FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
by Livingston Robotics Club
Livingston Robotics Club Makers at Barnes & Noble Mini Maker Faire®
November 6-8, 2015
Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest retail bookseller, will hold its first-ever nationwide Mini
Maker Faire, from Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8, and Livingston Robotics
Club (LRC) will be at the Livingston Mall store “Meet the Makers” sessions.
Throughout the weekend, Barnes & Noble customers of all ages will have the opportunity to
participate in interactive product demonstrations to learn about programming, coding and 3D
printing, and to take part in collaborative hands-on experiences designed to stretch their
imaginations and creative thinking. They can see product demonstrations, work cooperatively to
make something original, and see the local makers presenting their creations. These hands-on
learning experiences will be integrated and repeated through three unique areas in stores a “Make
Workspace”, “Make & Collaborate” and “Meet the Makers” during the weekend.
“We are excited to participate in this Mini Maker Faire as “Meet the Makers” in support of our
local Barnes & Noble, while having an opportunity to showcase some of our members’ creations
and involvement in the maker movement over the years”, said Pearl Hwang, Livingston Robotics
Club’s co-founder.
Livingston Robotics Club will be making an appearance throughout the weekend at different
times, bringing various exciting and interactive members’ projects and robots to the public.
Some of the projects to be showcased included a TETRIX 3D printers designed by Livingston
High School student Karina Yeh when she was 16 years old, which can be used as a technology
class training curriculum. To learn about DNA extraction a biohakcer, check out Openfuge,
which is the low-cost, high-speed, open source centrifuge hailed by Popular Science in 2013 as
the “9000 RPM Revolution”, designed by Livingston High School alumnus Karlin Yeh.
Experiencing how a rover would traverse on the Moon through a LEGO simulated moonscape
using a Mindstorms EV3 robot equipped with a first-person-video camera controlled by a
Raspberry Pi module. This “MoonBots-in-a-Box” kit was designed and produced by Pearl
Hwang, funded by Google Lunar XPRIZE to promote space exploration, which was distributed
to 40 science centers around the world. The ever inventive tinker and the co-founder of LRC,
John Yeh, will be bringing in some interactive demonstrations of electronic sensing & control of
some everyday objects, such as TV remotes, light dimmers and sonar.
First time ever shown to Livingston public will be the four world championship award winning
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robots built by the founding team of LRC, the Landroids. This
team has since retired in June 2014 when its members graduated from high school, but all four
robots built throughout their high school competition years are kept as keepsakes to inspire
future generation of roboticists and makers.
Also joining the LRC exhibition is the newest Livingston High School FTC robotics team, the
Emerald Knights. This rookie team will be bringing an Android phone controlled robot to the
public for a test drive.
LRC will also be conducting a fundraising bookfair at Barnes and Noble this weekend to support
its endeavor in cultivating a community STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and
maker education, and help fund the Livingston High School’s newest robotics team. A
percentage of the sales made at the Livingston store between Nov. 6 to Nov. 8 will be distributed
to LRC if the customers either present a voucher or mention “Livingston Robotics club” at
checkout. In addition, a percentage of online sales from Nov 6 through Nov 13 th will go to the
LRC if customers use the bookfair ID#11739893 at checkout. If shopping at Barnes & Noble
stores other than the Livingston store, if a voucher is presented at checkout then a percentage of
the sales will also go to the LRC. See attached vouchers.
Livingston Robotics Club Makers will be appearing at Livingston Mall Barnes & Noble on:
Friday 11/6/2015
5 PM – 7 PM:
TETRIX DIY 3D Printer - Karina Yeh
Prusa i3 3D Printer – John Yeh
Saturday 11/7/2015
1 PM – 4 PM:
LHS FTC robotics team - Emerald Knights
MoonBots – Pearl Hwang
5 PM - 8 PM:
Hidden World of Electronics – John Yeh
Sunday 11/8/2015
1 PM – 4 PM:
OpenFuge - DIY biohacking – Karlin Yeh
MoonBots – Pearl Hwang
Additional Maker will also include Innovator’s Inc for hands-on workshop called “Kids, Hack
Your Mechanical Tabletop Crab!” Space is limited, so please contact the store to sign up – 973
758-1317 or 1310 or email crm2340@bn.com.
Throughout the weekend, Barnes & Noble will set up a “Make Workspace”, which is a techeducational expo where some of the leading products in technology today will be demonstrated
which include: a da Vinci Jr. 1.0 3D Printer from XYZPrinting for the first-time 3D designers; an
Ozobot which makes robotics easy by using colors to teach programming; a Sphero SPRK
Edition, which teaches coding and programming that can be powered by NOOK®; The
Slipstream Drone, a 4-channel radio-controlled mini quad copter from Protocol; and Meccanoid,
a programmable, walking, talking robot for children from Spinmaster.
At the Mini Maker Faire, Barnes & Noble customers of all ages will also have the opportunity to
get hands-on experiences around the art of designing, handcrafting and constructing, in the spirit
of collaboration, cooperative learning and teamwork at various “Make & Collaborate” stations.
Among the featured products for children are Snap Circuits from ELENCO which combine
electronics parts to create working circuit boards; littleBits which are magnetic circuitry building
blocks that allow anyone to create simple or complex inventions; Maker Studio™ from
ThinkFun, featuring essential engineering parts including gears, spools, connectors, wheels, rods
and hubcaps; and the ever popular LEGO® Bionicle Bricks.
Adults and teens will also have the opportunity to make and collaborate using products like
Extraordinaires® Design Studio PRO which will challenges participants to think outside the box
through its unique 3-step process involving research, design and improvement; or using LEGO®
Architecture Studio bricks to make architectural designs and can also be used to rapid
prototyping.
“We’ve put together a fully integrated schedule that allows customers to experience every aspect
of the Mini Maker Faire, whether they want to pack everything into one amazing day, or come
back each day over the weekend to make, collaborate and learn about something new”, said
Kathleen Campisano, Vice President, Toys & Games at Barnes & Noble.
For more information, visit BN.com/MakerFaire and Livingston Robotics Club Facebook.
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Photos:
1.
TETRIX 3D printer as designed and built by 16 year old Karina Yeh in 2014
2.
Karina Yeh presenting the TETRIX 3D printer at Liberty Science Center Engineers Week 2014
3.
MoonBots interactive display at 2014 FIRST World Championship in St. Louis.
4.
MoonBots display with Raspberry Pi remote control at Liberty Science Center Engineers Week 2015
5.
MoonBots with first-person-view camera robot display at Liberty Science Center Engineers Week 2015
6.
OpenFuge as presented by Karlin Yeh at NYC World Maker Faire 2013
7.
OpenFuge as designed by Karlin Yeh featured by Popular Science and many biohacking websites in 2013