• US Science & Engineering Festival, April 2012 — in negotiation.
• MakerFaire:NC, June 2012, Raleigh, NC — they definitely want me back.
• TCEP 19, September 2012, Laurel, MD — always fun.
• MakerFaire:VA, October 2012, TBD, VA — many of the same people from MakerFaire:NC are involved in this one, so they know what to expect.

MakerFaire:NC 2011 was great — easily twice the size of the previous year.  This year Tony Montouri came down to Raleigh to help with the Chaos, and we had a great time.  We spent most of Friday assembling the framework, planning the stunts, and getting the initial track layout done.  That left Saturday for fleshing out the build and showing off to all and sundry.  This time we built a large U-shaped layout, with a high bridge across the top of the ‘U’.  This allowed us to run marbles completely around the machine, which reduced the need to keep shuttling marbles from one side of the machine to the other.  Once again, there was barely time to look around at the rest of the exhibits.  The machine was a great draw for the show, and Jon Danforth has asked me to bring it back next year.

TCEP 18 was lots of fun too.  No where near as many people as MakerFaire:NC, but the chance to spend an entire weekend building and improving the machine is always good.  This year the Chaos Machine was used as a prop in the LARP (Miskatonic Class Reunion).  Another nice thing with the longer, slower pace is that I get to spend time teaching the kids how to troubleshoot the machine.

It looks like the next venue for the Chaos Machine will be the 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival which is being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, April 27-29, 2012.  This should be a huge show, but at least it’s local, with Friday for pre-build, and Saturday and Sunday for full exhibition.   I wouldn’t normally be able to afford the exhibition fees, but the organizers have arranged with Gary Mauler (RobotFest and Midatlantic Mini Maker Faire) to make a large number of booths available to local area Makers.

I just got notified that MakerFaire:NC is doing another show, this time at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, on June 18th, 2011, and that they would like me to bring back the Chaos Machine.  I’ve already agreed to go, so now it’s time to plan for what to do…

Friday night I set up the framework and elevators before dinner, then started working on track after dinner.  After assessing the space, I went with a lightning bolt, set diagonally along a wall, which left most of the room for gaming.  The elevators were at the center corners of the machine, with their catch tracks running to the opposite ends of the machine   I didn’t make as much progress as I might have liked, due to the assistance of two cute little redheaded girls.

Saturday morning I finished tying one side together with a triple loop-de-loop and a complex trampoline, which gradually drew in kids and parents, along with a couple of other like-minded souls.  By 2pm it was going well enough that I felt I could take a break; when I came back around 5:00, the machine had evolved.

Sunday featured more gradual evolution and bug hunting, mostly by the kids but with help from some of the adults.  I mostly looked in on it between running a LARP and an INWO event.

Monday morning I tweaked a couple of rough spots, which drew in more helpers — I may have convinced a couple of parents to go hunting for used sets on eBay for their kids.  Monday afternoon we broke down the machine and packed it back into the van for the trip home.

All-in-all, another successful outing.

• Millennium Tower ($45.88 + $15.48 shipping)
  This set was basically new-in-box, but missing its marbles.  I really only bought it to see what a Millennium Tower set looked like.

At this point, I’ve got at least one of each of the base sets that were produced. Current totals:

• (1) Starter Set
• (2) Intermediate Set
• (4) Master Set
• (1) Millennium Explorer
• (2) Millennium Builder
• (1) Millennium Tower
• (3) Chaos Tower

I need to stop buying sets — I’ve got more machine than I can conveniently set up anywhere except as a dedicated installation.

Thursday was a day-long “Introduction to ShopBot” course, designed to give people a feel for using CAD/CAM with a ShopBot.

Friday and Saturday morning comprised the Jamboree, and there were lots of presentations on what you can do (and others have done) with a ShopBot.  In general this was fun and interesting, though a couple of the speakers should be working for insomnia clinics.

Saturday afternoon, the ShopBot folks cleared out and the MakerFaire folks moved in.  That was my cue to start setting up the Chaos Machine.

Saturday evening there was a reception for the Makers at The Scrap Exchange.  It was a neat place filled with all sorts of junk waiting to be repurposed, at low-low prices.  Carrie bought so much art-makings that she needed to buy a storage bin just to bring it all home.

Sunday was the MakerFaire — a long day, but lots of fun.  Read all about it here:  MakerFaire:NC 2010.

