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Hardware Hacking Robotics Build

Maker Faire Storms Newcastle 43

Posted by kdawson from the robots-in-the-streets dept.
krou writes "The BBC is reporting on the first Maker Faire in the UK, in Newcastle. The event saw an incredible gathering of tech DIY enthusiasts showing off their robotic wares. Maker Faire is firmly established in the US; the 4th annual running in the Bay Area begins on May 30. The BBC video shows the fire-breathing horse, Rusty, and Titan, an eight-foot tall fully-animated robot that likes scaring kids. Elsewhere, the Faire also had Ian Sharp's physical realization of the Lunar Lander computer game, low-cost multi-touch displays, and one of the oldest-ever case mods, made by veteran computer enthusiast John Honnibal, who also showed off his old over-clocked kit computer. Pictures from the Faire are also on Flickr, and videos on YouTube."
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Maker Faire Storms Newcastle More

Maker Faire Storms Newcastle

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  • I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense.

    • It's taken me years, since the boyhood fascination took hold.

      But, really, I hate fu*cking robots!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Petrushka ( 815171 )

      that sentence makes no sense.

      I think this headline illustrates nicely why Capitalising Every Word In The Headline is not a great idea.

      I mean, if I write

      Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

      you all know what I mean, right? But if I write

      Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo.

      then that's just incomprehensible.

    • In such cases, I usually write "scentences". Fits is much better...

    • What do you mean you don't know about the Yahoo Serious Festival?

      Each year, thousands of pilgrims make their way down to Australia to hold a festival celebrating the film works of Yahoo Serious [imdb.com], huge frizzy wigs are a must, and dressing as your favourite character is ecouraged. You wouldn't believe how many people turn up as Einstein.

      And anyone who can demonstrate the splitting of a beer atom wins 5 kegs of beer.
  • Fire-breathing Horse + Newcastle (the 6-pack variety) = Epic

    • Not a horse!

      A PONY!

      Sounds weak?

      Except that it's 300 FT TALL, AND COVERED IN CHAINSAWS!

      And instead of Newcastle, I want a sixpack of RAWBERRY.

      Adds a little MENERGY to the Epic.

  • Don't forget.. (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Don't forget to pay your $699 licensing fee, you cock-smoking teabaggers!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Philip K Dickhead ( 906971 )

      MOD PARENT UP!

      The poster, tho' wishing to remain anonymous, deserves rightly such an acclaim. His posting is a poetic example of the very thing Dutch artist M.C. Escher had in mind, when once he mused:
      "He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder."

  • Seriously, the only thing worth making at home is beer, or perhaps wine.
    depending on how it goes, it can also have explosive properties, chemical warfare applications, or just really offensive flatulence.

    • You forgot mead. I think that might have all three properties. Three weeks in and it's fermenting as fast as ever.

  • Fantastic (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SteveAstro ( 209000 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @05:17PM (#27233771)

    T'was a very good day. Loads of interesting ideas, and enthusiastic visitors. Hope they do it all again, in Newcastle or elsewhere in the UK.

    Much easier to get to than San Fran.

    Steve

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by OutOfMyTree ( 810249 )

      We had a ball too at the McMADSAT smaller and less-official Maker Faire event in Glasgow on Saturday -- an unfortunate clash. http://mcmadsat.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]

      We definitely need more of these.

      • If I had known about McMadsat I would have been sorely tried deciding which to go to - though Newcastle is 100 miles closer.

        Definitely agree. We need more !

        Steve

  • Skynet starts out as Titan? (Score:4, Funny)

    by PaganRitual ( 551879 ) <splaga&internode,on,net> on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @05:23PM (#27233871)

    It all seems so innocent when all 'it likes' is to scare little kids.

    Then before you know it, it 'would like' to nuke all mankind.

    KILL IT WITH FIRE

  • What Titan? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    All I get is a fucking empty page with a stupid gradient background.

    If it's made in Flash, Java or Silverlight, don't call it a fucking website.

    • Don't worry, you're not missing anything noteworthy. Titan is a guy in a 90lb robot suit, with the most annoying sound effects and cliché soundbites of all time. The top half is animatronic but the legs are human-powered, because one of the hardest things about building a robot is balancing itself upright. Obviously, the pureblood MBA behind this gimmick lacks both the knowledge and patience to design a true bipedal robot. This is the big-money version of putting a bucket on your head.

      If you

      • I saw this at a party about three years ago. It was standing still by the entrance for ages, so I figured it was a robot or even just a model. Once it started moving around and interacting with people, I figured it was a guy in a huge suit.

        Poor chap, he must have stood still and done nothing for about two hours before he got to even move around.

        • I'll do it, if it pays more than this god-forsaken I.T. industry :/

          Or you Americans could do what you always do, and hire illegals for pennies.

  • What about New England? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bitrex ( 859228 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @06:01PM (#27234329)
    I've never understood why there now seems to be so little interest in DIY in the New England area. It used to be at one time we were the "Silicon Valley of the East" - nowadays, unless one is enrolled at MIT and you tell someone you're into DIY electronics around here and you get looked at strangely and comments are made such as "DIY? Hmm. That sounds like something poor people do. Why don't you get a well paid job?" For all of Boston's talk of being a cosmopolitan, hip, trendy cutting-edge city, it's really not unless your definition of being cutting edge is having lots of overpriced bars and nightclubs. Once the college kids are out of town one realizes that this area has very little going for it anymore in regards to technology industries - even cities such as Salt Lake City and Albuquerque are way ahead. I'd love to see a Make event in the Boston area, but I won't hold my breath.
    • Brian Jepson lives in RI. O'Reilly has offices in Cambridge. There's a new hacker space beside the MIT mueseam and also one now in Davis Sq. While the make-style hacker culture has been a little slow to take off in Boston, it's definitely growing and here.

      One thing that holds me personally back in Boston is a lack of space. I have a 180sq foot apartment. There is little room for make stuff, but I still try to make due with the space I have as much as possible. Also that its hard for me to get to places t
  • While the links provided in TFS are nice (and I mean that in the most banal of ways), I really wanted to see the cheap multi-touch displays and get more information about them as well as the first ever case mod - does anyone have links?

    • Personally, I'm just disappointed there aren't any Geordie jokes on /. at all! I shall remedy that:

      Geordie and his marra Tucker Johnson had a big win on the pools. So they decided to go on a World Cruise. After a week at sea, the Captain called the Purser into his cabin to ask what influential people were on board, so he could invite them to his table. "Sir", said the Purser, "we have four film stars, three M.P.'s and two strange gentlemen from the North, who seem to be very wealthy". The Captain bade him t

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by krou ( 1027572 )
      Check the first YouTube video [youtube.com] at about 9:00 for the case mod and John Hobbibal's compukits. I've only just discovered his homepage [gifford.co.uk], and he has a Compukit UK101 page [gifford.co.uk], with a photo [gifford.co.uk] of his Compukit 101.

    • Does this help at all ?

      http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/1731/ [nuigroup.com]

      Steve

  • I hope Newcastle Brown Ale was served, it's my favorite English brew.
  • As the creator (aka Iain Sharp) of physical Lunar Lander you might find this [youtube.com] a better link.

    Very nice event up in Newcatle, but exhausting!

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/makerfaire_uk/3355610023/ [flickr.com]

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/makerfaire_uk/3355610023/ [flickr.com]

    We had a ton of fun. The physical lunar lander game was really excellent, and Paka's horse was a terrifying lump of lumbering metal - really one of the most impressive animal robots I've ever seen. Great times.

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