Special Event at OMG – May 28th, 7pm – Paint and Pizza!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kevin

I am honored to announce that the website, Instructables.com, has contact Omaha Maker Group and asked us to participate in their inaugural “Instructables Build Nights”!

The idea for Build Nights is that Instructables picks a topic and sends supplies/materials to select Makerspaces for their use in creating an event around that topic. And just to make it more enjoyable, they kick in some cash for pizza, too! All we have to do in return (in addition to hosting the event) is produce 3-4 new Instructables to their website. Our Instructables don’t even have to be about the topic, though that certainly helps. And as long as we tag/link Omaha Maker Group in our Instructables (more details on how to do that later), we get credit. If we hit the 3-4 mark, we qualify to participate in future Build Nights. If we manage 10 Instructables, we could be looking at a new laser cutter, new 3D printer, electronics kit, or more!

The topic for May is conductive paint. You may have seen the new paint pens at Radio Shack from Bare Conductive. These pens allow you to “draw” an electronic circuit. The paint cleans with soapy water, so if you don’t like your circuit, just wash it away and start a new one.

Here’s a link to their website, so you can start getting some ideas: http://www.bareconductive.com/

And here is a link to some Instructables that have already been submitted for Bare Conductive paint, again to give you some ideas: http://www.instructables.com/group/bareconductive/

Since this is our first Build Night, and the first time we have really talked about Instructables, I will be sure to send out information over the next couple of weeks to give you an introduction to making an Instructable, what constitutes a “quality” Instructable, and how to link your Instructable to OMG. At any time, please email me if you have questions.

The Bare Conductive Build Night will take place at The Makery on May 28th. Doors will open by 6:00pm, and the event will kick off at 7:00. We will have pizza from Varisty/Roman Coin, but please BYOB (and any snacks you might want). Hope to see you there!

Straw Tower Contest – Results

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Kevin

As part of the recent OMGWTFBBQ festivities9, a contest was held, pitting the forces of gravity against the weight of cold hard cash (pennies, to be specific). The goal of the contest was to use soda straws to support as much currency as possible in as high of a position as possible, thus racking up the most “inch-cents” of score.

As it turns out, we ended up going to “foot-dollars” and using weights that weren’t exactly copper, given the engineering of some of the entries. Check out the results below.

Team	Inches	Cents	Inch-Cents	Foot-Dollars
Brandon	8.25	2898	23908.5	19.92
Stephanie & Cait	8.25	2898	23908.5	19.92
John & Don	11.25	271.5	3054.38	2.55
Claire & Dad	7.5	271.5	2036.25	1.70
Jess & Company	14.25	45	641.25	0.53
Patrick & Travis	19.375	14	271.25	0.23
Ben & Dave	11.5	0	0	0

RedBull Creation 2012 Entry

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Patrick

RedBull Creation challenge entry. It’s a brain-wave game. The players stand on opposite sides with wireless headsets that measure brain waves. One of them presses the big red button on the back, and then as they focus the power of their minds, the arm responds to their brain wave readings, and moves back and forth according to who is focusing best. After 10 seconds the Bullduino (visible at the front in the window) checks whether the pointer is in one of the green scoring zones. If it is still in the yellow zone, it’s a tie and it just returns to center. If it is in one of the green zones the player on that side is the loser, and the ball sprays that player.

Balsa Bridge Bash Results (with movie of stuff breaking)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Travis

Results are in!

After a run up of making throughout the week, the bridge competition began at the Makery last Sunday to test the designs of our participants. In all, there were 9 entries (some last minute).

In short, the rules:

Bridge:

May contain only balsa wood and Titebond 2 wood glue.

Must fit within a 50 x 20 x 10 cm rectangular volume.

May not contain more than 6oz of glue by wet volume.

Must have a smoothish road deck no less than 6cm in width.

- suitable for a HotWheels-style car to easily roll over

Deck ends must contact the upper surface of the test rig support planks.

Deck must have no more than a 10% grade (where grade = 100 * (rise/run))

Deck must accommodate the load plate.

