Call for Makers – SE Michigan, Mini Maker Faire

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Dale Grover, of GO-Tech (Ann Arbor, MI), writes:

Developers, artists, and enthusiasts will display their ideas at the first Ann Arbor “Mini” Maker Faire, August 29, 2009, in downtown Ann Arbor. Applications are sought from people and groups with engaging, cool projects.

Entry Deadline: August 4, 2009. Space is limited–please submit your entry by the deadine!
Notification of Acceptance: Entries submitted by August 4th will be notified by August 8th.
Location: Neutral Zone, downtown Ann Arbor.
Hours: open to the public 10 AM – 5 PM Saturday August 29, 2009
Website: http://www.a2makerfaire.com
Entry Form: http://www.a2makerfaire.com/registration

Organized by members of the Ann Arbor tech and arts communities such as a2geeks and GO-Tech, this “Mini” Maker Faire is a small, local version of the huge Bay-area Faire, the newfangled fair that brings together science, art, craft, and engineering, and music, in a fun, energized, and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers–anyone who is embracing DIY and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience.

We encourage you to join the fun and enter a project to exhibit. You can submit an entry through the web using the link described below.

Entries: The first step to participating in this Mini Maker Faire is to submit an entry that tells us about yourself and your project. Entries can be submitted from individuals as well as from groups such as hobbyist clubs and schools. Please provide a short description of what you make and what you will actually bring to the Mini Maker Faire. Please link to photographs or videos of what you make. Maker exhibits should be non-commercial. We particularly encourage exhibits that are interactive and that highlight the process of making things.

Maker Exhibit: Our standard setup for a Maker exhibit is roughly a 8′ x 8′ space. Use this space to display your work and/or demonstrate how you make something. Workshop/classes are also possible.

Additional presentation space (e.g., stage) may be available for presentations, performances, and demonstration workshops. We will ask accepted exhibitors for proposals to use this space on an hour-by-hour basis.

All proposals will be reviewed and we will notify makers of acceptance via email by August 8th (for entries received by the August 4th deadline).

NOTE: Makers whose entries are accepted will receive free registration to Mini Maker Faire. However, we cannot pay for transportation, accommodations, or other costs.

[The above photo is from a recent GO-Tech demo of lost-foam sand casting by Rick Chownyk.]

More information http://www.a2makerfaire.com

Oscilloscope text display from a single PIC

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Ficara’s oscilloscope scrolling text display project uses just one PIC chip & no other components (well, battery/power supply of course :) -

Scrolling text on oscilloscope, built with only one component: the Microchip PIC16F628A. The characters to be displayed are stored in EEPROM (ascii codes from 0×20 to 0x5f so numbers, capital letters and special characters).
[...]
The oscilloscope will be set for 2mS/div on X axis and 1V/div on Y axis. One full screen contains 10 characters.

More info + source available here. [via Hacked Gadgets]

Diamond-blade dicing saw from hard drive

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Over at the mightyOhm, Jeff Keyzer has a guest blogger, his friend Tony. Tony’s first project posted is (part 1) of this awesome diamond-bladed precision chop saw he built with parts from hard drives. The motor, pivot bearing, and motor driver are all from old drives. The blade is a surplus wafer-dicing blade, 300µm thick!


Tony’s Diamond Chop Saw (Part 1)

Mint-tin key carrier

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When I first saw this, I didn’t think it seemed like such a bright idea — maybe because of how it apparently beats the crap out of the tin and because this guy carries a lot of keys. I only carry three and a flat LED keyfob flashlight. And I always carry a tiny-tin Altoids box with my meds in it. I’m always looking to consolidate the contents of what I carry — cut down on that chipmunk-cheeks pocket bulge — so maybe I’ll experiment.

Keychain box

How-To: DIY mic pop filter

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Instructables user d_malakian_69 writes:

When you are an aspiring musician you don’t have a lot of money to buy expensive equipment and you have to record the best sounding demo with cheap recording tools. When I realized that popping is a common problem when recording vocals on any kind of mic, and when I saw that a good pop filter was about 50 bucks in my country I decided to make one myself.

Check out the instructions for this DIY microphone pop filter.

Hacking parking meters

Pt 2081
Our pals released a very interesting presentation about smart parking meters at the Black Hat Briefings USA, Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday… Good presentation to review on how they figured out the security (or lack of) on parking meters…

Throughout the United States, cities are deploying “smart” electronic fare collection infrastructures. In 2003, San Francisco launched a $35 million pilot program to replace approximately 23,000 mechanical parking meters with electronic units that boasted tamper resistance, payment via smart card, auditing capabilities, and an estimated $30 million annually in fare collection revenue. Other major cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Diego, have made similar moves. This presentation details our evaluation of electronic parking meters, including hardware disassembly, smart card protocol emulation, and silicon die analysis.

Maker Shed weekly wrap-up

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It’s been a really busy week in the Maker Shed. We are continuing our Dog days of summer sale, and we added a new Box amplifier kit, along with a line of high quality microscopes. Speaking of microscopes, Robert Bruce Thompson wrote a really informative article on the subject too.

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Earlier in the week my dog got her hands on an XGS development system. She was able to program a video game, even without any previous experience with micro-controllers! Read more about what happened here.

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The other great deal in the Maker Shed is our huge summer clearance sale featuring a wide range of products. The sale will run for the rest of the summer, but only while supplies last. Be sure to check back regularly since we will be adding daily specials throughout the summer on some of our popular products.

More about the Maker Shed summer clearance sale

Humans, bees, wasps living together

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From the MAKE Flickr pool

Looks like Rob Cruickshank chills with bees on the daily!

A series of trap nests for solitary bees and wasps, mounted in plexiglas on our back window. The nests are open to the outside, and have plexiglas covers, alowing us to observe the activity from inside the house, as well as piezo transducer contact mics, allowing us to hear the activity inside, via the speakers on the right.

Wonder if he ever has to ask them to keep it down? Oh, I suppose he could just disconnect the speakers. I used to shared a place with a praying mantis … nice guy, very religious. … What? Check out the trap nest window on Flickr.


More:

DIY Bee Box