Drumbeat/events/Festival/program/hackspace
A hacker space in a bus in a public square -- learn how to use lasers, print 3d objects and build cool electronics.
The Hackerspace Playground spills outdoors in a public square. Drop by and learn how to make & teach with processing.js, Arduino, a MakerBot and other toys. Hosted by monochrom.
- Contact: Johannes Grenzfurthner [jg at monochrom dot at]
- Team: Johannes Grenzfurthner, Dave "DaddyD" Dempsey, Günther Friesinger, Roland Gratzer, Heather Kelley
- Hosts: monochrom and Dorkbot Vienna
- Proposed 'space' or theme: Hackerspace Playground
- Status: confirmed
Summary
A hacker space in a bus in a public square Learn how to use lasers, print 3D objects and build cool electronics with the locals. Audience: everyone. Plus, fabbers, tinkerers, and the makers of things. Hosted by monochrom.
What do you want to achieve? (goal)
- Our primary goal is to introduce people to cutting-edge fabrication equipment and open design processes. Through our tools and activities, we will help participants overcome technical and social barriers to building and making.
- We also hope to demonstrate how open source machines and design processes can be integrated into educational environments.
- The Hackerspace Playground will also be a laboratory for all participants to prototype projects and engage the local Catalan community.
Who should come? How many? For how long? (audience)
- Anyone interested in playing with rapid prototyping, open source hardware, lasers, processing, and many other geeky gadgets.
- Educators interested in how these tools can be used creatively and instructively in classrooms.
- Architects, designers, artists keen to build something new and learn about open design.
- Hardware hacks and programming geniuses wanting to sink their teeth into cool equipment and improve it.
- Hoping for a steady flow of participants throughout the festival, including Barcelona citizens entering the public square. Everyone is welcome to hang out as long as they want, to become an expert in a process or machine, and teach others.
- We will run throughout the festival, except during the keynotes.
What will they do when they get there? (activities)
- Play with various machines and materials
- Collaborate with hosts and others to realize design visions, prototype projects.
- Identify tweaks, add-ons and new applications for the tools, which are constantly involving
- Volunteer to help out longer term (if you are interested)
What will you / they have at the end? (outputs)
- Prototyped objects
- Examples and toolkits for educational applications of tools
- Documentation on how to use the equipment, possibly including P2P learning strategies
- Locals and festival participants alike exposed to open design potential
- List of new volunteers and contributors to the project
Additional background and context
We need a root movement for doing strange, unintended things with hardware and objects (aka "hacking"), because only when we use things in ways other than they were planned can something new arise.
Hack buses are a low-threshold way of bringing the culture of hacking to the people. They are migratory learning and teaching units, taking the talented hackers and bringing them to people who might not otherwise be aware of the possibilities available to them.
Tools like MakerBot and Arduino, an open source electronics prototyping platform, are enormously flexible and easy-to-use. They have active communities constantly creating and improving the software and hardware. There are an infinite range of uses, from teaching students how to program to designing interactive environments that can even make you a sandwich.
