Bus Update: May 22, 2014

And so it happened that Dom, John and Barb showed up to work on said electric vehicle. We have a moving, driving vehicle but there is still lots to do:

• Tail lights are mid-repair and at MakeICT. Tom is leading that project. He plans to finish them on Saturday.
• There is an ever-changing pile of flaky electrical issues with various accessories. After spending a fair amount of time getting nowhere troubleshooting the turn signals, we took the whole dashboard off to see what’s up, dawg.
  • We have labeled every wire and every switch we removed from the dash. We even labeled the antenna wire. Yep we’re that good.
  • In terms of the turn signals, the turn signal lever is tested and good. However, all 3 wires that go to it seem connected to nothing (infinite resistance to both ground and 12V). Tracing the wires, it appeared the connection issue is somewhere toward the back of the bus, which seems odd as the hazards work and must connect to the turn signal wires before then. We are confused.
• Tracing wiring turned into a more complex task than we would have guessed. Many wires are spliced and taped together with electrical tape. There is some loose wiring, one 5-wire connector that connects to only 2 wires, and lots of other oddities. The idea was floated more than once to rip out all of the wiring and start over.
• Last week the passenger door was secured to the bus. Actual operation of the passenger door is a 2nd priority. It appears that the screw-thread that is responsible for opening and closing the door is threaded the wrong direction i.e. lifts the door when the door is supposed to open rather than dropping it or vice versa (or vice versa of that).
• The driver’s door came back from Jeremiah’s friend (whose name I don’t remember). He painted (some of) it “blue” and worked on getting the cracks out. He didn’t have a lot nice to say about the experience: apparently there isn’t a lot of “fiber” in the fiberglass construction of the bus, so cracks will continue to happen throughout the bus’ lifetime. We might want to consider vinyl more seriously as opposed to a serious paint job.

Next week we will come equipped with twist-on wire connectors and start cleaning up the wiring. The plan is to try connections with the connectors, then secure the wiring.

We are considering an all-out work-on-bus party for Memorial Day. If you would consider participating, let us know so we might follow through.

We’ve come to the realization that it may not happen that the bus will be titled/registered/insured in time to participate in the Riverfest Parade. That’s disappointing in the short-term, but it gives us room to consider the long-term of getting the wiring correct and robust.

2014 Annual Meeting

https://www.facebook.com/events/446834675453768/

Can you believe another year has already gone by? It’s been an exciting one, and we have a lot planned for the next year!

Join us as we celebrate another year and prepare for the next with voting, food, and project exhibits.

That’s right – at this year’s annual meeting, we’re inviting makers (that’s YOU!) to bring a project (or many!) to show and tell. We want to see what you’re making!

3:00 pm: Doors open for maker’s to setup early
4:00 pm: Meeting (agenda link below)
4:30 pm: Voting (board positions, rules, budgets, etc)
5:00 pm: Food + project exhibits / show and tell

Meeting agenda and more details are available on our wiki.

Board positions are up for election every year. Interested in being a bigger part of MakeICT? Do you, or someone you know, have what it takes to help our community grow and strive? Nominations will be accepted from June 2 to June 15. More details about voting are also available on our wiki.

MakeICT Future Planning Committee: Call for members

Help me create your dream makerspace by joining the MakeICT Future Planning committee!

Over the past few weeks, we have been meeting with the Wichita Community Foundation to discuss funding opportunities to help MakeICT improve our space, our equipment, and our classes/workshops. We even have a couple of potential locations to review already!

The first assignment for the committee is to compile a list of what we need for formal space planning (such as an architect), as well as what we desire in terms of physical space (how much square footage for individual workspace, for collaborative space, for project storage, for a classroom, for a lounge, etc).

This committee is open to all of our members. I want you to join, so let me know when you’re available by answering this poll!

Fireside chat for April

Grandad used to say “been so busy I dunno if I lost a horse or gained a rope.” April has been that. I’d like to apologize for my reckless rickroll on April Fool’s day – I didn’t want the day to go unnoticed. We had an outstanding intro to programming class, that we plan to do again. And of course we have been seeing many new faces at the open hack nights.

One project finished it’s first iteration. The EL Wire sign is complete, and has been seen not only outside our door, but at some events too. The bus project programmed their way into success this month, and as the song goes, “the wheels on the bus go round and round.” The current plan is for the bus to be in the Riverfest parade! There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on as we prepare for Riverfest, and the Art and book fair on Mother’s Day. May has already proven busy. Last week we were at McLean STEM and Reading Family Night teaching kids how to make paper rockets with paper and straws! The Art and Book Fair is going on soon, as well as the Maize HS Technology show (of course we are throwing a few things into that!) and the Riverfest starts at the end of the month! I’m thinking there is a class on repairing bicycles sometime this month or early next. Keep an eye on the calender for that.

One new group that is forming that I’m excited about is the Powerwheels racing group. We are going to the KC Makerfair, and a group of us has decided to enter into the Powerwheels racing competition. If you’re interested hook up with them and see what this fun sport is all about. There is more than just the race at the KC Makerfair. We are looking for projects to take up there. I am assured we have a booth and I’m excited to take projects from our community to show off! If there isn’t a thread on our google group for the Powerwheels, projects that want to go, or anything else you want to know.. start one.

Lastly, the MakeICT Annual Meeting is coming June 21st. As it is election year, with a heavy heart we will pass the torch on to fresh ideas, and see where this ship takes us. Look for details coming soon.

Well, back to work! See you at open hack nights! Happy Hacking!