Tag Archives: new technology

Meet Our Makers!

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At least some of them – More are coming on board in the next couple of days, bringing a rich variety of science, art, craft, engineering , music, food, and more, showcasing and celebrating the inventive spirit and the amazing work of all kinds of makers across Tampa Bay and beyond.

The great folks listed here are bringing art, music, robots, games, puzzles, inventions, ham radio, crafts, trades, jewelry, electronic gadgets and gizmos and much, much more for everyone to experience and enjoy!

Keep watching our Maker page throughout the rest of the week, to see the growing list of Makers!

Our 2013 Makers so Far…

Commercial Makers

gabotronics

Origami Owl

Upcycled Studios

Makers

backyard workshop

chuck stephens

Frets1

FIRST

GCARC

inanimate reason

in10didLI4E

Mentagy

MEOWSER

Pasco Teens

USF RIG

thinkamingo

urban conga

USGS

fur and taxidermy

young makers

See you at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2013!

TBMMF Sponsor, Gabotronics, Launches Xprotolab Portable Oscilloscope on Kick-Starter

Gabotronics, owned and operated by Gabriel Anzziani, of Sarasota, who was a sponsor participant at inaugural Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire in March as a commercial Maker,  has just launched his Xprotolab Portable Oscilloscope on kickstarter in a bid to bring his creation to market.

The Xprotolab is a portable combination of three electronics instruments: an oscilloscope, a waveform generator and a protocol sniffer.  The Xprotolab was awarded as one of the 100 Hot Products of 2011, by the EDN magazine. The Xprotolab has been featured in several other online magazines, such as Hack a Day and Elektor.

You can see specs at Gabotronics Kick-Starter page , where you can also pledge your support.

PAL Improves Outcomes for Preemies

Some inventions are creations of convenience, like the Snap-a-Loop media device holder. Some are fun, like BrickStix. Some are useful in very specific ways, like SnapIt Screw eyeglass repair and the E-sort potato sorter.   And some have enormous social potential, like adjustable focus eyeglasses.

The Pacifier Activated Lullaby, or PAL, is a niche invention that falls into that last category, in a marvelous and touching way.  Developed by music professor Jayne Standley at Florida State University to help premature babies learn the proper muscle movements to be able to suck and feed.

According to  the PAL page at Florida State University,”More than 500,000 premature babies are born in the United States every year, each requiring significant medical treatment to ensure their survival and minimize life-long health challenges.”

Officially, the “Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL®) is an FDA-approved, patented system that utilizes music reinforcement therapy to stimulate non-nutritive sucking and the breathe-suck-swallow reflex in pre-term infants.” And results are already  producing shorter-term hospital stays with a commensurate reduction in hospitalization costs (on average saving $10,000 per infant) and a higher likelihood that premature babies will thrive once they leave the hospital.

IEEE-Spectrum gives some interesting technical details. “The pacifier is outfitted with proprietary piezo sensing technology that detects the baby’s sucking motion. Feedback algorithms determine when the motion is correct, and a signal is sent via wire to a speaker that plays a soothing song when the baby gets the breathe-suck-swallow reflex right. The system can be calibrated to each baby’s needs.”

Check PAL out at http://www.research.fsu.edu/pal/about.html

Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2012 in Pictures!

Check out our Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire Photo Album!

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!

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.

CNN: How to Make More Makers

Dale Dougherty, publisher and founder of MAKE magazine and the creator of Maker Faire (of which Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire is a regional offshoot)  was recently featured on CNN, discussing the Maker movement.

“Makers start with that simple idea to do something, which is why we call it DIY – for “do it yourself.”, Dougherty told CNN.

“Soon, however, they find out that there are lots of people like you out there. When you find others, you have a community and that community offers a place to show your work, trade tools and swap ideas, and just have fun.

“And this isn’t just for some people, or just people who like air cannons. I believe we are all makers. We can find all kinds of makers in our communities. Yet we also want to help create more makers. Through education and community outreach, we can offer the opportunity to make things to more people, but particularly children. They might find these opportunities at school but also at community centers, summer camps and science centers, or even at home. My goal is that all people, young and old, come to see themselves as makers, creators and doers because I know that the people who have the skills and knowledge to make things have the power to make the world a better place.”

Electrathon of Tampa Bay Comes to TBMMF!

King High School Electrathon is coming to Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire on March 31, to represent Electrathon of Tampa Bay and showcase their competitive electric race car.

An electrathon is a race of custom built three or four wheeled electric vehicles, somewhat similar in overall appearance to a Go-Kart, but powered by an electric motor and batteries. Electrathon class vehicles are principally defined and constrained by length and width (12 feet long and 4 feet wide maximum) and by battery weight and chemistry (73 lbs, sealed lead acid). The basic format is to determine which car can travel the furthest distance in one hour’s time within the limitations of battery weight and other factors mentioned above.

King High School’s Electrathon Car will be at our event, and they may have their second care, currently under construction, on hand as well. We’re delighted to welcome King High School and Electrathon of Tampa Bay to Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire!

 

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!