The Rascal at the 2011 Cambridge Maker Faire

Last weekend, a pile of Rascals, some network infrastructure and I went to the Cambridge Maker Faire, which has been on the tennis courts at Cambridge Rindge and Latin for the last couple of years. (We're talking Cambridge, USA, home of Harvard and MIT, not Cambridge, UK.)

Chris Connors, the great guy who organized the event, shot a quick interview with me talking about the Rascal. More photos and videos and other info from the event. (If I don't help Chris organize the next local Maker Faire, you should make fun of me. I mean you, internet.)

This was the Rascal's non-internet public debut-- the first instance where I stood next to a bunch of Rascal demos while a crowd ranging from kids who liked electricity to MIT engineering profs asked me questions. I had three demos: one Rascal monitored a capacitor's voltage as it is charged and discharged, one Rascal streamed 1080p video from its microSD card, and one sent messages to a small LCD through a serial port.

In the technical realm, the Rascals performed flawlessly. In the shot below, the fellow in the background has used his iPhone to connect to the local wireless network I brought (in the gray box in the foreground) and is sending messages to a serial display on the table through the Rascal's web interface. The large capacitor I brought to demonstrate monitoring an analog voltage through the web interface was almost too successful-- everyone under 13 who walked by the table, plus a few supercapacitor/electric car nuts, immediately latched onto the cap. For many of them, the mystique of the capacitor outshone the Rascal. In the words of one enthusiastic young fellow, "IS THAT A COMPUTER BOMB!!!!"

I learned a few interesting lessons. I definitely need a big sign that says "Controlling weird stuff through the internet." I don't need lots of demos; one or two demos with moving parts will do the job. I gave out around 15 flyers per hour.

Yesterday, I picked up some cheap used webcams and a massive linear stage at the MIT flea market, so Rascal's next appearance, likely at the Detroit Maker Faire on July 30th, should have a new demo that requires less sophistication to understand.