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Written by Simon Arthur

Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog

Created: 12 September 2012

Photo by Charles Guan

Check out these awesome steam punk wings from Chris Lee and Leah D’Andrea of the Apparition Abolishers.

Chris and Leah showed up during my dragon con panel to sure these off and demonstrate what can be with waterjet cutting. (You may remember that I mentioned these in my earlier post on Dragon*Con.) Chris made all the aluminum gears with Big Blue Saw during a recent sale.

The best part of this costume is that the wings automatically expand and contract on command, controlled through a touchscreen remote worn on the wrist.

Later on, Leah entered the Masquerade costume contest with Grant (Kickin Bot/Mythbusters) Imahara.
The costume won the prestigious Best In Show award.

This matches its intended milieu better than most creations a similar aesthetic, as the exposed mechanism actually functions, unlike most steampunk, which seems to simply use brass gears like decorative sequins.

Read more about it at the Apparition Abolishers website.

Photo by Charles Guan

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Written by Simon Arthur

Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog

Created: 06 September 2012

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this past weekend I was at Dragon*Con, one of the largest sci-fi/fantasy/comics/gaming conventions in the world. It's about so much more than just Star Trek, Marvel Comics, and the like (not that there is anything wrong with those). Not only it is it home to the world's second oldest fighting robot competition, but there is also an event track dedicated to robots and other "maker" topics.

My convention experience at Dragon*Con began on Saturday morning with a train ride down to the downtown Atlanta location of Dragon*Con. I was due to speak on a panel at 11:30 AM in the Sheraton hotel. Getting to the hotel was an adventure. When I exited the subway station, a thick throng of people stood gawking at various zombies, Cylons, and celebrities, all marching down Peachtree Street as part of the Dragon*Con parade. It turns out that I was on the wrong side of the street and it was impossible to cross. Fortunately, a kind MARTA worker let me cross back over the subway platform through the exit on the other side, and I arrived just in time for the panel to start.

My compatriot on the panel was Peter Abrahamson, who I haven't seen since I was the Robotics Track director several years back. We talked and answered questions about how to make things using waterjet and laser cutting. I didn't see too many people sneaking out the back door, so I think we were reasonably entertaining and informative.

A few Big Blue Saw customers were in the audience, including Chris Lee who showed off an iPhone controlled steampunk costume made with parts from Big Blue Saw. His creation really deserves its own blog post.

It was great to see so many people interested in learning more hearing about the projects they intend to build. Thanks to Valerie Macht to putting together such a great programming track.

Monday was Robot Battles, an event that I've been competing in since the mid 1990's. It was great chance to see some old friends and make some new ones as well.

And I actually won something this year! My robot, which I have given the shamelessly commercial name "Big Blue Saw Presents Jaws", took first place in the 30 pound division Battle Royale. Of course, all of the custom structural and mechanical components in this robot are made using Big Blue Saw.

To see more video of Robot Battles, check out the Dragon*Con Robot Battles 2012 playlist from Mike of Near Chaos Robotics, or you can check out this channel from Dale's Homemade Robots.

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Written by Simon Arthur

Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog

Created: 28 August 2012

A note for those of you in the Atlanta area on Labor Day weekend: I'll be appearing at two events as part of the Dragon*Con, “largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe”.

Some of you may know that I used to be director of the Robotics Track at Dragon*Con. In the years since I've left to dedicate more time to Big Blue Saw, the current director, Valerie Macht, has expanded the focus of this track to include more events for “makers” of all kinds, not just robot builders.

I'm excited to be appearing with two friends of mine whom I admire not only for their building prowess, but also for their wit and charm: famed special effects artist Peter Abrahamson and mad genius Charles Guan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We'll be conducting a discussion panel entitled “Digital Fabrication, Laser and Waterjet Cutting”. This takes place on Saturday, September 1 at 11:30 AM in the Savannah Rooms 1-3 of the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. We'll be talking about Big Blue Saw, giving demonstrations, showing off parts, answering questions, and even giving away a few freebies.

Also, on Monday, September 3 (Labor Day), I'll be competing in Robot Battles 44 with my robot Jaws at the Hyatt Regency VI-VII Ballroom. Most of Jaws's custom parts were made using Big Blue Saw.

For more information see the Robotics Track schedule at http://robotics.dragoncon.org/schedule/.

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Written by Simon Arthur

Parent Category: Big Blue Saw Blog

Created: 15 August 2012

I am constantly amazed by the things people dream up and make with the help of Big Blue Saw. Our customers have built robots, clocks, light installations, jewelry, and fashion accessories with Big Blue Saw. Now, we're helping them build powerful electric motors. Charles Guan shows us how it's done.

His Kittmotter is an electric motor that can be adapted for a variety of situations. Charles uses it to power a small electric scooter, but I can easily see these motors being used in small electric carts, toys, or robots.

Best of all, these motors can be built from Big Blue Saw parts with a few hardware odds and ends. No specialized machine tools necessary.

With Big Blue Saw, not only can you make what you dream of, you can now make it move.