My friend Chris sent me some photos of this amazing orrery that he comissioned. Created by artist Eugene Sargent, it's a beautiful piece of engineering.

There is a small shaft to the right of the main shaft which turns at one revolution per moon orbit around the earth. The moon orbits smoothly on extremely tiny 2.5mm diameter ball bearings.

We definitely picked made the right decision on the cranking ratio...one fortnight instead of one moon orbit. It’s extremely easy to turn and still gives plenty of planetary motion satisfaction.

Here's a video of its making, filmed by Sarah Moore. Notice the ice caps on the Earth—a nice touch that'll be memorable when the real ones have melted away.

The Orrery has landed - Link

I-Wei sent over a page he put together which details his Crabfu Steamworks experience at Maker Faire 2007, San Francisco.  Check it out!  Link.  (Thanks, I-Wei!)

[Photo source]

Previously:
Crabfu Steamworks, I-Wei Huang
Howto: Draw Steampunk Machines

Roboticist extraordinaire I-Wei Huang (Crabfu Steamworks) was at the Faire showing off his remote-controlled, steam-powered robots and vehicles.  Here is a link to an album of photos I took of I-Wei and the robots he brought to the Faire. 

Previously:
Howto: Draw Steampunk Machines

Over at the Maker Faire there was a life-sized Mousetrap.  Although the ball needed some coaxing down the flight of stairs the first first time I watched, it still managed to work better than its gameboard version from when we were younger.  The second demonstration that I saw flowed flawlessly.

I didn't have a good view so I didn't take a video, but here is a video I found on Youtube taken at the Faire.  This is one of the times where the bowling ball needed some help down the stairs.

Related:
MAKE: Blog: Maker Faire: The Life-Sized Mousetrap

Jason is working at the Hackszine booth this weekend promoting Hackszine.com.  Other Hackers showing off their hacking expertise are the authors of the O'Reilly Hacks series. 

[Pictured:  Jason Striegel and Chris Kohler, author of Retro Gaming Hacks]

Previously:
Electric Giraffe
Tim Hunkin, homemade arcade machines and simulators
We're heading to Maker Faire, San Francisco

Tim Hunkin put together an entertaining presentation yesterday about his arcade full of simulators and other hilarious coin-operated machines that he modded from old arcade machines and exercise equipment. 

Hunkin highlighted these simulators:
Microbreak - "Simply sit on the chair and the carpet tips and rocks as you watch a TV animation of your flight and coach transfer, ending up on a tropical beach. At this point the TV lamp swings up, shining a heat lamp in your face. After soaking in the heat, you’re whisked home again, the whole experience lasting less than 3 minutes."

Quickfit - "Simply watch the animation of Jane Fonda’s aerobics workout video while the couch does the exercises for you - moving every part of your body in time with Jane and her celebrity team. This educational simulator shows the dangers of exercise, with everyone, including Osama Bin Laden and Madonna,  disintegrating through over-exertion in the finale."

Rent-a-Dog - "Simply stand on the treadmill, hold the dog’s lead, and go for a walk, watching the route on the TV in front of you. The dog has his own TV and obviously has his own perspective of the walk."

Mobility Masterclass - Choose your expert level -- 80, 90 or 100 years old -- and try to cross the various lanes of traffic with your walker.

All of the simulators were amazingly creative and inventive, but my personal favorites were the Rent-a-Dog and Microbreak because the video footage viewed on the simulator are of models Hunkin created from photos he had of buildings and people around London. 

Here is a short video of Tim Hunkin showing us how arcade machines work.  [via Makezine]

Flying to England to see his beach-side arcade alone would definitely be worth a trip.

Previously:
Electric Giraffe

Yesterday was a bust for posting live updates from Maker Faire, but today, on the final day of the Faire, I'll be doing some catch-up and bringing you guys up to speed on what's been going on.

The Electric Giraffe is one giant, walking machine that's been getting a lot of attention.

Based on a Tamiya model walking giraffe, the Electric Giraffe is a life sized robotic giraffe based on this small toy's walking mechanism. The 'Raffe actually walks, just like its small scaled design model, but towers at 17 feet tall when its neck is raised. The main frame where people can ride is 8 feet off the ground, providing an impressive viewpoint of the surroundings. The giraffe uses a small 12 horsepower engine burning Propane gas. The engine has no direct connection to the giraffe other than to spin generators that charge the main system batteries. Therefore the machine uses a true hybrid fuel-engine-generator-electric motor design. The engine is not required for the giraffe to power up and start walking. This silent mode of operation for a robotic vehicle is unique and wonderful.

What the description doesn't tell you is that there are sensors on its head that people can pet; The giraffe then says things like, "That tickles."  It's wild to see it walking around the fairgrounds, especially when it's rocking away to the tunes pumping out of the speakers located on its legs. 

Once I get some decent footage of the Electric Giraffe walking around the fairgrounds, I'll post it on BlogCadre.

Jason and I are heading to San Francisco this weekend, May 19 and 20, for Maker Faire at the San Mateo Fairgrounds.  Jason will be representing Hackszine.com over at the O'Reilly Hacks booth for an hour each day so be sure to stop by and say hello if you are going to be at the Faire.

We'll be scoping out the various Makers throughout those two days and posting the highlights, here, on BlogCadre.   Be sure to check back over the weekend!

If you're unfamiliar with Maker Faire check out the Faire's main website and see what's happening at this DIY extravaganza.   400 Makers will be there as well as an expected 40,000 attendees.

Related:
Phillip and Bre from Make on Rocketboom [via meshly]

Over at MAKE, Jason wrote up a getting started guide for putting together the MAKE Daisy MP3 player kit. After 4 hours of assembly and soldering, Jason came out successful with a working MP3 player.

Check it out!

Previously:
iPeep - DIY Security For iSight Equipped Macs, Front Row Hacks