Check Out This Gigantic Game Of Thumb War And Other Awesome Stuff We Saw At The 2012 Maker Faire

2012-10-01T14:52:00.000Z

Several times a year, designers, tinkerers, and hardware nerds gather at Maker Faires around the country to show off their latest creations.

It has the vibe of a quirky science fair where people who are passionate about creating want to instill that same passion in attendees.

It's a huge event (almost overwhelming, really). Between the booths of people demoing their creations, the live music, and the countless food trucks keeping attendees' bellies full, there's almost no way to see everything.

But you can still see a lot.

The Maker Faire was held at the New York Hall of Science in Queens

Our first stop was at the 3D Printer Village, obviously a hopping scene for hardcore makers

We met Brook Drumm, the head of Printrbot, a company giving the popular Makerbot a run for its money

The Printrbot Jr. is a truly portable 3D printer that captures imagination from all ages

Here's an example of the detailed quality it can print–the Gorton's fisherman!

Here's something entirely different–the Eggbot, a robot that draws pictures on eggs

We saw all kinds of interesting transportation projects. At first glance, this seemed to be a standard skateboard

But a moment later, it transformed into a scooter

And a San Francisco company called Velo wants to help you get rid of your car by selling you a powerful electric bicycle

When it comes to market for an estimated $1,500, the Velo will use your smartphone as a "brain" of sorts to track mileage and speed

A little farther down we saw the Rugrat Racer, a remote-controlled carpet-gliding speed demon

The Nerdy Derby was a station that invited you to construct a car out of a variety of random materials...

...and then race them down a huge track to win prizes

We met Hexy, a six-legged robot by ArcBotics

This ArcBotics rep explained that his company's robot costs hundreds of dollars while similar robots cost thousands

Maker Faire isn't all about electronics though. Here's a group of people weaving on a loom.

And there was even a gaming area. This "game" spins rapidly in circles...

...and the first person to let go of the handles loses

Over here is a gigantic game of thumb war

And what would a gathering of this size be without go-carts?

We were blown away by this–Brain Bats is a system that reads your brainwaves to play pong...

...on this giant LED board

Here's Kickstarter darling OpenROV, an open-source underwater exploration robot

We loved the inventor's Steve Zissou cap

Walking around more, we found some live music made with all order of weird electronics and old analog instruments

And if you've seen the famous Mentos and Coke guys on YouTube, they were there in their lab coats. This was as close as we could get, as they drew quite a crowd

AeroQuad is an open-source quadcopter...

...and it was really something to see up close

What better way to end the day than by shuffling around in a hammock on wheels?

Just because you cut the cord doesn't mean you have to miss your favorite shows

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Check Out This Gigantic Game Of Thumb War And Other Awesome Stuff We Saw At The 2012 Maker Faire

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Check Out This Gigantic Game Of Thumb War And Other Awesome Stuff We Saw At The 2012 Maker Faire

The Maker Faire was held at the New York Hall of Science in Queens

Our first stop was at the 3D Printer Village, obviously a hopping scene for hardcore makers

We met Brook Drumm, the head of Printrbot, a company giving the popular Makerbot a run for its money

The Printrbot Jr. is a truly portable 3D printer that captures imagination from all ages

Here's an example of the detailed quality it can print–the Gorton's fisherman!

Here's something entirely different–the Eggbot, a robot that draws pictures on eggs

We saw all kinds of interesting transportation projects. At first glance, this seemed to be a standard skateboard

But a moment later, it transformed into a scooter

And a San Francisco company called Velo wants to help you get rid of your car by selling you a powerful electric bicycle

When it comes to market for an estimated $1,500, the Velo will use your smartphone as a "brain" of sorts to track mileage and speed

A little farther down we saw the Rugrat Racer, a remote-controlled carpet-gliding speed demon

The Nerdy Derby was a station that invited you to construct a car out of a variety of random materials...

...and then race them down a huge track to win prizes

We met Hexy, a six-legged robot by ArcBotics

This ArcBotics rep explained that his company's robot costs hundreds of dollars while similar robots cost thousands

Maker Faire isn't all about electronics though. Here's a group of people weaving on a loom.

And there was even a gaming area. This "game" spins rapidly in circles...

...and the first person to let go of the handles loses

Over here is a gigantic game of thumb war

And what would a gathering of this size be without go-carts?

We were blown away by this–Brain Bats is a system that reads your brainwaves to play pong...

...on this giant LED board

Here's Kickstarter darling OpenROV, an open-source underwater exploration robot

We loved the inventor's Steve Zissou cap

Walking around more, we found some live music made with all order of weird electronics and old analog instruments

And if you've seen the famous Mentos and Coke guys on YouTube, they were there in their lab coats. This was as close as we could get, as they drew quite a crowd

AeroQuad is an open-source quadcopter...

...and it was really something to see up close

What better way to end the day than by shuffling around in a hammock on wheels?

Just because you cut the cord doesn't mean you have to miss your favorite shows

Click here to learn how to download your favorite shows as they air >

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

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Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know