Tags: Digital Makers Group
Making 3D Models for 3D Printing
Posted: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 21:14
We had an excellent talk by Deborah Robertson on Saturday as part of the Digital Makers Group about how to ensure that your 3D models will 3D print. Deborah took us through the common mistakes that you might make with your model and the things to look out for when trying to get the best possible print. She has made the slides available to download as a PDF, so those who couldn't make it can download them. Dale Robertson also gave us an introduction to 3D scanning using the Microsoft Kinect and other devices. We'll be sharing the results of this shortly. We'll definitely be running more sessions like this in the future.
Creative Computing with Minecraft
Posted: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 19:36
Interact Labs was involved with the 2nd Minecraft in Leicester event this weekend. Our goal was to demonstrate how Minecraft can interact with the "real world" in various ways. We did this by showing how you can 3D print Minecraft objects and how you can use the Raspberry Pi (and by extension its GPIO port) to control Minecraft running on the Pi. We also had a robot arm to show the sorts of things you could control with a GPIO-connected Minecraft world. This is a work in progress, but we hope to be able to demonstrate a direct connection between Minecraft on the Pi and the robot arm soon. There are pictures from the event here on Flickr and a video interview with Sean Clark about the even here on YouTube. If you are interested in Minecraft on the Raspberry Pi feel free to come along to the Digital Makers Group on the first Saturday of the month - it's certainly something that the group would be interested in developing further.
Digital Making in Leicester
Posted: Sun, 12 Jan 2014 23:58
Interact Labs has only been going for two and a bit months and we've already managed to generate a lot of interest in "Digital Making" in Leicester. In fact, there have been over 400 visits to the lab since we opened on October 26th 2013.
The 3D printer has been particularly well-used, with local artists, technologists and workshops attendees all creating and printing their own 3D objects (often for the first time). We've also helped bring together a group of people interested in setting up a hackspace in Leicester. If all goes to plan, we will actually be opening "Leicester Hackspace" at the Makers Yard (just two streets away from Phoenix) in February.
Our plans for 2014 are to do more of the same. We will continue to hold Digital Makers Group meetings monthly, support groups such as Creative Manifesto and Leicester Hackspace, organise talks and workshops, and run a few live events. There will also undoubtedly be a few surprises too. Remember, everything we do is about encouraging people to be creative with technology. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, whatever your level of expertise (or not!).
To keep in up-to-date with what is happening make sure that visit the interactlabs.co.uk website regularly and join our email list, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
Interact Labs Open Day Success
Posted: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 19:39
Interact Labs had its first open day yesterday. Over 60 people came along to see the digital makers "Raspberry Jam" in the Midland Room and have a look around the new Interact Labs space. There were also talks by Sean Clark (Interact Labs), John Rance (Phoenix), Paul Brown (Computer Arts Society), Ernest Edmonds (IOCT) and Tony Goodhew (MagPi contributor). The 3D printer was in constant use throughout the day and there was a real buzz around the event.
A number of concrete things came out of the event. Firstly, there will definitely be a monthly Digital Makers / Raspberry Pi event. This will take a similar format to the opening event, with hardware demonstrations a presentations in the Midland Room - but with the presentations focused solely on technical topics - plus access to the 3D printers in Interact Labs. We will set up an Eventbrite for the next event shortly and announce the speakers.
Secondly, there was a 'fringe' meeting about the idea of a "Leicester Hackspace" yesterday. There is lots of interest in establishing a space in Leicester to give people access to manufacturing hardware. We are going to build on this interest by hosting a fourtnightly Leicester Hackspace meeting at Interact Labs. The first of these will be on the 5th November 2013 at 6:30pm. If you want to be involved you can join in the discussion in the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group.
Finally, it was good to see members of the Creative Manifesto arts group attend the event and start working with the 3D printer. Creative Manifesto also meets fortnightly (alternate Tuesdays to Leicester Hack Space) and are keen to initiate futures joint projects with the Digital Maker community.
So, a very useful event indeed and a good start to the Interact Labs project. You can see pictures from the event here. Remember to join the Facebook Group or email list, or get involved with the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group to find out about future activities.
