Author: GeneratorVt

  • Members Are Building A Parabolic Solar Cooker!

    Members Are Building A Parabolic Solar Cooker!

    Parabolic Solar Cooker Build

    Every Saturday starting 5/20

    4 PM at Generator

    Generator members have voted and are joining forces to make future cookouts more exciting.  You can find their completed Parabolic Solar Cooker being demonstrated at the alternative energy cookout in July.

    It’s perfect for my utilisation : it makes one liter of water boil in 15-20 minutes and cooks a meal for 3 people in something like 45-60 minutes on good days

    The parabola is approximately 1.5 m wide and 50 cm deep. The larger the aperture size, the more powerful it becomes. It’s quite stiff as it is with the bamboo ring, but if you want to make it bigger, you’ll need to find some other ways to stiffen it.

    -Yasintoda from instructables

    See full instrucables>>

  • Robo-Raptor Beat More Than 1/2 of Robots!

    Robo-Raptor Beat More Than 1/2 of Robots!

    Congratulate the Robo-Raptor Team for Their Successes!

    Thank you Christine Divver Braun and Kevin Braun for your intention, creativity, positive energy and investment in these young men and all that you do!

    -Misty Williams

    Robo- Raptor made it home!

    For a couple of years, a small and highly charged team of inventor-hacker-maker guys led by teacher duo Christine Braun and Kevin Braun have met at Burlington’s Generator makerspace to build their FIRST (FTC) robot.

    And their efforts have paid off! Team RoboRaptors was invited to the spectacular FTC World Championships in Saint Louis, Missouri.Christine and Kevin Braun’s team was chosen to be 1 of 128 teams out of 5000 teams to compete. They beat more than 1/2 of the robots competing and came in 41st!!!! We are proud of this team.

  • Pitch It, Fab It Winner is Lance Macomber!

    Pitch It, Fab It Winner is Lance Macomber!

    Pitch It, Fab It Spring 2017

    The Judges Have Chosen!

    There were some great candidates at the 2017 Spring Pitch It, Fab It! It is great to see so many people in our community working diligently on different ways to improve or create products to better our experiences in this world.  lance developed a prototype for a mechanical hand bottle washer that he believes solves many of the limitations of current solutions in the bottle washing market. This product has potential to benefit mothers, brewers – anyone with a high volume of bottles to wash. Good luck, Lance!

  • Stella Mars: April/May 2017 Maker-in-Residence

    Stella Mars: April/May 2017 Maker-in-Residence

    Generator Welcomes Stella Mars

    April/May Maker-in-Residence
    In the upcoming months, you will be able to spot Stella Mars laser cutting, grinding in the metal shop, or tinkering in the electronics lab of Generator. Stella is on a mission to make an inflatable dome structure that will be used as a “Disco Deployment Unit”; a multimedia art event that will debut at the Everson Museum in Syracuse in June, 2017. We are excited to see which direction her work takes during her Residency!

    Learn more about how to become a Maker-in-Residence>>
  • Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Robots, robots, and drones!… Generator members can’t get enough of them.  Burlington’s Bomb Squad gave Generator a visit on Thursday, April 13th. Generator is full of innovative multi-talented members thirsty for knowledge. Thanks, Bomb Squad, for sharing with us your knowledge in robotics and drones!

    Bomb disposal robots have been used to safely disable explosive ordinance for over 40 years, where they have been deployed hundreds, if not thousands, of times. However, the term “bomb disposal robot” is something of a misnomer, as they are not technically robots.

    According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a robot is “a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically”. Bomb disposal robots cannot perform contextual decision-making or operate by themselves. Instead, bomb disposal robots are more accurately defined as drones, much like unmanned vehicles, as they are remotely controlled by a human operator from afar.

    Full BBC Article>>

     

  • Wonder about that airstream?

    Wonder about that airstream?

