So far 2010 has been good for Hive13 in terms of PR. We garnered a lot of interest from the talk I gave at Ignite Cincinnati and we were interviewed for an article in Soapbox Cincinnati.
Hive13 has come a long way since April of 2009.
Our first and foremost accomplishment has been coming into existence. In a very short time a motivated group of hackers was able to get organized and acquire a space. Our very first hackerspace meeting when we were all strangers was on April 25, 2009 at the Panera in Clifton. We signed a lease for our space in the Anchor Building as the Hive13 corporation starting on July 1, 2009.
Right away upon getting our space we started making improvements and have been continually improving the space since that time. We installed insulation / sound-proofing all around the outside of the apartment that is directly above Hive13.
We finally got our own internet connection to the space and set up a wireless network. We ran networking cables to key areas all around the space and set up our switches in a nice server rack in the “server room”.
We also installed new door locks with keypads so we can allow our members access to the space without endless key copying.
We brought a pop machine and a snack machine in so we can buy snacks and drinks while we’re hacking the night away.
We set up a webcam so we can see what’s going on at the space while we’re away.
We’ve also improved the spaces facilities in terms of tools. We’ve acquired through purchase and donation a very decent set of tools. We have an array of soldering irons including a nice digital soldering iron. We have an oscilloscope on loan. We have a few power tools, including a nice drill press.
In addition to making the space awesome, our members have been involved in many many awesome projects ranging from several autonomous vehicles to laser graffiti to distributed computing clusters.
We built a Makerbot and are using it to make all kinds of objects including more RepRap machines.
We’re building a big grid of LED’s to light up a glass block wall in our bathroom.
We’ve got several MAME cabinet projects ongoing.
We helped out a local theater group with some electronic props for the play Equus.
One of our members designed and had manufactured a new and improved RepRap-compatible stepper motor driver board.
We went on a fun field trip to Mendelson’s in Dayton and Entertrainment Junction in Mason.
We’ve had several different classes including ones on Blender, Python, and Basic Electronics.
We’ve designed a number of logos and art and made t-shirts and business cards.
We’ve hosted several meetings of our local 2600 club.
We’ve had a music video filmed at our space.
We’ve had several fund-raising and just-for fun parties at the hackerspace.
When I look back, I’m really impressed. This post just scratches the surface of all the awesome stuff going on at Hive13. I don’t know if any of us thought we could get this much done in only about 6 months. That makes me really excited to see how far we can go in 2010.
CJDavis and I were at the hive until about 1:20 am this morning working on finishing up a second strand of LED lights for the Glass Block Matrix LED Display.
In this image we are diffusing the LED’s with a sheet of paper towel which causes a nice soft glow, however it greatly reduces the brightness. Therefore we are leaving the paper towels off even though they make for a great picture and viewing experience from inside the bathroom.
We have had some technical issues with both the RGB LEDs and the wiring system we are using. A good amount of the LED’s seem to have an issue where they will turn on even when the anode wire is not connected to anything. We are talking nothing, like it is just soldered into a proto-board. Current speculation is that either the LED’s are bad or the proto-boards are bad.
Another problem we have been having is that originally we were using Cat-5 to wire up each anode for the 8 LED’s in a column, however the current in the twisted pairs was enough to induce a current in the second pair causing issues with LEDs coming on when they are not supposed to. This is a fairly limited problem so far as the LEDs only glow faintly. In any case we are altering how we wire up future anodes.
Sunday December 20th is Arcade Night. This is were anybody who is interested in fixing up arcade machines or building your own game system or augmented reality game should come and collaborate! Starting at 5pm on Sunday show up to help out or start your own project. We will be fixing up several standup cabinets as well as the rather large arcade units.
Note: This is not a night to play arcade games but to build/refurbish them. Although we will always need to test our final products, of course…
I had some spare time down at the hive last night so I finished assembling the framework for the RGB Glass Block Matrix display. The next step is going to be to mark out where to drill the holes for the LED.
After that is done we can start soldering up the LEDs.
A few of our members stopped up at the UC surplus sale on saturday and picked up a couple of largeish projectors. One of them had a working bulb and a bad powersupply ($25), the other had a bad bulb ($50).
After moving the bulb from the projector with a bad powersupply to the projector that just had a bad bulb we discovered that we now had a very nice working projector.
This should provide a nice start for our Laser Graffitti projects, also, we still have the other projector that needs a new powersupply but could serve as the base for testing more powerful light sources.
This is another project initiated by PlayerTwo. This is an older arcade game called Meltdown. The way the game works is the game will move a goal box up and down a center tube. Inside the center tube is a radioactive sample that the gamer must keep centered inside the goal box by adjusting the flow of the air through the center tube.
The main problem at the moment is that the goal box is on a cable that keeps getting snagged and is a bit stretchy so it slips. Once this problem is worked out there is a bit of surface work that needs to be done.
The Hive now has a Training Program! You can sign up for a full year of self paced training classes and unlimited use of the workshop and labs. This can be an easy training decisions for companies who want to provide extra high value perks for their employees!
See Hive13 Training Program for more information!
Some of our members picked up five flouresent light fixtures that would normally mount under a shelf in a cubical at the University of Cincinnati surplus sale. I was down at the hive tonight and decided to look into how we might mount them on the workbench and have worked out what seems to be a good method.
First take the bulb out, then drill out the rivets that hold the light fixture to the case of the light. Then use the holes left by the removed rivets for screws. The end result looks fairly nice and seems pretty sturdy.
Now… just need to mount the remaining four light fixtures.
After you vote at the polls we will be having a vote for both CTO and COO positions. You must be physically present to take part in this vote.