As we’ve grown, we have met many great people here that are building things, making art, developing new ideas, or just come to peruse and ponder their innovative ideas.  Some come by on a regular basis to either work on projects at our hack nights and workshops. We’ve even been asked if there were space to store their projects, and we’ve considered it.  When it comes down to the basic function here, we are the parts and supply for anything and everything you want to invent with. What we are being asked for, and what we want to build is an organization that can couple function and tooling with the inventory and ideals that stores like the Reuseum have to offer. What we need is well known in the DIY community as a hackerspace. That word has floated from the mouths of many here and elsewhere in our local community, and now we’re saying it too. For those wondering what a hackerspace is we can explain it as a publicly accessible R&D/fabrication workspace. Our 3d printers will be there, CNC’s, laser cutter and other tooling will have a presence soon as well, we will be able to host creative workshops and safety classes about the various tools.

Self sufficiency is a key to the growth of a group that performs the work a hackerspace can accomplish. Like all of the tools I’ve mentioned, this kind of organization must be crafted by hand, and while it seems like a great idea, logistics and detailed planning are the key to success  That is why, on Saturday, the 22nd of October at 6pm, we will be hosting a meeting for all concerned citizens who are interested in being involved in any way with an organization such as this.  Please come and share your opinions and ideas, that is after all, what a hackerspace is all about.

In our third year of the Boise ‘Bot Competition, we have been  honored to watch it grow in many ways, while staying true to  its purpose in being a grassroots celebration of  technology and  creativity.  We are proud to again have the event hosted than  the Discovery Center of Idaho, their partnership in collaboration  has made many things possible  that would not be otherwise.  This year, we are also thankful to have many other local  individuals and  companies supporting the Bot Comp with their time and participation,  many of which are displaying exhibits of new and innovative technology beyond robotics.

This year our esteemed Tech Fest presenters are;

Opportunities also abound for those who would like to build a robot and compete with it in our Sumo Competition. If you build a bot, you will receive free admission into the Discovery Center that day!  It’s like a geek can of soup.  For information on the types of robots that will compete and the different tournaments, you can visit the Sumo Rules page on the competition website. Don’t forget to register your ‘bot!

We will also have many great activities, presentations and workshops available, fit for all ages,and all about cool and creative ideas, technology and projects. We hope to see you there!

Saturday, October 1st from 11am to 9:30pm we at Reuseum will be displaying demos and tutorials of all things robotics. This is in preparation for our 3rd annual Boise ‘Bot Competition following on the next Saturday 10/8/11. We will have various kits on hand for activities held at the ‘Bot Comp, such as bristlebots, light seeking robots, and sumo kits for those interested in participating in the sumo tournament.  Come explore your imagination and ingenuity and have fun making your own unique creation! There is no cost to come down, there will be materials and components to experiment with.  Kits of several different type of robot will be made available to purchase to make and take home.

UPDATE 10/4/11. There were many great successes at this workshop and we hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Here is a gallery of some of the robots that were made at the event.  Everyone should be proud that they invented a new species of bristlebot!

Its been another year, and ‘bot building season is coming upon us so very quickly!  In our third year, we and our partners in crime, and hosts of the Bot Comp, the Discovery Center of Idaho are putting together an event filled with fun activities and awesome exhibits. For those endeavoring robot builders, our new challenge this year is to make an even smaller sumo robot.  While we will still be having our Mini Sumo tournament (6″x6″ max size) as the main event, advanced builders have the opportunity to condense their handiwork into a 2″x2″ square for our first ever Micro Sumo Tournament. Often just getting the necessary circuitry to fit into the qualifying dimensions is a tougher hurdle than actually competing with such a small robot.

Leading up to the Bot Competition at the Discovery Center, the Reuseum and Discovery Center both facilitate classes and workshops on robotics. Please don’t hesitate to come down, and staytuned for events and workshops themed for the competition.

Groups, individuals and organizations are also welcome to register and promote their passion for technology at the Tech Fest,.  If you would like more information, or would like to reserve a free table, please email boisebotcompetition(at)gmail.com

For a full schedule, information on exhibits and activities and more, you can visit Boisebotcompetition.org We hope to see you there!

