Table of Contents

• MakerFX Makerspace

• Coming soon - 90th Issue of Make:

• There’s AI in MAKER FAIRE

MakerFX Makerspace

In Orlando last week to visit WonderLab at the Give Kids The World Village, I also stopped by one of the three makerspaces in Orlando, MakerFX Makerspace. I had a tour of the space by Curtis Franklin.

MakerFX Makerspace is a project of The Maker Effect Foundation, which also produces Maker Faire Orlando. All of this has been organized by Ian and Candy Cole and amplified by a great team of volunteers. (Candy is CEO of The Maker Effect Foundation.)

“Because of the foundation, we have a purpose here beyond being a place for people to use tools,” said Curtis, who mentioned the space’s involvement in STEM and STEAM education. “Activities are the foundation of this makerspace,” added Curtis. They help to build community. He cited an activity like Magic Wheelchair, which members have been involved in. Members have built projects like the can crusher, which turns a soda can into a small box, and they’ve exhibited these projects at Maker Faire Orlando.

Around the shop is art work that was created for Maker Faire.

MakerFX is located in an industrial park in Orlando. It has around 160 members, said Curtis, adding that membership numbers can fluctuate up or down. Members are given a key fob and can come whenever they want. “We are only closed during a hurricane evacuation,” said Curtis, adding that the insurance company doesn’t want anyone using the space as an evacuation site.

There are a lot of creatives in Orlando, often working for the companies behind the theme parks, such as Disney and Universal, and they have talents that they use at work in areas such as special effects but they also have talents that they use outside work at a space like MakerFX.

On the day of my visit, there were three women in the space, working on a variety of projects, using the laser cutter in the digital fabrication area and the table saw in the woodworking area. One woman was engraving a metal water bottle with a name and a college logo. “Its for my son’s girlfriend who goes to the University of Mississippi,” she said.

“We have been very intentional in making sure this space is comfortable for women as well as the LGBTQ+ community,” said Curtis, talking about their inclusivity work. “If anyone reports a problem, we take it very seriously and fortunately, we haven’t had many problems,” he added

Embroidery machines and sewing machines are in a Soft Art area upstairs, which is rather small. Soon, Curtis said, Soft Arts will be going into a new room of its own.

Curtis showed off a Rabbit Laser machine, which he says is perfect for engraving on metal. He explained that MakerFX has been lucky because of a local conventions like MegaCon bring distributers and manufacturers to town and they got this machine as a deal after one of those shows.

Curtis explained that his biggest safety concern is people trying to cut PVC pipe in a laser cutter. “PVC will off gas chlorine, which can kill you,” he said.

I had a nice talk with Curtis about his background as a journalist, which dates back to BYTE Magazine, a classic computer magazine. He was a founder of the BYTE Testing Lab. See his LinkedIn page for Curtis Franklin for more details on his interesting career in tech journalism.

Like many people who know makerspaces, Curtis talked about the community that comes together there. “It’s not the tools; it’s not the physical space; it’s the community that makes this place special,” said Curtis.

Coming soon - 90th Issue of Make:

A new issue of Make:, Volume 90, is off to the printer and should begin to arrive for subscribers soon. Our special section features many animatronic projects, perfect for Halloween, by authors such as Jesse Velez who wrote about a demon deer.

I wrote a story about the making of Sepia Lux, an an illuminated cuttlefish, built as a Burning Man art car. Sepia Lux was custom-built for a patron but its first team failed to produce a car that could go to Burning Man. During Covid, a new team inherited the project and brought the cuttlefish to life, working on it many systems. Sepia Lux made its first appearance at Burning Man in 2022 and came to Maker Faire Bay Area last year.

I was also to see a feature by Luke Iseman on his geoengineering project. We met Luke at Maker Faire Austin in 2007 and his first project for Make was Garduino, which uses an Arduino to monitor soil conditions. He has written a lot of projects for us, listed here. His latest project is Make Sunsets, which involves releasing balloons filled with sulphur into the atmosphere, creating reflective clouds to reduce sunlights.

There’s AI in MAKER FAIRE

For Maker Faire Bay Area this October, we are working on exhibiting new, experimental applications of AI, in particular, those that use AI but interface with the physical world in some way. Think of robotics and AI devices as well as gaming and entertainment.

What’s more, we hear that a lot of the exciting innovation in AI is coming from hobbyists, not just from Big Tech companies. Granted that Big Tech might provide the AI platforms, but the question is what can you do with AI, what kind of applications can be created that nobody else has thought of? hat’s where makers come in, among those who will think of cool things to do with AI. Others do predictable things because they think there’s money in but makers do it — well, just because we can.

If you’re working on a new AI application, or device, I’d love to hear from you. ([email protected]). Or just go to Call for Makers entry form for Maker Faire Bay Area and tell us about your cool project.

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