35 GIFs that perfectly express your feelings about Maker Faire

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Happy Maker Week! 

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With Maker Week now underway, Atmel is getting ready to take center stage at the Maker Faire New York on September 26-27th. Undoubtedly, this year will yet again be amazing as an expected 830+ Makers and 85,000+ attendees head to the New York Hall of Science to see the latest DIY gizmos and gadgets, as well as AVR Man in the flesh.

Once again a Silversmith Sponsor of the event, Atmel will be shining the spotlight on Arduino and a range of other Maker Movement-driven startups. Among the names you will find inside our booth include Arduboy, Keyboardio, Qtechknow, Microduino, Modulo, Zippy Robotics and Bosch. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to walk away with an Arduino shield and adapter board, along with some other flair.

Ah… there’s just so much to show and tell! And with the final countdown to Maker Faire on, what better way to capture and convey all those emotions than with these GIFs?

When you realize that Maker Faire is only days away.

When you wake up on the morning of the show.

When you get stuck in traffic en route to the New York Hall of Science.

When you spot the faire grounds entrance in the distance.

When you finally make it through the ticket line and entry gate.

When Arduino announces a new Atmel powered board.

When you see a 3D printer in action for the very first time.

When someone stops by your demo.

When people can’t stop talking about your project.

When you are given free sample kits.

When you realize there’s just so much to see. Where to even begin?

When you spot Massimo Banzi.

When… wait a minute… is that AVR Man?

When you come across a life-sized game of Mouse Trap.

When you proudly show off your new swag.

When you see a fellow Maker dressed in Steampunk.

When you’re inspired to go launch a Kickstarter campaign.

When you appear in MAKE: Magazine.

When you receive an Editor’s Choice Ribbon.

When you realize the end of the day is near.

When you remember there’s still Sunday.

When you’re surprised by the heat of a 69-foot-tall fire-breathing dragon.

When you can’t take your eyes off of the Coke Zero and Mentos demo.

When you arrive at the unbelievably long line for lunch.

When you can’t pronounce a project’s name.

When you prepare to do battle in the Game of Drones.

When you control an object with your mind.

When you learn a eight-year-old was the mastermind behind that project.

When the “State of Arduino” address is about to begin.

When you meet new Maker friends.

When the Power Racing Series brings your Mario Kart dream to life.

When a panel discussion sparks your curiosity.

When you find out that an Atmel chip is inside that gadget.

When you realize that Maker Faire is really coming to an end.

When you finally get home after an eventful weekend of making.

See you all in New York! For those unable to attend, don’t fret. Simply follow @Atmel on Twitter for all the latest happenings from the Faire. We’ll even be streaming some of it live to you via Periscope Fairescope!

ATmega328 MCU drives this LazerBlade

Designed by Darkly Labs, the LazerBlade is an entry-level laser cutter and engraver kit targeted at Makers, artists and DIY hobbyists.

“LazerBlade is a precision device that can both cut and engrave many materials. It’s compact, quiet, portable and handsome enough to sit on your desk while packing an amazing punch for its price,” a Darkly Labs rep wrote in a recent Kickstarter post.

“You will be able to cut or engrave with vector graphics, CAD designs or even photos. [You can] work with the LazerBlade ready software bundle offered as part of this campaign, or use your favorite program.”

The LazerBlade features a custom designed main-board (controller) and high-efficiency laser diode driver, with an Atmel ATmega328 MCU running modified GRBL software.

Additional key hardware specs and features include:

• Two watt, M140 5.6mm 445nm laser diode
• Three element glass laser lens
• Custom designed, fan assisted cooling system to protect laser diode, optics and eyes
• Available in A4 and A3 sizes
• Variable laser power control, 0% to 100% (not just on/off)
• Stores vertically when not in use, with included stand
• 110-240V AC Mains / 12V 2A DC Power Adaptor (included)
• Step-by-step illustrated assembly instructions
• A special anodized aluminium focus tool
• One pair of laser safety goggles
• 110-240V AC mains / 12V 2A DC power adapter
• USB cable

“To achieve its professional feel and performance, we chose to make the chassis from an industrial plastic that is very strong and will not be susceptible to warping from moisture.
 All the parts are designed and manufactured to fit together precisely, [so there is] no need for drilling or special tools [and it can be] easily assembled within two hours,” the rep explained.

