surprises under the hood.

On the surface, the Spy Video TRAKR — the latest addition to the popular Spy Gear toy line — is an R/C tank with a video camera and night vision, with the added ability to download new “apps” from the internet for extra functions. With a little detective work, one uncovers the TRAKR’s secret double life: it’s also an eminently hackable robotics platform! Prior Spy Gear toys have been popular hack targets, providing inexpensive, mass-produced sources of unusual items such as head-mounted displays. Rather than throw up barriers, Wild Planet has chosen to embrace this secondary market, with plans to release development tools and documentation making it possible to extend the device’s capabilities.

Read on for our image-heavy unboxing and initial impressions.

The packaging is outwardly consumer-oriented — this is, first and foremost, a kids toy after all — and the “USB Connected” and “Download & Build Custom Apps” labels are about as technical as it gets on the outside.

Batteries not included. You’ll need plenty. And did you ever expect to see Linux mentioned by name on anything at Toys R Us? Awesome!

Internal packaging is minimalist and largely recyclable. No twist ties, no staples, no plastic bubbles, no registration cards or catalogs. Much appreciated! We’ve seen much smaller toys with far more gratuitous packaging, so this was a welcome relief.

The entire contents of the box are as follows:

The TRAKR vehicle is a stubby, squat tank, measuring about 10 inches wide and 7 inches long. Six AA cells install behind a cover on the underside of the unit. The total weight with alkaline cells is 1065 grams, or about 2 pounds 5 oz. Picks up easily with one hand.

The front of the TRAKR vehicle features a number of sensors. Left to right, these include: microphone (the white circle at the left), a presently-unused accessory connection port which appears to contain a bump switch, the color video camera and infrared LED for night vision, and speaker (larger white circle at the right). The camera can be pivoted from straight ahead to about 30 degrees upward, but there is no servo control of this function; it must be manually positioned.

With the transport deck removed we can see the ports on the back of the TRAKR: an SD card slot for storing photos and video (also SDHC compatible), the USB mini-B connector for attaching to a PC (or Mac, etc.), and a USB type A connector that currently serves no purpose, but might be related to future accessories (and hacks, of course).

When connected to a host computer, the TRAKR appears as a 1-megabyte FAT12 filesystem. New apps, downloaded from the Spy Video TRAKR web site, are installed by simply copying the corresponding .bin file to the APPs directory on this flash drive. It’s quite a bit like the mbed microcontroller in this regard. With the three factory apps pre-loaded, there’s about 900K free space remaining. Additionally, the TRAKR can function as an SD card reader when attached via USB.

The remote control unit is a bit over 5 inches high and wide. Four AA cells install behind a back cover, and the total weight is 392 grams, or about 13.5 oz. The size and heft of the controller is sufficiently comfortable for both young and adult hands. There are two single-axis sticks for driving the tank Battlezone-style, five buttons (one dedicated to the “home” function, the rest being app-specific), a power and volume switch, speaker, and a 1.75″ color LCD screen in the center. Though the sticks have an analog feel, in practice they appear to be simple non-proportional controls.

The LCD looks to be half-QVGA resolution (160×120). The video feed averages a good 15 frames per second over the device’s wireless (2.4 GHz, but not WiFi) connection.

Night vision is provided by a single 8mm near-infrared LED, with a range of about six feet.

The camera can also take QVGA (320×240) color stills, and half-QVGA (160×120) video, recorded to the SD card as JPEG and AVI, respectively. Here are some unprocessed stills directly from the memory card:

So that’s an overview of the TRAKR as it comes straight from the box. To do more, we begin by visiting the Spy Video TRAKR web site:

The “Download Apps” link currently leads to a list of about a dozen simple apps developed in-house:

None of the apps is particularly outstanding; they appear to be for illustrative purposes, each one demonstrating a single idea and not wanting to overwhelm the budding programmer. Most range from about 20 to 40 kilobytes.

Clicking an app name reveals more information — a description, download link for the compiled app, and also a source code link for us geeks. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends for now. “APP BUILDR,” the code editor and compiler which works online (again like the aforementioned mbed microcontroller), is not yet accessible:

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The Spy Video TRAKR was originally slated to ship this fall for the holiday shopping season. Wild Planet managed a great head start at getting the TRAKR into production and distribution — we have the toy in-hand and you can already find this at a number of retailers — but the software is still on its original schedule for an October release. We understand software timelines and are sympathetic to that reality, but this does mean there’s little sense of urgency if your main interest in the TRAKR was for programming. It can wait.

