Makerfaires are weekends where hobbyists, engineers and craftspeople join together for an exhibition of their extraordinary work. This past weekend, I was lucky to attend the Vancouver Makerfaire. Hundreds of Makers from across the western half of Canada were showing off neat homegrown projects. I saw firsthand a self-built electric car, bamboo framed bikes, flamethrower pianos and mechanical spiders!
A 1999 Porsche Boxter, converted from gas to electric by Vancouver local John Stonier. That definitely voided the warranty.
Hot-rodded Dodge, complete with 7 flamethrowers. Each one has a horn which plays a particular note, triggered by (of all things) a Fisher-Price Keyboard.
John Foster's Velomobile, constructed completely from recycled or locally-sourced materials. Couldn't help but think of the Citroen 2CV.
Who said you had to make a bike from a metal frame? Grass Bikes design and sell their own line of bamboo-framed bikes. They're light, strong and look beautiful.
The Mondo Spider is a electric-powered, mechanical spider designed by Industrial Engineer Jonathan Tippet and design collective EatART. Unfortunately, it was non-operational at Makerfaire, but I had to post a picture of this amazing machine.
The Vancouver Makerfaire made for an interesting weekend. The '3D Printing Village' was packed with Repraps and Makerbots, constantly buffeted by crowds. Free workshops on soldering, electronics and machining were well attended. A number of Engineering and Design students from the local universities like SFU and UBC were showing off their own projects. My favourite moment? Somebody found a Quadcopter and was flying lazily over vendor's tables, scattering brochures in every direction. Makerfaires are Open Engineering paradises- great spaces to share ideas, projects and make connections... kind of like an offline GrabCAD.
