Status update May 12, 2011

I have been busy the last few weeks as projects ramp up and we get closer to Maker Faire and the weather gets nicer around Vancouver. Its getting harder to makes these status updates as I would rather be making something or going outside and enjoying the sunshine and now Appa (A black kitty) won’t let me use my laptop without jumping up on my lap.

• Giant Spin art box. I built this a few weeks ago and it work great but after playing around with it for a few hours the motor burned out. I guess that's what I get for buying it from a scrap yard. Currently searching for another motor for this project. I will probably get it from an old washer and dryer or something.
• I went as Mario to the Maker Faire per party fundraiser. I had grand plans on making a cardboard EL wire samurai suit but after 4 hours of working on the chest plate I knew I could never finish it in time. I had a flight in the morning so I couldn't stay very long and missed the tail end of the party. Picture by Peter Holmes.
• Just got back from a trip to Washington DC. While I was there I spent a few days at the Smithsonian Institution and was blown away by the size of it. I spent a good 4 hours at the National Air and Space Museum where I met and talked with the creators of the TJ3Sat project. They built a homemade satellite using a Arduino for its main processor. They have a full write up on their website about their project. Very interesting. While in Washington I also stopped by HacDC the WashingtonDC hacker space as in every hackspace I have visited lots of interesting people doing interesting things.
• As the weather gets nicer I been doing more Wheat pasting around the city, mostly in East Vancouver. I learned a lot from my previous attempts and this time its been going a lot smother. Still a lot to learn about speed and where to put them so they don't get destroyed by weather or shop owners.
• RGB POV LED Globe. This project can consumed most of my free time over the last few weeks and I will do a full project update in another post. Here are some pictures.