Let's build a workshop pipeline!

One thing we’re going to want to do in the new space is take positive steps to raise our visibility and engagement with the surrounding community. A great way to do that would be to regularly invite people in to do cool stuff, thereby feeding the top of the membership funnel.

Making stuff out of atoms is cool, but creativity is too hard, who even has the time? Let’s find some cool, cheap kits we could buy and test drive, then run workshops around the ones that look good! One notable difference about the Drive is there are a LOT of young families around. IMO we should try to keep up a regular cadence of of kid-friendly activities, primarily as a way of building buzz and interest among adults.

A few things that I’d enjoy doing:

1. Another fixed-wing RC build

e.g. FT Tiny Trainer

Pros:
  • Airplanes are cool!

Cons:

  • expensive, ~$110 cost ($50 TX/RX, $10 servos, $20 battery, $10 charger, $10 motor, $10 ESC)
  • difficult to find a place to fly legally
  • takes a long time (at least half a day if the parts are laser cut; a whole day if people have to cut themselves)
  • we don’t know if polystyrene foamboard is acceptable on the laser cutter

2. A laminated papercraft glider

e.g. this one I’ve made before

Pros:

  • airplanes are cool!
  • cheap: buy the nice thicc paper from Daiso, regular old white glue
  • good designs are available for free
  • fly in any old park or backyard
  • only requires a couple hours of attention span

Cons:

  • cutting the parts out by hand with an Xacto knife is a pain and not too kid-friendly
  • if we wanted to laser cut the parts, we would probably have burn marks around the edges?

3. Hacky Holidays LED Christmas trees (towards the end of the year)

@Janet took the lead on beta testing this project, I think it’s awesome, especially for $10

Pros:

  • Cheap ($10 cost of goods, maybe $25 workshop?)
  • Really nice looking
  • Excellent bikeshed opportunity to design a version that’s easier to program and maybe get our own boards manufactured

Cons:

  • The banggood version isn’t easily hackable although reading about the i8051 might be a delightful rabbit hole for you, the way it was for me

4. Robot Pig

Pros:

  • Robot
  • Pig
  • We could probably do our own version out of laser cut acrylic or plywood

Cons:

  • Not smart in any sense

OK, let’s hear your suggestions! I’ll commit to doing two of these in the first six months of the new year (please remind me if I drop the thread :wink:

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We should get some seasonal stuff going too… A heart thing for Feb, a bunny thing for Spring, etc.

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