Creativity in full bloom at Bangkok Maker Faire
Inspiring inventions were everywhere at the third instalment of the popular Bangkok fair
Maker Faire Bangkok 2018, which took place over the past weekend, was inspiring for six-yearold Champ, who accidentally dropped by with his parents in the late afternoon. While everything looked exciting to him, he said the highlights were when he rode on an electric three-wheeled vehicle and designed his own one-of-a-kind key ring.
There was something for everyone at the event. The Street Ratchada was transformed into a creative space for youngsters to unleash their imaginations and create their own inventions.
Co-hosted by Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production and the National Science and Technology Development Agency, the fair, now in its third year, was developed from last year’s Mini Maker Faire. The event was bigger than ever with a larger numbers of makers and visitors.
Not only Thais, but also makers from across Asia showcased more than 100 innovations and inventions in a wide range of areas — from electrical engineering, electronics, embedded system technology, music, food, textiles and more. The creators shared ideas and experiences with visitors from more than 80 booths. Those inventions included 3D printed objects, robots, handmade musical instruments, unmanned aerial vehicles, electric bicycles, virtual reality, pattern designs and home control systems.
The “Enjoy Science: Young Makers Contest”, part of the Chevron Enjoy Science project, challenged students to come up with ideas and produce inventions to improve quality of life in our society.
At the fair, a team of 8th-grade students from Bangkok Christian School won first prize with their invention “Smart Traffic Cone”. The creators, Piwat Suppawittaya and Supasit Pan, designed a programme to solve traffic congestion at the school’s entrance.
Through the light at the top of traffic cone, the programme identifies parents’ cars, allowing them to pass and stop in front of the school to pick up children. The red light signifies they are not parents’ vehicles and therefore drivers are not allowed to park at the school entrance.
“The idea came from us facing the frustration of heavy traffic every day, morning and evening, in front of the school, so we developed the programme to help relieve the congestion, and it works,” said Piwat.
The “warning buoy” from “Hoy-Yai” team of Surat Thani Technical College won first prize in the college category. The team’s buoy is equipped with GPS and sensors to detect movement in the sea and alert the coastal station once something strange happens. It can also generate power itself with ocean tidal energy. The warning buoy is now functioning in Surat Thani province.
Both winning teams will be granted the opportunity to participate in Maker Faire Bay Area, the original and world-class exhibition of inventions by makers in San Francisco in the US, as well as receive other prizes valued at more than 1.2 million baht in total.
Over recent years, technological advances have made high-tech tools more accessible
than ever; cutting-edge items like dronemounted cameras or 3D printers have become more affordable.
These shifts and changes have opened up great opportunities for modern inventors to integrate technology into their creations, leading to unprecedented variety in the works they produce. Additionally, the internet’s ability to facilitate interaction between people who share the same interests has made it simple
‘‘ The winning teams received prizes valued at more than 1.2m baht
for these inventors to exchange ideas and collaborate, paving the way for the strong maker movement today.
At its core, the maker culture is a community of collaboration and learning. The creation of maker spaces and reasonable prices for service and equipment, as well as events and workshops for makers to meet and mingle, such as Maker Faire, have continued to spur growth of the culture.