Last year we attended the first Orlando Maker’s faire. It was a real blast. You had all kinds of electronics, art, music, projects.... I could go on & on over the things I saw.
This year Maker’s Faire will be at the Orlando Science Center on October 5th. The faire is included with the regular Science Center’s admission ticket. As a lead up to the main event the Science Center has been hosting Mini Maker Days. This weekend August 10th is Robot Days. So of course there will be several R2D2’s and other Astromechs there.
So in anticipation of the event I felt like focusing on robots. They are so fascinating on so many levels. I love how people express this interest in robots such as art work. In art it’s limitless like artists Robot Envy, Rusty Robots and Robots are Awesome. Each Artist is unique. Robot Envy’s artwork has such a variety as the real robots of today. Some look retro while others look new age or even charismatic. Rusty Robots by Space Cow Smith are nightly. Robots are Awesome, is fun loving, quirky and brings a smile to your face. It’s funny how something mechanical almost feels human.
But the obsession with robots doesn't stop there. It’s hard to believe that the fascination with robots goes back to the 1700’s. These first early robots were called automatons. Some of these early creations are intricate that the engineering involved with some of them have been lost over the years. It’s hard to believe that their creation is due to watchmakers trying to show off their skills. Some are so intricate they could not only right & draw they could perform and juggle. It’s amazing to believe that such creations existed so long ago. At the time of their creation these early robots were a status symbol of high society. I’ll include a couple of links to these early robots. Some are so life like.
Today’s robots are nothing like what we pictured but they are coming along. Sure we have robots that can do a sketch of someone but it’s amazing what we are able to do with the robots of today. Just recently in the news this past week has been about robots to assist astronauts, Surgeons and even explore for us in areas we can’t go.
All in all I think what most people find fascinating is that they work and how. Many of us don’t think we are capable of building a robot till we actually meet someone who has built one. Sure it can be as simple as a Rolling MP3 player with arms or a childs toy that can talk think and move on it’s own. The possibilities are endless. I think of all the things robots have inspired I hope to see what people create & bring to Robot Days and what inspirations will occur from this event.
Hope to see you there and please feel free to say Hi!
As promised here are some links on automatons and some other robot news you might find interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment