Monthly Archives: April 2011
AwesomeShop: Tron Bikes – Week 4: Bike Safety Lights
This week, in the Tron bikes class, we made simple blinky LED circuits for bicycle safety lights. We also introduced the nature of prototyping through beard-boards, proto-boards and engineering schematics. I see much more electrical mayhem in our future!
OpenShop: Walking the Belle Isle bridge
The weather was so beautiful today that all of us thought it would be best to get out of the basement and into the cool spring air. So, we decided to walk the Belle Isle bridge. This was a great … Continue reading
OpenShop: Electronics Rescue! Part 1
We found a discarded stereo at Recycle Here and I thought it might be a good candidate for an Electronics Rescue! Like many things found at the recycling center, it turns out that the stereo worked just fine. It simply … Continue reading
AwesomeShop: Play With Electricity – Week 4: Solar Cells
Bring on the SUN!!! This week we introduced our Makers to solar cells – what they are, how they work, and then of course some hands-on experimentation. Unfortunately it was a bit chilly and cloudy outside, so our “sun” consisted … Continue reading
AwesomeShop: Tron Bikes – Week 3: Bike Mechanics Pt.2
We talked a lot about different parts of the bike last week, but this week it was time to put the rest of the bicycles together. We reviewed brakes, then moved into drive trains and other accessories.
AwesomeShop: Play with Electricity – Week 3: Batteries
By far the most fun class I have ever been a part of! This week in Play with Electricity, Jeff showed everyone how to make simple batteries out of fruit, copper nails and zinc nails! Also, as a special ending … Continue reading
OpenShop: Making Hula Hoops
A few girls found some plastic tubing in the workshop, and asked for help transforming them into hula hoops. After sacrificing a few ball point pens (for stiffness) and some hot glue and tape, we had ourselves a hula hoop … Continue reading