The Louisville Digital Association, LVL1, GlowTouch Technologies and Insider Louisville are teaming up to help you rub elbows with the top tech influencers in the Derby City on June 22.

From the mayor’s office to maker garages, from venture capital firms to one-man bootstrap bands, from engineers to end-users to everyone in between — you’re all invited to the 1st Annual Louisville Digital Insiders Outing at Hogan’s Fountain in Cherokee Park from 6-8pm on Friday, June 22. Our organizations are putting on a full court press to get all 39 of the Insider‘s who’s who of Louisville tech present to cross-pollinate ideas and opinions; and we’re throwing in a free meal, too.

If you’re interested in any aspect of the Louisville tech scene — investment, employment, or intellectual curiosity — this is the one social occasion you don’t want to miss. There will be no pitches, no lectures and no strings attached. Just come meet your digital peers for a good, old-fashioned cookout in the heart of Louisville. The food will be excellent, and the conversation extraordinary — or your money back!

Admission is free, but seating is limited and RSVPs are required. Food and beverages will be provided by the Louisville Grind Gourmet Burger Truck. (Yes, there will be vegetarian options; just don’t be fooled by the awesome duckfat fries.) Reservations close at noon on June 20, so act now while supplies last.

It’s time to break down the walls between the various factions of the Louisville tech community. Nothing does that better than fresh air, fresh faces and freshly grilled burgers. See you at the Fountain.

Tickets are going fast – register here:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3692881508?ref=ebtnebregn

Last year LVL1 scrapped together a Powerwheel racecar which we fondly named Steve. This year several of us are trying to get another car built that is just as awesome as Steve but also competive in the races. Building these cars takes money. For something that should be built under $500 there is a lot of extra stuff needed to make us successful like battery chargers, safety equipment, and spare batteries.  The Power Racing Series shares that same problem. Tents, tables, power for 20 teams costs a lot, track building materials and safety equipment add to that.

Reward tiers for the indiegogo campaign include collector-card style stickers of some of the most popular vehicles and racers, two special edition t-shirts, a 2012 PPPRS yearbook and even a Power Wheel from the 2011 season as well as several levels of race and series sponsorship tiers.

The leader of this popular racing series, Pumping Station: One member Jim Burke, is a full time artist and part time balloon baron who enjoys combining the arts with technology. Jim is currently working with Electromagnate Studios on a documentary titled Remade: The Rebirth of the Maker Movement. For more information about the Power Racing Series visit the website: http://www.powerracingseries.org. or donate to our indiegogo http://igg.me/p/109393?a=622812

 

 

 

Eventbrite: http://lvl1hackathon2012.eventbrite.com/ (one ticket per team)

For 24 hours this June, it’s an all-out hacker brawl to see who can build the coolest thing from a big pile of junk.  Think of it as the home version of Junk Yard Wars.  There are no rules, buy a ticket for your team, show up with your friends, and compete over tools and junk for 24 hours to build something incredible.

Announcing the first annual LVL1 Boneyard Hackathon. This will be a 24 hour, adrenaline-and-caffeine fueled race to create something awesome. Form a team, and you’ll be given an Arduino and a breadboard. You’ll have to do the rest using your brain, and all the resources of LVL1, including tools, boneyard parts, and hookup wire.

What is the Boneyard? The Boneyard is LVL1’s Island of Misfit electronics. A place where the broken and downtrodden collects, and awaits a reawakening. Each and every one of you will be having a hand in the zombificiation of some electronic device. Everything from oil-filled capacitors, to surplus mil-spec electronics lies in the Boneyard, waiting for your tender soldering iron.

The boneyard receives regular infusions of fresh bones, so familiarize yourself with the layout. If you haven’t been by the space before, we always have open meetings on Tuesdays at 8pm.

The event will take place on June 2nd, starting at Noon. 24 hours later, the teams will judge each other, and a winner will be crowned! Cost will be $30 for teams, and all teams must be enrolled by May 26th. Bring extra cash for food and drink.

