At the Maker Faire, the MythBusters generously gave of their time, posing for pictures in the Robot booth with many families and kids.

by Tom Atwood

photos by Tom Atwood and George Mitsuoka

The Maker Faire, held April 22 - 23 at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds in the heart of Silicon Valley, just south of San Francisco, was an all-new technology festival, family picnic and new-age DIY event rolled into one.

Hosted by Make magazine, www.makezine.com, the Maker Faire featured hundreds of “Makers” proudly showing off their projects and inventions in a wide variety of categories that ranged from robotics and automotive technology to gaming and crafts. Faire sponsors included Microsoft, Yahoo, Parallax and many other big technology names. A variety of workshops were conducted: this was an event where you could learn to use technology in novel ways while having tons of fun. An estimated 20,000+ people attended!

Robot worked with the Maker Faire team to help organize the robotics pavilion at the Faire—we are proud to note that the MythBusters appeared at the Robot booth on Sunday and met with Faire attendees for nearly two hours!

The fascinating technology demonstrated at the Faire was entertaining and eye-opening. These are just a few highlights; be sure and also check out Make Magazine, www.makezine.com, Parallax, www.parallax.com and RoboOlympics, http://robogames.net.

Keep your eyes open for next year’s Maker Faire—see if you can attend it, you'll have a great time!

Michael Taylor of Segway demonstrates the "Centaur" light electric concept vehicle that can balance on two wheels and travel at higher speeds on four wheels. Segway has no current plans to manufacture the product, but says there's a lot of public enthusiasm for the concept. This robot followed anybody around who was wearing an orange or red shirt (see below). It was in the robotics arena organized by Dave Calkins, founder of RoboGames.net and Robot Society of America. Microsoft employees brought a few robots that they had developed as Makers in their spare time, including the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT bot shown here. OK, can you tell us what this is? This Parallax BoeBot scans what's in front of it and moves to the center of the closest object! Bennington College computing coach Joe Holt worked with his students to design homemade microprocessors! Combat robots and their Makers. Robotic pterosaur skeleton designed at Stanford University by a team led by Margot Gerritsen. LEGO robots of all types were exhibited. Noted combat robot Final Verdict is towed towards the combat robot area by a large RC truck. Botball was present with their autonomous robots that can see different colors--note the highlighted areas on the screen where a Botball robot sees tennis balls. Springy Thingy "Junkbot" with its Maker.

Microsoft Makers brought a wide variety of robots in all categories. The Crucible brought their famous fire trucks—which also served as platforms for teaching welding, torch cutting and glass work. The MythBusters visited with Faire attendees in ROBOT’s booth. What a hoot! An RC car with a mind of its own races along lines painted on the floor. Lindsay Lawlor’s 17 foot tall Electric Giraffe robot wowed the crowds. Can you believe it, a steam powered centipede robot, built by I-Wei Huang. This autonomous Trinity Fire Fighting robot would search a miniature house, locate a candle and extinguish it! An RC car with brains, built by Microsoft Makers. Steve Wozniak, one of two Steves who founded Apple Computer, plays Segway polo. Ken Murphy, robotics tinkerer, digital musician and web developer in public broadcasting, brought these cute Blinkybugs to the Faire. They are simple electro-mechanical insect-sculptures that respond to subtle air currents and vibrations by blinking their LED eyes.

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