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.
Tony Regalbuto’s father has a penchant for decorating the family’s front yard with whimsical, sometimes frightening, humanoid decorations. Many of the characters are based around Posables, a system of configurable mannequins demonstrated at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. These seem to be the perfect template for creating scary (animatronic?) ghouls, monsters, and goblins for this Halloween season.
Jeffrey Lipton of Fab@Home demonstrates their 3D printing system at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. This open source personal manufacturing machine can print with many different materials from plastic to cookie dough. When used in a classroom, Fab@Home furthers STEM education by making students comfortable with the software, hardware, fabrication, and materials.
My favorite interaction was a youngster approaching Jesse Hemminger’s Sauerkraut Powered Robot display at the Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire, getting a whiff, throwing his hand up to cover his mouth and then ran off instantly.
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is the host for today’s mini Maker Faire. There are makers from HackPGH, CMU, Makers Alliance in Cleveland, and many local makers. There are all kind of robots, sound machines, 3D printers, all in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Ed Haas shows his Calliope #5, a handmade pyrophone, at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. Controlled by a midi keyboard, this wind instrument is similar to an organ, but has the ability to shoot fire if propane gas is used in addition to air when sounding the pipes.
Tyler Freeman hacked his clothes and created a jacket that transforms movement into video performance art. The VJacket senses gestures and then uses that information to create complicated visuals right from the dance floor. Filmed at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011.
Cal Haunts NorCal is more than a Halloween haunted house, its a hands-on space that shows others skills in foam fabrication, decorating, and animatronics that are integral to their many scare tactics. Robert Santos shows these frightening spooks and props at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011.
