Planning out the Red Bull Creation entry
They did it! Learning is for Everyone’s LI4E Makerspace Project team will be representing Tampa Bay, Florida and Learning is for Everyone as a finalist in the 2012 Red Bull Creation Contest. Provided only with an arduino open source microcontroller – called a Bullduino, in Red Bull’s honor – teams from around the country put together a device of their choosing to try to impress judges with their creativity and engineering skills.
That was easy!
The LI4E Makerspace team created a Rube Goldberg-esque Red Bull Wake-Up Call alarm clock, and entered a video of their contraption into the competition on July 3. The clock, in their words, is “an over-engineered beauty .. ” Apparently Red Bull agreed!
The Red Bull launcher
Red Bull Creation judges selected the LI4E Makerspace team and 11 other teams from around the country as finalists, who will now compete in a 72 themed build that kicks off July 19. After a public voting period, top scoring teams get to take their creations the World Maker Faire 2012 in New York, in September. Besides getting to showcase their creations, Red Bull Creation finalists will be vying for a top prize of $10,000.
LI4E Makerspace and Team Duct Tape members, with mentor Paul Markun, of Tampa Technik.
The LI4E Makerspace Project is an effort by Learning is for Everyone (LI4E) to bring community makerspaces to Tampa Bay. The LI4E Makerspace team is an intergenerational, multi-talented crew of youth and adults, who are students, writers, artists, programmers, engineers, craftspeople and all-purpose tinkerers – a cross section of the community that would value and use a makerspace. Many of the team members are also members of LI4E’s award winning FIRST Tech Challenge team, Team Duct Tape, recently returned from competing in the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, MO.
LI4E’s motto is “No Limits!” and the Red Bull Creation team exemplifies that no-holds-barred creativity in all they do. More information about the LI4E Makerspace team can be found here .
Congratulations, LI4E Makerspace Team! We’ll be following closely next week,and fully expect to see one or both of their creations at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2012!