“We used a combination of ‘off the shelf’ components along with a custom designed main board and laser driver. [Meaning], we keep the electronic’s cost down by tailoring features specifically for our requirements and design in expandability for the future.”

On the software side, the LazerBlade is fully compatible with industry standard Gcode, offering Makers easy access to numerous open-source and free packages to create cutting files, such as Inkscape.

In addition, Darkly Labs is supported by Vectric with Cut2D-Laser and John Champlain with PicLaser-Lite. Both packages – ready to use with the LazerBlade – are included at no charge to Kickstarter kit backers.

Interested in learning more? You can check out LazerBlade’s official Kickstarter page here.

ToyFabb 3D online shop opens virtual doors

ToyFabb – a specialized online market for 3D printed  toys – has opened its virtual doors for DIY Makers, hobbyists and professional designers.

According to ToyFabb rep Alex Scmid, the online shop offers a wide variety of services for beginners and expert designers alike, all while acting as a secure marketplace to connect Makers with consumers.

“Hobby and professional designers are provided with free accounts to present and sell their creations,” he explained.

“[Meanwhile], consumers can purchase the 3D toy designs offered and produce them with their 3D printers.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, analysts at Canalys say the 3D printing market will hit $16.2 billion by 2018 – representing an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.7% from 2013 to 2018.

“This is a market with enormous growth potential now that the main barriers to up-take are being addressed. Advances in technology are yielding faster print times and enabling objects to be printed in greater combinations of materials, colors and finishes,” Canalys senior analyst Tim Shepherd confirmed.

“Crucially, prices are also falling, making the technology an increasingly feasible option for a broad variety of enterprise and consumer uses, restricted only by computer aided design competencies and printer availability – both of which are set to improve significantly.”

DIY quadcopter adoption takes off with Arduino

Analysts at IDTechEx recently reported that the starting point for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is rarely military or law enforcement. Rather, it lies at the other extreme – with DIY hobbyists and Makers.

HobbyKing LCD flight board, powered by Atmel’s ATmega644PA MCU

“As the sophisticated sensor systems in mobile phones migrate to hobbyists’ microcontroller boards, such as [Atmel-based] Arduino boards used in their homemade quadcopters, their uses rapidly widen,” an IDTechEx explained.

Self-learning ‘copter, powered by Atmel’s ATmega644 MCU
 (Cornell University)
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“Professional quadcopters will also profit from the fact that over one million Arduino boards have been sold in a very short time to quadcopter hobbyists and the designers of wearable technology and Internet of Things (IoT) nodes.”

According to the analyst, equivalent boards sold directly out of China are also getting useful volume headed towards billions each year for IoT, driving down quadcopter costs.

“The last six months has seen many new applications for pure-electric quadcopters. [For example], Amazon proposed delivery of mail by quadcopter, others will use them for aircraft inspection, even indoors and yet others have new agricultural uses,” the analyst continued.

Peter Christian, a geographical information science graduate student, stands with the hexacopter being used to survey California landscapes. The hexacopter is a cheaper and safer way to get photos of California. Photo by Gavin McIntyre / Xpress

“[Meanwhile], easyJet, one of UK’s largest airlines, works with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory to make variants that inspect its 220 airliners. These quadcopters will be programmed to scan and assess easyJet’s planes, reporting back to engineers on any damage which may require further inspection or maintenance work.”

Hex ‘copter, powered by Atmel’s ATMega32u4 MCU.

Last, but certainly not least, the analyst noted that professional quadcopters cost many times the price of toy versions – so they may one day become the bigger market and certainly the most profitable and many will form part of the Internet of Things.

