Curiosity EDL Party at Bucketworks this Sunday

Blow off your Monday and come watch the edge-of-your-seat landing of the Mars Curiosity rover! Help us celebrate its successful landing or weep inconsolably with us if it splatters all over the Martian surface! We’ll get together, talk a little about some of the ways we’ve seen both success and failure in Mars exploration in an effort to provide context, and then settle down to watch NASA TV report on the telemetry stream that will indicate success or failure.

If you don’t know, the EDL cycle for the Curiosity rover is insane. Landing this rover will be an amazing accomplishment. Check this video:
Mars Curiosity Video

Register for this free party here: http://mslparty2012bw-estw.eventbrite.com/  Ya, its pretty late, but you didn’t want to face Monday Aug 6th anyway did you?

I’m sure there will be a hangout as well. Check back here updates on that.

 

 

PCB with Lasered Paint Resist and Fast Sponge Etching

TomG shows how he etches PCB boards using paint, a 25W laser cutter, Muratic Acid, 30% H2O2 and a sponge. Much frothing ensues.

The technique is a neat one, given the presence of a laser cutter, because it can take you from copper clad to etched board in a pretty quick amount of time.

One note, the Muratic Acid is actually from a pool supply store, not Home Depot. It is, of course, dangerous. Wear safety goggles, use gloves, use in a well ventilated area. (The acid smells like a punch to the nose, don’t inhale it)

Maker Faire Detroit is coming up!

Maker Faire Detroit 2012
Maker Faire Detroit 2012 is rapidly approaching. If you haven’t been to one, you need to go. Maker Faires are amazing gatherings of some of the most interesting and creative makers around. To-scale fire breathing dragon sculptures, colossal sized Mouse Trap games, micro jet engines, super fast Power Wheels racers, ferro-fluids, and so, so much more. And then of course there is the Henry Ford Museum with it amazing collection of automotive technology.

On April 17th, 2012 at 7PM we’ll have Suzanne Fischer, Associate Curator of Technology at the Henry Ford Museum here at the space to talk to us about the Maker Faire Detroit. Come on by and learn more about it! As always, Tuesday evenings are free and open to the public!

EEVBlog’s Simple Soft Power

Dave Jones over at EEVBlog posted his design for a simple soft power circuit. This is something I looked at a couple of years ago in my own un-expert way. I really like Dave’s design. It’s just so simple and draws basically nothing when off.  It’s something I definitely want to file away in my library of circuits as I can see it coming in handy quite often.

If you are not familiar with EEVBlog you should check it out. Dave’s series of videos are fun to watch and you often learn something.

Aluminum Pour

Bill M, Bret D and I went by Dan Dricken’s studio this past Sunday to watch his aluminum pour.  It was great fun to watch. Dan has a custom built furnace with a 40lbs crucible. Audience members prepared sand scratch blocks. They were shallow square that participant carved designs into to form an aluminum tile.

I learned that there is really quite a close-knit community of metal pourers. Bret D is going to help us out making our own aluminum furnace and eventually even an iron furnace. I’m really looking forward getting more involved with that community.