Saturday, July 16th at 6pm, we’ll be having our first ever workshop on solar energy.  Each participant will receive a kit comprised of  recycled and surplus components that can be reused in many combinations in order to make several different projects, like a night light that glows like a firefly, or a solar charger for small circuits, wearables like jewelry that have that extra geek chic, a small bug-like robot, or even a solar powered fan to cool you down in the hot summer weather. Truthfully there is an inexhaustible resource every day that we can use to fuel our creativity, ingenuity and education, and we fully intend to empower our community to utilize solar energy to make new things and maybe even power old things in new ways.  Feel free to sign up here, or talk to David at the shop. We hope to see you there!

The Summer Solar Kit includes;

-5 ea Solar Mini Cells

-Potentiometer

-1 ea Motor and Fan

-2 ea NPN and PNP Transistors

-6 ea. LED’s

-Various values of resistors and Capacitors

Join the members of the circuit-bent rock band CMKT4 for a workshop on
building your very own EconoMIC Bottle Cap Contact Microphone (from
Creme DeMentia).  CMKT4 will show you how to solder up a
piezo-electric pickup and house it sturdily in a recycled bottle-cap
housing of their own design!  Stick around for a set from the band as
the tool-handle dip on your freshly built contact microphone dries.
Additional take-home kits and other surprises will be available, come
build a mic and see and hear some of the circuit-bent instruments
you’ve read about on www.GetLofi.com up close.  Bring your own instruments and objects to amplify!

Our evening of DIY handmade music starts at 7pm. The workshop is $15, additional kits will be on sale for $10, and we’ll have fully assembled mics in several varieties for sale as well.  We’ll have some other fun goodies also.  Interested onlookers are encouraged to donate if they don’t want to build a kit.

CMKT 4 are Austin Cliffe, Zach Adams, and Jeff Cox. The circuit-bent /
rock trio has made it their mission to leave no hackerspace behind on
their way to their next Maker Faire;  they want to bring new devices,
sounds, and ideas to your town.  They are constantly working to make
new and interesting devices and music.

We are excited to bring these warriors of DIY to our locale, anyone interested in craft, music, and things that are handmade should find any excuse they can to come down and participate in this awesome workshop.

We have a few leftover kits from our recent workshop.  They are pretty packed full of science and awesome, so if anyone would like to pick one up, its first come first serve!

Parts List:

-1ea. Mini Breadboard

-Wire jumpers pack

-Components Pack (Enough parts for three projects plus extras)

-Sensors pack

Included in each kit is an instructional guide on the first projects that we covered in the class and contains extra parts and pieces for modifying your designs to fit your experimentation.  This kit is also the first in a series that will cover many other interesting projects that you can accomplish at home, with no need for hot tools.

Only a few left so come get ‘em while they’re hot!

Our next workshop is produced based on popular demand for a class designed for anyone in need of a solid introduction into experimenting with electronics. Participants will receive a kit and instructions on three basic circuits that are not only fun to build, but can be easily modified to incorporate homemade sensors and perform many unique actions. Each project is based around the use of the 555 timer IC, which can be adapted for application in many electronics projects such as wireless triggers, tone generators, solar projects, and simple robots.  The workshop itself will be a mix of demonstrations and an instructional walk through of the first fundamental circuit included in the kit.  Unlike many of our workshops, this event will concentrate on building a circuit on a solderless breadboard, so no hot tools required!

Each 3 in 1 Electronics Kit is $34.99 and will include;

-1ea. Mini Breadboard

-Wire jumpers pack

-Components Pack (Enough parts for three projects plus extras)

-Sensors pack

The workshop will start at 6pm on Saturday, 2.19.11

We only make a limited number of kits for each workshop, so if you would like to participate, please RSVP via our contact form here on the site with the subject “Circuit Basics Workshop” and include the number of kits you would like to reserve.

Hope to see you then!

UPDATE, 2.20.11- I would like the thank everyone who showed up to the workshop last night.  I had a blast and hope everyone else did too.  We look forward to covering more circuits that can be mixed and hacked on a breadboard, and also to the great ways we might be able to see these projects be applicated in peoples’ future creations!  Here are some photo of everyone who came down.