The vending machine will be fully stocked, and we’ll be making regular food runs, so you can focus 24 hours of effort and attention on building something awesome.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me on the list, or directly, at BradLuyster@gmail.com.

The prize?  Top 3 teams will win a trophy, and a years worth of bragging rights.  Do you have what it takes?  Sign up at the Eventbrite link below.  Remember: Each team needs only one ticket.

Eventbrite: http://lvl1hackathon2012.eventbrite.com/

Da Rules:

Teams may not bring in their own parts.

All work must cease at Noon on June 3rd, 2012

Last night I made LVL1′s hackerspace passport using our Full Spectrum Engineering laser. It really was not that difficult. I used Chris Cprek’s LVL1 logo image for the stamp. It is the Plenary Gear logo at the top left of this page.

I used laserable rubber for this project. Even though it is low-odor you can still smell it. It smells like burning rubber from a car.

To laser the image, I took the original image and made it black and white. I removed the blue background and cleaned it up a bit using Gimp. I then imported it into Inkscape where I mirrored the image. The letters have to be in mirror image or it will not stamp correctly. Next, I ‘printed’ to the laser cutter. The Full Spectrum Engineering interface to driving the laser is pretty darned good. If you are reading this post and do not have a laser, check out Full Spectrum, they are a real good value for your money and highly recommended.

For the laser settings, I raster printed the image using 50% speed and 100% power. I tried to cut the rubber around the image, but the rubber does not cut well at all. I tried multiple passes and everything. I ended up using an exact knife.

I also cut a wooden back for the rubber out of some 1/8″ baltic birch plywood scrap I had laying around. I used double stick tape to tape the rubber onto the plywood backing. Easy. Finally I hot melt glued a handle onto the stamp. Interestingly, the handle came from the Louisville Slugger Museum and it is a scrap from when a baseball bat is cut out on their lathe.

I used a stamp pad from office depot which worked well and Jon was able to stamp his passport for the first time! I also made another stamp with the Lady Ada graphic from Adafruit. That also came out well.

Today, as I wrote the post, I saw that Becky Stern from AdaFruit posted an excellent ‘how to’ on stamp making… http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/04/03/how-to-laser-cut-your-own-hackerspace-stamp/. It is funny how sometimes you discover someone is doing the exact same thing as you! AdaFruit sells Hackerspace passports if you need one.

Hack on!
Brian

We have been fairly quiet publicly, but many subsystems are coming to completion rapidly, including the  helium gas overflow vent valve.  Completion of anything flying on a ballon means it’s time to do some science!  Tests must be done, data must be noted, hypotheses checked.  Gary Flispart and I put together a detailed technical video explanation of the vacuum leak test system we’ve made.

Stay tuned for more updates at http://whitestarballoon.org , we are on track to launch in the next month or two!

Dan Bowen
@SteamFire
White Star Team Lead

Hackerspaces are starting to change engineering education. Let’s put two University of Louisville Co-op interns in the LVL1 hackerspace! We are exploring how to get students working on hands-on projects sooner in the engineering curriculum.

As a Co-op at LVL1, you can contribute to an ongoing project or even launch your own project. The first Co-ops will start in summer 2012. You must be a Speed School student seeking a Summer 2012 Co-op to apply for this program.

If you’re seeking a Co-op position in Fall 2012, Spring 2013 or  Summer 2013, stay tuned! There will be another application session for each of those semesters.

 

Cute little Makerbot cupcake holder!

How do you make sure the trash goes outside on trash night?

Simple..   You just create your standard Artificial Intelligence system, which you then connect to an Arduino, a home security system, your google calendar, give it the ability to send email to your google group forum, and finally some quick  scripting to link members latitude gps locations and google talk communication.  Thats all there is to it!

