Through a grant from The Macarthur Foundation and their digital media and learning program the SSBx Fablab and myself where funded to provide a series of workshops in the FabLab.  The focus of these workshops was simple, to expose community members and youth groups to the Fab Lab`s technologies.  We wanted to frame the workshops around the Fab Lab’s greater themes of green technology, recycling, and up- cycling.  We also wanted participants to leave each workshop with something valuable they could take and show their peers to help increase awareness and interest in the  Fab Lab.  In order to meet both of these objectives, we decided that workshops centered around engraving electronics (specifically cell phones and mp3 devices) would be most appropriate.

An engraved cell phone or mp3 device is unique and has the potential to become a treasured possession to its owner, used longer before replacement, and/or collected after it loses its utility.  In the January issue of the New York Times Magazine, Jon Mooallem explores the idea that even when they are recycled, reused, and salvaged for parts and metals, most cell phones eventually make their way to landfills, where they invariable leak hazardous metals into the ground and create tons of e-waste.  The question is not whether we should or should not advocate recycling cell phones, but can we change the way people look at their new and used phones, and thus what they do with them when it comes time for a replacement.  In other countries, specifically Japan people are avid collectors, toys, clothes, and even cell phones.  Why not in America, we love our cell phones too.  They have grown from anomaly to necessity in the past 15 years.  If a phone is personalized, or transformed into a work of art it suddenly takes on a much different relationship to the owner, one in which the owner is vested in preserving the phone and keeping it beyond its usability.  In the end increased utility should reduce consumption and thus eliminate waste, rather then just relying on recycling current levels of waste.

During the implementation of these workshops we worked with local community members as well as four local youth groups: A.C.T.I.O.N. (from The Point), Rocking the Boat, East Harlem Robotics Team and  and Phipps West Farms Teen Program.  Participants received a laser engraver demonstration followed by a tutorial on Adobe Illustrator, and then had some time to test print and engrave their electronic device.  This process took longer then we expected though, turns out that even when people are up-cyclng their old phones they are still very cautious and skeptical about engraving it with a high powered laser. At the end of each workshop participants had been exposed to the Fab Lab and what it has to offer, but fewer made uniquely personalized electronic device to take home then we had originally expected.  Over the course of the next month many of these original participants are coming back to the lab to spend some more time perfecting their designs.  Check back in for some updated photos to see what they have done.  In the end whether or not participants choose to throw out, recycle or keep their device forever is still unclear, but they sure did enjoy themselves.  Thanks to all those who came out, and see you soon.
Dolge

Article weblink
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Cellphone-t.html
A.C.T.I.O.N
http://www.thepoint.org/aboutus/aboutus.html
Rocking the Boat
http://www.rockingtheboat.org/
East Harlem Robotics Team
http://www.ehtp.org

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JuWilCu is a young design-build group composed of local designers JUwariya Abdul-Karim, Gabe Williams and Carlos CUlly.  Their focus on construction projects that address socioeconomic and environmental issues led them to become collaborators with us during the pilot phase of our fab lab initiative.  JuWilCu has been able to help demonstrate the potential for creating “green-collar” entrepreneurship and job training opportunities with the use of computer controlled (CNC) machining equipment.

A recent project they completed with the use of the ShopBot CNC router available in our facilities was the construction of a collapsible and portable street vending system, built from salvaged construction materials found at a supplier called Built It Green NYC.  The project was able to emphasize many of the core values of both SSBx and JuWilCu:  “upcycling” waste streams into products that have value, and the promotion of micro-enterprise. 

Customized, rapid protoyped vending systems can be of enormous value to street vendors and other small-scale merchants. 

The photos and video in this post show the system being used at the Dance Africa Street Festival. Aside from his involvement in JuWilCu, Carlos Cully is also involved in a small-scale fashion venture called YaKBlak, that collects and refurbishes vintage sunglasses and fashion accessories, adding value to what would otherwise be a waste stream. Click here to download the design portfolio for this project.

 The video embedded below highlights the project in more detail: 

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This past week we moved the trailer from The Point CDC down the road to the Jose E. Serrano Riverside Campus for Arts and the Environment, next to Hunts Point Riverside Park.  At the site we share space with a community boat building program called Rocking the Boat, which has done outstanding work in the Bronx over the past 10 years with hands-on boat building programs for youth. We’re excited about exploring possibilities for collaboration while we remain in the trailer during Phase 1 of SSBxFab and beyond.  Developing both small and large kits and projects that involve boats will be helpful for us as we develop outreach programs for SSBxFab, and could potentially help Rocking the Boat incorporate CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Technology in some of their program areas.

The ShopBot CNC wood router we have in the trailer was originally designed by the manufacturers as a tool for Boat Building.

