Weekly Update 2011.09.26

Greetings Thinkers,

On Tuesday, [Matthew Hellmer] handed out Arduinos. With the help of [Matt Turner], the two made some RGB LEDs with resistors pre-soldered as gifts for those that waited and put up with a rather disorganized course on Monday.

On Thursday, [Rafael Negron] and [Gary Leutheuser] starting using the spare parts in their Boe-Bot kit with their new Arduinos. [Scott Tanner] and [Danny Sarmiento] worked on fixing the MakerBot after it ripped a wire off of a coupling on the x-axis stepper motor. Annoyingly, one of the wires for the extruder desoldered during reassembly. This is a common problem due to the constant reheating the extruder undertakes. We like seeing people get to work on projects in this lab, and these four did a great job of showcasing that drive.

[Rafael Negron] and [Gary Leutheuser] using Boe-Bot parts for Arduinos.

[Scott Tanner] and [Danny Sarmiento] working on the MakerBot

On Saturday, [Jack Ritchey] came in to the lab and continued work on his home made Boe Bot. Not content with following a kit, [Jack Ritchey] has been learning how to program AVR chips on his own (specifically thte ATMega 328 used in Arduino Unos) as well as working with improvised parts as much as possible. A very impressive project for a freshman and we look forward to seeing more from [Jack Ritchey] as both he and the ideaLab grow.

[Jack Ritchey] and his homemade Boe-Bot.

Sunday was a little slow, which allowed [Matthew Hellmer] to work on course materials for current and future courses. [Matthew Hellmer] also resoldered the extruder on the MakerBot. We are now finding that it heats up in far less time (~00:07:15 as opposed to the old 00:19:24 we were used to). However, the extruder appears to have a poor connection to the main board and this will be corrected soon. [Joseph Ocasio] came in to the lab because he heard we had soldering irons and he needed one to fix the audio jack on his electric guitar. It is great to see students using the lab to gain experience in fixing their own equipment.

[Joseph Ocasio] and his now working electric guitar.

Interesting things this week:

• We finally found out how to accept donations, and that information has been added to the FAQ.
• [Matthew Hellmer], [John Ulrich], and [John Cope] met with a representative from CORKCICLE (a local company with an innovative gadget to cool wine). They would like our help in making a Rube Goldberg Machine for a commercial. This is a great resume builder and if students would like to help, they are more than welcomed to. We can talk about suggestions and what students can do during lab hours on Tuesday.
• [Alex Stringfellow], the new manager for the Arboretum, wants the ideaLab to work on projects for the Arboretum. Check out the projects subforum for some things to work on if they interest you.
• New courses have been created, with materials being added as fast as we can test them. If there's something you'd like to see taught in the ideaLab, leave a comment either here or the forum.