Day 2 of the Maker Faire was just as much fun as Day 1. For more photos, check out my Flickr gallery for day 2.

One of the big highlights for me was getting the opportunity to attend a lecture by Adam Savage of MythBusters fame. His lecture was not only informative, but extremely inspiring. He talked about his years working at ILM, working with Jamie Hyneman at M5 Industries, and his passion for recreating movie props.

MythBusters or no, Adam Savage is one of my personal heroes. His dedication to his craft, inquisitive mind, attention to detail, and creative drive make him the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.

A major focus of his lecture was on his obsessive attention to detail and constant striving to achieve, what is to him, perfection in his projects. During his lecture, he showed photos of the construction process for a few of his favorite prop recreations. One such creation, that he has been working on for over 10 years, is a replica of the ZF-1 gun from the 5th Element film. The level of detail and extensive research that he has put into that project are both extremely impressive.

After his lecture was over, I realized how much the last 9 years in LA without a workshop was killing me. Growing up I had 2 large workshops to work in. One for wood/metalwork, and a second for finer finishing work, such as electronics, painting, and sculpting. As a renter in LA, I just don’t have the space, but I think the time has come to look into renting some workshop space. That, combined with TechShop moving to LA should keep me out of a padded cell for at least a few more years.

Robotic artist Christian Ristow and his friends brought out Subjugator and Manipulatrix for a bit of industrial carnage. Their giant metal monsters chewed up mannequins, wooden pallets, and just about anything that got in their way. If you have never seen one of their shows in the past, definitely check them out.

BattleBots in the house! There are few things in this world as satisfying as watching radio controlled robots rip one another to shreds. I was able to attend 2 matches… The featherweight match of “The Bully” vs. “Plasma,” both of which were “wedge” robots (read as utterly pointless) and the much more impressive middleweight bout of “Skidplate” vs. “The Mortician.” Both of the middleweight robots had a spinning blade, so you know only one robot would be leaving the thunderdome, I mean arena, alive. The Mortician dominated the match, ripping large chunks off his opponent. One of the aforementioned chunks flew up and hit the lexan 4 feet away from where I was sitting. These robots are pretty powerful. I heard rumors floating around the event that later that same day, some metal actually penetrated the “bullet resistant” lexan. I’d also like to take a moment to apologize for the poor quality of my photos for the BattleBots event. Flash photography only reflected off the battle-scared lexan walls, but it was my only option given the low light and fast moving bots.

There were many interesting vehicles at the Maker Faire. The image above shows the “Lego Jeep.” The outer surface of the Jeep is covered in Lego flats, allowing kids to cover it in their own Lego creations.

Other interesting vehicles included a Robot Giraffe covered in computer controlled lights and speakers, a Giant wheeled 2 person bike where each driver controlled 1 wheel, and an experimental driverless vehicle.

Day 1 also had its share of creative vehicles… including a swarm of Cupcake Mobiles, a foot driven Keyboard car, and a petal powered Buscycle.

I’ve only covered a fraction of what I saw each day, so please feel free post any questions, and check out all the photos I posted on Flickr.

/Chris