“Advanced military capabilities such as intelligent swarming of small electric craft will also migrate to the civilian sector,” the rep added.

ATmega328P-based TinkerBots hit Wired’s Gadget Lab

TinkerBots is an Atmel-powered (ATmega328P MCU) building set that enables Makers and hobbyists of all ages to easily create an endless number of toy robots that can be brought to life without wiring, soldering or programming.

http://vimeo.com/91590326

Indeed, TinkerBots’ specialized “Power Brain” and kinetic modules twist and snap together with other TinkerBots pieces – and even LEGO bricks – adding movement and interest to whatever sort of robot a Maker can imagine and build.

The centerpiece of the TinkerBots building set is a square, red “Power Brain” module (approximately 1.5”x1.5”x1.5”) that contains Atmel’s ATmega328P microcontroller. This module is tasked with providing wireless power and data transmission to kinetic modules such as motors, twisters, pivots and grabbers.

Kinematics launched its official TinkerBots Indiegogo campaign a few weeks ago, with the building set garnering coverage from a number of prominent publications, including Wired’s Gadget Lab.

“Once you snap together a contraption, you can program it in a few different ways. By pressing the ‘record’ button on the Powerbrain brick and twisting the robot’s motorized parts, it will remember those movements and replicate them when you hit the ‘play’ button. And if you want to step it up and write your own code, you can also program your robots via the Arduino IDE,” writes Wired’s Tim Moynihan.

“TinkerBots started out as an Indiegogo campaign, and it blew past its $100,000 goal in less than a week; its funding now is nearly double that amount, with about a month left to go in its campaign. You can preorder various kits now, and prices vary depending on the number and type of pieces in each set. For $160, you get a basic car-building set with the Powerbrain, motors, wheels, a twister joint and some other bricks. There’s an animal-themed set for $230, a grabber claw set for $400 and $500 gets you a fully loaded kit with bricks to build anything.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the official Indiegogo TinkerBots page here.

Yes, open source hardware is taking flight!

Writing for OpenSource.com, Jason Baker of Red Hat notes that one of the best open source drone communities he’s come across is DIY drones – a site that offers forums, videos and succinct how-tos, along with an online store selling kits and components.

“DIY drones, among other things, is the host of the [Atmel-based] Ardupilot project, an Arduino-based system to help you get off the ground with a hardware, software, and firmware solution for flying nearly anything,” Baker explains.

Mustang P-47D. Image Credit: Aaron Manee, DIYDrones.com

“Versions exist for everything from fixed-wing aircraft to copters with nearly any number of propellors, and even a version for rovers for land-lovers not quite ready to take flight.”

As Baker notes, quadcopters and related vehicles are great if you want to control a flight that can be measured in meters.

“But what if you want to touch the edge of space? Not surprisingly, there’s open hardware for that too. Two of your best options for flying a little bit higher on a consumer budget are balloons and hobbyist rockets,” he says.

Image Credit: Wilfred Swinkels, DIYDrones.com

“There are plenty of instructions out there for you to try re-creating this feat on your own. Some require advanced hardware skills, but what sensors and what tracking system you include are as much a matter of your own skills and interests as anything else.”

According to Baker, open source model rocketry might be another platform of choice for DIY Makers and hobbyists, as it offers fairly easy entry and re-entry options.

“It’s an exciting time for open source flight. Even the US miliitary has recently made a decision to open source some of the work they are doing, in coordination with the Open Source Software Institute,” Baker adds. “Whether you’re an open hardware pro, or someone like me who is just getting started, there are plenty of options for diving in.”

Interested in learning more? The full text of “Open Source Hardware takes Flight” can be read here on OpenSource.com, while the DIY Drones homepage can be accessed here. Readers may also want to check out our recent article on the PAVA 9, a sleek ATmega328P-based tracker.

