Month: January 2012

We had a great turnout for the January 2012 FamiLAB Young Makers meeting. After we gathered and one Young Maker demonstrated his drum kit made from Ikea bowls, PVC pipe, and electronics, the group decided to do an impromptu soldering class for the 9 Young Makers that had not yet learned to solder. We built the Radio Shack Flashlight kits (thanks again to Radio Shack for their donation of the kits!) and then spent the next 20 minutes seeing spots as they were all tested :)     We also […]

  The FamiLAB Young Makers program is having its next meeting on Thursday, January  26th from 7pm to 9pm at FamiLAB. We will be discussing Orlando Mini Maker Faire 2012, and how our Young Makers can participate and show off their creations. There is no cost for this program or class, but an RSVP email is required due to limited space – please send it to youngmakers@familab.org Check out the FamiLAB Young Makers page for more information on the Young Makers program. If you haven’t already signed up for the […]

This month, our Intro to Soldering class was held our new space!  We made Minty Boost kits, and for the second month in a row, no one was injured! Special thanks to Da3v, waterbury, f00bard, and Matt for their help with organizing, teaching, and taking pictures!

Tonight at the first Micro Monday of 2012, we learned the basics of I2C communication using the Arduino Uno and the TC74 I2C temperature sensor. Mack (f00bard) led us through the introduction and demo using a Bus Pirate to show how the I2C device communicates across the wire. The readings came back quickly, and we were able to measure the temperature of FamiLAB using our I2C sensors. Pretty toasty in the classroom that night at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. There were a couple hiccups with the I2C address of the sensors; […]

With a lot more space to work recently, Chris Purola and Tony Morris have been working on the 3D printers.  Chris’ printer, Breepbroop, now has solid state relay controlled heated bed with a 115v heater pad for heat.  It’ll also have the hot-end moved to a cartridge heater as soon as we get a heater block to throw it in. The other 3D printer, Phineas, Ians makergear prusa is also making lots of headway.  While there were some connector issues causing the hot end to heat whenever it felt like […]

    From my RaisingGeeks blog: How to turn this stuff into a portable drum kit… Background: When I was at Maker Faire Bay Area this summer (already seems like a very long time ago!) I met the guys from Spikenzielabs when I purchased my Solder:Time watch. We also purchased a POVARD for my older son who was with me, and purchased the Drum Kit Kit AI (AI = All Inclusive) aka DKKAI for my younger son as a present. He has an electronic drum set and takes drum lessons, but wanted a drum kit that he […]