Maker Faire San Mateo Recap
We made the trek out to Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA this past weekend - and wow - was it worth it!
Well that was definitely a little bit of awesome! In case you missed it, SparkFun headed out to sunny (yet strangely chilly) San Mateo, CA this past weekend for Maker Faire.
Testing out the SparkFun "Snake Stomp" game.
Every year, Maker Faire gets bigger and better and there are so many cool projects, it is hard to define a top ten, not to mention name them all.
A young "maker" learns how to solder the Simon game.
The soldering workshops were a huge success! This year, SparkFun raised around $6,000 dollars for Rosalie House Emergency Shelter and The Exploratorium. A hearty "thank you" goes out for the generous donations made by those who took our soldering clinics. The SMD workshop filled for both days within a few hours of Maker Faire opening, and the PTH clinic was filled to capacity the entire weekend. It was awesome to see people of all ages and backgrounds learning a bit of embedded electronics!
Projects at Maker Faire ranged from DIY 3-D printers, to Tesla Coils, to entire LEGO cities. It was an incredible mixture of people with different interests, hobbies, and projects.
Check out this video from our very own videographer Chris! He spent the weekend running around Maker Faire capturing some cool clips of different projects and the SparkFun booth. To see tons more photos, check out SparkFun's Flickr page!
The SparkFun "Wheel of Misfortune" in action. Prizes included swag like t-shirts, mugs, and gift certificates!
We would like to give one last "thank you" to everyone that stopped by our booth. It is so amazing to meet some of our customers and chat about electronics. For those who haven't been before, I can't recommend Maker Faire enough - I have never seen such an amazing group of people pursuing their passions. It's definitely a sight to behold! Thank you again and we hope to see you next year!
Looks like it was lots of fun. You guys should put a POV on the "Wheel of Misfortune," because well you know... you can!
Great to see you guys at the Maker Faire again. Did the SMD workshop last year and it was fun. My Simon game still works :-)
Hardware.Panda: Or what's in the box!
"NOTHING!......absolutely nothing!!!!"
haha...classic
Are you guys planning on showing us more about the snake stomp game? It looks really cool!
The source code for the game is available from http://www.sparkfun.com/Code/snakestomp_5_5.zip
It's written in Processing and uses an arduino sending serial commands to control the snake. You can also play with a keyboard using the W,A,S,D keys.
There is more information about the game on my site www.ProjectAllusion.com
If you have any further questions feel free to email me, Rojas@SparkFun.com
WOW! Awesome job guys, this looks like heaven on Earth. Maybe I'll fly out for next year's events.
Thanks for the soldering fun and wheel of misfortune stickers and lab coat! We had a great time and hope to see Sparkfun again next year!
The highest resolution available can be downloaded from our Flickr page. Use of the photo is restricted to cool stuff.
I Love the "Rock Concert" photo.
Can I have permission to use it - as a background, and a copy in high res?
It was a great Maker Faire. I do not know if there is a bad one but it was awesome. My wife won a gift card on the "Wheel of Misfortune" and had no use for it so I can now spend it. Woo! Hoo!
Thank you SparkFun
Man, I wish I could have gone. One of these years, I have GOT to go to Maker Faire - it looks like an awesome time! It would have been more awesome to go to this one, just to finally meet some of the people that have helped fuel my addiction to electronics!
I also did the SMD workshop and I must say that the sparkfun staff were absolutely the most professional, patient and fun to be around. I was really impressed with how they handled so many people.
I got Adam Savage to sign my make magazine as well. MakerFaire2010 FTW.
Will you (SparkFun) make it to the Detroit Maker Faire? If so I will have to make a trip there!
Sadly we will not. This is kind of our big event for this year!
I did the Sparkfun surface mount soldering session at the Faire and it was great. It also served as a reminder as to how much I hate lead-free solder!
Wow!! great video!
"Wheel of Misfortune" reminds me of "Wheel of Fish" from the movie UHF.
HAHA, I thought I was the only one who remembered that. "RED snappa'!"
Or what's in the box!
If I don't get to go next year, I will literally hi-jack a C-17 cargo jet just to get there! The inventor inside me is screaming to be let out in San Mateo!
Man, Maker Faire looks like it was so amazing! If only I could've stayed in San Jose a week longer so that I could check out all of the great projects and most importantly SparkFun! Oh, well. Maybe next year I'll be able to travel around a bit more to check it out.
Thanks for the awesome update!
Wheel of misfortune, turn, turn, turn!
Tell us the lesson that we must learn!
-Yakko Warner, winner of a coffee mug and is confused. Being an adolescent cartoon character he isn't allowed to drink coffee OR use irons without adult supervision. Did we mention hes and orphan? Poor Warners!
Need. Longer. Video!