Maker Faire Kansas City: That’s A Wrap

July 5, 2015 by Kristina Panos 1 Comment

The 5th annual Kansas City Maker Faire was as fun as ever, but it definitely felt different from previous years. There seemed to be an unofficial emphasis on crafts this year, and I mean this in the broadest sense of the word. There was more exposure for the event in the local media, and this attracted a wider variety of faire-goers. But the exposure also brought more corporate sponsorship. This wasn’t an exclusively bad thing, though. For instance, several people from Kansas City-based construction firm JE Dunn were guiding mini makers through a birdhouse build.

Many of the this year’s booths were focused on a particular handicraft. A local music shop that makes custom brass and woodwind instruments had material from various stages of the building process on display. Several tables away, a man sat making chainmaille bags. At one booth, a girl was teaching people how to fold origami cranes. Several makers had various geek culture accessories for sale, like a shoulder bag made from a vintage Voltron sweatshirt. The guys from SeeMeCNC made the 12-hour drive with the Part Daddy, their 17-foot tall delta printer. They printed up a cool one-piece chair on Saturday, then made a child-sized version of it on Sunday.

The entire lower level of the venue was devoted to a series of exhibits related to the film and television industry. Collectively, they covered the entire production process from the casting call to the red carpet. Several local prop and costume makers were showing off their fantastic creations, including [Steven] of SKS Props. He started making video game props for fun a few years ago. These days, his work adorns the offices of some of those same game companies.

Of course, there was plenty to see and do outside, too. All the kids playing human foosball were having a blast. LARPers larped next to lowriders and food trucks, power wheels raced, and a good time was had by all.

Tiny chair printed on the Part Daddy by SeeMeCNC

This is clearly an exceptional R2 unit.

A husband and wife team make arty robots using antique cameras, test equipment, and tins.

A luthier explains his process to an onlooker..

Some of the well-detailed costumes on display.

Masks by SKS Props.

JE Dunn hammered the weekend away helping kids make birdhouses.

Nerdly housewares were plentiful this year.

A peek at the film and television production process.

Tiny chair being printed on the Part Daddy.

Maker Faire Kansas City: Entrepreneurial Spirit Taking Shape

June 30, 2015 by Kristina Panos 3 Comments

One of the great things about an event like the Kansas City Maker Faire is that there are so many reasons that makers sign up to show their things. Some makers come to teach a skill, and others to sell their handmade creations. Those with an entrepreneurial streak looking to launch a product might rent a booth to get a lot of eyes on their idea. That’s just what [Ted Brull] of Creation Hardware was after this weekend–exposure for Kevo, his small-scale vacuum former.

Kevo is a simple and affordable solution for makers of all stripes. It can be used to make molds, blister packaging for items, or even electronics enclosures. [Ted]’s Kickstarter campaign for Kevo has already been successfully funded, but there’s still plenty of time to get a Kevo kit for yourself. The basic reward includes the vacuum-forming chamber and two sizes of adapters that cover most vacuums. It also ships with an aluminium frame to hold polystyrene sheets during the heating and molding processes, and starter pack of pre-cut pieces in black, white, and clear plastic.

Creation Hardware had many vacuum-formed molds on display and were constantly making more from 3D-printed objects, toys, and other things. Our favorite mold was a 20oz bottle of Mountain Dew, which shows how far the small sheets of plastic can stretch.

The Spirit Of Hackaday Shines In Shenzhen

June 29, 2015 by Mike Szczys 11 Comments

Hackaday loves to spread the message of the hardware hacking lifestyle. That’s only possible where there are hardware hackers willing to spend their time getting together to talk the future of the hardware industry, and to celebrate where we are now. We’re honored that you came out en masse for our Shenzhen Workshop and Meetup!

Zero to Product

[Matt Berggren] has presented his Zero to Product workshop a few times now as part of our Hackaday Prize Worldwide series. This spring that included Los Angeles, San Francisco, and ten days ago it was Shezhen, China.

[Matt] leading Zero to Product workshop

Participants designing a PCB

All levels of experience are welcome

We partnered with MakerCamp, a week-long initiative that pulled in people from all over China to build a Makerspace inside of a shipping container. Successful in their work, the program then hosted workshops. The one caveat, Shenzhen in June is a hot and sticky affair. Luckly our friends at Seeed Studio were kind enough to open their climate-controlled doors to us. The day-long workshop explored circuit board design, using Cadsoft Eagle as the EDA software to lay out a development board for the popular ESP8266 module.

