Lehigh Valley Science Festival
Saturday, March 22, 2014 (Rain or Shine) 9:30 am - 5 pm at Coca-Cola park, Allentown, PA
It a free family event for with fun for all ages! There will be a Text and Drive Simulator by AT&T, Gummy Worms and Fingerprints by the Cedar Crest College Chemistry Department, Hands-on Lego Building and Robotics by Igutech, Robotics, 3D Printers, Music, and More by Da Vinci Science Center's SPOT Program, and SO many more activities!
Correction: Mini Maker Faire Lehigh Valley – Free for non-commercial exhibitors
Yesterday's blog entry stated that all exhibitors would have a fee. This is not correct. The fee only applies to commercial vendors. Non-commercial vendors will be able to exhibit for free. All you need to do is sign up and get on the list.
So, what else are you waiting for? Sign-up!
Mini Maker Faire Lehigh Valley Town Hall Report
We were at the Town Hall today about the Mini Maker Faire Lehigh Valley happening April 26th. It sounds like it will be amazing and is positioning quickly to be an incredible celebration of making and makers in the Lehigh Valley. There are opportunities for just about anyone in the Lehigh Valley to get involved. The enthusiasm for this event is amazing and it's going to be a lot of fun to be involved in any capacity.
Check out the variety of makers mentioned at the town hall!
- knitters
- gardeners
- quilters
- cooks
- paper-craft enthusiasts
- engineers
- woodworkers
- musicians
- 3D printers
- beer brewers
- much more
Everyone is welcome to come share what they enjoy making with the community. There are opportunities to have a table, give a performance or give talks.
Exhibiting
Top priority at this point is to figure out how much interest there is in exhibiting. If you have any interest in exhibiting, you'll want to sign up for the "Call to Makers". This will give the organizers an idea of what you'd like to share and how to keep you informed as things develop. We're expecting something between 50 to 300 makers and we'd be glad to have you be one of them. (If you're a Make Lehigh Valley fellow, note that when filling out the form so you can be around the rest of us.) We may end up with a whole section to ourselves. There will be an exhibitor fee Non-commercial vendors will be free! Exhibitors who are selling items will have a modest fee, but what that will be has not been determined yet. Don't let that stop you from signing up to exhibit.
Find out more about exhibiting by signing-up.
Free Admission
Admission to the event will be free to the entire community. Feel free to start getting the word out there to friends, family and co-workers about the event. We heard of a paper rocket booth already being worked on to allow kids to build and launch some really amazing paper rockets. This has been a huge hit among kids (and adults) at other Maker Faires so it'll be great to bring this to the valley. Other child focused events will also be around. Make Lehigh Valley will likely be teaching soldering again. 3D printers are almost certainly going to be spread around to enjoy.
Sponsors & Partners
There has already been a significant interest in sponsoring this event. It will be held at ArtsQuest. That will be a beneficial partnership. Lehigh University's Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation is also closely connected to helping make this happen. PBS39 is also very interested in both fiscal and other assistance. Lehigh Valley Tech and Make Lehigh Valley are, of course, closely connected with helping organize this whole event. We hear others are lining up to be a part also.
Find out more about sponsorship.
Volunteers
There are opportunities for people interested in volunteering for this event also. If you are passionate about supporting making in the valley, then perhaps this is the spot for you. You can start right away be telling everyone, inviting people you know who have cool things to show. Tell friends, family and co-workers.
Find out more about volunteering.
EDIT on 2 Feb. 2014:
- Good news, fees for exhibitors are only for commercial makers. Non-commercial is free.
- Corrected the name of Lehigh University's Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation.
Recent Activity – A Pictoral Tour
If you haven't been around recently, here are a few things you would have seen.
Community Scrap Day Sat 10/26!
