Success! Moat Boat Paddle Battle at Maker Faire Bay Area

Mandy Stultz

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The Moat Boat Paddle Battle at Maker Faire Bay Area was a huge success, thanks to the hard work, prep and testing of Ocean State Maker Mill members, pre-show articles and at-show prep from Make:, awesome sponsorship and generous donations from SeeMeCNC, and the help of several amazing friends to photograph, maintain crowd control and keep the racing troughs in tip top shape!

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With two divisions – Youth and Open Class – and 26 total racer entries, competition was fast and furious!  Youth Class first prize winners with their paddleboat “Booooat” went home with a SeeMeCNC Orion 3D printer, while the winner of the Open Class with boat “Zippercraft” went home with a SeeMeCNC Rostock Max kit.

3D Printed Boat Races3D Printed Boat Races

Be sure to check out our Facebook photo album for more action shots, and stay tuned for further announcements as we work to roll the Moat Boat Paddle Battle to future Maker Faires!  The Moat Boat Paddle Battle was lucky enough to receive TWO Editor’s Choice Awards from Make – onward and upward from here!

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Huge thanks to friends of Ocean State Maker Mill:  Kacie Hultgren, Matt Griffin, HackPittsburgh’s Chris Yohe, and Tom and Holly Burtonwood – all key players in helping Matt & Mandy Stultz of Ocean State Maker Mill keep the race crowds in check at the faire!

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Moat Boat Paddle Battle Prizes Announced!

Mandy Stultz

mbpb round

We know you’ve been waiting – and here’s the announcement!  Awesome prizes abound for the winners of the Moat Boat Paddle Battle – have you entered yet?  If not, enter here!  Remember, we can’t accept walkups the day of the event – you MUST pre-register!

Both Youth Category (Youth Closed 12 and Under and Youth Closed 13 to 18) winners will receive a SeeMeCNC Orion Delta Printer – with a heated build surface, multi-material capability, and stand-alone printing functionality!

If you’ve signed up for more adventures on the “high seas” with the Open Class, your prize offers more adventure as well!  The winner of the Open Class will receive a SeeMeCNC Rostock Max kit for at-home build fun!

For allllll of the details: MoatBoatPaddleBattle.com

Rules to follow: General Rules

Download paddleboat templates to get your inspiration flowing: Sample Boats

Enter now: Entry Form

The Moat Boat Paddle Battle is brought to you (and Maker Faire Bay Area) by the awesome folks at SeeMeCNC, Make and of course Ocean State Maker Mill!

We’ll see you at the starting line!

Moat Boat Paddle Battle!

Mandy Stultz

mbpb round

Dunnn dunnnn dunnnn daaaa daaaaaa!   Have you heard?  Maybe you saw it on the Make Blog, maybe you were lucky enough to stumble onto the top secret web site, maybe you’ve been hanging out with us at Ocean State Maker Mill and were in from the beginning.

But maybe, just maybe, you haven’t heard about the awesomeness of the Moat Boat Paddle Battle.  In that case, here’s the scoop!

The Moat Boat Paddle Battle (MBPB) is a new competition coming to Maker Faire Bay Area, on May 16th & 17th.  Contestants (could be you!) will race their own 3D printed paddle boats against others, drag-race style!  Boats can be of your very own design, or you can use one of our sample boats.

Not sure what these paddleboats look like?  Our intro video shows you the scoop.

Hope to see you there for the competition!  Be sure to enter ahead of time to participate – sorry we won’t be able to accept walkups.  Prizes will be announced soon, and they’re going to be AWESOME!

The Moat Boat Paddle Battle is brought to you by Ocean State Maker Mill, Make and the rad folks at SeeMeCNC!

Robot Block Party

Mandy Stultz

Robot Block Party

Robot Block Party is today (Saturday, April 11) at Brown University!  We’re busy setting up this morning to show off some of our 3d printers and 3d printed projects.  Stop by the 3DPPVD / Ocean State Maker Mill booth and say hello!  We’ll be at the ready to answer any questions you may have on 3d printing in general, 3d printers, 3d printing materials, 3d design software, and 3d printed projects.

Hope to see you there!

For more info: http://risfnet.weebly.com/robot-block-party.html

A Tale of Two Scanners

Spencer
Ciclop scanner with OSMM sheild
BQ’s Ciclop 3D scanner with OSMM stepper shield.

Early in January, I ran across two different articles about open source 3D scanners. After discussing this with the other members of the Mill, I decided to build them and to prove that they were in fact open source. In the process, working on both of them let me fill gaps from one with info from the other.

