Fair focuses on dreaming, creating
Lego displays, battling robots encourage children, adults to develop the next big idea
Some of the robots that filled the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend were getting ready for battle.
Dinnertime, a robot owned by 11-year-old Austin resident Claire Caldwell and her father, Mark, had sharp red metal forks as hands and an anime face with scars, drawn in red and black marker.
“The goal is either to knock out your opponent or try to get points in either control, damage or aggression,” said Claire, who has been battling robots for about a year with her father.
The father-daughter team took its latest creation to the Houston Maker Faire, an event where builders, designers, scientists and engineers can show off their latest hobbies, experiments and projects.
“You can create whatever you can dream up, and you see all these different people that are very passionate about their creations,” said Andy Lynch, a board of director of Innovation Spark, the nonprofit that runs the fair. “They’ve built up these amazing Lego displays or robots, and it will lead to the next idea, the next collaboration for younger generations.”
Lynch, 33, said the fair has registered makers from elementary school to adults and college students from Houston, Austin and Louisiana. Visitors could learn how 3D printing works, watch a Lego train circle a Lego city and see Ponytrap, a band with custom-made robots that drum.
“We really just want to raise the awareness of how to get involved with your local makerspace, how
to come up with the ideas and find the tools and the resources that are nearby you so you can take that idea into a reality,” he said.
Makerspaces have boomed in popularity in the past decade. In a 2016 study by the National League of Cities, 26 percent of cities have makerspaces. The study also said that makerspaces have the ability to bring back production and innovation to cities.
Lynch, who has been running the Houston Maker Faire for the past six years, said a makerspace is like a gym but for tools and building projects.
“Imagine having a huge warehouse with lots of different tools and equipment that you can use,” he said. “It will just give you a lot more opportunity than what you have in your normal garage.”
While Dinnertime, a 30pound steel and aluminum robot, was preparing for battle, 6-year-old Charlotte Watson was driving with a remote control a miniature combat bot the size of an iPhone.
Her father, Andrew , is a contractor at Johnson Space Center and works on NASA’s space robot, Valkyrie. The 37-year-old League City resident said he loves that his daughter is interested in robots and believes that exposing her to technology will give her the option to go into a STEM field when she gets older.
Charlotte, who was wearing a sparkly skirt and a shirt that said “How to Draw a Rocket,” was transfixed on her purple robot as it ran over other robots in the makeshift clear battle dome.
“She’s crushing it and having the time of her life,” Watson said. “We’re going to have to build one of these at home.”