Monday we drove home again, in time for Ludus.

• Part out the two new Chaos Toy sets.
• Rearrange how parts are grouped in the storage tubs.
• Print out more labels for the parts bins maybe next time.
  
• Create signs to explain the machine, and warn parents about small parts maybe next time.
• Design and print Chaos Machine business cards maybe next time.
• Dedicate a storage tub to just holding framework tubes.
• Mock out how large a machine I can build in certain spaces.
• Decide whether to use the Chaos Controller maybe next time.
• Pre-build some stunts.

It’s important to work out in advance how much framework I’ll need for a given space, because I’ll want to make sure I have enough long and medium tubes available.  I have an abundant supply of the small tubes, and they are easy to store in the parts bins.  The medium tubes are harder to store, and the long tubes don’t fit into any of the parts bins.  “The Chaos Machine is a series of tubes …”  I need to build some custom-fit dividers that will split one of the storage tubs into sections that are correctly sized for long, medium, and short tubes.

The size of the framework will also dictate how interesting the machine will be.  When building with a single Chaos Toy set, there’s a single lift (be it a screw elevator or a chain lift), a couple of decision points, and then all of the tracks end up delivering to a single collection track, which feeds the lifter.  With 6 chain lifts and 7 elevators available, I can put together a lot more mayhem, but only if I have enough space to work with.  As it is, I’ve found the older screw elevators are unreliable for large vertical lifts, but I’d still like to include at least one small lift.

I also want to pre-build some stunts.  The trampoline stunts can be very impressive, but they require a lot of experimentation to get working reliably.  I’d like to spend some time working with combinations of trampolines, and documenting the correct drop heights and angles.  I’d like to do the same for the loop-de-loop and the double loop-de-loop.

Another stunt that requires a little pre-work is the spiral.  The spiral is made by taking a bunch of 180 curves, connecting them so that they form a spiral (either right-handed or left-handed), and then inserting pins into pre-existing holes so that the curves are vertically spaced enough so that the ball can move freely (by default the curves will nest).  I made one of these at TCEP 16 by hand-cutting pins out of wooden toothpicks, but they weren’t as uniform as I would have liked, and it took me a while to build.  I’d like to make metal pins by cutting up some old hangers, and then pre-assemble a spiral so that I can just install it, instead of having to build it on-site.  I’ve even given some thought to how to make a double-spiral…

Well, lots to do, and only a month to do it in.

I’ve been asked to show the Chaos Machine at the North Carolina Maker Faire, in Durham, NC, on Sunday, April 25th.  Normally that would be a long way to go for a one-day show, but as it happens, Carrie and I will be attending the 2010 ShopBot Jamboree, which is being held at the same location, Friday and Saturday (April 23-24).

Given the space available, I’m only going to be able to take a fraction of the machine (maybe a third) but I hope to have enough to make it fun to play with for everyone.

After further discussion with Carrie, we’re renting a van for the trip, so I’m going to see about taking the full machine.  I’ve talked with the show organizers, and I should be able to get a larger than average place to set up, and will be able to do the setup Saturday evening, so that the machine is doing “interesting things” all day Sunday.

The most recent acquisition is a good example:  the set was originally listed at $50 + $25 shipping, and saw no takers ($75 used vs $155 new).  The seller re-listed it at the same price, but with the “Buy it now or Best offer” option.  I offered $25 instead of $50; he countered with $40; I countered with $30; he accepted.  That’s ~$100 off the new + shipping price.

Recent Acquisitions:

• Millennium Builder ($10.00 + $14.50 shipping)
• Chaos Tower ($30.00 + $24.95 shipping)

Current totals:

• (1) Starter Set
• (2) Intermediate Set
• (4) Master Set
• (1) Millennium Explorer
• (2) Millennium Builder
• (3) Chaos Tower

• Millennium Builder ($29.99 + $14.00 shipping)
• Master Set ($19.99 + $17.50 shipping)

At this point, I’ve got at least one of each of the base sets that were produced.  Current totals:

• (1) Starter Set
• (2) Intermediate Set
• (4) Master Set
• (1) Millennium Explorer
• (1) Millennium Builder
• (2) Chaos Tower

At this point, I’m only going to buy Master Sets, and the newer sets that include the chain elevator; the older screw elevators aren’t as useful as the chain elevators.