by Dot Cannon

“Everyone is a maker,” said Vocademy founder and SoCal MakerCon keynote speaker Gene Sherman.  “You just need access to the tools to express that creativity.”

Saturday’s second SoCal Maker Con, at Pomona Fairplex, more than supported this statement.

Dozens of kids and “big kids” took advantage of the hands-on opportunities.

Robots were everywhere.

The “Robot Throwdown”, where battling robots faced off, was so popular that getting close enough to see it was a challenge.   (But well worth it!)

And there was a new feature this year:

…the IDRA California Cup Championship drone races!  These drew a huge crowd.

They also had a few “life happens” moments.

But trophies were waiting, and some exciting flying was going on.  Presenter Steve, who said he’s been involved with drones for four months now, was having as much fun as anyone.   (Congratulations to all the winners!)

Throughout the day, speakers took to the stage to address various maker topics.   STEM education, biomaking and the marketing challenges facing innovators were all part of the discussions.

And 3D printer fans had plenty to see, among the exhibitors.

There was even a 3-D printer they could build!

“What’s this printer making?” we asked design engineer Scott Cahoon.

“Iron Man,” he responded, explaining that the machine was capable of printing the figure more quickly, but a slower process equaled higher quality.

Quality was also Tay Chu’s focus.  The Kickstarter program for her new RAISE 3D printer has exceeded its original goal of $50,000, seven times over.  The project–creating high-resolution 3D printers with remote control–will be funded on November 13th.

Travis Thayer was maintaining Play-Well TEKnologies’ elevator tower.   Play-Well is a LEGO®-inspired company that teaches after-school and birthday party engineering classes for kids, from kindergarten to eighth grade.

“We’ve got a speed building challenge over here,” Travis said.  “We’ve got our own little two-legged robot prebuilt, and we’re seeing who can build the fastest time.”

So, the fastest time he had seen?  “Thirty-five seconds.”

Experimentation, education and collaboration were the main themes of SoCal MakerCon.   Digital-age wordsmith Larry Cafiero was on hand to explain how The Open Source Initiative benefits makers.

Across the aisle, Scott Austin and Eric Schleicher could illustrate further.  Their company, Obrary, has an inventory of open designs, available to anyone who would like to make, or improve on, them!

Gene Sherman said the current educational system, and his frustration with it, ultimately led him to create his Riverside-based education-focused maker space, Vocademy.

“When I went to school in the late 80’s, I had shop class,” he explained.  “I had valuable skills, coming straight out of school.  And it frustrated me that over the past twenty years, we’ve eliminated all of  our shop classes in schools.  We are failing millions of people–incredibly talented makers–by not giving them the opportunity to discover their skill set.”

Vocademy, Gene said, is a fifteen-thousand-square-foot learning space, which teaches skills through a master-and-apprentice system.   They’ve just celebrated their two-year anniversary, and are currently discussing expansion plans.  Gene says they’re looking at Southern California, Virginia and possibly Japan.  Also in the works are plans to help schools and libraries create “turnkey makerspaces”.

Here’s a great demonstration of what can happen, when a talented maker has the opportunity to imagine and invent.  He’s called “Partybot”.

“He’s the robot I made in my dad’s garage,” explained creator Sam Ontiveros.  “He can dispense sodas, tell jokes, and is voice controlled, so if it’s not too, too loud, then you can just order (your drink) with your voice.”

Sam, currently in eighth grade, said Partybot was the first robot he’s built.  The inspiration for his creation was a long Sunday-afternoon drive home from the Bay Area.

He and his father had left at 2 in the afternoon, Sam said, and he had to be back in Southern California for school the following day.

“It’s a six-hour drive from San Mateo,” he explained, “so I just started talking about random things to keep my dad awake.  One of them was Partybot.”

When they returned home, Sam said, he and his dad decided they should build Partybot.  So Sam began working on his idea in March, just completing Partybot the day before MakerCon.  “I’m happy with him,” he said.

Like many other inventors before him, though, Sam was dealing with some of the glitches that come with translating  ideas into reality.  “We had some problems (today), because we’ve been dispensing the same sodas over and over again,” he explained.  “And so, eventually, they’ll burst…I’m not looking forward to cleaning him up.”