Tag Archives: Florida Inventors

Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2012 in Pictures!

Check out our Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Photo Album!

Thanks to all for a Wonderful 2012 Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire!

Our inaugural Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2012 was a resounding success, with over 300 people enjoying over 20 Maker exhibits indoors and out – at least  until some torrential Florida spring rains came, driving everyone indoors – where the party continued right up until closing time!

There were robots to drive,  custom chess pieces to make, duct tape and paper crafts to create, patent searches to, cool inventors to talk with, 3D printers to marvel at, great art, great food, and great people to share it all with!

Many, many thanks to all the great volunteers who helped make our event so successful, from the great FTC Team Duct Tape family that staffed our registration table all day to the wonderful University Area Community Development Corporation volunteers who helped guests and Makers and aided in the smooth and swift movement of Makers from the patio to the gym when the skies opened up.   It all went so smoothly, no one missed a beat in activities or fun!

We’ll share more photos and stories soon.  And you can find more on our Facebook page, too.

Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2012 totally made our day!!

 

Ready, Set, MAKE!

The banners are in, the programs are printed, the swag and buttons are here, the Makers and our Volunteers are ready, the Food Trucks are fired up, the robot batteries and the electric cars are charging, the artists have arrayed their wares, the media’s been alerted,  and the pennants are ready to fly for the Tampa Bay’s first ever Mini Maker Faire!

There’s still time to get your discounted tickets at EventBrite . Just $5 prepaid and $8 at the door, for ages 5+ . We promise you won’t go home empty-handed, hungry or without new knowledge  - there’s toys to make, art to stencil, things to solder, swag to collect and great food to eat!

So head on over the University Area Community Center Complex at 14013 N. 22nd Street tomorrow morning, to enjoy a little taste of the Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth!

 

 

TBMMF Welcomes New Sponsor, Gabotronics!

Gabotronics is a young company based in Lakewood Ranch, FL. With over 10 years of analog and digital design experience, Gabotronics designs and manufactures embedded systems, specializing in  8-32 bits microcontroller projects, instrumentation and data acquisition, PCB Layout, custom electronic designs, as well as providing engineering consultation.

Gabotronics owner and operator, Gabriel Anzziani, will be showcasing  some of his products and doing some demonstrations.  He’ll also be running a TBMMF show special  on his Xprotolab, “the first mixed signal oscilloscope with an arbitrary waveform generator in a DIP module.” Measuring only 1 x 1.6 inches, it can be mounted directly on a breadboard.  Normally selling for $49, it will be available at TBMMF for $40.00.

Thanks, Gabotronics, for bringing more great Maker tools to Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire!

Robots, Robots Everywhere!

The University of South Florida’s new underwater robot, Tavros02, made headlines in the Tampa Bay Times this morning, as much for its unique Tweeting ability as its remarkable underwater capabilities.   Every 20 minutes, the robot sends telemetric tweets concerning its whereabouts and water conditions, complete with hashtags.

Tavros02 is just one of USFs many robotics projects. At Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire, the USF Robotics Interest Group (RIG) will be on hand with several of their more battle hardened bots, ranging from 3 lbs. to over 200 lbs. in size.

The Tampa Bay Times also featured TBMMF this morning, in a piece titled, “Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Brings out the Edison in Everyone,” noting that robots will be a star attraction at out inaugural event.   In addition to USF RIG:

And guests will be able to try their hand at driving and using some of these robots, as well!

Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Event Map & Program Now Available!

Our event map and program is now available online! Paper copies will be available at the event, courtesy of DEX Imaging, whose in-kind support of Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire is deeply appreciated!

Check out all the great Makers we’ll have on hand.  We couldn’t put it all in the program, but here’s just some of the eye-opening (and  mouth watering!) fun you can have at TBMMF this coming Saturday:

Enjoy this and so much more, at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, March 31, from 10am-4pm at the University Area Community Center Complex in Tampa!

Check out the Line Up for TBMMF 2012!

The line up for our very first Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire is amazing! Check it out!   There’s robots on the land and in the water, music, arts, crafts, toy making, inventions, inventors, amateur radio, and food galore!

And, wonderfully, a ... sadly – no

That’s right – Make will be at the  Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire, showcasing their wonderful wares!

We erred! MakerShed is unable to join us, but will be sending along some materials for us to share.  And of course we’ve got the Maker spirit in our blood -Check out our great roster!

Our Commercial Makers include:

And we’ve got an amazing collection of community Makers!

Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Food Truck Rally -Our Culinary Makers

Our Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Food Truck Rally vendors are donating a portion of proceeds from the day to the University Area Community Center Complex!

Please note, large companies or commercial entities do not qualify as Commercial Makers. If you are a large company or commercial entity, please see our Sponsor page.

Maker line-up and schedules subject to change.

TBMMF Welcomes SnapIt Screw!

We featured the Snapit Screw story here in December and are delighted to welcome them to the Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire as a Commercial Maker.   They’ll be selling their eyeglass repair kit and sharing inventor  Nancy Tedeschi ’s inventive journey at our event.

Welcome,SnapIt!

Young Maker Hunter Morera at MOSI Feb. 4

A couple of years ago, when he was just 16 years old, Hunter Morera developed his then patent pending Select-a-Wrench, a sort of Swiss Army bunch-a-wrenches in one tool. Over the ensuing two years, Morera, of  Lutz,  has appeared on the Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen, and his Select-a-Wrench tool is now being sold in Walmart and other stores.

Tomorrow, Feb. 4, you can meet Hunter, and pitchman Anthony Sullivan, at MOSI from 11 AM to noon, where Hunter will share his story on “creating an innovative product while overcoming personal challenges”  Hunter’s personal challenges – he was born with a heart defect that’s required five open heart surgeries. Details are on the MOSI calendar.  Go get inspired!

TBMMF Application Deadline Extended to Feb. 22!

The variety of Maker applications rolling in has inspired us to extend our application deadline to February 22. Why? Because we’re curious, and curiosity is good. And because we still have a little room left, and we want to see what other wonderful stuff you can help us fill our space with!

In addition to our fantastic Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Truck Rally, some remarkable commercial Makers (to be announced soon!), our community Makers include:

The West Central Florida Section of the National Association for Amateur Radio is joining us – “Amateur radio operators (hams) were the original Makers and Hackers,” they tell us. “Using new, used and scavenged parts to make transmitters, receivers, and antennas capable of communication with other hams anywhere on Earth. From microchips and robotics to time and space itself, the Makers within the Amateur Radio ranks build and explore new way to play with the radio spectrum. The Core Purpose of the ARRL: To promote and advance the art, science and enjoyment of Amateur Radio. ”   They’ll have some gear you can try your hand at!

The Tampa Bay Inventors Council is a 28 year old group in Tampa Bay that supports “the inventive spirit in us all”. They help educate new inventors about inventing and spread the innovation concept. Look for some innovative things at their exhibit!

The University of South Florida Robotics Interest Group , who will have on hand a variety of their robots, including four fighting robots from 3lbs all the way up to 220lbs, and an autonomous balance bot.

Our Young Makers with their NetBot invention – “ a generic open robot platform designed to be simple to modify to do whatever you want it to do. The goal of the robot is to be a cost efficient way for you to play with bigger robots. The main feature of the robot is the processor, which can be pretty much any kind of netbook or laptop you happen to have laying around the house.”  They hope to be able to drive it around our Mini Maker Faire .

Plus cars, arts, and more!  Don’t see something you do here – then join us and share what you Make with Tampa Bay!