Continue reading “The Spirit Of Hackaday Shines In Shenzhen” →

Maker Faire Kansas City: Coming To Grips With The Mechanics Of Dexterity

June 28, 2015 by Kristina Panos 3 Comments

There is always a great variety of things to see and experience at the Kansas City Maker Faire. This is the fifth year for the event which is held at historic Union Station, a beautiful art deco train depot from a bygone era. With a multitude of booths and exhibits across two floors and a vast outdoor area, there is something for pretty much everyone. Often times, the interesting things are mobile conversation-starting creations. When we saw [Dan] walking around with a giant wooden contraption on his arm, we knew we must find out more about it.

The impetus for [Dan]’s project was his desire to pick up a soda can using a mechanical grip. He now believes this to have been a lofty goal, given the weight of a full can of the stuff. This prosthetic hand is made from wooden finger segments that are connected by small, continuous hinges. Each of [Dan]’s gloved fingers curls around a metal ring to control that digit’s large wooden analog. On the inside of the hand, sections of paracord run underneath strategically placed eye bolts on each finger segment and are tied off at the fingertips. A second set of eye bolts on the back of the hand anchor the network of rubber bands that provide resistance. Although he made it look easy to open and close the hand, [Dan] said that it’s pretty heavy to lug around and somewhat strenuous to use. Next time, he’ll probably go with foam or 3D-printed pieces.

Human-Machine Interface Projects At TEI 2016

June 27, 2015 by Sonya Vasquez 2 Comments

For many of us, interacting with computers may be as glorious as punching keys and smearing touch screens with sweaty fingers and really bad posture. While functional, it’s worth reimagining a world where our conversation with technology is far more intuitive, ergonomic, and engaging. Enter TEI, an annual conference devoted to human-computer interaction and a landmark for novel projects that reinvent the conventional ways we engage our computers. TEI isn’t just another sit-down conference to soak in a wealth of paper talks. It’s an interactive weekend that combines these talks with a host of workshops provided by the speakers themselves.

Last year’s TEI brought us projects like SPATA, digital calipers that sped up our CAD modeling by eliminating the need for a third hand, and TorqueScreen, a force-feedback mechanism for tablets and other handhelds.

Next February’s conference is no exception for new ways to interact with novel technology. To get a sense of what’s to come, here’s a quick peek into the past from last year’s projects:

Continue reading “Human-Machine Interface Projects At TEI 2016” →

Come To Our Shenzhen Meetup And Tell Your Friends

June 16, 2015 by Mike Szczys 4 Comments

This Saturday we’ll be in Shenzhen hosting a meetup at Bionic Brew at 19:00. Join us there and bring along your own hardware projects to show around. Everyone loves hearing about that latest build!

Even if you’re not in the area you can help us out by spreading the word. Tell your friends, share on your social media, and let us know about anyone in town who you think we should reach out to. Here’ s a poster if you want to print it out and hang it at your hackerspace, workplace, or other area where awesome people congregate.

The things you can do at this meetup: Laugh, drink, eat, and be happy. Talk excitedly about datasheets and timing diagrams. Pretend you hate talking about timing diagrams while being secretly giddy that someone wants to hear what you think of them. Recount your epic battles to meet production deadlines. Show off that latest blinky LED project you just got working. Meet a ton of awesome people. You can RSVP here to tell us you’re coming. See you soon!

Meet Us In Shenzhen

June 7, 2015 by Mike Szczys 14 Comments

Hackaday Prize Worldwide is coming to Shenzhen, China at the end of next week! There’s lots to do, join us for as much of it as you can:

Zero to Product Workshop

RSVP now for our Zero to Product workshop on Friday, June 19th. This is created and presented by [Matt Berggren] who shares his experience designing and laying out printed circuit boards professionally. A basic knowledge of electronics is all you need to get going and to lay out the dev board shown here!

Meetup and Share Your Hacks

Holding down an awesome booth at Maker Faire all day makes us weary. We’ll recharge our batteries on Saturday, June 20th starting at 7pm. Join us at Bionic Brew (please be kind and tell us you’re coming). As always, when we hang out we like to see, and show off, hacks. Bring something along if it’s easy to store in a pocket or backpack.

Build some Logic Noise at our SZMF Booth

Yep, we already mentioned it… we’ll be camped out at Shenzhen Maker Faire teaching people how to make music with logic chips. We’ve based the activity off of [Elliot Williams’] fantastic Logic Noise Series. Stop by, say hello and grab some stickers!