8 makers who will be presenting at India’s first Maker Faire at the Bengaluru Tech Summit

With overarching objectives of ‘quality over quantity’ and a ‘unified Karnataka’, the Maker Faire Bengaluru team conducted roadshows across 12 districts of Karnataka.

At 9am on November 17, 2017, Minister of State of IT, BT & Tourism, Government of Karnataka Priyank Kharge will be officially opening the Maker Faire Bengaluru (MFB), at the Bengaluru Palace. Happening on day two of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS), the annual flagship event of the Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka is positioned as an age-neutral and demographic-agnostic ‘mela’, and houses maker-entries ranging from basic model-making to high-end IoT.

With overarching objectives of ‘quality over quantity’ and a ‘unified Karnataka’, the Maker Faire Bengaluru team conducted roadshows across 12 districts of Karnataka, with the sole purpose of sowing the seeds of ‘ideation’, ‘innovation’, ‘invention’, staying in sync with the central theme of BTS - Ideate. Innovate. Invent.

As a result, the geographic representation of MFB is spread across the State of Karnataka, and some hotspots outside of Karnataka as well, with its makers’ age group ranging from age nine to over 60. The organising team noted,

The intent of the faire is to celebrate makers of all ages and encourage everyone who is embracing the do-it-yourself (or do-it-together) spirit. They will in effect be the ‘stars’ of the faire and will have the prime opportunity to show off their creations on an established platform... Come walk and talk with hobbyists, experimenters, the ‘mad’ scientists, industry stalwarts, entrepreneurs and your friendly neighbourhood makers.

Cornerstone Properties sponsored the Maker Faire Bengaluru 2017, and Akshay Reddy, Director Cornerstone Properties noted that he believes in spearheading the convergence of innovation in science and technology in real estate. He said, "All of us are makers and innovators in some way or the other."

Some of the projects and the makers at a glance:

1) Spotter Bicycles, Belgavi

Spotter Bicycles makes bicycles from bamboo that are sturdy, anti-termite, waterproof and long-lasting. The team uses selected species of bamboos that are treated. The team noted,

Every product is handcrafted and designed to make it as efficient and stylish as any other similar products made of steel. Bamboo absorbs carbon from atmosphere and helps you minimise carbon footprints and reduce the threat of global warming.

The bigger picture for the venture seems to be joining the cause to make the earth a cleaner, greener healthier planet.

2) Autonomous Fire Extinguisher

A ball-shaped fire extinguisher, it needs to be simply thrown into a fire. The product will activate within three seconds and effectively disperse extinguishing chemicals. If a fire occurs when no one is present, the fire extinguishing ball has the ability to self-activate when it comes into contact with fire and emit a loud noise as a fire alarm.

3) Autonomous Quadcopter and flight controller design, control systems and embedded systems

The team from Dharwad designed a Quadcopter Model with the specifications obtained from simulation through MATLAB and Simulink simulation. The team is currently working on incorporating the Arduino-based and ARM-based flight controller design with a camera interface.

4. Remote-Controlled Pesticide Sprayer

To ensure that farmers are not exposed to hazards and have an efficient way of cultivating and preventing crops from pesticides, a team from College of Agricultural Engineering University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur worked on two interesting products-

(i) Remote-Controlled Pesticide Sprayer (based on push-cart type chassis).

(ii) Remote-Controlled Drone Sprayer.

5. Pranjal Jain & Gautham Nayak, Bengluru

Space Sand Art is an abstract project, which tries to project the different moods of the astronauts while they are in the space. Viewers will be able to see astronauts play around and the different patterns being formed, as a result.

6. Mayank Gupta, Gurugram

Mayank has designed a small humanoid robot, which can be modified with Arduinos.

7. Fr Mathews Puthusseril, Kerala

Eighty-year-old Fr Mathews will display handmade toys made out of coconut leaves.

8. Sanjay: paper sculptures/paper robotics, Bengaluru

This exhibit would include a series of paper sculptures and a large humanoid paper robot that can be used as a mobile installation. People will be able to interact and take pictures with the robot models.

Website- www.workbenchprojects.com