Raspberry Pi Challenge Participants

Posted on by EricB

As Pete posted earlier, my proposal, the traveling mascot, won the Raspberry Pi challenge.  I proposed a self-tracking traveling mascot based on the Raspberry Pi.  My hope with the proposal was to make the project a community project. This is my call for participation from other makers. I’m looking for artists, designers, developers, and makers of any kind to participate in the project.

The kit came with lots of extras, breadboards, case, power supply, cables, GPS module, etc. To work with the project in the space I needed some additional equipment. So far I’ve scrounged a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. at the space. Vishal has donated the use of a Motorola laptop converter for phones. Ed has donated a cable. Yet, the project could use a USB hub. I’ve found the need to attach more than two USB devices at one time. Does anybody have a spare?

My plan is to work out the functionality requirements, so we can figure out the size restraints before designing the appearance of the mascot. Yet, if you have any ideas for how it should look, please share them. My immediate goal for the project is to figure out the GPS unit. Soon I’ll work on the battery, camera, and home base server.

If you want to help, participate, or just check out the project talk to me when I’m at the space, or post a message on the mailing list.

Raspberry Pi Challenge Update

Posted on by Pete Prodoehl

Eric

Previously on The Raspberry Pi Challenge…

Just a quick update on the “Milwaukee Makerspace Traveling Mascot” project as I caught Eric doing a bit of Raspberry Pi + GPS hacking last night.

Raspberry PI + GPS

I’m excited to see how this project progresses. I’ve not had a chance to get hands-on with the Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout yet, but there’s a great tutorial on using it with a Raspberry Pi and one that covers Arduino usage as well.

Dishwasher Indicator

Posted on by Joseph Bozarth

DiswasherIndicatorComplete1  I have been meaning to make one of those “Dirty/Clean” signs for my dishwasher for a good while now and I was figuring I would end up printing something cool, slapping a magnet on the back, and calling it a day. But as I was sitting down to work on the design the other day I thought to myself “Why do something good enough that will take 20 minutes when I can spend 3 hours making something completely over the top?” and thus this was born.

DSCF0713

You crank the gear to the far right on the one on the left turns to indicate the current state of your dishwasher. Necessary, no. But it was fun. If you want to make one the design is up on thingiverse.com: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:63444

 

Remote-Controlled LED Room Lighting

Posted on by BrantH
brant_leds1

This gallery contains 4 photos.

My apartment has sub-par to poor lighting.  Combine that with our lease’s “no painting walls” policy and you’ve got a one-way ticket to Drab-ville.  Many moons ago I planned to replace the over-cabinet lighting in our kitchen with RGB LEDs controlled by Arduino, but I never found the motivation to actually do it.  Then one [...]

The Art Jamboree is Here!

Posted on by Pete Prodoehl

Art Jamboree

When we say “The Art Jamboree is Coming” we really mean The Art Jamboree is Coming! That’s right, Art Milwaukee is bringing the next Art Jamboree to us. Mark your calendars for Friday, March 29th, 2013 when the Art Jamboree will take place at Milwaukee Makerspace.

This one is titled “The Maker” and besides the usual awesomeness that includes the best in Milwaukee art, there will also be raffles, food & drink, and free low-fives(?) We’ll also be adding our own maker-related art to the mix. Expect some some interactive pieces as well as art in mediums you may not be used to. (Sure we like paint, but we also like lasers and molten plastic and beer.)

This event is free and open to the public. (All ages are welcome, but keep an eye on the kids. We have a lot of rotating blades, but we’ll do our best to keep them powered-down during the event.)

Mark your calendars for March 29th, 2013 from 7pm to 11pm. We’ll see you at 2555 S. Lenox Street in beautiful Bay View.

Pssst! Want to see who else is going? Check out the event on Facebook.

Panoramic Photos

Posted on by Pete Prodoehl

A few years ago I built a panoramic camera head (mostly out of scrap wood) and while I’ve wanted to build a new one, this one (mostly) works, so I just keep using it. It also helps that Hugin keeps getting better and better at stitching panoramas together.

I was lucky enough to be at the space on a Saturday morning before it got too busy and shot a few panos. (You can see larger versions on Flickr by clicking on each photo.) Enjoy!

Craft Area Here’s the craft area… something we didn’t have at the old Chase location.

Office Here’s the Meeting Room & Electronics Lab. (Often called “The Office”)

Wood Shop The Wood Shop is constantly improving… this photo is already out of date!

Metal Shop The Metal/Machine Shop has some heavy duty equipment. And lots of room!

Storage Room Here’s one end of the storage room…

Storage Room And here’s another end of the storage room.

It’ll be great to look back at these photos and see how things have changed over time. It shouldn’t take long though, as things are in a constant state of development. (Oh, there’s more rooms, but I ran out of time! More to come… Stay Tuned!)

Red Lotus Repairs

Posted on by Pete Prodoehl

Red Lotus Repairs

Tom and I spent some time this past weekend repairing Red Lotus, our #55 Power Wheels Car. Working with Tom is great because I end up learning a ton of new skills, like how to use an angle grinder, and the mill, and some welding tricks. These will all come in handy when the car breaks (and it will break) in the middle of a race.

Besides fixing up the car, we’ve also been building up the team, and it looks like at least two of us will try to make it to Minne-Faire in April for a bit of pre-season racing fun.

Here’s a quick time lapse video of Tom and I doing some repairs.