On Saturday October 26th beginning at 10AM Make Lehigh Valley will be hosting a special event during which we finally eliminate the scrap, abandoned projects and computer piles. Members and the public alike are invited to come participate in helping us disassemble, salvage and scrap all the stuff in the piles. While we’re at it, the Make Lehigh Valley members can provide a wealth of knowledge about whats inside and how things work. MakeLV keeps and sorts certain useful parts we find, and has scrap outlets for all metals, batteries, and PCBs. We’ll need some help keeping all that sorted as well, along with taking out the trash! This is a great chance to check out Make Lehigh Valley and see what we’re all about too.
Please note that this does NOT mean you should bring things you want to scrap as we’re trying to clear out our space.
Pizza and drinks provided courtesy of MakeLV! Although we do have tools and safety gear, it may be advisable to bring along your toolbox – useful items might be gloves, safety glasses, a screw gun, both regular & precision screwdrivers, pliers and cutters. Tools should be marked or otherwise easily identifiable.
We have cataloged what we can out of the abandoned projects pile and contacted the owners. Those without a known owner (but we know it was a project) are listed below. If you do not lay claim to these projects and either a) make your plan for timely completion known, b) store it in your locker if you have one, or c) pick it up and take it with you by Sat 10/26, your project will be up for grabs and scrapped for it’s useful components if not claimed. We are certainly not pressuring anyone with an active project, these have been dormant 6 months or more and are consuming a considerable amount of space.
Record Player w/Orange Tape
PA Amplifier
Allen Bradley PLC
Modular PC
Grain Mill/Arm
PlayStation Mod? (was in box wired to Basic Stamp)
DIY LCD Projector
White box CPU with “Project Do Not Scrap” on top
If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to contact me. Spread the word! Thanks in advance for your help everyone!
3D printer mini-festival
We had a mini 3D printer fest at Make Lehigh Valley last night along with our postponed Build Night with Sugru. (Sugru update to come, I'm gathering pictures.) The Ord Bot received some sugru to the handle to make it more comfy to lug.
My real joy was sharing the epic fail of printing a twisted ball cage. I made it as far in the print as I have yet. I still can't get the top to print because of the flex of the arms. All the interaction from crowd of makers was great. Jared got his RepRap printing a much improved cube and Jeff made some progress on the space's RepRap 3D printer. He's been polishing the smooth rods that the carriage for the heated build platform rides on for awhile to make sure it runs smoothly.
After much polishing, Jeff has installed the rods that the heated build platform will ride on
Our impromptu mini 3D print festival, note the blue sugru on the handle of the OrdBot.
Build Night with Sugru: Postponed to Next Week
Unfortunately, we will be needing to postpone the Sugru Build Night. Our Sugru supply has been through a series of unfortunate events which will, if we see no further events, result in its arrival on Friday. Actually, this is the second attempt to ship to us...
You are all more than welcome to come by for the Open Hack this Thurs. evening just to visit and see what may be happening. I'll probably take my 3D printer out and I'm sure some other things will be going on.
We'll have the Sugru by next Thursday. The build night will happen next Thursday. If you RSVPd and can't make it out next week, I'll be glad to reserve some of the Sugru for you. If you RSVPd, you should already have an email.
If you have any questions, please direct them to me.
Once this stuff arrives, we're looking to put together a few instructables to say thanks to Instructables.com for providing the material. If you have some ideas that would be conducive to that, please let us know. Also, check out the cool app for smartphones that Instructables created to make it really easy to make Instructables. Find it in the Android or iOS app stores.
World Maker Faire NYC 2013 with Make Lehigh Valley
We have a luxury bus for the 2nd annual Make Lehigh Valley trip to the World Maker Faire NYC on September 21st!
Part science fair part county fair...
...last year they had workshops, dozens of 3D printers of all shapes and sizes, concerts with theremins, presentations, quad-copters, sales on all sorts of electronics kits, organic crafts, light shows, flying objects, giant 20' butterflies you could ride around in, the New York Hall of Science is included, and so much more. Good luck seeing it all!
Get a ride with us and get in on a 25% group discount for entry tickets!
Additionally, if the bus fills up we will be able to do a rebate for the bus ride up to $10 per passenger.
