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Vancouver Mini Maker Faire 2013
I had a blast at VMMF 2013. Gerard took some pictures and generously shared them with us after the event.
Some older samples were brought along and then we started taking requests from visitors to the booth. Pictures were selling right off the floor – sometimes they sold before the machine finished drawing! After testing different prices it seems like $0.50/minute fits the market well.
At 2pm on saturday the internet died. So I used my Canon camera to start taking portraits and draw them on the robot. I’m still working through the backlog of images to draw – it was a big success! If you left me your email I’ll be sharing the image with you on facebook as soon as it’s done.
I also brought along my newest creation, a mini stewart platform and the “waldo” that drives it. This is really exciting stuff – the waldo could be used to play most FPS games one-handed, giving you a huge advantage over other players. The Stewart Platform could be used to shake you realistically while you wear your Occulus Rift goggles. I would sell the two in a single box and when you open the lid there’d be assembly instructions printed on a barf bag.
I also brought my 3 armed delta robot and 4 armed delta robot for show. All in all I’d say it was a great hit. I look forward to having branding and stickers and a team. Maybe even be a VMMF sponsor? Fingers crossed.
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Seattle Mini Maker Faire 2013
Seattle Mini Maker Faire was a blast!
Drawing portraits was a big hit again, and will be a regular thing from now on.
I had to do her portrait, it was very distinct. She said she “enjoyed being a girl”, which I thought was great. Anyone comfortable in their own skin has a power and confidence that shows.
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An Easier Way to Align Laser Cutter Mirrors
I bought a laser cutter that will be here any day now. While waiting I’ve been learning how to uncrate, install, and calibrate the machine. The worst part seems to be aligning the mirrors. The laser beam is invisible and very dangerous. The recommended way is very slow and goes like this:
- put tape on the 3 mirrors
- close the machine
- fire invisible CO2 beam
- open the machine
- look at holes in tape
- adjust mirrors
- remove old tape
- repeat
If you had a mostly harmless visible beam that matched the C02 beam then you could adjust the mirrors in minutes. This tool makes it possible.
How to
- Get a $4 cat annoying laser
- Print two copies of this part. It is printed on it’s side to prevent delamination problems.
- Bolt them together with 25mm M3s so that they clamp onto the cat laser. The middle finger on the holder should push the button on the cat laser. The holder has long fingers so that the laser can be tilted, if necessary.
- Rest it on a flat surface. You can also use the bottom hole to mount it on an M3 rod (which would need a base of some kind).
- Put the tape on the mirrors.
- Fire the C02 once.
- Move the cat laser stand so that the red dot goes through all the tape holes. Both lasers now match. Do not move cat laser again.
- Remove tape.
- Align mirrors.
- Turn off and remove cat laser.
- Go mess with your pets.
This has not yet been tested so I would appreciate your feedback.
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Merging an Arduino with a Motor Shield, one of Gunner’s great creations
The Makelangelo uses two PCBs: an arduino UNO and an Adafruit Motor sheild. It could be done with a single PCB by merging the two circuits onto a custom board. [Gunner] has made a compelling case in favor of the one-board movement: he’s built an arduino that could drive a single stepper motor. It’s a small step from there (no pun intended) to adding another and voila. Check out his video.
Be sure to check out his other sweet projects, too. Linear rails, pan/tilt heads, and even outdoor tracked vehicle.
