MTRAS News

If you are participating in the event and planning on bringing materials, display projects or competition bots, please read these load-in / out instructions for the event!

Come out and support the home team. Members Azeem Husain, Quincy Jones, Andrew L Hoover, Karl and myself are building an Art Pod. Our theme is Recycled Space. Our pod is 4ft x 4ft x 6 ft tall. Features include musical floppy drives, an experiment panel, an electrical panel, robot arm and a dome to take in the view as you orbit planet earth! Complete your own space mission to get a mission patch themed token. Most of our pod utilizes upcycled parts. For more info checkout the following link. Thanks!
http://www.ozartsnashville.org/tnt-modular-art-pods/

Date: December 19, 2015

Where: Adventure Science Center

Times: 1. 11am-3pm Help with ASC Ornament Build

2. 3-5pm Regular Meeting

Every year we volunteer to help the ASC guests build LED ornaments. It is a fun activity, and no special skills are required. If you don't know how to connect an LED to a battery, we can show you in less than 1 minute. We will be at the tables for 11am to 3pm. You can join us for some or the whole time. We will have our monthly meeting FOLLOWING the ornament build.

We rescheduled our November meeting to November 14th to coincide with the Adventure Science Center Whistle Stop Weekend.  There will NOT be a meeting on November 21st.

Please be aware there are some changes on how to sign in for our monthly meetings.

Starting on October 24th MTRAS members will use a separate sign in table.

A member of MTRAS or Larry Dunlap-Berg, with the Adventure Science Center, will staff the table between 9:45 -10:15. (ASC’s front desk admission staff will be busy preparing to open the science center so please do not ask them for assistance.)

As you approach the science center, please use the entrance doors on the left side. When you enter the lobby look for the sign-in table, which will have a MTRAS flyer attached, on your left (near Jack Wood Hall).

You will sign in as you have in the past but will be given a wrist band specific for MTRAS members, and then you may go to Eureka Corner for the meeting. You MUST have a wristband to attend MTRAS meetings and afternoon workshops, and we encourage you to re-use your meeting wristband for the workshop.

Hi Makers, fellow member Tony Youngblood is bringing back his Modular Art Pods exhibit next year. The call for artists is now open. What is a modular pod? Here's a description from their website:

"Modular Art Pods (MAPs) is an open-source collaborative art tunnel. Each artist designs a pod and builds it. Attendees can experience the tunnel by going through the pods or walking the perimeter. Anyone can enjoy Modular Art Pods no matter their age or accessibility needs. Some large pods are wheelchair accessible. Smaller “crawl” pods can also be experienced through an accessible “backlot tour,” featuring peepholes, behind-the-scenes views, and inside/outside interactivity."

Sad our workshop got rescheduled? Don't despair, our homies over at Make Nashville are doing an "Electronic Costume" workshop this Sat Oct 17th! Add some tech to your costume and check it out. From 11 - 2pm at Emma Bistro. Ages 12 and up. Be sure to register.

Hello Roboteers. As a lot of you already know, there is a sort of new maker group in Nashville called "Make Nashville". Right now they are meeting over at Anode in East Nashville. The group is strong and is looking for a space. I am hoping MTRAS will be able to utilize this space at some point whenever the Science Center cant accommodate our needs. For example, when we are working on a big project that may require some welding etc. In in effort to help them, I have donated laser cutting time to help them with a fund raising campaign. Id like to be able to cut something maker friendly as swag to people who donated x amount to help with a deposit on a space. So I ask the members of MTRAS to come up with some fun maker related doodad I could cut out. Something using maybe 1/8in acrylic, no bigger then 2x2". If you have any ideas Id love to hear them during our next meet or reach out to me at on Facebook or MTRAS.

Thanks!

Overview

Beginning with the June workshop, MTRAS will now be offering an Arduino Basics Series for those who are new to robotics and specifically new to the Arduino platform. One of the most common questions we are asked is "I love robots and really want to get started but I don't know where to begin." Our goal is to help those who are just getting started and those who are currently tinkering, get a good foundation on which, to build their own ideas. 

As many of you have noticed, our group is growing - at every meeting there are new faces and new projects. Growth is good! With each new person we add excitement, experience and wonder to our little corner of the Maker community. Of course with growth in numbers, we also need to grow our support for those numbers which is why we have decided to invest in some upgrades to our online presence. While our original site was great and absolutely helped grow our community, it, like all websites, needs to grow and adapt to changing technologies and demands. 

First, I'd like to thank everyone for attending this past Saturday morning. Because of you, the event was a lot of fun! This meeting was the first at our new time of 10AM CT. As Patrick stated in the event details on our facebook page, "...we will be be able to host workshops starting around 1:30pm. This opens the door for lots of possibilities. Want to spend an hour teaching Arduino? What about 3D printing? Have an idea for a badge build? We can now better accommodate these types of events with our new schedule." We did have an open workshop during our afternoon workshop time. More on that below.