World Maker Faire 2013 (NYC)

World Maker Faire 2013

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the World Maker Faire in NYC and participate in various other activities while visiting friends in the area.  It's been a while since my last visit to the East Coast and I've been long overdue to visit so I used the Maker Faire as a prime opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone" so to speak and make the most of my visit.

Ultimaker 1 printing a globe from 2 colored materials

I wrote about my attending the Seattle Mini Maker Faire earlier this year and how small the event was...  Well, the World Maker Faire in NYC was quite the opposite to put it lightly, the event was absolutely bustling with exhibitors and attendees.  The "maker movement" is definitely growing by leaps and bounds.  One thing that wasn't in short supply at the Faire was 3D printing-related "stuff."  The event was seemingly dominated by 3D printers, technologies, printed objects with very little spread in variety of other Maker-related things.  While a lot of individuals seemed to be overwhelmed with all the 3D printing stuff, I believe we haven't even come close to reaching the tip of the iceberg with regard to the growth of 3D printing being a mainstream product--next year's World Maker Faire will probably have an even larger 3D printing presence.

Ultimaker 2 - a new printer announced at the Maker Faire

For example, the patents to create 3D printed METAL parts using laser sintering processes are expiring in 2014 which will likely give birth to desktop metal 3D printers (probably through KickStarter) shortly.  Personally, I think metal 3D printers should be left to industry consumption as they are a potentially incredibly dangerous technology for a variety of reasons, but we'll see what the future holds!

There were a lot of cool things to see at the Maker Faire, and a lot of cool gadgets and toys to purchase or pre-order.  I'll let a select few pictures do the talking:

The ShopBot, a really cool mobile CNC tool

Woolbuddys loose felt plushies and kits

Mini moss-"biospheres"

Zoa Chimerum rubber-based jewelry designs inspired by nature

VR welding training tools

Coffee-making robot

Formlab's featured prints display

While staying with a friend, we went on a variety of fun adventures, like visiting the MoMA, ate at Japanese restaurants, checked out various sights & popular tourist destinations, and more.

Towards the Times Square area

Ippudo, a nice ramen place, almost as good as the real deal

Cool street art under a bridge in Brooklyn

Opposite side

Also, as I mentioned in the last post I said I was going to paint the Slardar-headphone covers.  The completed results are below--hand painted using acrylic UV-fluorescent paints.  I'll try to get a photo of them under a UV lamp to show off their glow!

Seattle Mini Maker Faire 2013

A weekend or two ago I attended the Seattle Mini Maker Faire which was pretty exciting having never attended a Maker event prior.  The term Maker Faire comes from the inventors of the "Make" concept, that being Make Magazine.  Make Magazine is a really cool publication that basically features homebrew / DIY projects typically using creative programmable electronics, lights, and more.  Therefore, a "Maker" would be someone that enjoys "making stuff" or working on projects that involve building or putting together things.  

There are two main Maker Faires in the US, one in NYC and the other in San Francisco.  Like all things "Make" the Mini Maker Faire in Seattle is an independently operated / community-driven event put together through the efforts of a large number of people.  

I like making stuff and have a lot of plans for projects / products in the near future so I figured it would be a great opportunity to attend the Mini Maker Faire to see what some other people are working on and to potentially get some new ideas for future projects.  

First impressions were that the event is really small (hence Mini right?).  If you aren't spending a significant time at each booth, or aren't participating in some little craft workshop, the whole event can be perused through in an hour or two at best.  Desktop 3D printing was a major theme at the Faire, although all the 3D printers at the event were fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers, meaning they all operated by extruding spools of plastic through a heated nozzle to print 3D objects.  While I'm not really a fan of these kinds of 3D printers, it's always cool to see them in action and see what kind of creations people are printing.  

There were a couple highlights of the event which particularly stood out to me.  The first was a fancy multi-axis computer-controlled robotic video slider thing which I can't recall who developed.  However, after talking with the creators they mentioned that they're putting the package together for KickStarter with kits being marketed in the neighborhood of $5-6000.  While that's probably a bargain for aspiring indie filmakers, it's not something that really interested me after hearing the cost.

The other display piece which I really liked was the Magnician's Aquarium, a spectacular magnetic field audio visualization exhibit.  Basically, a set of magnetic coils are suspended within the aquarium and a (soapy) water suspension of nickel particles are added.  An audio signal is amplified (pumped current) and then fed through the coils which generates a magnetic field.  The nickel particles react to the magnetic fields around the coils and "dance" to the music played.  I was told the signal running through the coils is inverted every 5 seconds as well to keep things more visually dynamic and exciting.  This project is pretty brilliant and has a lot of potential as a commercial unit.  I'd like to make a miniaturized version of my own but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the time to do so. :(