Sixty-six makers recently competed on the first NYC-bound Road to Maker Faire Challenge. Presented by Esurance, the grand prize winner will be awarded $2,500 for their project to travel to New York City and exhibit at the 4th annual World Maker Faire next month. Two runners-up will each win a one-year subscription to MAKE Magazine, two adult weekend passes to World Maker Faire, and a Maker’s Notebook.
Submitted projects included pedal-powered contraptions, up- and re-cycled crafts projects, multiple 3D printing builds from large-scale printers to homemade scanners, numerous sound and synth projects, sensor-based equipment, a couple of fire arts projects, and several drone fliers, among others. You can see a gallery of all the projects at the end of this blog.
After an intense one-week round of public voting by you, our readers, the top 10 finalists were evaluated by a triumvirate of judges. Each judge’s scores were unknown to the others, and their values weighted together to decide the winners. And we’re now pleased to present you with NYC’s first Road to Maker Faire Challenge grand prize winner:
Deep Imager 5 by Bobby Lambright, described as:
Deep Imager 5 is a 3D printer using DLP technology and UV based resins to build 3D models from solid models that are sliced into layers for images to be projected by a Pico projector using UV light to cure the resin and generate a high resolution replica of the original model. The Deep Imager 5 has a large 10″ x 7″ build table and at least 11″ in height that can produce large prints or be used in a production environment. Deep Imager 5 has a complete aluminum powder coated frame made to last for many years. Deep Imager 5’s projector runs off an LED Pico Projector for long life and little down time. Deep Imager 5 has been developed with safety first in mind. It has door inter-lock switches at the projector bay doors that shut all power off if the doors are opened to reduce risk of UV exposure to the operator. Deep Imager 5 also has a door lock on the main door to keep the print as safe as possible.
And our two Runners-Up:
How to Make a Foam Wall-E by Jesse Ransom, described as:
I love building things out of foam including a faux moose head, an animatronic Wall-E, to covering foam with reclaimed carbon fiber to make a sweet motorcycle helmet. I want to bring some of my creations to Maker Faire NY and teach others how to carve, sand, and paint foam to make awesome creations like mine.
Jesse’s foam creations have been seen for years around Madison, Wisc., and worn by teams at the Power Racing Series at multiple Maker Faires.
SkySweeper by Nick Morozovsky, described as:
SkySweeper is designed to move along rope or cable like no other robot. Existing robots that inspect power lines are large, slow, and expensive. SkySweeper is small, fast, and almost all parts of the robot are 3D printed or available cheaply off-the-shelf.
We thank all the makers who entered this unique contest. Nearly two-thirds of the makers who applied would not be able to attend World Maker Faire unless they won, which highlights a real need for funding for makers. We wish we had more financial resources to support makers and the costs associated with travel. We want to thank Esurance for their support and remember, there’s probably a Maker Faire near you sometime this or next year!
Below are all the projects that competed on this Road to Maker Faire Challenge. While you can no longer vote, click through each image’s ‘click here to vote’ link to find out more about that project, including more images and additional documentation online. And see you next year on the Road to Maker Faire Challenge!
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