What you’ll learn:
- What is the Maker Movement?
- Is the Maker Movement something new?
- What is the impact of open source?
Adam Savage of MythBusters fame noted, “Humans do two things that make us unique from all other animals; we use tools and we tell stories. And when you make something, you’re doing both at once.”
Every episode included cobbling together some new creation to prove or disprove a theory. Adam and Jamie Hyneman might be considered professional makers.
This brings me to the topic of focus: What is a maker and what is the Maker Movement?
One might think that it would be people who like to attend Maker Faires, a group that tends to be very broad, from young students to full-time engineers. The fairs and Make magazine cropped up in the early 2000s, so one might assume that the movement is relatively new. However, this type of thing has been going on for decades.
It’s possible to trace the Maker Movement back to early ham radio events and computer events like the Trenton Computer Festival (TCF), which are still going on. I gave a presentation on Creating Bug-Free Embedded Software a while back at TCF.
The main driving factor in these events is teaching and learning, as well as the do-it-yourself (DIY) aspect of creating something new.
What Has Changed for Makers
While the need to learn hasn’t changed, the tools and opportunities have significantly evolved over the years. Dealing with vacuum tubes and wire-wrap tools, coding in assembler, and learning how to solder have morphed into low-cost modules like Raspberry Pi and Arduino. These utilize surface-mount chips that even the best engineers and technicians find difficult to hand-solder to a printed circuit board.
One trend that’s been around a long time is the use of de facto standard interfaces for development kits. New processors, sensors, and peripherals are usually introduced on a circuit board that utilizes one of these interfaces. Making a system is a matter of plugging boards and modules together.
3D printers are the other major change in the last couple decades. Why cut up sheet metal when a 3D printer can deliver an enclosure with color and precision?
The other thing that’s made it easier for makers is the open-source movement for both hardware and software. This ready exchange of ideas and technology has been further facilitated by internet sites specifically targeting maker-style projects like hackster.io.
From Maker to Product
Crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe have changed how entrepreneurs can get a company started. Companies and distributors also recognize that many maker ideas are being turned into products, providing hardware, tools, and services to address it.
One example is the Raspberry Pi Compute Module that’s used by Sfera Labs in its Strato Pi DIN-rail, programmable-logic-controller (PLC) servers. The compute module provides similar functionality to the Raspberry Pi board but in a more rugged, production-oriented module.
Not all makers will move onto STEM competitions or become an engineer, programmer, or scientist. Nonetheless, they will get a better understanding of the technology they’re playing with and be able to affect what products are eventually created and sold.
What’s remarkable these days is the availability and accessibility of technologies like wireless IoT, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and much more that’s both inexpensive and easy to use for even novice or budding engineers.
