And just like that, another Maker Faire has come and gone. It’s amazing the amount of effort that goes into one of these epic shindigs, both from all of those on the MAKE team and from the hundreds of other makers and presenters, the staff of The Henry Ford, our loyal sponsors, our local Detroit support community. We all spend many months charging up the giant Maker Faire capacitor and then we cackle like bug-eyed mad scientists for three days as the charged energy is released and we see where it all takes us. And for Detroit, 2011 — charged it was! To those of you who participated in the Faire, however you participated in the Faire, we can’t thank you enough. We hope you had as much fun as the MAKE/Maker Faire team did. And if you were watching from afar, we hope you had fun, too.

I can’t give the Maker Faire Daily team enough high-fives. Dale Dougherty, Mark Frauenfelder, Becky Stern, Matt Richardson, Bridgette Vanderlaan, Chris Connors, Steve Hobley, Michael Doyle, Bethany Shorb, Willow Brugh, Stuart Gannes — you all make a lovely sensor array.

Here are a few of today’s sights and impressions from our Maker Faire Daily blog team. There are lots more posts (and some video) on the Daily site, and more to come. –Gareth

Maker Faire, where dreams come true

This young man told me that, on the way to Maker Faire, he told his mother he hoped there would be a workshop where he could make his own guitar. His mother told him, “Dream on!” Maker Faire, where dreams come true. –Mark Frauenfelder

These aren’t the planks you’re looking for…

Planking reaches the Maker Faire. These Storm Troopers, from Garrison 501, were British, so that saved time explaining what planking is. (Google it, go on, you know you want to…) — Steve Hobley

Electronics lab trainer from 1984

Electronics prototyping of yesteryear. –Mark Frauenfelder

Read the Full Story

Sector67 just won the endurance race and the overall competition in the Power Wheels Racing Series. Congratulations to all the teams!

More:

• Impromptu Dance Party and Dramatic Finish at Power Racing Series
• Power Racing Series Gears Up for Maker Faire

Here’s Michael Doyle’s full post from Maker Faire Daily, about the winners of the Day 1 Race Course Series. Tomorrow: Endurance!

I3Detroit came all the way from the back of the starting grid to finish first in Saturday’s road course challenge. There were some Schumacher-level driving skills on display – including a three car wide pass on a course not designed for such thrilling shenanigans.

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for more ecstatic racing action (they make up in enthusiasm what they can’t gain in momentum) tomorrow!

A fire-breathing pony, a giant fire-breathing dragon truck, three-dimensional printers, life-sized boardgames, pie-plate instruments, a walking video suit, an armored vehicle that does battle with the weather. A trip into the Twilight Zone? No, a day at Maker Faire.

Here are a few highlights from Maker Faire Daily. There’s lots more, along with some imbedded video snapshots. Check it out. And subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter channel, and Facebook.

See you back here tomorrow for another trip into a world of MAKE believe.

MAKE founder Dale Dougherty, talking about making a maker movement, to get things rolling this morning.

A commenter on Boing Boing said Chester Winowiecki’s pie pan banjo uke should be called a panjo uke. Good idea! -Mark Frauenfelder

This is a truly beautiful replica of a stock ticker machine. Made from machined brass, it functions just like the original did using a 4 wire hookup. I managed to get a few moments with the creator and had him explain how it worked. This will be part of my “Day One Video” coming later tonight…

As a part time clock builder, I love finding out how stuff liked this worked. -Steve Hobley

“I am a camera” Trevor Horn once sang. Well that’s nothing, this guy is a television…and he’s showing The Simpsons! -Steve Hobley

Impromptu dance party and dramatic finish at the Power Racing Series. I3Detroit came all the way from the back of the starting grid to finish first in Saturday’s road course challenge. There were some Schumacher-level driving skills on display, including a three car wide pass on a course not designed for such thrilling shenanigans. -Michael Doyle

See these articles in their entirety, and more, on Maker Faire Daily. And check out the Full Schedule on the Maker Faire site for tomorrow’s activities, or download the Event Guide [PDF]