Newark debuts new Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained board

Newark element14 has debuted a new Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained evaluation kit – a low-cost, fast prototyping and evaluation platform for microprocessor-based design.

The board, which is built around Atmel’s SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 processor-based MPU, is packed with a rich set of ready-to-use connectivity and storage peripherals, along with Arduino shield-compatible expansion headers for easy customization. In addition, the platform is a perfect target for headless Android projects, while a Linux distribution and software package facilitates rapid software development.

“Our partnership with Newark element14 on the development and manufacturing of this kit and its first set of expansion boards enables engineers from all communities to build applications requiring rapid prototyping and evaluation for their MPU designs,” said Jacko Wilbrink, Sr. Marketing Director of Microprocessors, Atmel Corporation.

“The new board offers features such as mid-range graphical user interfaces, capacitive touch capability, wired and wireless communication, free of charge Linux distribution and QT developer’s kit.”

Meanwhile, David Shen, Chief Technology Officer at Premier Farnell, noted that Atmel’s versatile ARM Cortex-A5 processor-based MPUs neatly balance performance with ultra low power consumption.

“This new Atmel Xplained kit, in addition to our soon-to-be-available expansion boards which will add more capabilities to the SAMA5D3 platform, will be very helpful to professional engineers as well as Makers, hobbyists, educators and students, both within and outside their main employment.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the SAMA5D3 series is ideal for wearable computing and mobile applications where low power and a small footprint are critical. Key SAMA5D3 Xplained features include:

• Fully documented and readily available Cortex-A5 based MPU solution
• Rich set of peripherals, specifically on connectivity
• USB power (no need for power adaptor)
• Flexibility – Arduino-compatible connectors, enabling the user to leverage the extensive Arduino shields ecosystem
• 
Open Source hardware – All design files available; easy to reuse in customer projects
Software package with drivers and examples for bare metal developers
• Qt developers kit and Linux distribution free of charge

The SAMA5D3 Xplained – priced at $79 – is slated to ship in mid-March 2014 from Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 in APAC. You can pre-register for the new Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained board here.

3D printing to hit $5 billion by 2017

World demand for 3D printing is projected to rise more than 20 percent per year, ultimately hitting $5 billion in 2017. While professional uses such as design and prototyping will continue to account for the majority of demand, the most rapid growth will be seen in production and consumer applications.

The Atmel-powered Robox

According to a new report published by the Freedonia Group, 3D printers will increasingly be utilized to manufacture direct production parts and finished goods in a wide variety of applications.

 In the consumer segment, projected price drops in desktop 3D printers (aided by upcoming expiration of patents) will prompt purchases by hobbyists and DIY Makers. Gains will also be driven by growing awareness and interest in 3D printing technologies, while increased adoption of additive production technologies is expected as 3D printing speeds and material quality improves.

In addition, above-average growth is predicted for printing materials, with the rapidly expanding installed base of 3D printers fueling related materials consumption. Plastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA) and nylon were the first types of materials used in 3D printing, remaining the simplest to work with. 

Plastics will continue to account for the majority of materials demand, although faster growth is projected for metals, based on their greater strength and resistance, as well as rapid gains in markets such as aerospace.

Unsurprisingly, some of the fastest growth will be seen in the medical and dental market. Other leading segments for 3D printing products include consumer products (e.g., jewelry, toys, fashion, consumer electronics), automotive and aerospace, with the latter expected to experience above-average growth. 

In terms of geographic growth, the US will remain by far the largest national 3D printing market in the world – accounting for approximately 42 percent of global sales in 2017. In developed areas such as the US and Western Europe, 3D printing market value will be supported by the growing presence of metal-based 3D printers for the production of finished parts, as such systems are significantly more expensive than plastics-based 3D printing systems.

It is important to emphasize that rapid gains are expected in China, where most applications (especially in large markets such as consumer products manufacturing) center around design, sample testing and prototyping. As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, demand in China will also benefit from significant government funding in academic institutions, science and research centers, as well as manufacturing companies.