Below are some of the boats on-site that were built by Rocking the Boat students and staff.  We’re looking to forward to seeing how our machines can assist with their ongoing work.

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The bottle caps put me in a chess set frame of mind during which time I also made a completely cardboard set. The inspiration that set me making this set was to make one side be “positive” shapes and the other side “negative” shapes. I had to modify the board from the bottle cap set for this one, to make it larger. As a result, it no longer fit into the bed of the laser cutter, causing me to break it up into a modular board, something that I had considered for the bottle cap set as well. There are many more projects that are in the works. So stay tuned for updates.

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A very important subject that SSBx FabLab has been looking to explore is recycling, again with the goal to show how individuals can give a new life to things that would otherwise be destined to become scrap or waste. At lunch I saw a lot of bottle caps lying around and started to wonder what could I use those for. I decided to try to make a chess set by etching symbols for the pieces into the tops of the bottle caps. It has worked pretty well after a few iterations and some tweaking of the power of the laser cutter. I made the board for this set out of cardboard by etching the dark squares onto it. Now all I need is  many, many more bottle caps……..

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I have spent much of the last two weeks exploring things that transition from 2D to 3D. Recently I remembered just how cool balsa wood gliders were. I searched around our FabLab and found that we had some balsa wood stock. I set out to make a simple laser cut glider. Thus far I have taken it through two iterations although the first may actually fly better than the second. I found that a very good way to allow for selective weighting of the aircraft was to take two neodymium magnets and sandwich them across the nose of the aircraft (as pictured) the movement of the magnets allowing iterative experimentation of how changes in the center of mass of an airplane affects its flight.

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I saw a birdhouse over the weekend and decided to build one out of cardboard, again using press fit construction. The desire and motivation for these projects are to engage children and adults alike with a physical object, here a birdhouse. Hopefully, it will not only pull people in but also demonstrate the range of things that can be made turning 2D design into 3D construction. As with most of the projects I have completed thus far, I plan to make tutorials to guide people through their construction. If you are interested in the designs, immediately feel free to shoot me an email and I can send you the designs.

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From here I began to explore more ambitious projects which had similar themes for me. This was cardboard construction without glue. My next piece was a Newton’s Cradle constructed out of cardboard but using magnets instead of conventional steel balls.

The idea in this project was to explore two different physical phenomena in an engaging manner. I was hoping to demonstrate the conservation of momentum inherent in the workings of a Newton’s Cradle but also to demonstrate some things about the interaction between magnets, particularly what can be done with repulsive forces caused by the interaction between like magnetic charges (N-N or S-S). I took advantage of my knowledge of press fits in cardboard in this construction. (Video to come)

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My position with the SSBx FabLab falls somewhere between design resident and employee. I am working full time for the summer as an intern with the FabLab and doing a UROP (undergraduate research opportunities program) with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a collaboration between the Public Service Center (PSC) and the Media Lab. I will be around everyday working on design and fabrication. I am a rising senior in mechanical engineer studying at MIT.

Familiarization with FabLab Machinery:

I started work with SSBx at the beginning of June and have been settling in and familiarizing myself with the tools around me.

I started by exploring the the laser cutter and studying Google Sketch-Up and Adobe Illustrator. With this in mind I designed and fabricated a Batman Box (at first, as just a plain box. Then I added the Batman logo to it both as a vector cut and as a rastared etching.) 

During this project I realized there was a need for a systematic consideration of the type of interference fit that would be effective for cardboard. As a result I would up making test pieces and exploring how cardboard fits together with various geometries. I was then able to finish up the box project shortly there after.

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Sustainable South Bronx recently co-hosted a neighborhood block party, as part of our work with the Active Living by Design Program. This was a great opportunity to have a good a time with our neighbors and also get the word out about all of SSBx’s programs, including our fab lab.

Ed Bringas, one our design fellows, worked on building a display table made entirely of cardboard. He used Google Sketchup to design the legs and base, lasercut the drawings, assembled it together. By cutting many copies of the same drawing file, he was able to glue layers on top each to form a strong structure.  Ed works closely with a non-profit design group in New York called Adapative Design, that specializes in building cardboard furniture for disabled children.

We set his table up at the block party in a visible place, and laid out some pieces of a cardboard toy called “GIK” on top.

GIK was developed at MIT by Neil Gershenfeld and his children, and is created using parametric design software that allows the pieces to snap together as a “friction fit” or “press fit.”

Click here to see the whole Flickr Album from the Block Party

GIK is currently being developed as a business by Neil’s brother Alan Gershenfeld, and partners Michael Angst and Larry Marder. A partnership between SSBxFab and this GIK business is being explored as a possible revenue raising strategy for fab labs.

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