By:
On:
[INSERT COIN]

Makers local 256 is embarking on an epic journey: to participate in the Power Racing Series. Teams from various hackerspaces across the US will be modding the heck out of children’s ride-on-electric-toys, to carry adult weight at unreasonable speeds!

Makers Local 256 has formed the “8-Bit Racers” team and will be racing car #256 “The Bit Bucket” against many other seasoned teams. Can we run a new high score on the PPPRS circuit, or are we doomed to spend every quarter of our allowances, only to be defeated by that really hard boss at the end of world 5?

Here are some shots of work that is getting underway:

By:
On:

We used the giant CNC table at the shop to cut out my idea for a way to stop my dog from digging out her tie out stake.  It’s a 12 inch diameter circle cut out of 1/8″ thick polycarbonate.  It has a 3/4″ diameter hole in the middle to put the corkscrew-like stake through.  No more digging!  I call it the DigStop Disk!

By:
On:

Brimstone and I(strages), have been working on an 802.11 (wifi) mesh at Makers Local since 2011.  It’s been a long learning experience as both of us started with zero knowledge of how to build a wifi mesh.  Brimstone has since moved to Atlanta but continued to work with me remotely.  He’s been doing all the work on custom openwrt firmware images for the project and a fair amount of independent testing.  I’ve been doing a lot of the research and how to physically put together a self-powered unit for use in disaster areas to bring up a communication infrastructure.  I’m proud to announce that with the help of Crashcart we have our first self-powered mesh node prototype! I’ll be conducting tests in the next few weeks to ensure there’s enough solar to keep the node charged indefinitely. We’re finally on our way back to focusing on the Emergent Network Field Day event that started this whole journey.



Current features include:

    • auto discovery of other nodes

 

    • separate AP network to allow non-mesh devices (including smartphones!) to join the network

 

    • captive portal to inform users about the network and links to resources on the network

 

    • internal wiki accessible from the mesh

 

  • full DHCP and DNS services

By:
On:

The Alabama state championship for the FIRST Lego League robotics was held at Grissom High School on Saturday, January 12, 2013.  A mother of one of the students from team ACRONYM used the general mailing list we have set up for the community to get some help with a little python scripting and GUI creation for an RFID sensor project.  Since a few of the members and other people from the mailing list were able to help by providing links to web sites on the topics she needed as well as some direct RFID tips and tricks they decided to put Makers Local 256 on their paperwork as official mentors!  Here are some photos from the event:

Vinyl Cutter ML256 Logo

By:
On:

Some of the members of Makers Local 256 pitched in to the buy the shop a brand new vinyl cutter! The new USCutter MH-871 Vinyl Cutter can be used to cut stickers, decals, logos, signs, banners, stencils, card stock, and much more. A group order was also made to stock up on rolls of vinyl, as well as some extra blades and other tools. The cutter is a welcome addition to our growing collection of computer-controlled tools!

The cutter can support up to 34″ rolls of vinyl, and can cut objects up to 30″ wide by 8′ long. A dedicated computer has been set up next to the cutter in order to send designs to be printed. It’s incredibly simple to use, and it’s a lot of fun! Come in and check it out!