Maker Faire in the Bay Area - Photos

[rcnewcomb]

Here are a few photos from the Shopbot Tent at the Bay Area Maker Faire

[coryatjohn]

What about this new miracle machine they debuted? Was it worthy?

[rcnewcomb]

They had a number of the Handibots (http://www.handibot.com/)running. Very cool that it can be driven from a bluetooth interface from your mobile app -- yet if you have existing CAM software it can be driven from that as well.

[Bob Eustace]

Randall could you tell us the type of jobs they had the Handibots doing please?

[rcnewcomb]

They were doing v-carving and pocketing.

I did overhear one of the guys talking to a contractor about using them for doing faucet and sink cutouts at the job site. Set it on the material, use the app to enter the parameters, it will do the faucet cutouts as well as sink. It will cut guide holes in the waste area so the unit can be moved to continue the cutout for pieces larger than the work area. Not a bad idea if you are doing 100 sinks and haven't precut the material back at the shop.

The same guide hole approach could be used to doing larger complex curves. It might not be faster than a jig saw for 1 piece, but if you have lots of complex repetitive cutting it might make sense.

[chiloquinruss]

At first you say well it's really small so what can I do with it. Then you play with it a little and use a couple of the really cool jigs/fixtures that the group has come up with so far and the light bulb starts to glow, this thing is really powerful. It's a cnc machine without any table size limitations! Check out the pix of one of the jigs:

http://handibot.com/img/handibot-in-action.jpg

Now imagine that old house that you are installing the new wet bar into and they have this exposed beam right next to the new bar. Wouldn't that beam look cool with some grapes and grape vines winding its way up the beam!

We had another jig setup for cutting on a long piece of 2x8 and were cutting out corbels with this little workhorse! Pretty cool.

I went down to Maker Faire and ended up spending both days playing in the ShopBot booth and had a great time!

I think the Handibot is going to be fun to watch it grow into a really exciting new way to look at power tools. A power tool with apps! Russ

[myxpykalix]

My first thought was..."This is a toy, and i have no use for it..." but now that i see this jigging, like you said the lightbulb goes off! I'd like to see more applications of it's use or ideas if you know of any....:eek:

[chiloquinruss]

Since the Handibot press release just went out on the 15th there is not much info that is readily available yet!

http://www.shopbottools.com/files/press/Handibot%20Intro.pdf

However if you go to Handibot.com and watch the couple of videos (really short) you will see some examples. Look closely at the base of the Handibot and you can make out a few of the jigs they have already dreamed up. The trick is going to be to redesign those jigs so they can be produced using the Handibot and not using a regular Shopbot. The target release date is 'late summer' so there is time to getter' done'. Had a ball with the machine and it really does an amazing amount of work. We ripped right though those 2x8's! :D Russ

See the link on the Shopbottols website:
http://www.shopbottools.com/mApplications/handibot.htm
Scroll down the page and there are more examples. Russ

[rcnewcomb]

The idea of taking the machine to the material is clearly going to be an adjustment to recognize the potential. The availability of apps and using this with mobile devices should allow another level of user to take advantage of CNC -- those who don't currently use or understand CAD/CAM.

The Shopbot/Vectric tent was one of the better run displays at Maker Faire. They had a good cross section of people coming though and enough staff available to answer questions. Being a rotary guy I always wish they have some indexers running, but at least they have some samples that were cut on an indexer.

I particularly like to watch young kids as Maker Faire who get to see this stuff. You can just see the wheels turning in their heads as they contemplate the possibilities. Imagine if you'd had access to 3D printers in elementary school and small CNC machines when you were in junior high...

[chiloquinruss]

I met one of the builders of a really neat robot, did lots of really trick stuff. He was 12! He commented upon seeing the printed circuit board made with the Handibot that that was good for his work as the acid used in the etching process destroyed a lot of the base materials he would like to use. Using the Handibot he could laminate his own substrate and then 'carve' the pcb, he asked to be notified when shipping starts! Russ

[JoeinWestMich]

The ShopBot staff showed this off at the new user training I attended at their facility the beginning of May. Really interesting new take on the use for CNC. This would not be something I could see myself using with my hobbyist plans. But they showed some examples that should certainly make some contractors find it not only useful but might set them apart from the competition. I am glad to see they are making a good impression out in the field.