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Maker Faire Austin 2008
Projects and Makers By Topic
Arts | Crafts | Engineering | Food | Green | Music | Science
Science
1 to 22 of 22Austin Area Rocketry Group
Build and fly your very own model rocket with the Austin Area Rocketry group!
B9 Lost in Space
I made a fully robotic, full scale replica of the Lost in Space Robot that is controlled by RC use.
Black Light for Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable Identification
An inexpensive black light was constructed with a LED light source from easily available products. This light can be made with a minimum knowledge of electronics. It can be used to hunt for scorpions, identify fluorescent minerals, and inspect produce or motel rooms for contamination.
Cluster Computing
Walton Yantis
More computers, clusters, and power! Eight cluster computing projects, two of them submerged in mineral oil will be running and on display. Also, we will have our $10,000 casemod project present. Talk to the students involved, see worklogs, and read the coursework, so you can make your own supercomputer.
Diet Coke & Mentos Mega-Fountains
Help the original Eepybird guys build their amazing Mega-Fountain using Diet Coke and Mentos! Soda practically explodes as carbon dioxide rapidly escapes from the bottle.
Erosion Table
Why should beavers have all the fun?
The erosion table will give kids and adults alike a chance to experience hands-on how various materials and building strategies effect the flow of water.
This 4ft x 16ft table will have graduated heights to accommodate builders and scientists of all statures.
Goodwill Computer Museum
The Goodwill Computer Museum is an innovative and fun way to look at the development of computers over the years. It includes early generational gaming, environmental education and a chance to experience the high-tech revolution all over again.
Hacking Things with Microcontrollers
Anyone can learn how to make cool things with microcontrollers! Even if you've never sewn a button, you can actually make a fun, intriguing project. Blink lights, hack your brain, play video games, turn off TVs in public places - microcontrollers can do it all. This is for all skill and experience levels. Ages 5 to 100. You can even learn to solder!
Having a Ball with Chemistry
What could be more fun than catching big carbon dioxide bubbles filled with mist, or putting sticks in orange juice and setting off a buzzer. The local Section of the American Chemical Society will do that and more with twelve hands on chemical activities. Join us in the Maker Kids Tent.
Homemade High Voltage
Ethan Reesor
This 'project' is really two separate devices.
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The first is a Jacob's Ladder or Climbing Arc Device. This device uses a high-voltage neon-sign transformer to step the voltage up from 120VAC to 15kVAC (kiloVolts AC). This voltage is short-circuited across two electrodes, generating an arc. The arrangement of the two electrodes and the physics involved causes the arc to rise. The current coming out of the transformer is dangerous and potentially lethal, so the arc is protected with a plexiglass (or similar material) covering and the device will be supervised or disabled at all times.
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The second is a Van de Graff Electrostatic Generator. This device uses a motor-driven belt and roller system to move electric charge from the ground to a metal sphere. This sphere can collect considerable voltage, but since it is low-current static electricity, it is not dangerous and people can touch it. (That's what makes it so fun - you can shock yourself or your friends. If you insulate yourself from the ground you can make your hair stand on end.)
Justin Gray Fire Sculpture Robots
This is a robotic fire sculpture show with gigantic tesla coil in the middle. That's 4 fire sculpture robots and one tesla coil. Included in this show is my latest turbine-engine-powered fire sculpture robot.
My blogs:
graywrxfabblog.blogspot.com
www.firesculpturesforrent.blogspot.com
Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind
Are human beings “noble in reason” and “infinite in faculty” as William Shakespeare famously wrote? Perfect, “in God’s image,” as some biblical scholars have asserted? Hardly.
If mankind were the product of some intelligent, compassionate designer, our thoughts would be rational, our logic impeccable. Our memories would be robust, our recollections reliable. Our sentences would be crisp, our words precise, our languages systematic and regular; in reality, or our minds besodden with irregular verbs (sing-sang, ring-rang, yet bring-brought, and we humans are the only species smart enough to systematically plan for the future —yet dumb enough to ditch even our most carefully made plans in favor of short-term gratification. (“Did I say I was on a diet? Mmm, but three-layer chocolate mousse is my favorite…Maybe I’ll start my diet tomorrow.”).