Taking a bus is a great way to meet and hang out with a bunch of other makers and a real easy trip into New York City. The bus will drop us off and pick us up right at the front gate of the faire.
We're leaving at 9am from the Da Vinci Science Center parking lot in Allentown. Directions to the Science Center can be found on their website.
Get an entry ticket and a seat on the bus from our WePay page. If you've already purchased a ticket, you can still ride with us, just be sure to select the appropriate ride ticket. You can also pay by cash or check at the Space, but email us to let us know as it is first come first serve.
Maker Faire is primarily designed to be forward-looking, showcasing makers who are exploring new forms and new technologies. But it’s not just for the novel in technical fields; Maker Faire features innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft.
Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. It’s a venue for makers to show examples of their work and interact with others about it. Many makers say they have no other place to share what they do. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) is often invisible in our communities, taking place in shops, garages and on kitchen tables. It’s typically out of the spotlight of traditional art or science or craft events. Maker Faire makes visible these projects and ideas that we don’t encounter every day.
July 18th – Build Night with Sugru
This stuff has so many uses, it's hard to describe
The folks at Instructables partnered with Sugru to ship us a bunch of Sugru to try out and come up with cool hacks. If your are interested in checking out this product and trying out your own Sugru based idea we'll have it around for the Open Hack on July 18th.
Come on out and see what we've got going on. If you'd like to talk about Sugru ideas feel free to pop into the discussion list or hang out in IRC.
If you're looking for some inspiration check out all the Sugru on Instructables.
Who: You and your friends
What: Build Night with Sugru (we provide the Sugru)
When: July 18th 7-9pm
Where: 905 Harrison St. Allentown. (Hive 4a)
Price: Free
RSVP: Sign-up Here (http://bit.ly/12v8jBf)
Bring your own stuff to hack on the Sugru with. Have some broken shoes? A favorite pair of scissors that needs a nub in just the right place? A backpack that needs a beautiful new colorful design on it? Bring it. We'll have the Sugru.
Colors and Sugru packages will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. We're prepared for 15 people to join us.
Josiah’s Ord Bot Hadron Project
The Ord Bot 3D Printer Mechanical Platform
by Bart Dring of Pumping Station One
Besides the RepRap Mendel that the space is putting together, I'm putting together an ORD Bot Hadron, the larger brother of the ORD Bot Quantum. It took me a long time to decide between this and SeeMeCNC's RostockMax. The first beta tester, Jeremy, brought an ORD Bot Quantum to Make Lehigh Valley quite awhile and showed off its impressive qualities.
In many basic ways, this is a simplified version of the RepRap based on MakerSlide and without the interest in being able to print as much of the printer as possible. I'm interested in comparing the time of assembly and results with the RepRap. It seems generally agreed that both printers are capable of equal quality. The typical Mendel may require more regular maintenance than an Ord Bot and require more effort to get well calibrated. The rigidity of the MakerSlide makes for a more stable platform.
The Ord Bot design is strictly a mechanical platform. Most kits only include the mechanical platform and steppers to get it moving. The come in various stages of assembly. The kit I purchased was from Automation Technologies, Inc.
Once I had the platform I had to decide what electronics and extruder I wanted to use. I'm going with Panucatt's X3 and heated bed for the electronics. My extruder choice is the brand new SeeMeCNC EZstruder extruder. (I'm sure to regret going with the bleeding edge, but its just so flexible.) I still need to pick up a hot end. I'll probably go with the J-Head when they come back in stock. I understand they usually are stocked at hotends.com on Friday afternoons at noon and are gone over the weekend.
I'm rather partial to the aesthetics of the Ord Bot over the RepRap also. The nice blue anodized aluminum and sleek smooth lines are nice. The ability to hide the cables inside the MakerSlide is also a great plus and the ability to expand it rather simply with just bigger or smaller pieces of makerslide is another notable feature.
My daughter and I will be chronicling our build in a Build Log and BuildLog.net with a picture album on Google+ and more static documentation in a wiki page at MakeLV's wiki.
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