This was the second year I have been to this. It was great. I was sorry to not see the Embroidery Guild represented this year, but there were will many amazing things to look at at play with. I also had some people very keen to explain what maker spaces were to me. You can read about the different people/organisations and products here.
Some of the interesting things were:
the robotic pacman was lovely, and popular,
a laptop with a default 3D scanning webcam (this was wonderful)
a 3D scanner the size of a can of soft drink
scale armour - which rippled
a sand pit (yes, with real sand) where when you change the topography, the colours mapping the topography adjust to the new layout (this was great)
the origami Yoda was only some of the origami on display - and lots of people were creating with origami
You can follow other OpenRov devices as well for example, the one in this photograph is @rov1081
This was part of the Mini Maker Faire which is at the Powerhouse Museum this weekend.
I had been to maker fairs before, they just have had many different names. This one was a lot of fun because of the diversity of makers.
The Embroiders Guild was present encouraging people to add to a collaborative piece of embroidery, and to have a go.
Lace makers were in the Lace Centre showing needle and bobbin lace methods.
You could have a try at bobbin lace, which was was soothingly mathematical.
The fablab was going apace with the Hack the collection items being printed. The museum objects were in their cases, and their new partners were being printed. You can read about it here, and access the museum files here.
And of course there were drones
I enjoyed seeing the range of makers, and being able to talk with the people behind the ideas. This was fun. People were generous and enthusiastic. I liked the broad interpretation of maker, which is appropriate. There are many exciting ways libraries can connect with the makers in their community.
