Welcome to RevSpace!
This was the Netherland’s largest hackerspace — Until Hack42 acquired a military base in Arnhem… More on that later though. RevSpace is a 24/7 hackerspace located in the basement of a large industrial building turned workshop/studio. They have lots of space, but could even use more as they continue to grow! The photo above is from the Tuesday night BBQ – a weekly event that has happened every Tuesday for almost 2 years straight! It’s the social night and it draws many people out to share in good food, good company, and good times.
Special thanks to [Mark] for picking us up from the train station! He’s the fellow in the bottom right of the photo, and also happens to be one of the board members of RevSpace!
After entering the basement a large 3-phase power switch controls the status of the club — members turn it on when they are present and this updates the website informing people the space is in fact open.
This and a few other systems are controlled by a small computer mounted above the big alarm bell.
Each paying member has their own key — the space decided to make their own programmer for them though!
Obligatory Club-Mate photo.
Did we mention this space has a great welding & fabrication shed?
One of a few vending machines the space possesses. Apparently you can pick up these vending machines for a couple hundred Euros, mostly because someone’s lost they key! Not a problem for a hackerspace though, just pick the lock! The two machines they purchased ended up having close to a hundred Euros still inside them!
A hacked Chinese laser engraver to improve performance…
A small PCB mill for electronics projects.
This was the chimney — unfortunately it was filled with dirt and had a brick wall in front of it… They rented a jack hammer and now have a fume hood and ventilation system!
Some of their 3D printers and the long line of work benches.
Ultraviolet lights everywhere! This hackerspace is very well equipped with almost any tool you could need!
Handy labels like these tell you whose project (or tool) it is, if you’re allowed to use it, etc.
The skull sees all — in 3D!
Component storage covers most walls — shelves everywhere!
This is a completely roll-able, scrollable, web programmable LED sign!
They even have stereo microscopes!
One room, but lots of space!
They had a problem with bugs eating their plants — it’s a bit hard to see but there are small Venus fly-traps now to protect them!
One of the dark storage rooms filled with all kinds of hardware, tools, and other random parts.
More creative uses of the IKEA LACK tables!
Small book library…
Possible expansion space into the rest of the basement!
Plasma cut hard-drive. Why? Why not!
And what’s a hackerspace without at least one arcade machine?
This is their official office that they pay actual rent for. They are on good terms with the company that owns the building, and they provide many services to the other resident companies (IT, etc), so it’s a pretty good situation financially speaking!
They found blueprints of street lamps in the building, which are quite fascinating to look at!
Here’s a close-up to see the detail — seeing things like this really gives you a certain respect for drafting before CAD was invented.
Outside is the welding, barbecuing, and fabrication shed.
The grenade-style barbecue feeds many people especially on Tuesday nights. Hard to see but there is a large fume hood above it!
Some random welding projects…
Club-Mate empties…
The Tool Locker! Filled with more heavy-duty power tools such as welders, compressors, grinders, plasma cutters etc.
They also have a rather large unused parking lot great for quad-copter testing, go-cart racing and whatever else they feel like. The space is on the outskirts of town, so noise complaints are never a problem!
They even have an inclined loading bay, which makes bringing projects into the space much easier.
Obligatory sever room picture.
Can you guess who this guy is?
The God of technology.
A unique indoor planting solution…
The all-seeing internet eye that monitors the network — a very nice combination of technology and art, all welded out back in the shed.
To be honest, we’re not sure what this is. But it looks pretty cool. Maybe RevSpace will shed some light on it in the comments.
This is definitely a hackerspace we could see ourselves fitting right into. Thanks for the tour RevSpace!
Neat hackerspace photos! Any details of the modifications made to the laser engraver?
iirc they installed a LAOS (LAser Open Source see also http://www.laoslaser.org/ ) controller in there…
Like others have said, we use a LAOS board in it. Other than that, the only modification that isn’t a repair is the LED light strip in it… not quite rocket science, but I guess perhaps cutting it in half and connecting the two 12V strips in series, to use the 24V power supply that also powers the stepper motors could count as a hack.
See their website, I believe it is equipped with a LaOS laser board instead of the original electronics.
Revspace is looking great… it’s clearly too long ago since I visited. :-)
Why the UV, at what appears to be about eye level when standing at a bench no less. Not a brilliant idea if you value your retinas!
It’s not UV, or at least not a lot of it. It’s a regular crappy cheap Chinese RGB strip, and its blue LED might emit a bit of UV. The LEDs are directed at the wall, so you won’t look straight into them.
They outlawed ‘drones’ without a license now in the netherlands I hear, due to privacy intrusion concerns they say.
Although it’s often best to take those kinds of rules in the right way and simply avoid populated areas when playing around with them I guess.
Source?
The news, just google it in the news section of google.
Hard to find. I found this: http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/07/05/piloten-melden-meer-incidenten-met-drones-bijna-botsing-wordt-onderzocht/
Which reports only outlawing drones in a professional setting.
Actually they prevented one fire department using their drone, due to privacy considerations. The fire department had to rent the services of a private company to get aerial imaging, I believe. Which is ridiculous, of course.
As far as I know, pending more legislation, drones are grounded.
Some bonus euros in a closed vending machine is nice, but there must have been some bonus food products too..
“This and a few other systems are controlled by a
small computer mounted above the big alarm bell.”
Is that really a “big alarm bell” rather than a siren, or is it just me?
It’s a siren, correct.
About that last photo, I made that thing for Maker faire 050 (Groningen), where I learned there are hackerspaces in the Netherlands. In fact there’s one at about ten minutes from my house! I am one lucky bastard! :)
More info about the steampunkish backpack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJo1wuOpzs
Yes, general purpose slow whoop siren. It’s running at half capacity to prevent ear damage.
It is a siren. The siren is used as a door bell, though, so I understand the confusion :-).