Chris and Mary performed an aluminum casting.
The mold, with an aluminum bar to hold down the core.
Mary and Chris taking the crucible out of the kiln and getting ready to pour.
Starting the pour.
Waiting for it to cool.
A rough version of the cast.
The aluminum cast will be used as a mold for glass blowing.
You can watch a video of the pour here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Tim worked on some forging with interested people from the neighborhood.
Trying out the forge for the first time
The forge up close
Forging the heated bar
Stoking the fire with the blower
Arranging the coals to increase the temperature
The Sector67 April monthly meeting was on Tuesday, April 2nd.
The crowd.
1. Chris demonstrated how to expand and shrink a peep using a vacuum.
A peep.
A peep in a vacuum.
You can find a video of the same process in action here.
2. Jay talked about DIY biohacking.
Jay talking about DIYBIO.
A confluence of 3D printing and bacteria.
Jay discussed the merging of biotechnology and 3D printing.
3. Josh showed off the mushroom he carved using a chainsaw.
Josh’s wooden mushroom.
A mushroom carved from a single stump.
The mushroom was carved from a single stump.
4. Joe presented a vinyl cutter.
Joe and the vinyl cutter.
5. Dave came with his Aluminatus 3D printer.
Aluminatus 3D printer.
Dave talking about his Aluminatus 3D printer.
You can read more about the Aluminatus 3D printer here.
6. Trent gave a presentation about the Madison Public Library implementing animation workshop labs.
You can read more about the MPL animation labs here.
We submitted a proposal to the Project:Connect Summer Youth Programming project – Project:Connect promotes connected learning and a more equitable, social and participatory web. We want to help kids learn how to be responsible Minecraft citizens
http://dmlcompetition.net/
If you want to see Sector67 presenting great free summer workshops this summer GO VOTE RIGHT NOW and SPREAD THE WORD! Voting ends June 15th.Thank you!
The Sector67 monthly meeting was on Tuesday, June 4th.
Attendees.
1. Tom, a professor at MATC, brought with him a drone built by he and his students in a collaborative effort.
Tom’s drone.
Tom’s drone.
The hardware and software of the drone is entirely open source. It has 8 propellors, can carry about 40 oz., weighs roughly four lbs. and can fly for 8-10 minutes.
2. Larry gave a presentation about two Maker Spaces he visited while in Manchester, England.
Larry giving his presentation.
The first one he visited was called MadLab, and the other, Hackspace Manchester (HacMan).
3. Eric, a radio control (RC) car enthusiast who is a member of the Madison Area Radio Control Car Association (MARCCA), designed front brakes for one of his cars.
Eric explaining the RC car’s brake system.
RC cars of the size he used traditionally employ back brakes-only, and a combination of back and front brakes make the car stop about a foot and a half shorter than back or front brakes only.
Eric designed and created the brakes using one of the 3D printers here.
4. Kemper, inspired by research published in an academic article from the Royal Society journal and subsequent media attention, created a motion-sensitive visual display.
Kemper’s motion-sensitive visuals.
He used a Processing script in tandem with a Kinect device to make it work.
An online version substituting a computer mouse with physical movement can be found here: http://distantshape.com/experiments/squid/
5. Caroline, a UW-Madison cartography student specializing in bathymetric (the topographic study of lake and ocean floors) features, designed and created a book that is a scale 3D model of Crater Lake in Oregon.
Bathymetric representation of Crater Lake.
Bathymetric representation of Crater Lake.
Caroline made her book by hand with an exacto-knife, but plans on using a Sector67 laser cutter for the rest of her copies. One page made by the laser cutter took about 20 seconds.
6. Marty and Robin, a brother and sister team, showed off some electronics-inspired blinking jewelry.
Marty and Robin’s jewelry.
The blinking lights are solar powered.
7. Bob showed off his handmade scoreboards, called Portable Scores.
A Portable Score.
The casing of the scoreboard, made of ABS (the same material used in Legos), was cut using the laser cutter. The buttons are 3D printed and made of silicon. There are 125 LED lights on each Portable Score.
8. Alex presented an old JCPenny model moped he discovered in a barn. He completely restored the bike, paint job and all.
Alex’s moped.
The moped has a 49cc 2-stroke engine , and can get up to 35 mph.
9. Brian created a fully functioning 3D printer from scratch. No pre-made kit was involved, and many of parts themselves were made in a 3D printer.
Ryan’s 3D printer.
The design blueprints will be posted on thingiverse.com.
Theatre in All the Wrong Places, one of Madison’s newest theatre companies, put on a performance of their original production Gruesome Playground Injuries at Sector67.
As their mission statement notes, one of the troupe’s primary goals is to “explore non-traditional performance venues,” a characteristic that the space here at Sector67 certainly possesses.