They don’t call me “Johnny Overkill” for nothing.  Actually… they don’t call me that at all,  but I’m hoping it catches on.   Anyways, back to the trash.  Yes it may sound like overkill, but it has been quite effective the past two weeks.  Here’s a break down of the events that occur:

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MOTHER is LVL1's attempt to create the ultimate hackerspace A.I. and automation system. The MOTHER project is still in it's early stages yet MOTHER has already gained the ability to monitor and control a MASSIVE numbers of sensors as well as become a central integration point for various systems around the space. Read the full post for a complete overview of the MOTHER project.

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LVL1 is proud to announce the recipients of our groundbreaking Makership program!

We had initially raised enough funds within our community for 2 Makerships. In a surprise twist, LVL1 Google Group subscriber Dmitry S. graciously donated $250 to fund a 3rd! Thank you Dmitry!

Let’s meet our 3 Makers!

Nicolas Searcy – Currently pursuing a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering at U of L’s Speed School of Engineering, Nick’s Makership lays out a vision to develop open source hardware and software for ultrasonography. Nick presented a well researched proposal with prioritized goals for both A-mode (one dimensional) and B-mode (two dimensional) ultrasonography using transducers and a Maple development board. Nick was realistic about the challenges of commercializing an open source medical device, but views it as a device to fundamentally change the market. “While a hackerspace-produced ultrasound system could never be sold commercially and it would probably never be a good idea to distribute kits (low power ultrasound is completely harmless but it would be a bad idea legally if nothing else), if a system could be designed and demonstrated for less than $500 (ideally, more like $100), that fact alone could introduce pressure to the ultrasound market”

Ezra Clark – An engineering student at U of L and president of the RE3 (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Club), Ezra’s Makership proposal builds on RE3′s successes in building low-cost solar panels from solar cell manufacturing waste. “Individual solar cells are a mere 200 microns thick and thus are broken and chipped easily during the commercial process of solar panel manufacturing. These damaged cells can be compared to a 2-liter of Coke with a torn label; it can still serve its purpose but is deemed by the company as “manufacturing waste.” I currently know of no commercial recycling efforts being made to use this potentially valuable material.” Ezra plans to use LVL1′s facilities to fabricate (and train others in fabricating) these solar panels. “We than plan to spend the next one and a half months making solar panels and teaching those who are interested the process and theory behind them. During the final few weeks, the club will focus on installing our fabricated solar panels on the UofL greenhouse, just in time for spring. If time allows, the club will also attempt to outfit a community garden in the Clifton neighborhood with a solar panel array. “

Patrick Joyce – Patrick is currently unemployed and has been making the best use of his time hanging out at LVL1 7 days a week. Patrick’s Makership proposal is the design and development of a Guitarist’s Keyboard. “What I want to build is a keyboard like device, but instead of the piano like layout of keys, rows of velocity sensitive buttons corresponding to the strings of the guitar, with columns corresponding to the frets. This would allow someone who is familiar with guitar but not piano to play the whole range of keyboard sounds without having to learn another layout of notes and chords. Alternate tunings and different ranges of notes would be changed in software, selectable by buttons or knobs. This would be a MIDI device, so the range of sound types would be nearly limitless.” Although Patrick is new to LVL1, he didn’t waste any time creating the first phase of his project. While the Makerships were still being decided on, he developed a key matrix MIDI device with an Arduino and is showing great progress. Now that he has a Makership and a key to LVL1, I doubt he’ll ever leave.

We at LVL1 wish our new Makership recipients the best of luck on their projects. Know that you have the full support of the LVL1 community behind you, and we will provide whatever resources we can to help you succeed.

While we are excited for all 3 of these Makership proposals, we had 6 applicants and therefore 3 Makership applicants of comparable merit didn’t make this round. Unfortunately, we don’t have funds for all of them… yet. We encourage you to resubmit proposals for our next round of Makerships in the very near future.

You can help LVL1 provide more Makerships with a small donation of $5/mo. We will announce a new Makership as soon as the donation funds make a new one available! Click the Paypal donate button below to contribute to a Makership: