Back at the end of May, the SparkFun crew traveled out to lovely San Mateo, CA for the Bay Area Maker Faire. If you've never attended a Maker Faire, it is an awesome event where "makers" of all kinds get together to check out eachother's projects, get inspiration, and just have a great time.
While we were there, we had a blast hosting soldering classes, meeting many of our customers, and seeing all the incredible stuff people are building. It is both humbling and inspiring to see the amazing creations the maker community is coming up with these days! We took a lot of video while we were there and have condensed it down into a short clip showing some of the highlights - check it out:
Like I said, the above video is just a short snippet of all the awesomeness that is Maker Faire. If you haven't attended, check out the Maker Faire website to find an event near you. Cheers!
That does indeed appear to be a vending machine of a size and type that one would vend SparkFun retail products with.
I want that guy's hat.
But I don't want the other guy's gun. A gun that shoots when you think would be totally unsafe.
The problem with that becomes when you think about shooting someone!
Is the thing at 0:11 Sparkfun vending machine? If so, I will buy one!
You are indeed correct.
Where can I get the music?
i can't believe how much of maker faire i didn't see. its almost like disney world for makers
will Sparkfun be at the Detroit Fair in July?
Say 'yes' :)
Anyone else notice the huge box marked AA Batteries on the bench in the middle of the photo !!??
Y'all should definitely come out to Makers Faire North Carolina. http://makerfairenc.com/
Alright. How much for the dancing Android?
Went over to the first annual Maker Faire in BC. Few hundred attendees right from the get go! A very good start for something that was hardly even advertised.
My only regret is that most presentations were watered down - designed to be inspirational rather than informative (including the hosted talks on robotics and electronics). Then again, every Maker Faire is like that - it's not a developer conference.
Big number of vendors were selling Sparkfun kits. Lots of little red PCB's all around.
\/\/0r|d /\/\4kr ]=4!r3 4pp34r4n(3?? (I'm working on my 1337. Translation of question: World Maker Faire appearance??)
So are you guys skipping out on Detroit again this year?
Not entirely! I'll be there representing SparkFun as well as Todd (Developer and maker of the Yarn Monster).
It'll only be the two of us, however, and we'll not be running a booth. Instead we'll be wandering all about... talking to folks and getting an idea of how Detroit stacks up with San Mateo and New York. Based on our findings we may have a bigger contingent at Detroit next year.
So look for the red shirts. We'll be wearing them!
The new guy is gunna show up for the first time with a red shirt? Are you sure that's a good plan? You should start him out with an orange one or something... Then when he's a regular cast member switch him to a red one.
You can't be too safe! He could be wandering around the Maker Faire and get too close to the M5 Multi Tronic Unit just when in needs more power!
What? It could happen.
Hopefully I'll see you. I'm a member of i3 Detroit, and I'll have my quadcopter there that largely runs on SparkFun parts.
Will you be stationary or moving around the fair? I'll definitely try to come pay you a visit. Especially after this year's AVC quadcopters are the new hotness and I could watch them fly all day. =)
Ill have a table. i3 is going to have a few tents (all together), and I'll be in there.
See you there!
Question on the Yarn Monster:
What did you use for a yarn winding spindle?
It appears that the stepper motor is connected to a gear system that rotates and oscillates the yarn collection shaft at the same time. But none of this is documented.
Inquiring minds want to know!
i hacked a $15 hand winder and laser cut a gear that attaches the stepper motor to it
Ah! See. There's the important detail. You should have documented that. The entire project was basically impossible without that information.
It ain't Open Source if you don't document the details.
I gotta go to one of those ASAP!!!