Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth — a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the maker movement.
Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these people come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.
Explore below to see the best of Maker Faire, and head to makerfaire.com for more information.
On an incredibly hot Michigan July day, we stopped by the grounds of Theater Bizarre to talk to it’s visionary, John Dunivant. John spoke to us about his inspirations for the carnival / masquerade / party / theme park he created, and gave us a tour of the grounds which formerly hosted this unique event.
Peter William Wagner bounces across the fairgrounds at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, delighting everyone whose path he crosses. The big purple eccentric-axeled bike has two inflated all-terrain wheels that can also function as flotation for the aquatic parts of the annual Kinetic Grand Championship in and around Arcada, California, where this “whim-cycle” has appeared for the last six years. Even Peter’s baby granddaughter enjoys the ride.
Liquid Robotics’ Waveglider is an autonomous submersible that explores the ocean using the power of the sun and waves. As Roger Hine explains at Bay Area Maker Faire 2011, the Waveglider can either traverse the waters on its own, converting the up-and-down motion of the waves into forward propulsion, or can be controlled remotely by a user with a GPS satellite link.
http://liquidr.com/
Microsoft shares their Gadgeteer platform and Kinect robots at World Maker Faire New York 2011.
Shawn Thorsson explains the build process for his props and costumes at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. First he starts with a digital 3D model, then cuts the pieces out with a CNC machine, assembles them and fine tunes with wood shaping techniques, then casts molds so he can reproduce them. The result are authentic looking reproductions of popular costumes.
http://protagonist4hire.blogspot.com/
http://makerfaire.com/pub/e/5049
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Bryce Moore talks to us about furniture, commodification, and democratic design from his shop in the nearly abandoned basement of Northland Mall in Detroit. We also learn about how his ShopBot and automation make custom, high-end design possible, even in a fluctuating economy.
http://contextfurniture.com/
The Digi Comp II is a replica of a binary mechanical computer that can perform basic mathematical functions. As shown by Windell Oskay at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, it uses billiard balls as its counters and performs calculations in real time as the balls make their transit down a ramp with specially places guides and levers.
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
http://makerfaire.com/pub/e/5300