The eight-part play chronicled the life-long friendship of its two characters, Kayleen and Doug, who suffer various emotional and physical injuries throughout their relationship.
The set-up before the show.
Applying makeup.
Ready to take tickets!
The anticipatory audience.
A shot from the performance.
The Extravaganza.
Sector67 is proud to have collaborated with Sherman Middle School, iona and wuntusk to create the first ever Sherman Arcade Extravaganza.
Over 100 Sherman Middle School students participated, spending months on their arcade game creations made of string, cardboard and a wide array of different materials. Students displayed their games to family and peers, which took place in the Sherman gymnasium.
The inspiration for the event came from the short documentary film Caine’s Arcade, which tells the story of Caine Monroy, a nine-year-old who cleverly crafted a working arcade out of cardboard boxes and everyday materials. The film accumulated seven million hits in five days, prompting organizations and groups all over the world, like Sherman Middle School, to create their own DIY arcades.
Sherman Middle School Principal Michael Hernandez was thoroughly impressed by the creativity and initiative shown by his students.
“I’ve received video from from parents showing the amazing things their kids have built at home, literally taking over their living rooms. The ingenuity our kids have displayed is an inspiration to all of us,” Hernandez said.
The event took place on April 11th.
A student’s invention.
Wuntusk founder Monty Schmidt put together a video of the event, found here.
Sector67 is a non-profit collaborative space in Madison, WI that provides an environment to learn, teach, work-on, build, and create next generation technology; including software, hardware, electronics, art, sewing, metalwork, apps, games, etc.
If you’re in southern Wisconsin feel free to get involved – request a tour, sign up for meeting announcements, or check the calendar for upcoming events.
Whew! That was a test in perseverance.
Here it is:
A Brother KH-930 electronic knitting machine was used to machine knit the image, setting it up to get started is as much of a feat as completing the banner, here’s a shot of it at the beginning:
The image was processed using software developed by another Sector67 member Davi Post, starting from a full color image:
which is then dithered into black and white and processed into appropriate stitches to keep the aspect ratio consistent:
WISE is the Women In Science and Engineering residential learning community at UW – Madison who now have a beautiful banner to represent their organization at future events! http://www.housing.wisc.edu/
In the course of one of our Makership Projects, we needed a water turbidity sensor. Of course a new sensor was prohibitively expensive, but eBay pointed us towards inexpensive dishwasher sensors. We ended up purchasing a Whirlpool Turbidity Sensor, part number 99002650
Pin 1 -> Thermistor
Pin 2 -> Turbidity (photoresistor)
Pin 3 -> Photodiode
Pin 4 -> +5V Power Supply
To use this sensor with an Arduino:
Tie pin 1 to an analog input, and connect that pin via a 10K pull down (to ground) resistor
Tie pin 2 to an analog input, and connect that pin via a 3K pull down (to ground) resistor
Tie pin 3 to ground with a 150ohm resistor
Tie pin 4 directly to 5V power
We weren’t able to find much pinout information online so we thought we’d document this somewhere in the hopes of helping someone else.
Sector67 is happy to offer 2013 summer makerships to area youth (available to anyone 18 or younger)! A makership is a 3 month opportunity to use Sector67 with a free membership and $100 for project materials as well as a mentor to help you complete your project. We’ll be taking applications through June 5th, but early submission is encouraged so we’re able to find sponsors and mentors for the projects.
Please have your child submit their idea with contact information or download and print this helpful application template. Feel free to use the back for more information! Any project is eligible, as long as it involves making something (software, crafts, electronics, mechanics, etc).
Fine print: Your parent or legal guardian will have to sign a liability waiver for you to use Sector67. Use will have to coincide with Sector67 staff presence, a parent or guardian, or your mentor. Attendance at pre-schedule mentor sessions (usually every 3 weeks, dates TBD) is required for participation in the program. Please contact us with any questions.
Interested in sponsoring a child or two? We’re currently seeking an additional $500 for this summer session that will cover the cost of materials and food for meetings. We’d like to thank the Madison IEEE group and an anonymous donor for contributions that will make this program happen!
Bob would like nothing more than to provide you with an awesome product that he’s been working over 2 years to create. Buy one.
So what is this thing you just bought? It’s the giant countdown timer we use at every meeting to keep people ontime.* Could also be used to keep track of sports scores, website hits, “Now Serving” numbers, a giant really really bright clock for your house, buy 2 and use the API for a scrolling sign that’s legible from the space station.
*police lights and siren system optional add-on feature, please contact Bob for more information and a quote.
The sky is the limit, and Bob is your chariot, so help him help you. You’ll be the coolest person in your office counting the coffee-cups-consumed-today tally on the wall: you can make it blink continuously!