I don’t mean to suggest that the “design” of the human mind is a total train wreck, but if I were a politician, I’m pretty sure the way I’d put it is: “mistakes were made.” The goal of this lecture is to explain what mistakes were made—and why.
Maker Kids
In the MakerKids Area, presented by the Austin Children's Museum , kids will get the opportunity to make, craft, design, develop and much more!
Metal Brazing and Welding
Our demonstrations allow people to see metal brazed and welded together. This is interesting because it shows how the heat source melts filler metal and draws it into the joint by capillary action. It creates a metallurgical bond between the filler metal and part surfaces.
Milkscanner/ Inkscanner
The Milkscanner is a tool that allows the scanning of objects and creates a displacement map for use with Moviesandbox or any other 3D app that would allow for displacement mapping.
Ingredients: 1 Webcam, 1 Tupperware bowl, 3 cups of milk, 1 custom LEGO rig
Mongo
Mongo is a large trebuchet catapult capable of hurling 10-20 lbs. objects up to 300 yards. It operates using a 1600 lb counterweight.
Mousetrap catapult guns
Welded and bolted-together catapult guns. Powered by mousetraps and bungie cords, they are ready for action. They are generally made of found objects and store-bought goods and are usually differant because of it. The side gun shoots pencils, etc. and is powered by bungies. This is not a toy for the young child. Some even have a beer opener.
Ping Pong Printer
The Ping Pong Printer uses ink-jet technology to print text onto standard hobby grade ping pong balls. Created to make “ammo” for the Ponginator (a 20' tall ping pong ball-shooting robot) the Ping Pong Printer handles moving the unprinted balls from the hopper to the printing pedestal where an ink jet cartridge shoots ink to create the finished, printed balls. LEDs and CCFT lights illuminate each stage of the printing as the balls progress through the machine. The Ping Pong Printer was shown at First Night Austin, Maker Faire Austin and has been featured in “Nuts and Volts” magazine.
RoboSpinArt
The venerable spin art machines of the 1960’s & 70s created funky, psychedelic artwork many of us remember from the carnivals and county fairs of our youth. Simply put, “spin art” is created when paint is dropped onto a rotating paper, allowing centrifugal force to make streaks of color. The RoboSpinArt machine updates this concept by making spin art attractive to the so-called “joystick generation” of today while also overcoming some of the limitations of the original design.
The RoboSpinArt machine allows you to create spin art by using a joystick to position a “paint gantry” above the paper and a series of buttons to dispense paint in measured amounts. Add an exciting light show, a rocking sound track, and a countdown timer that creates a sense of urgency, and you have a RoboSpinArt machine!
Science in the Movies
Science in the Movies is a live demonstration revealing how science is used to create spectacular movie stunts and special effects. The program was developed by stunt coordinator Steve Wolf who's done projects from "Crocodile Dundee" to "America's Most Wanted" to "Hustle and Flow". The program is now the basis of science education programs for students and teachers.
THE PONGINATOR
What's 20 feet tall, blasts smoke, flashes lights, roars air-raid sirens and shoots custom-printed ping pong ball ammunition?
THE PONGINATOR! is a fanciful creation of The Robot Group in Austin Texas and it's ready for a second appearance at Maker Faire Austin! Sporting a new steel & hydraulic articulated body, the PONGINATOR should reach up to 30 feet into the sky and blast souvenir ping pong balls for hundreds of feet! Stand by for PONGINATION in 3... 2... 1...
Windwheel
The Windwheel is a new type of windmill for pumping water and for making electricity. It works in a low breeze of 5-10 mph and up to hurricane force winds of 80-100mph with any direction of wind. It can be made with metal vanes or even wood or tightly stretched cloth making it possible for poor people everywhere to pump water or make electricity cheaply.
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