Dylan Brogan
Heavy Meta, Canada’s largest art car, can also shoot flames out of its tail.
The Madison Mini Maker Faire is winding down and exhibitor John Prazak looks frazzled. All day he’s been showing off his creation: a GarbageBot. It’s a labor of love he just can’t quit.
“I’m a stay-at-home dad and I need something to keep my mind from bouncing around the walls,” says Prazak, one of dozens of makers participating in this year’s fair at Monona Terrace on May 12. “I don’t have an engineering degree. I basically used the internet to teach myself.”
Prazak’s GarbageBot is currently navigating a loop next to his booth. The software engineer has rigged up a green Madison recycling bin with a motor, webcam and a flashing red light. The idea — which is still being perfected — is to automate the weekly chore of taking the trash to the curb. The concept came to him while he was on vacation a few years ago.
“It was garbage day and I realized my can was full and there was no one to take it to the curb,” Prazak says. “I thought, why can’t I hook it up it to the WiFi and drive it down to the curb myself?”
After months of researching and tinkering, Prazak had a working prototype he could remotely control over the internet. There’s a YouTube video of him sending the GarbageBot on a test run. Some unsuspecting sanitation workers don’t seem fazed as the green bin springs to life, travels down the driveway and meets the recycling truck streetside.
Prazak’s latest prototype is fully autonomous. He’s programmed the GarbageBot to use its webcam to follow a colored line at a scheduled time (garbage day) to the curb. The bin will wait until its contents are dumped and then — theoretically at this point — return to its usual spot.
“I’m thinking I can get it to send out text alerts if it gets lost or tips over,” Prazak says. “I’m here looking for investors. I’m not done perfecting it yet.”
The maker faire is full of inventors, hobbyists, educators, engineers and artists. There are crocheters, drone sellers, LEGO builders and a guy promoting the unlimited potential of lightweight geodesic dome hubs.
There’s a presentation on how to merge Amazon’s Alexa with a novelty Billy Bass singing fish, virtual reality displays and 3D printers buzzing on every corner. R2-D2 just rolled by. There are also workshops that put power tools, safely, in the hands of 7-year-olds; people teaching circus arts in the lobby; and even a woman dressed like a mythical creature walking on all-fours with stilts.
Gordon Smith from Kenosha has built a life size replica of the original Robot from the 1965 TV series Lost in Space that moves and lights up. Smith is part of an online community of over 600 people from around the world who help each other build increasingly exacting copies of the B-9 Robot known for alerting Will Robinson to “danger.”
“I’ve been at this about 10 years. At some point, I was frustrated that I didn’t know what I was doing so I took robotics classes at Gateway College,” says Smith, who is so-so on the 2018 Lost in Space remake. “I’m still learning. And the people love [the robot] so much I just gotta keep bringing it back.”
The showstopper at the faire is Heavy Meta, Canada’s largest art car. It’s a 30-foot-long dragon that spits fireballs out of its mouth (which moves!). The dragon is mounted on a GM bus, with speakers along one side; the back of the beast can be used as a stage. Marie Poliak, creative director of the nonprofit art project, shows off the panel that controls the fire. One of the buttons reads, “fuck off fireball.”
Poliak says the art installation was originally built for Burning Man. But she now spends all year with a crew of friends bringing the metal monster to maker faires and other events.
“I’m an illustrator. One day, I sketched out how it should look, people got really excited about it and we started welding it together,” Poliak says. “We inspired four other art cars in Toronto to be built. We want every city to have something insane like this.”
What is a Maker Faire?
In 2006, the publishers of Make: magazine launched the first Maker Faire in California to “celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset.” The event is billed as the “greatest show (and tell) on Earth” and as “part science fair, part county fair.”
What’s a Mini Maker Faire?
Make: magazine assists local organizers in creating independent faires like the one held annually in Madison. These smaller-scale events receive the “mini” moniker.
How many Maker Faires in 2017?
221 events in 45 countries attracting 1.58 million people.