Atlas 3D / FreeLSS

This scanner uses a Raspberry Pi (and Raspberry Pi Camera) to do: the imaging, user interface (via a web page), the math (including point cloud to mesh) and to control the A4988 stepper driver board and lasers.

The Kickstarter campaign lets you buy the scanner, the kit, or just have access to the hardware design info. The software is freely available.

Using the information provided on the FreeLSS site, I ordered some parts and wired up a solderless breadboard,  connected it to a Raspberry Pi and did my best to approximate the hardware with LEGO bricks.

I’m still working on this one. [Stay tuned.]

Ciclop / Horus

This scanner uses an Arduino to control the A4988 stepper driver and the lasers. The UI and math are all done on your PC (not (yet) your Mac, but yes, Linux!). The imaging is through a Logitech UVC webcam.

The exact Arduino and shield are not yet available. In the US we may end up paying a premium for these European boards.

BQ released a complete Bill of Materials along with 3D printable STL files, laser cuttable parts, schematics, etc. The software supports Arduino UNO, not just their own Arduino. I deciphered the schematics and borrowed some hardware from the Atlas 3D (instead of FETs, I repeated the Darlington array chip as the laser driver). See the results below.

I ordered all the hardware, printed all the parts, and put it all together. I wasn’t able to get the same exact laser, and the mounts as designed weren’t particularly aimable. So I made some changes. And it worked!

To be continued…

OSMM Scanner Shield

 

Arduino Day 2015 at OSMM, 3/28 @ 1:00

Mandy Stultz

arduinoday15_banners_720x300

 

Join Ocean State Maker Mill for an Arduino Day Open House!

Come see demos of various member-made Arduino projects and other Arduino-related technologies.  Find out more about Arduinos and how to use them, brainstorm project ideas, or ask questions to jump start your own projects or get past a tough point.

We’ll see you Saturday, 3/28 from 1:00 to 5:00 at 80 Fountain Street, #318,  Pawtucket RI.

FirstBuild Countertop Challenge!

Mandy Stultz

Kurt Hamel micro-Block

Ocean State Maker Mill’s very own Kurt Hamel is in the running for the FirstBuild Countertop Challenge with his micro-BLOCK!

The ‘micro-BLOCK’ is a tribute to the micro-KITCHEN and offers an organized, compact, and aesthetic way to keep your most important cooking and baking instruments easily accessible right on the countertop.

Download the files to print your own, and if you think it’s amazing, cast your vote for Kurt’s micro-BLOCK to win at https://firstbuild.com/kurthamel/micro-block/overview/

Spring Has Sprung – Let the Events Begin!

Mandy Stultz

rainbow vases

* Photo courtesy Kurt Hamel

The first day of Spring brought us snow… but never fear, rainbows AND maker events are on the way!  Here’s a quick list of upcoming events – either hosted by Ocean State Maker Mill, or where you can find and meet OSMM team members!

* March 20 – 22: Midwest RepRap Festival – Our very own Matt Stultz is in attendance, see if you can find him in the crowd to pick his brain!

* March 28: Arduino Day – stop by the OSMM workshop for an Arduino-inspired open house!  Meet OSMM members and see projects utilizing Arduinos.  Find out how to get started on your own Arduino projects.

* April 8: 3DPPVD and OSMM host a ColorFabb and 3D Hubs Workshop – Learn more about ColorFabb 3D Printing filaments – including their new carbon fiber filament.  Find out best practices and use with FDM printers.  Purchase a ticket to receive a ColorFabb sample pack!

* April 11: Robot Block Party – Stop by the OSMM booth to meet team members, see cool projects, and talk shop!

* May 2 – 3: Printrbot Build Party!  We’ll have a very limited number of tickets available for a group Printrbot Metal Simple build.  Saturday, build your new Printrbot, Sunday learn to use it!  Stay tuned for additional info

* May 15 – 17: Maker Faire Bay Area – OSMM is teaming up with Make for an exciting event you’ll want to “race” to!  Fire up those rubberband engines…

* September 26 – 27: Maker Faire New York – plans are still in early stages, but expect a crew!

We hope to see you soon!

Pi Day Open House

Matthew Stultz

PiDayThis Saturday, (3/14/15) we will be hosting an open house to celebrate Pi Day with Raspberry Pi demos and homemade pie snacks. Come see demos from OSMM members, and bring your own work to show off to others. We will be kicking things off at noon on Saturday and will be continuing the fun most of the day. This event is free and open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Raspberry Pi.