Some part of the load plate must fall across the midpoint of the span.

There are no limits on construction tools or technique.

Scoring:

The load plate is 10 x 5 x 1 cm, and has a loading hook extending from the center of the bottom surface which requires 1 cm annular clearance through and below the bridge deck.

Bridges will be loaded progressively (w/ minimum shock load), starting at 5kg and progressing in 1Kg increments to 10Kg.

Upon reaching the maximum load, the bridge must hold for 1 minute.

- Disputes as to whether a bridge ‘held’ will be resolved by vote

Bridges that fail will be ranked by the weight carried without failure and bridge mass.

Bridges that do not fail will be ranked by the mass of the bridge.

Testing:

The open span between the support planks is 30cm.

The open span is between rectangular, fixed, smooth, level, coplanar planks with a thickness of ~2cm.

The bridge may touch the top or inner surfaces of the supporting planks, but may not touch any other surface, nor be affixed to any surface.

The load plate will support a wire or rod from which the test load will be suspended.

And so, our bridges took to the field. Most, thankfully, were able to take the designated test weight. Ironically, the ones that didn’t pass the test seemed to fail because of over-engineering. The resulting bridges flirted a bit too close to weight limits and efficiency and ultimately couldn’t stand up to the test weight. The results:

As you can see, Dave K emerged victorious, with a design that was the lightest to survive the task of lifting 8kg, and which went on to lift 1452.61% of its own weight. Impressive!

By now you may have worked out that there is a category in the results called “Fail Weight.” Well, we at OMG like to test to the limits of design. Also, we’re all about 8 years old at heart and like to break things, filming the results in slow motion video if at all possible. So, without further ado…every last bridge getting destroyed/max tested to sexy music:

Join us for our next competition, to be held this Sunday! See the forum for details.

Egg Drop Contest – Results

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Kevin

Last Sunday (April 1st) was the first Omaha Maker Group Egg Drop. The competition was much in the same style as the Nerf Gun Mod Contest run last fall; This competition had a lower entry barrier, and thus far greater turnout, with 10 total entries (Eric entered twice). All the eggs survived the drop, but Stephanie was the big winner, with a score that bested the next entrant by a factor of 4. Click through for full results, and a little high-speed video, thanks to Ben. Continue reading →

Nerf Gun Mod Challenge Results!

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Kevin

Last night, the Makery hosted a Nerf Gun Mod contest, previously announced here. We had 5 total entrants, after a few people had things come up at the last minute, and about twice that many spectators.

Appearance

Only Brandon and Eric made an attempt in this category; Brandon did a functional “pseudo-steampunk” mod (with an extended brass barrel and integrated laser sight), while Eric gave his Nightfinder a complete color revamp using Sharpie markers (Which did come off on his hands). Eric won almost unanimously, earning him an extra 10% in the distance competition.

Accuracy

The accuracy contest was run next, in a series of 8 rounds, with a point going to the entrant who could hit a whiteboard (At about 15 feet) closest to the center mark. The entrant with the most points won this category. The contest itself came down to a shootout between Brandon and Dave, (2.5 points each) with Brandon emerging victorious. Eric (2 pts) and Kevin (1 pt).

Distance

This contest measured total distance to rest, thereby including any beneficial or harmful rolling or tumbling that a dart did. A slight accuracy component was involved, in that if a dart went more than 75 feet or so, it had to clear a 5 foot wide doorway. The low ceiling also proved challenging to some contestants, as it limited the amount that a dart could be arced.

Distance was scored as “best of 8 darts”, with each entrant shooting all 8 in succession. Brandon’s was the only dart to clear the doorway, making him the winner. A few darts bounced off the wall, though. Eric’s 10% bonus (2.2 paces, very scientific) was enough to propel him into 3rd place over Dave, leaving the results Brandon, Kevin, Eric, Dave, Patrick.

Conclusion

Overall, Brandon was the supreme winner, having taken first place in both categories. Even with a smaller-than-expected field, everyone involved had a great time. Thanks to all involved for making last night a success! A few photos from the event are below.