Interdisciplinary project (Hackaday?)

Education Interest Check
#1

Would anyone be interested in working on something big like a Hackaday Prize?

After joining the space I realized it’s a really diverse space - both in terms of people and tools. This is a rare situation, and it would be cool to see what we can accomplish if some of us work together.

I know there would be organizational/planning issues with a large project, but just for fun can we suspend disbelief for a second and try brainstorming - what sort of project could we build with access to a wood shop, metal shop, 3D fab, science lab, etc. and experts in each of these industries?

The Citizen Science Hackaday contest just started, and the Raman spectrometer build is a cool example of something we could build as a group. The Automation contest starts in about a week, and I think there are lots of people at the space that could contribute to that contest if they so wish.

I dunno, maybe we could build a drone for monitoring and watering/fertilizing plants in a home garden (that looks like a bumblebee?), or maybe some kind of automation for the space like tool checkout/tracking/maintenance/wish-list.

This could be a project for everyone - creative types could really have some fun designing the enclosure, graphics, UI, etc., woodworking could help with prototyping, jigs, inlay/overlays, metal shop could build structural components like chassis, machine shop could build functional components like gears and bushings, 3D fab can help prototype and help with enclosure/chassis, etc.

Anyways, I’m just curious what we can come up with if we think big. Any ideas?

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2016 Hackaday Prize Launched
#2

I dont have any ideas at the moment but it sounds like a great idea. I really like the idea of bringing our maker community together as a team. Im in.

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#3

Totally down for this.

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#4

Here are the parameters for the Hackaday automation comp,
Automation
Starts July 11th - Ends August 22nd

Automate your life. Program a robot to obey your every command. Build a device that makes breakfast or buys laundry detergent when you’re running low. Automatically track stuff, automate any process, build a Me-robot to do your every whim…

Minimum entry requirements:
Idea + image + documentation + 4 build logs

Project Profile. Create a project profile on Hackaday.io, completing all required fields and following all instructions. Submit the Project to 2016 Hackaday Prize.

On the Project Profile:
Discuss the challenge which has been chosen as the subject of the project
Discuss how this challenge will work to alleviate or solve the problem
Publish at least one image to help illustrate how the project might be used. This may be a sketch, schematic, flow chart, rendering, or other type of image.
Show at least four Project Log updates
Link to any repositories (e.g., GitHub)
Document all open-source licenses and permissions as well as any applicable third-party licenses/restrictions

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#5

are you going to set up a meeting or wait until there is enough interest on Talk?

#6

Thanks @bholigan and @Ebony_Jackson. To be clear, regarding the Hackaday prize, we don’t have to actually complete the project in the contests timeframe, but we’d obviously have a better chance of winning if we did. My point is this: we should start with the idea, and if we can make the deadline, great; otherwise, we could enter the project into some future contest (assuming we don’t make it to semi-finals). Maybe we pick some big idea and build it in stages.

@Ebony_Jackson, maybe we could do a little preliminary brainstorming on here, and if enough people get involved, we could have a meeting. I’m hesitant to set a time, because I know peoples’ schedules vary a lot. Maybe we could use Google Hangouts (or similar) though.

There’s a process I like for brainstorming that has two phases: synthesis and evaluation. We could start by just throwing out any whacky idea we can come up with (synthesis), then later evaluate each idea and prune the list (evaluation).

To get us started, here’s a few ideas off the top of my head:

  1. [Automation?] An alarm clock that pokes you in the morning until you wake up
  2. [Automation] Some sort of tool/part receptical that gives you the tool you requested (maybe with a textual search function)
  3. [Science] Smartphone app that overlays common names for chemicals listed on ingredients lists of food (like the language translation apps)
  4. [Science/humor] Why is my cat meowing (I’m sure there are some like this already, but we could make it better/funnier)
  5. [Science] Sunlight meter (for plants) using smartphone (there are kits/tools that do this, but they suck and require a second purchase)
  6. [Science] Visual plant identifier (could use space carving, or just a drill-down list of questions)
  7. [Science] Mix-the-chemicals smartphone game where you do just that and see what compounds and yields you get.
  8. [Science] Something with a the CM1K neural network IC.
  9. [Automation] Some kind of robot that hunts down devices and charges them like a super dead-battery predator (or overly-aggressive babysitter - your choice)
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#7

Some cool projects on Hackaday:

ODrive - BLDC servo motor controller:

Farmbot - CNC farming machine:

$5 DNA Replicator (sorry, no video)

NeuroBytes - electronic neuron simulators

Volumetric Circuits! - three-dimensional discrete grid-aligned circuits editor

Refreshable braille display (sorry, no video)

Wifi power mapping:

And here’s some things I think we should avoid simply because they’ve been done so many times already:

  • 3D printer
  • Arduino-like general purpose device
  • Hex bot
  • Smart watch
  • DIY computer or processor
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#8

Power armor! I play a lot of Fallout and feel like exoskeleton armor should already be a thing. This project works well as an interdisciplinary project at DMS. Auto has the lift featured in Fallout, Metal Shop can provide the frame and paneling (duh), Science and Electronics will have to provide the power supply and servos or say it can’t be done. NEIWG can rig up something with their EMG stuff for the driver to interact with the armor.

3 Likes
#9

This would be cool, especially if you could incorporate voice recognition

Me too, every time i play in the suit i’m thinking, That could be built, lol

#10

I like the power armor idea - I’ve always thought that could be a fun project. EMG control could be really awesome! Does anyone know how some of the existing exoskeletons work - like the XOS 2 from Raytheon?