Maker Faire 2009
This weekend I went to the Maker Faire. Having never been to a Maker Faire before, I described my expectations to a co-worker as it being a cross between the State Fair and the Exploratorium.1 It was way better than that.
Art cars, robots, and all kinds of incredible stuff. Everything was made by ordinary people who would happily tell you exactly how they made everything you saw. I also got to see Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame.
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- The Pen Mercedes
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- A giant street legal Radio Flyer
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- A jeep covered in legos
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- A shark-truck
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- A cupcake tricycle
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- Bike powered rock music
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- A sideways piano
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- You are NOT a rock star
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- Giant metal wings that can be spun around
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- Two and a half R2D2’s
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- An autonomous tripod robot making circular drawings
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- Cardboard surfboards
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- Adam Savage of Mythbusters
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- The CandyFab 6000
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- Zack Smith, Bre Pettis, and Adam Mayer of Makerbot
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- Plastic stuff printed out before my eyes
The highlight was meeting the guys of MakerBot (Zack “Hoken” Smith, Bre Pettis, and Adam Mayer) and seeing their Cupcake CNC machine in action. These guys are real-life MacGyver’s and Scotty’s. 2
Their Cupcake CNC is a computer controlled robot that builds a 3D object layer-by-layer using molten plastic. You can buy a kit or build one from the plans freely available on their site. Their robot is based upon the incredible work of the RepRap project. The things it can build are really only limited by your imagination.
- I’ve never been to Burning Man, otherwise I would have included it in this hybrid description. [↩]
- Minus the mullets and accents. [↩]