Maker Faire

Went to the Maker Faire
The builders and bots were there
We filled the room and made things go boom
you really shoulda been there.

The above essay should remove any doubts anyone has as to my abilities as a poet. Still, it was a fun event. One group had a B-25 front fuselage, made by their students complete with a honkin big sound system that simulated the sound of the engines and the firing of the machine guns. The rest of us could have done with less of the sound effects.

 The turret on top swiveled. I explained that if I were in charge, this would be the coachwork on a nice pickup frame so I could drive it around town from the cockpit.

An outfit with steampunk lighting fixtures was there. St Vrain Metal Works makes fixtures from plumbing pipe and polished brass, most come with a dimmer disguised as a water valve. This one featured an artificial horizon and propeller.

The bulbs are from another outfit that makes them especially for the Steampunk market.
Lots of 3-D printers making various stuff:

Transportation issues were displayed with this Chinese electric 3-wheeler

I have no idea what the badge says.
Jeffco Open School, where I sometimes help had several of their robots including Chad Pi

looking very jaunty in my sunglasses. He runs on a Rasberry Pi processor, and has several motions including jaw and eyeball movement, nodding head, motion, and a set of snappy lines he delivers at random. Next year he should be able to repeat back text which would be cut-and-paste entered. I figure all he needs then would be a dignified wig with a bit of gray on the temples and the local news reader will be out of a job. Change to an Afro or a long blonde wig during commercial breaks and the entire news, weather, and sports staff is out of work. The stations will save a fortune.

There were autonomous vehicle races outdoors which I managed to miss while I was manning the table inside.

These things are fun, even more so if you bring the kids. I brought the golf caddy trike (scroll down, it's on here somewhere.) and let the kids take it for a spin. It's entertaining to watch a kid get on the thing, get focused on the throttle knob, and drive into a wall after forgetting what I told them about how to stop. First turn the throttle OFF!, then use the front brake lever. The rear brake lever DOES NOT WORK! In one ear and out the other.