With the success of last years trip, I decided to take as many students as I could to this year’s Maker Faire Bay Area. My colleague and I were able to take 16 students and spend a day and a half at the faire – mostly drooling over the fantastic work so many people are doing. Having learned some lessons from the previous years trip, we flew, stayed within walking distance of the hotel, and even added a quick trip into San Francisco for some culture. All in all – it was a fantastic trip that continues to inspire our work for this upcoming year. Some highlights of the trip were:
When I first met Roy at the 2013 Maker Faire, he was a work in progress, but even then he was my favorite. Now this amazing animatronic figure blew me away. He is made entirely of hobby servos, over the counter electronics (Arduino, Raspberry Pi), and laser-cut plywood. In other words – we have the equipment and materials to make him! To top it all off, his inventor (err, father?) is a very helpful and receptive to non-stop questioning from me and the other thousands of visitors. Very cool.