Bob Ross Paint Along Class: May 18th

You asked for more, so we’re delivering! We’ve got another round of Bob Ross painting classes coming at you on May 18th. These have always been a blast and this one should be our best one yet. We’re getting pretty good at teaching these. As you should expect, you will get to take home your masterpiece and display it proudly! Sign up here:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6300251221

SaikoLED MyKi Challenge : Creating a Light That Responds to Video Games

The SaikoLED company recently held a contest in which they would give a free prototype of their newest light to three groups of people that had a neat project idea. At this point, I had recently taken over the bi-weekly games of Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator that we were playing at i3 Detroit. After suggesting that we could use their DMX light to sync with Artemis, they were more than happy to send us one of the prototypes.

After lots of tweaking…

Troubleshooting…

And soldering…

We were finally ready! After hooking everything up, I grabbed my phone and began filming the video that SaikoLED requested. I have uploaded that video at the Youtube link below. Enjoy one of the many cool projects started and finished at i3 Detroit!

Would you like to play a game?

A few days ago, Arduino co-inventor Massimo Banzi spoke at the University of Michigan, as part of a lecture series sponsored by the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design.  In addition to throngs of art students, there were indeed a few die-hard electronics nerds in the audience. It seemed like the perfect time to do two things:

1: Give away a bunch of little laser-cut Arduino protectors. Attached to the bottom of the otherwise-bare Arduino board, this is a cheap-and-cheerful way to avoid short circuits when absentmindedly setting the board down.

2: Tease some of the clever folks in the audience into playing a little puzzle, which was previously hinted at. The reward for the first to finish is a month of membership at i3Detroit.

Here’s where you come in: Even with a free month of membership on the line, nobody’s solved all of the steps yet! So it’s time to officially open it up to players who weren’t at the lecture.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The puzzle is open to any non-member, no purchase or anything necessary, but you’ll need to be local and 18+ to claim the prize. If not, feel free to play for fun anyway!
• If you want to co-solve with a physical friend, that’s cool, but please don’t share solutions over the internet. (Let ‘em work for it!)
• You’ll probably need to get your hands on an Arduino to solve one of the steps. If you don’t own one, perhaps you could use one at a nearby hackerspace….

[updated 4/21 to reflect that current i3detroit members can play for fun but not claim the prize.]

Happy Birthday i3

i3 is 4 years old this week!!!

And we now have 100 active member!!!

YEA, US!!

Recap: DIY Dentistry Class

The i3detroit DIY Dentistry event was a big hit, and everyone had a fantastic time- at least until the anesthesia wore off! i3 member Dustin returned from a recent trip to Latvia armed with the knowledge and tools to make this class a jaw-crackin’ success.

A group of eager new mouth-hackers.

Dustin began the day with a brief history of DIY dentistry, and provided many DIY DOs and DON’Ts (for example, DON’T use bondo for fillings; DO visit Thingiverse for fillings and crowns you can 3-D print with ease.)

The hammerdrill setting is only for the most stubborn cavities.

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