Tags: Robotics
Creat-A-Con February 2015
Posted: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 19:46
Creat-A-Con was a one-day Creative Technology organised by Jason Boomer of SideFest. It took place in the Queens Building at DMU in Leicester on the 21st February 2015. Exhibitors included Leicester Hackspace, Creative Manifesto, Starbase Leicester and Interact Labs. Over 500 people attended the event.
Interact and Interact Labs brought a range of art and technology exhibits along for people to play with.
Our Robot Arm always goes down well, and was joined at this event by a new Edison Mini Robot. This is a great little learning 'bot that is also great value for money.
Our WaterColourBot suffered a little in transport and was not performing at its best, but people still liked it. The 3D Printer also suffered a little, but was eventually set-up to produce a steady stream of whistles for people (mostly children) to take away. For many attendees it was the first time that they had seen a 3D printer in action.
We brought some DIY Virtual Reality headsets along too. However, we also had the Oculus Rift on loan to Starbase and in the end settled on encouraging people have a go with that instead. Reports were that the queue didn't die down all day.
Finally, we seem to have found a new star - the Arduino-powered Jamm Jar computer. This is a new project by Sean Clark that features a neoPixel LED ring, Arduino micro-controller, switch and rechargeable battery, all placed in a glass jam jar (see some pictures here). He has been using this device in workshops and is looking to develop it further as part of a new series of artworks. Attendees seemed to be fascinated by them and enjoyed the LED lighting patterns it produced.
Despite the odd technical problem, it was a great day. SideFest brought a very impressive audience to the event and the DMU student volunteers (and the non-DMU ones too) were incredibly helpful. We're already looking forward to the next one!
See our pictures from the event here on Flickr.
Creat-A-Con is Almost Here!
Posted: Mon, 09 Feb 2015 12:22
Creat-A-Con will be coming to Leicester on the 21st February at the Queens Building at De Montfort University. This free event aims to inspire young people in the key S.T.E.M. areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Interact Labs will be at the event demonstrating:
- The Edison robot and our robot arm
- The WaterColourBot drawing machine
- Scratch programming on the Raspberry Pi
- Our 3D printer
- DIY Virtual Reality headsets
Plus we will be making Arduino-powered interactive lights for use at the MyOptik Festival on the 28th February and testing the wireless video system we are making for the Image is the Servent event on the 27th February.
As if that isn't enough, we will also be showing the Creative Manifesto LED video wall.
Come and be creative with digital technology.
Robots, Virtual Reality and 3D Printing!
Posted: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 22:27
If there are three things that are sure to draw a crowd at Interact Labs then they are robots, Virtual Reality and 3d printing. These technologies remain very much 'of the moment' and can be a great way to introduce people to creative technology. We've featured them at a number of our events recently.
On July 8th the first of our regular 3D printer nights saw 11 people visit the Lab for an introduction to 3D printing and a safety induction for the FlashForge Creator II 3D printer we use. Given that we have been running sessions like this since we opened in October 2013, it's great to see that interest in these sessions is still high. The next one will be on the 12th August. We also have a more advanced workshop coming up in September.
On July 18th we ran our first 'Open Lab' drop-in afternoon where the device of most interest was the Oculus Rift and, to a lesser extent, the Google Cardboard. Interest in Virtual Reality is on the rise, largely thanks to the Oculus, which seems to impress most users. We might look to run Virtual Reality workshops in the future - perhaps focussed around the low-cost and self-constructured Google Cardboard device.
Finally, just last Friday, we ran the first of our 'Technology Explorer' sessions for young people. While the 3D printer went down well, the most popular devices were our computer-controlled robot arm and the Cubelet robot construction kits. Note to self, kids love robots.
Keep an eye on the www.interactlabs.co.uk website for details of future events and activities.
Paul Granjon - Robots and Humans
Posted: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:30
Paul Granjon is a performance and visual artist whose interest lies in the co-evolution of humans and machines, a subject he explores with self-made machines for live performance or exhibition. Granjon has produced since the late 1990s a collection of robots that include a set of Robotic Ears and Tail, several Automated Forests, a kicking automaton, a disco-dancing humanoid… His best-known creations to date are the Sexed Robots, a male and a female wheeled platforms that performed their cybernetic romance in the Welsh Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005.
Paul will be coming to Phoenix on Tuesday 6:30pm 11th March 2014 to give a talk about his work and process. Entry is free, but you are encouraged to book in advance as places are limited. You can do so here on the Phoenix site. You can find out more about Paul's work on his website at www.zprod.org.