    WONDERING ABOUT THAT AIRSTREAM?
    Generator is working with bio-artist Natalie Jeremijenko to support her efforts to create a mobile “environmental health clinic.” The idea is to repair and fit up the trailer with kits to explore pyrolysis, the phenological clock, the kitchen is closed and other concepts that combine art and technology. We’ll see more from her – and some opportunities to collaborate – in the coming months.
    Learn more about Natalie here: https://nataliejeremijenko.com/

  • Textile Maker Treats AI to Fashion Taste

    Textile Maker Treats AI to Fashion Taste

    Textile Maker Treats AI to Fashion Taste

    Generator couturier and instructor Lucy Leith has been traveling to Lincoln, Vermont on an unusual mission: to fit one of the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence ‘presences’ with a new outfit. BINA-48 is an advanced robotic intelligence under development by the Terasem Movement Foundation; in her work, she travels the world. In her next tour, she’ll be wearing what is perhaps the first outfit fashioned from the hopes and affections of an AI. Exciting! Stay tuned for more.
  • World Arduino Day 2017

    World Arduino Day 2017

    When: 11am – 5pm Saturday, April 1, 2017
    Where: 40 Sears Lane, Burlington, VT   –  – Parking instructions below  –  –  
    Who: Open to the public
    What:
    Arduino Day is a worldwide birthday celebration of Arduino. It’s an event – organized directly by the community, and by the Arduino founders – where people interested in Arduino get together, share their experiences, and learn more.

    Agenda:

    • 11am: Welcome Message
    • Ongoing: Arduino Demos
    • Hourly: Introduction to Arduino
    • 2pm-5pm:  Meet Arduino Workshop
      • Free with the purchase of an Arduino TinkerKit for $49.95 (that’s cost!).  No need to order one, we’ve got them on-hand.  Up to 3 family members may attend together. Recommended age is 10+.  Registration required.

    Having fun at a previous workshop:

    PARKING:

    Generator is located in the South End Arts District in Burlington, VT, also known as the Pine Street Corridor. Parking is at the back of the Champlain College Miller building, off Lakeside Avenue. Look for the train cars. Our front entrance is marked by a colorful mural (and an airplane wing!)

    Additional off-street parking is available on Sears Lane (our back entrance).

  • Milton art teacher earns spot as Generator’s first educator-in-residence

    Posted on by By STEPHANIE CASTLE for the Milton Independent

    Courtney Reckord believes kids are our best hope to solve real-world problems.

    Reckord, an artist and teacher, has been at Milton High School for the past eight years and says she is humbled by the ingenuity of her students.

    Read full article>>

  • Meet Courtney Reckord: January/February 2017 Educator-in-Residence

    Meet Courtney Reckord: January/February 2017 Educator-in-Residence

    Meet Courtney Reckord, Generator’s very first January/February Educator-in-Residence. Courtney is always looking for real world projects that are at the intersection of art and technology for herself and to do with her students. She teaches at Milton High School in drawing, painting, fine metals, ceramics, digital arts and STEAM.

    I enjoy doing real world projects with students as much as possible. At one of the Big Maker talks that Generator hosted, Saeed Arida was talking about a project that they worked on with NuVu where students created a prosthetic hand for a child who wanted to be able to draw, so they created a customized hand. I was inspired by that.

    Courtney set out to use her residency to bring doggie prosthetics to the classroom. Her students get to experience step by step what goes into designing and creating wearables that require skills in art and design, engineering, and mechanics.  What a fun project to introduce students to rapid prototyping equipment like the laser cutter and 3D printers to spark new connections. Just like anyone else, it is always advisable to do a test run when doing something new.  Who knew one of the biggest challenges would be to find a furry creature in need!?!

    So far I have spent a lot of time trying to find a dog to work with. I didn’t realized how difficult it would be to find a pet that would fit the criteria for this project. After a long discussion with a veterinary surgeon I switched gears a little bit and decided to create a brace for a pet with a torn ACL instead. What I have learned is that most amputations on dogs and cats occur up at the hip joint or shoulder joint, making prosthesis difficult because there is no residual limb. Once you start looking for pictures of dogs with prosthetics, you realize that a lot of them are actually the same dog. Not to say that it never happens, but prosthetics for pets is rarer than I first imagined.

    Courtney’s students are looking at pets in a whole new way and can’t wait to get building.  Check out the creative strides achieved at Courtney’s show and tell at Generator’s next member meeting on Monday, March 13th at 5pm at Generator.