We have been accepted to exhibit at the greatest show (and tell) on Earth: Maker Faire UK, no less, and it’s taking place in Newcastle this weekend! We could not be more excited. If you haven’t heard about this year’s Maker Faire, where have you been? Visit www.makerfaireuk.com and come and pay us a visit!
What exactly will we be exhibiting? Expect buggies, Laika modules,
E-Textiles projects and
kits, and, of course, all of our most popular
Electronic Project Kits. Be one of the first to walk away with our newly packaged retail kits (see images below) that include step-by-step build instructions and all of the components that you’d need to build your Electronic or E-Textile circuit (depending on which kit you opt for). Just if that wasn’t enough, we also have plenty of
resources and
gallery images for you to choose from on our website for project inspiration and for a little more guidance.
New Retail Kits in production
E-Textiles Starter Pack ready for the Maker Faire
Our Laser-cut Electro-Fashion Cat Sign with Flashing Eyes (of course)
While the guys in Production are busy packing the retail packs, I can’t help browsing Maker Faire’s Blog to see which incredible inventions we should expect to find at the Maker Faire this weekend...
Headline Maker: Robohand
Robohand
Now, it’s not every day that you get the chance to see a car being crushed by a giant robotic fist… that is, if you’re not at the world’s biggest festival of hackers, crafters, coders, DIYers and garden shed inventors. Come to Maker Faire UK to see Robohand pulverise wardrobes, pianos and cars! Robohand was built from recycled scrap-metal and is now a transportable art object ready to make its Newcastle début at Maker Faire UK. Originally commissioned for the 2007 Robodock Festival in the Netherlands, Robohand is the brain-child of American artist Christian Ristow. It’s a gargantuan prospect, 30 times larger than an average human hand, weighing 6000kg at nearly eight metres long! Hydraulically powered fingers give this hand the superhuman strength to crush almost anything put before it.
Another Maker Faire Attraction: Etch A Sketch
Laser Etch A Sketch
Our friends Martin Raynsford and Dominic Morrow, founders of
Just Add Sharks, are set to bring their ingenious Laser Etch A Sketch to Maker Faire UK. The prolific Midlands makers have combined a shared love of lasers,
Arduinos and nostalgic toys to create an effortlessly cool gadget, which we all can’t wait to see demonstrated! The Laser Etch A Sketch controller is an incredibly fun hack that was built to celebrate
International Arduino Day.
How does it all work? Two rotary encoders housed inside Etch A Sketch-style wooden knobs are connected to an
Arduino Pro Mini. When patched into the existing wiring of a Blacknose A3 laser cutter, this interface can be used to bypass the machine’s on-board controller. As the Arduino detects the knobs being turned, it sends a signal which fires the laser. X and Y axis information is simultaneously passed on to the stepper drivers, controlling the position of the laser beam. Two power settings are available: the first will mark a material and the second more powerful mode allows for cutting. See the Laser Etch A Sketch in action:
The Etch A Sketch mod is perfect for cutting straight lines without the need for extra programming, for instance, but it is worth mentioning that the laser cutting can still function as normal – this awesome invention is a great little novelty controller. The controller itself is custom built from six layers of lasered plywood and stained with mahogany wood dye to give a red finish. The final, wonderfully lo-fi touch is the screen, fashioned from a layer of baking paper to give the look of frosted plastic. So… will we be seeing you there?
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New Retail Kits in production
E-Textiles Starter Pack ready for the Maker Faire
Our Laser-cut Electro-Fashion Cat Sign with Flashing Eyes (of course)
