Aluminium Casting With Li'l Birtha

We spent last Saturday melting aluminum with Paul's "Li'l Bertha" Electric Furnace then sand casting the molten metal into various shapes. We cut down heat sinks and other scrap then threw them in the crucible. The cast in this video didn't go as planned, but others worked well.

⇓See more pics of sand casting.

Building a Personal Cloud

by Aaron

Hardware for a Personal Cloud

Jamie Duncan is a key member of HackRVA and his blog is LOST IN OPEN SOURCE. There, he covers such things as building a personal cloud as well as general musings on technology. Plenty of details to get people started.

 

The name Jamie Duncan and HackRVA just go together. Jamie was our "head cheerleader" for over a year, doing everything from organizing the badge build for the Richmond Security Conference to making sure the bills got paid. He's also very involved with RVaLUG. Thanks Jamie, and we'll be seeing what's next on your blog and other places.

From FIRST Robotics to DIY Segway

By Aaron

Checkout this DIY Segway built by Brandon Davies and Dustin Thomson I first saw featured at the Chesterfield County Main Library Makerspace Grand Opening. 

 

Brandon is the son of HackRVA member Bruce "Doc" Davies who's very involved with area FIRST Robotics. This elegant and wonderfully built Segway is an excellent example of FIRST Robotics graduates going on to build more advanced things. They based it on this design from an MIT resource.

 

⇓Learn more about how they did it after the break.

HackRVA at Hampton Roads Maker Faire

by Aaron

HackRVA presented at the 2013 Hampton Roads Maker Faire. Didn't have time to take many pics, but will upload some as they become available from the HR Maker Faire Facebook.

Here's a link to some good pictures.

Here's a link to a video of the event.

 

Neal says:

 

There were some pretty amazing things there but I didn't get a chance to see it all. I spent most of the day driving kids around in the Power Wheels and answering questions about it. 

 

There were shopbots, and laser cutters, stained glass, robots shooting basketballs, a lifesized theremin shaped like a tree, original comic books, an electric Ford Roadster, composting bins designed to be indoors (no smell, that was awesome), an Oculus on a flight simulator, 9 foot tall rockets, an entire house {with furnishings) made of plywood, and a Big RC Power Wheels Jeep that drove kids and adults alike around the floor.

 

My wife and kids were there and got to see and interact with a lot more things.

Halloween Hackathon 2013

by Aaron
 

Halloween Hackathon 2013 at HackRVA. We made LED Throwie Ghost Boxes and Haunted Houses, 3D printed decorations, paper masks, and played some classic scary movies.  We were also visited by the PUMKINATOR; a sawz-all welding jack-o'-lantern cutting madman. 

 

⇓ More pics and a video of the PUMKINATOR after the break.

Hacking it Old School - DIY Lasers From a Previous Era

by Aaron

Laser V1.0.  Cyberpunk before they knew what to call it.

Check out these awesome laser and light creations from Eric! It might be hard to believe for all those arduino-naughts, but there was a time many microseconds ago when ubiquitous microelectronics, readily available IC's, and off-the-shelf lasers didn't exist and a guy just had to roll up his sleeves and do it himself - like for real. This just goes to show the wide range and deep experience the HackRVA membership has. Doesn't get much more hackerly than this. 

⇓ More pics after the break.