Potential MakerSpace Projects

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Please add some of the projects you'd be interested in making at the MakerSpace! It's best if you can link to a site describing the idea more. Just put things in under whichever header you think is best.

If you see something you like on here, send a message to the mailing list, post an initiative in the forums, or consider creating a wiki page with additional content. If its on here, it means someone else is interested in working on it too!

Electronics

Radio

  • Software Defined Radio - for use with GNU Radio
  • Decode some of the non-analog data streams on FM radio
  • Experiment with HopeRF modules
    • RFM22-S2 SMD Wireless Transceiver
    • custom packet protocols
    • use as a constant tunable Local Oscillator for spectrum analyzer or wide-band down converters
    • possibly use with SDR either as tunable oscillator, test signal generator, or whatever
  • spy radios
    • two way radios that fit into chapstick tubes
    • use a cell phone earphone/mic head set
    • dial on the bottom of the tube turns radio on and off and adjusts volume
    • take the cap off and plug the headset into an exposed jack
    • button on headset switches between transmit and receive
    • simple to do with just sending morse code, but voice is desirable
    • possibly built into other cool things.
  • Web based GNU Radio Transceiver[11] with USRP1[12]
  • Traffic receiver (from municipal nodes)
  • Phased array antenna[13]
  • APRS node[14]
  • Radio telescope (maybe start a hackerspace SETI array)
  • Amateur radio link between hackerspaces

Electro-mechanical

  • Robots - like these guys make
  • Autonomous RC nitro car
  • Digitally controlled microscope w/ "HD" camera
  • Digitally controlled laser "lightshow"
  • Pan/Tilt control for cameras
  • Laser graffiti
    • Basically a laser vector projector tied to a Wacom tablet
    • Software turns user input into vectors that the laser then traces quickly to 'draw' on a building
    • Look up 'graffiti research labs' for some of their work
  • Blimps
    • UAV blimps
      • Project to have a UAV blimp follow a QR code on an RC car, a person, a bicyclist, and ultimately, a car)
      • GPS enabled
      • Solar powered
      • travel from a source to a destination automated, by utilizing a chase car w/ manual override, successfully.

Microcontrollers

  • Arduino + Android
  • Arduino + Chumby
  • Digitally controlled water heater thermostat
  • Digitally controlled, web-based HVAC thermostat
  • Open sourced Shop/Home automation/reporting/control on the cheap
  • Digitally controllable terrarium

Computers

  • High performance cluster (MPI, Kerrighed, etc.)
  • PBX based on Asterisk [15]
  • Video Wall
    • wall of analog TVs arranged in a grid
    • each TV displays a live video feed from other hackerspaces
    • TVs on digital control so they turn off if no feed is available
    • some sort of shared collaboration white board method?

Video Games

Arts & Crafts

  • Leathercraft
  • Woodworking
  • Brass etching
  • Glass work (colored glass, etching, etc.)
  • Art car (YES! Ed is interested in anything art-o-motive)
  • Mold creation and casting. plaster, resin, sandstone, ice, foam, wax.

Fabric/fashion/sewing

Photography

Clocks

  • Mechanical laser cut clocks
  • Nixie tube clocks
  • LED shadow clocks (like these)
  • Combination nixie tube / mechanical / shadow clocks !!!
    • Nixie tubes for the date
    • Mechanical for the minute and hour hands
    • Shadow second hand
  • Wireless time synchronization with NTP servers, WWV, or GPS

Tools

Alternative Energy and Environmental change

Social Change

  • Update the old Encouraging Women in Linux to an Encouraging Women in Hackerspaces document
  • Host collaborative meeting with Spark Club to talk about makerspace projects as social entrepreneurialism
  • Provide hosting and some site management for other specific non-profits

Hacking

  • Routers
  • Cameras
  • Other COTS components
  • Computer Committee's CTF events and Infosec Classes

Group Build Days

  • Tom Servo group build day [18][19][20]
    • Build inexpensive, approximate Tom Servo props
    • Build a screen accurate working Tom Servo robot (like the R2 builders do - never been done I think)
  • TV-B-GONE Kits

Classes

  • Arduino
  • Python
  • Signal Processing
  • PCB Etching
  • Soldering
  • Microcontroller Programming

Other

Annual competitions, events, or days we should participate in

These are things which happen every year. There's no need for us to participate in every event every year but these events could provide good motivation to finish and showcase relevant hackerspace projects.

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