Pepper the Parrot provided unique inspiration for Andrew Gray, a University of Florida electrical- and computer-engineering graduate student. Wired Magazine reported recently on Gray and his “pet project”.
His parrot (appropriately enough an African “Grey”) is garrulous to the point of being ear splitting, when left alone. A previous attempt to apply an engineering solution to the problem – a sound activated water gun intended to provide a little negative reinforcement by squirting the squawker – backfired when Pepper decided he liked his sound activated bird bath. He also became comfortable with a sound activated noisemaker intended to startle him into silence.
Gray reasoned that a bird beak occupied is a bird beak silenced, and the third time was the charm: a joystick operated (by the parrot!), open-loop, two wheel drive, tri-cycle platform powered by a 12v battery and controlled by a microcontroller.
Check out the video below and check out the project specs at Gray’s Bird Buggy site.
Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire is pleased to announce a collaborative agreement with the remarkable folks at The Concourse, a fantastic and multifaceted facility that has served as home to the world class Rockus Maximus: Battle of the Bands 16 and other knock-your-socks-off events!
Learning is for Everyone is delighted to be partnering with the Concourse, the Rotary Club of New Port Richey, and the amazing Pasco County Library System to bring you the 2nd Annual Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire on March 23, 2013. We’ll have 10,000 awesome square feet of covered pavilion space, facilities for indoor workshops and classes, and acres of outdoor exhibit space.
In short, we have an entire massive facility that enables us to produce an event easily double the size of our inaugural event held earlier this year.
So save the date, and fire up your imagination – and your soldering irons and blow torches! – hop aboard our Facebook page and Tweet it from the treetops, and start getting ready now for Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2013!
69 year old Cate Vincent made her way up to Charlotte to the DNC convention this week to showcase her DIY job creation spirit, with her iPad handle invention, reports WINK News.
Vincent told WINK her invention not only got the attention of Apple, but has created jobs.
“I live on the Space Coast in Florida where there are no jobs now, and we’ve already put 30 people to work,” Vincent said.
A fifth grader at Safety Harbor Montessori Academy in Clearwater, Alanna’s Pain Free Bandage Remover was inspired by her long time dislike of the bandage removal process. At the grand old age of 8, she decided that enough was enough, and experimented with several different combinations of safe, organic ingredients until she hit upon the perfect formula. Her focus group was her then 2nd grade classroom, where kids and parents alike were immediately sold.
Since then, her product has been featured on “The Doctors”, “Rachael Ray” and several local news programs. Alanna has applied for a patent trademark hopes to go into full production soon, marketing to childrens hospitals, pharmacies, health food and natural food stores, assisted living and nursing homes, with plans to donate 1% of all sales to the Arts for children.
Popular Science (PopSci) is joining in the hack- and make-a-thon Red Bull Creation fun next week, as the LI4E Makerspace team joins in with 11 other teams from around the country in a 72-hour finals competition, running July 19-22. PopSci will be co-hosting the livestreamed event as it happens.
Click the pic below to learn more about the “Bullduino” being used in the competition works. Go LI4E Makerspace Team!!
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!
This over-engineered beauty is the Red Bull Wake-Up-Call alarm clock. Since anything worth doing is worth over-doing, this Bullduino-driven morning persuader is configured out a variety of repurposed items, including:
The LI4E Makerspace Project is an effort by Learning is for Everyone, the lead sponsor of Tampa Bay’s first ever Mini Maker Faire, to bring makerspaces to Tampa Bay . Not waiting for makerspace to start making things, team members are hard at work and play in 2012 Red Bull Creation Contest , armed with a “Bullduino” and loads of creativity, hoping to make it into the top 12 makers or maker teams, who get to compete in a 72-hour build starting July 19.
After a public voting period, top scoring teams get to take their creations the
Getting a few supplies for the Red Bull Creation project.
World Maker Faire 2012, in September. Besides getting to showcase their maker awesomeness, and hang with other great techies and artists, Red Bull Creation contestants will be vying for the top prize of $10,000 - pretty decent seed money for a Makerspace!
Working with a few things the LI4E Makerspace Project team found in the garage.
You can follow along the LI4E Makerspace Project team’s adventure on their Facebook page . And check back here soon to see a video of their creation!
Young Makers are born with imagination and a sense of fun and creativity. But they also need the encouragement and support of family and community, to not only celebrate what they make, but to keep their Maker Spirit alive and thriving!
Pepper the Parrot provided unique inspiration for Andrew Gray, a University of Florida electrical- and computer-engineering graduate student. Wired Magazine reported recently on Gray and his “pet project”.
