Thanks to Tom, Kevin, Matt N., Bob, Mike, Shane, Elizabeth, Adam, Sean, Kristin, Amanda, Jason, Aaron, and anyone I might have missed who helped get this together!

I pose next to the completed thing. Intense!!!

David

Jason gets a little crazy with the building! (click for more hot photo action!)

Giant Arduino Board (1 of 2)

Flags!

Tom Testing the flags!

David

View out the window.

View out the top from inside.

View of the seat and window.

Safety is everyone’s job.

That is one mad machine!

David

David

The “South Shore Frolics” formerly known as the “South Shore Water Frolics” is a Bay View institution. The current celebration of summer & joy starts on Saturday July 16th at 11:00 in the morning with a parade leading to South Shore Park, after which there is a festival and a variety of activities including fireworks for the remainder of the weekend. The Frolics is an event that I have participated in as long as I have been alive, and it is a very integral part of my summer. Of course I was thrilled when the Makerspace agreed that this was a worthwhile use of our time and talents.

Our goal for Milwaukee Makerspace’s representation in the parade is to produce some electric vehicles, ride some previously produced power wheels racers, as well as present a unique parade float. 

Thus far the main work was completed by Tom Gralewicz who re-powered the Makerspace’s “pots of gold” (two electric vehciles that have a parade heritage) with new motor controllers. Now that we have two functioning platforms, we of course wanted to turn one of them into an 8′ mechanized cylindrical sign. (that will resemble a beverage container) 

The build on that commenced last evening. Here are some photographs from the madness & joy:

Matt N. always measures twice and cuts once. 

I don’t know how many times these guys measured, but they always made the right cut!

Here the team cuts the circular bases that will anchor the piece. In the background, there is a serious discussion about logicstics…or something. 

Matt G. shows us the pride that comes with making.

Kevin B. tests out the fit and finish of the first circular support on the vehicle platform.

So far so good! I can’t wait to see how this comes together!

Come and see us at the South Shore Frolics Parade!
Saturday July 16th, 2011
Parade starts at KK & Lincoln at 11:00am
Joy will be had by all!
If you consider yourself a Milwaukee Maker, you are welcome to walk the parade rout with us & represent making in Milwaukee!

Dateline: June 14, 2011, Milwaukee Makerspace

Ron Bean recently wowed the world & the Milwaukee Makerspace with his new invention, the “Spaceship Chair”. Now everyone is wowed again now that an actual real life Space-Man has come down from the cosmos to test the chair. No word on what galaxy he was from, but he was quoted as saying, “This chair is out of this world!”

We have this one verified image of the Space Man enjoying the comfort of Ron’s Spaceship Chair!

Congratulations to Ron for bridging the intergalactic boundaries with his universally adored chair!

For more information please check back here at www.milwaukeemakerspace.org !

For Milwaukee Makerspace news, I’m David R.

However, seeing just what was in front of the camera doesn’t tell the whole story! Here are some exclusive behind the scenes photos of all the action you didn’t see! You aren’t going to find this stuff anywhere else!

Matt, Sean, & Jason figure out what they are going to do when the camera comes by!

Practice makes perfect!

Kevin warms up the Power Wheels Racer for Jason. He breaks the laws of physics and time in the process. That’s normal for Kevin.

Jason waits for his big moment, while refreshing himself with a local product.

The Makers sit quietly and enjoy the rest of the program in reverent scilence.

There you have it! Contnet you just can’t find anywhere else! Hope you enjoyed it!

–David

Greetings! 

   Hi, I’m David and this is my first post on the Milwaukee Makerspace site. I’m a video producer by trade, so you’ll be soon seeing some videos from some of my projects, however if you’re on the site you might have already seen some of my work. In late March I put together some videos of the Makers talking about what they make and what they think the Milwaukee Makerspace is. 
   Anyway, I didn’t even know what a Makerspace was myself till my friend Matt wrote me an e-mail and said, “If you want to walk the walk, come down to the Milwaukee Makerspace.” Needless to say I had no idea what that meant, but as soon as I stepped foot in our beautiful space with the warm welcoming logo above the hangar, I figured it out pretty quickly. 
   I have never done any robotics or electronics in my life, but seeing what the makers was up to inspired me. I picked up a soldering iron and started small. I’m the kind of Maker that works their way up to the big projects. Initially my ideas for projects mostly relate to my profession of video production. I would like to make a low to the ground camera platform, for wide angle shots, and a flying rig for some limited ariels. One thing at a time though, first I have to make something that works.

Introducing… JunkBot 1.0!!!

JunkBot 1.0 is my first attempt at what I want for a ground based camera platform. It sorta kinda does everything i want it to, but isn’t very robust. It’s functions are:

– Moves forward, back, turns using tank style steering
– Has a pan tilt camera mount
– Can wirelessly transmit video from the bot to a ground station
– Is controlled via a standard RC controller
– Falls apart slowly after about 15 feet of travel

My build process was:

1. Find plastic platform and half project box at the Makerspace “Hack Rack”
2. Get 2 continuous rotation servos & wheels. (Parallax servos sold at Adafruit)
3. Get an RC controller I am happy with (Futaba 7C 2.4ghz)
4. Get 2 servos and mounts for the pan tilt functions of the camera mount
5. Get 900mhz wireless video transmitter (RangeVideo)
6. Make front tire out of foam and a coat hanger
7. Strapped it all together with Velcro (TM).

I used my GoPro camera because it’s small, light, and gets 

the job done. I really love those cameras.

I got to show JunkBot 1.0 at the Makerspace Grand Opening and I think it went rather well. Next up I need to make some improvements:

– Better platform
– Better pan tilt
– Better propulsion
– Make it out of quality materials
– Add in some autonomous functions

But, you have to start somewhere, right? So we’ll see how this all goes. JunkBot 2.0 here I come!

Thanks for reading,
David