In the interim, we can start to deconstruct the development process with the small bits of information available. From Maker Faire, we do know that the TRAKR contains an ARM9 processor, and is programmed in C. And while the code editor isn’t yet online, we can follow the “Download Source” link for an app to retrieve its source code. Here’s an excerpt from one of the demonstration programs:

Indeed it’s C, with just a light wrapping of functions (e.g. Start() and Run() instead of a main() function). There’s clearly a Spy Video TRAKR-specific API (svt.h) for accessing hardware functionality like the TRAKR’s motors or the controller’s buttons and display, but documentation for this library isn’t available online yet.

At this point, we’re still dealing entirely with standard, as-advertised, out-of-the-box capabilities. The thing about the TRAKR that really made us stop and take notice at Maker Faire, the thing that has us genuinely enthusiastic about the product even though this article probably sounds like a total corporate shill by now (we approached them first, honest), has everything to do with the toy’s Easter egg:

It’s a sublime detail: the clear letters on the otherwise frosted cover just above the rear ports hint at intriguing stuff within. The cover is held on with just a couple of ordinary Phillips screws. Say, were you the sort of curious kid who’d dismantle their toys to see what makes them work? We thought so.

On the outside: the URL for the consumer. On the inside: the URL for the inquisitive. Just a fraction of an inch and a thin sheet of plastic apart. It’s absolutely brilliant, and there’s no mention of this on the packaging or the standard web site.

So — in addition to the standard app web site, a second web site (and sadly an equally unfinished one at this time) is planned to delve even deeper into the system’s inner workings. But even without this information, we can see hints of what’s ahead just by examining the board, which they’ve thoughtfully labeled. We can make out an unpopulated third USB port, an unpopulated switch connector, a breakout header that appears to have eight GPIO lines and one analog input, and a smaller breakout header for an SPI port of some sort (perhaps debugging).

Additionally, both the TRAKR and the remote control have switches and ports concealed under access panels:

The trim pots on the TRAKR are almost certainly for tuning the radio transceiver. The switches on both units are labeled “USB” for one position and “SPI” for the other, and this appears to be related to debugging or flash memory programming. Both switches ship in the “SPI” position.

Ask any engineer what originally sparked their interest in technology, and almost universally the response will be a Hollywood film or TV robot — Star Wars’ R2-D2, the B9 robot from Lost in Space, or Short Circuit’s Johnny 5, to name a few. Engineers need a creative outlet too, and some pay homage to their inspirations by building elaborate reproductions. At this year’s Maker Faire, droid-builders had their own corner in the center hall, their work ranging from humble craft materials to ’bots surpassing their film counterparts in detail and workmanship.

Probably the most beloved film robot of all time would be R2-D2, and probably the best-known reproductions originate from the R2-D2 Builders Club, who’ve been profiled in Make and Servo magazines, among others. Every kid’s dreamed of building their own R2, perhaps from a wastepaper basket and scrap, but the club’s astromech droids are anything but kid stuff, with machined aluminum domes and intricate motor and sound systems. The club doesn’t sell robots — that would infringe on trademarks — but they do share techniques and component plans. The finished droids (are they ever really finished?) put in appearances at fan conventions and charity events.

Danger Will Robinson! Career inventor [Andrew Filo] has been engineering practical everyday items for three decades, but he cuts loose by bringing his early inspirations to life. His carefully-researched reproductions include an Apollo-era NASA spacesuit and a talking, walking…er, rolling…B9 robot.

Self-described recluse [ELS] is a builder and collector of film props and reproductions. Though he insists his Robby and B9 aren’t perfectly canon, you’d never know by looking; the detail and finish on these two was amazing. Robby is wearable, and periodically through the weekend he’d climb into the suit and entertain a new generation who otherwise might not be acquainted with this Hollywood classic.

[Matthew Ebisu] is obsessed with all things Pixar. As one of the younger makers exhibiting, [Matthew’s] materials may be simpler, but his enthusiasm more than fills the gap. He’s built — and launched — Carl Fredricksen’s house from Up in miniature form. It didn’t quite reach South America, but did net him a pen pal in Nevada. His Autopilot and Eve droids from Wall-E are more craft than tech, so his latest project, along with a gaggle of like-minded friends on his D.I.Y. Pixar fan site, is to develop a working Wall-E robot.

So readers — is there a favorite Hollywood ’bot to credit for your passion for this hacking madness? And have you built one yet? A HAL-9000 in your kitchen? Tell us about it in the comments, or if you have a build log posted online somewhere, drop us a link at tips@hackaday.com.

Since the previously-posted stills can’t quite convey the chaos of last weekend’s Maker Faire, here’s some video from the event to help get you through hump day. It’s like three liters of Jolt Cola in a two liter bottle.

One thing even video can’t adequately capture is our gratitude toward our readers at the show who took time to express their appreciation for the blog. You guys and gals rock our world. Thank you!

Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any bigger and crazier, they manage to outdo themselves again. The Bay Area Maker Faire wrapped up Sunday evening, but we have so many story leads that we’ll probably be busy until next year’s event. In the meantime, here’s just a tiny, random sampling of the countless delights that greeted visitors this past weekend.

Setup day was the only time we could get a clear shot of the Hermes space shuttle, [Morris Jarvis’] entry in the suborbital tourist space race.

Early Saturday morning, the line stretches to infinity and beyond.

At the other side of the fairgrounds, scads of locals took advantage of the free bike valet service and scored a $5 admission discount to boot. And this view shows only about half of the bikes present! We only spotted one recumbent parked out here, but quite a few inside as maker exhibits.

So much walking! This kid had the right idea, scooting around in luxury.

It’s not a Bay Area party until the original Doggie Diner heads show up!

Robots were everywhere this year. Of course the R2 Builders Club was on hand…

…but there were no Wookiees present to play chess against this robotic arm.

A row of Anybots, all ready to take up their overlord duties.

Our favorite giraffe joined the rave, replete with his new animatronic head.

The Mondo Spider, like its smaller biological inspiration, manages to be simultaneously fascinating and potentially deadly. It is, however, anything but silent.

Back outside, this MIDI-controlled pneumatic dinosaur alternately entertained and terrified children. We were hoping to witness a one-on-one battle against…

…Saphira, the fire-breathing dragon! Rar!

Nearby, [Haley Duke’s] Swamp Kirin puppet loomed over fairgoers. Kirin, we just discovered, appear to be mortal enemies of efficient JPEG compression.

[Todd Williams’] Land Shark is an animated EL wire-framed skeleton atop a large radio controlled car chassis — a great effect in the dark!

We seem to be on a bitey creature kick. Here, have a Velociraptor head popped out of a commercial ABS extrusion 3D printer.

We posted about the DIYLILCNC mill late last year. What struck us when finally seeing it in person is how it’s anything but li’l. This thing bullies RepRaps and takes their lunch money!

They were even making something in the Maker Shed store. What exactly? We’ll give you a hint: it’s printed with green ink on the back. Man, they got us good. Went in needing just one Parallax RFID reader, and somehow couldn’t leave before spending the equivalent GNP of Guam.

This is here just for blog cred.

Our hats are off — again — to SparkFun Electronics. These guys could’ve easily brought enough merchandise to bankroll their retirement from this one show. Instead, they taught kids how to solder. How cool is that?

FPGA pr0n from Art Magnitude’s ORB v.2, a persistence-of-vision globe on a grand scale.

There was always a line waiting to play with Tangile interaction’s digital graffiti wall.

This way to the egress!

If we’ve overlooked or glossed over your favorite subject or display, it may be that we’re expecting to cover it in more detail in the future. Keep your eyes peeled for more wild stuff here!

Maybe $15K for an elaborate balancing telepresence robot is a bit out of one’s league. In that case, another Bay Area Maker Faire exhibitor — Wild Planet — has you covered. Faire attendees got a hands-on sneak preview of the upcoming Spy Video TRAKR, a video-transmitting radio-controlled toy that’s programmable and extensively hackable.

The TRAKR has an impressive pedigree. It’s a collaborative effort between three successful and creative technology companies: Wild Planet, makers of the Spy Gear toy line; MOTO Development Group, designers of the Flip Video camera; and Making Things, software designers for the Make Controller.

So just how hackable are we talking? The Spy Video TRAKR is intended right out of the box to use downloadable apps, and allows development of new programs in C. The controller and vehicle each contain their own ARM9 processor, and the ’bot features 8 megs of RAM, an SD card slot and USB client and host (yes, host) ports. And that’s all with the cover still on. Pop the lid, and you’ll find links to online schematics and neatly-labeled breakout headers for deeper exploration.

The Spy Video TRAKR is expected to ship in October with a target price of $139 or less. Additional photos after the break.

No, it’s not an extra from Wall-E. “QB” is the latest telepresence robot from Silicon Valley firm Anybots. QB combines two-way videoconferencing with a Segway-style self-balancing platform. The idea is to provide mobility and more natural interaction than desktop-tethered conferencing can provide.

The 35 pound robot’s battery runs for six to eight hours, and the telescoping head allows the eye level to be adjusted to match the user’s natural viewpoint. What looks like stereo vision is actually a single camera on the left eye and a steerable laser pointer on the right.

Shipping this October for $15,000, QB will appeal mostly to businesses with specific telepresence needs. This is half the price of their prior QA model — and in time the technology may reach the mass-market level. Until then, we’ll just have to amuse ourselves by remotely attending meetings with our ankle-nipping Rovio robots.