Our July 7 meetingt kicks of our Make:KC organization. We met at the HMS Beagle Science Store.
HMS Beagle Science Store (photo by Sharon Mels)
Chemical Flourencents Demonstration
We had a show and tell session over the first hour where people were invited to bring in some of their projects for us to see. Lee Benson brought in a couple of examples.
Lee gave us a couple of interesting light shows. One is using chemical fluorescent light that intensifies when heated. This is using the fluid from glow sticks.
Heating fluorescence to increase intensity (Photo by Sharon Mels)
Tesla Coil Demonstrated (photo by Sharon Mels)
Our second light show was provided by Lee’s Tesla Coil. Our photos of his demonstration didn’t come out very well. We were treated to about 3 foot lightning bolts coming off the coil.
There was enough electricity in the air that overhead fluorescent lighting was flashing on and off.
We had a technical difficulty when setting up this demonstration. The ground fault outlets in the room would trip the circuit breakers. We found the ceiling outlets that overhead lights used were not GPF outlets and worked to power this Tesla Coil.
Other projects we saw included Paul Piong’s Lilypad jacket with LED’s sewn in place. Paul cautioned us about washing a garment with the electronics in place because it can cause it to stop working based on personal experience. (I didn’t get a photo of his jacket).
Sumo robot demonstration (photo by Sharon Mels)
We had an example of a sumo robot competition, shown here by a First Lego League member.
Organizational meeting of Make:KC (photo by Sharon Mels)
After our show and tell session, we moved upstairs for our formal meeting to discuss the future of Make:KC and what goals to set for the group.
Make: KC 