Welcome to the Maker Faire Rome live blog! I’ll be taking pictures of cool things all weekend during this event, and uploading pictures and videos here on this blog post. Refresh this page frequently and I’ll put new stuff at the top! I you haven’t be following along, you’ll want to scroll down to the bottom to read from the beginning.
And finally with a few closing remarks, Maker Faire Rome 2022 has come to a close. I saw some incredible stuff and took many video interviews that I’m looking forward to editing and sharing over the coming weeks.
Scherma in open air seems to be a sensor platform for training with fencing foils. The attendees really seemed to enjoy this demo.
Project ”Omniglove” is a an arduino equipped glove that can sense finger bending. The demonstration involves being able to type with one hand using only limited movements.
Makers in hospitals are doing some incredible stuff. I stood there for quite a while listening to the actual creations that medical staff are using to impact people’s lives.
Like everywhere else in the world, Italy has their own youtube celebrities. Giaco Whatever made an appearance here showing off the over-engineered products he and his team have developed for the last year or two.
I noticed this rather large booth full of plastic enclosures. Teko seems like a perfect fit here!
In a darkened tent, with a considerable line outside, there is a popular exhibit going on where you can learn how mixing sound works. They’re mainly playing with various music and surround stuff from what I could tell. It sounded awesome in there.
Robot sports are always a crowd pleaser, look at these kids waiting for the next round to start!
This modular control system kept catching my eye. The design is quite nice and it felt great to the hand. Capable of midi, HID, and much more, it also is fully configurable and hot swappable.
Making silk from caterpillars is nothing new, but with some modern technology we can reduce the people needed, the power needed, the food needed, and the effort! Find more at Tecnoseta.com
Day 3 of Maker Faire Rome (Sunday) will likely be a little less crowded than Saturday. That will be nice as I’m out here collecting a bunch of video interviews for later! I got here nice and early and just gathered a few images to try to capture the vibe of this location. It’s so pretty here!
Maker Faire Rome Day 3 (above)
The video above is in Italian, but if you open it in youtube, you can turn on closed captions and select English for an automatic translation!
Day two is finishing up with a bang! Massimo Banzi of Arduino gave a presentation showing off their new DIY kit. I filmed it, but unfortunately it is in Italian and I didn’t manage to capture the translation. If you know Italian, you’re in luck! I’ve embedded the presentation above (currently processing).
I couldn’t quite get a good explanation of what was going on here due to my poor understanding of Italian. However it appears that this is some kind of technology assisted intelligent farming. You can find their info at Robotfarm.tech
The team at Digi Key had some difficulties getting their demos through international customs this year. It’s a frustrating possibility for anyone that does international shows. However, they still managed to pull together enough hands-on activites that their booth was absolutely swamped!
Raspberry Pi was showing off the Pico and the Pico W. They had some cool demos where you could learn how to program just enough to turn some LEDs on and off. For an event like this, it might be tempting to do it all on a screen but having actual boards and LED strips there was a great experience for people.
The Ant PCB Maker have had a constant crowd around their booth with their tiny cnc machines for pcb milling.
Mekanika brought a rather beefy looking cnc machine to show off. They make all kinds of machines for small businesses, fablabs, makerspaces, and schools.
Fablab Frosinone had some textiles on display that were using innovative approaches. They looked really cool and the tech behind them was pretty neat too.
I had to take a few minutes to admire the absolutely gorgeous analog circuits of Kelly Heaton. The circuits chirp like birds and look stunning while doing it.
I really liked this modular furniture setup from the FabLab Poliba. The concept allows for considerable amounts of storage and unlimited designs. I also really liked this wooden bicycle they were displaying.
This interestingly proportioned bartender bot has been serving drinks during the event.
Yesterday was somewhat of a quiet before the storm. Friday at Maker Faire Rome is mostly for students to come visit. While it is open to the public for a few hours in the evening, Saturday is the real busy time.
I’ve seen a schedule of a few interesting things coming later today, so I’m excited to be bringing you updates!
Maker Faire Rome Day 2 (above)
As it turns out, it was a presentation on fusion technology. Sadly I wasn’t quick enough to translate most of it. I found the structure quite interesting though.
This big red donut in the middle of one of the industrial structures had a crowd all day, so I got curious and went in
they were pulling apart the demo print and re-printing it over and over, so of course I had to hang out and get that sweet first layer on video!
WASP 3D printers always bring something interesting to the 3D printing world. This time they brought the ”small” version of their crane 3D printer.
As usual, the One Love Machine Band pulls a serious crowd. People just love watching those robots jam.
These robots were various prototypes in a study on using humans collaborating with robots to produce better grapes.
Arduino has a big presence here of course. Not only is Massimo Banzi wandering around, but their booth is pretty sizeable as well. They have it divided into 3 main parts to signify the various common customer base.
3D Italy was showing off some really impressive 3D printing. Usually when you’re talking about resin based 3D printing, the items are fairly small, but they had an entire backpack done!
Soft robotics are designed in a way to be able to interact with humans, without hurting them. This can be robots that are literally soft, and ones that have sensors in place that keep them from overpowering a person, if they should happen to bump into them(above).
Students from the University of Piza were displaying their robotics research. Lots of interesting work being done there on using robotics to go out and measure how plant life is doing in difficult areas.
Since this is an industrial area that is being refurbished, booths are spread around in various interesting places. They managed to fit an entire multi-booth tent inside this massive structure. I believe this was a water silo at some point.
the chess set and the furniture and lamp above came from www.Urbanre-tree.it , and you should be able to find more information there. These were university student projects to find good uses for waste packing materials. Even the plywood you see is from the crates that held art supplies.
A huge chess set constructed of waste cardboard was getting heavy use at the event (above)
This interesting machine (info below, picture above) was an automated donut maker! In typical Maker Faire fashion, his electronics had gone haywire mid-way through the first day, but the demo was still fun. He didn’t want to have hot oil in his booth, so it wasn’t making donuts but I loved the concept!
Friday is mostly a day for the local schools to come visit. Many students will attend as part of a school group, which I think is really great. I wish we had educational trips like this when I was in school!
I took a few crowd shots just so you could get the feel for it. Students from elementary school through high school are filling the booths and exploring. Some of these students will surely be showing their own projects in booths here before too long!
I snapped some pictures early on School Day, where the schools bring students here as a field trip. It is less crowded, which makes it easier for the students to interact with the makers, and gives the makers a good opportunity to practice their explanations!
This year’s Maker Faire Rome is being held in a new location. This old derelict industrial area has been under a process of rejuvenation and, in it’s current state, seems to be a perfect fit for Maker Faire. To put it bluntly, the mixing of nicely refurbished buildings and structural updates with the industrial relics of the past provides a contrast that is inspiring as well as rooted in history.
I have to say this may be my new favorite location for such an iconic event.
Maker Faire Rome Day 1 (above)
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