Hardware Innovation Workshop kicks off the run-up to Maker’s Faire

Maker’s Faire can probably best be described as the ultimate DIY electronics show. Held at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds, the event is a huge science fair for the general public, where Do-It-Yourselfers take center stage and roam around unleashed (usually on their segways), wearing propeller beanies and flashy LED pins.

Atmel will be attending the festivities, so be sure to check us out at booth #625 where we’ll have MakerBot demos and an “IoTorium” – an emporium of awesome Internet of Things devices. We’ll also be showcasing PuzzleBox’s brain-controlled helicopters, alongside the cool riders from Faraday Bikes, smart watches and hackable Hexbugs.

In the meantime, we thought you’d enjoy a quick rundown of the Hardware Innovation Workshop, which kicked off the Maker Fair festivities last night. A number of startups were on the premises showing off their impressive wares, including Spark Devices, Dash Robotics, Nano Satisfi and Lockitron.

The Spark Core is an Arduino-compatible, Wi-Fi enabled, cloud-powered development platform designed to simplify the development of Internet-connected hardware.

The device, which recently tipped up on Kickstarter, managed to hit its initial funding goal within 75 minutes and has thus far raised $276,420 – with 17 days to go.

Meanwhile, Dash is the world’s first foldable, programmable, origami robot that you can build yourself. Inspired by nature, the lightweight Dash runs like the world’s fastest animals and fits in the palm of your hand.

NanoSatisfi strives to offer affordable access to space exploration with the baseline ArduSat (Arduino – satellite). Essentially, Nano Satisfi is the first open platform allowing the general public to design and run their own space-based applications, games and experiments – all while steering onboard cameras and snapping pictures.

The baseline model of the satellite uses Arduino Nanos mounted on a custom PCB, although the NanoSatisfi crew is also eyeing the most recent Arduino models like Leonardo, Due and Megas.

And last, but certainly not least, the aptly named Lockitron allows users to secure their doors from anywhere in the world with their smartphones, while allowing instant access to be shared with family and friends via a two-button app.

Lockitron can be controlled by API endpoints, or programmed directly thanks to its Arduino-compatible ATMega microcontroller.