Steve Rodoletz – Reuseum Educational Incorporated

Drop-in Deconstruction Lab!

Steve Rodoletz — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:16:36 +0000

DECONSTRUCTION LAB (free open house!)

January 10, 11AM – 2PM

Ever want to just tear something apart, just to see what’s inside? Well come tear it up with us!

This drop-in Deconstruction Lab is a creative activity covering the topics of what recycled technology looks like, what methods are used to refine it, and an exploration of what we may do with parts rendered from the process. Each participant will deconstruct some recycled technology and will have the opportunity to take insights from engineering, design, manufacturing, and other aspects of the pieces that are taken apart. Participants then have the opportunity to sort pieces for future projects, take “treasures” home and incorporate new knowledge into their daily lives.

Here are some cool images from the last Deconstruction Lab we did!

This free event is open open-house format: drop in when you can, stay as long as you like!

If you are interested in a Deconstruction Lab for your organization, please contact us!

Reuseum Educational, Inc., 3145 W Chinden Blvd, Garden City, ID 83714

STEM Double-header: Saturday, December 13!

Steve Rodoletz — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 20:02:44 +0000

Both events are open-house style. Just drop in and join us!

VEHICLE AERODYNAMICS! with Greenspeed Research and The Reuseum

10:30AM – 12:30PM

Join Greenspeed and The Reuseum to see the car and meet the people that set the land speed record for a vehicle powered by vegetable oil. You’ll learn about vehicle aerodynamics and wind resistance, and participants will design and build their own car models to see how they perform in our wind tunnel. We’ll also discuss sustainable fuels and their future applications, and you’ll get an inside look at the next record Greenspeed is going after.

Here are some cool images from the last time we did this workshop!

GEEK JEWELRY MAKING! with the Southwest Idaho Section of the Society of Women Engineers

11AM – 3PM

Drop in for this fun event anytime between 11am-3pm on Saturday, December 13 at the Reuseum on 108 W 33rd St in Garden City. We will provide all the parts you need to make earrings or necklaces and you buy the geekly pretties from the Reuseum’s enormous stock of resistors, capacitors and LEDs. Geek Jewelry makes great Christmas presents or you can donate your digi-bling to the Idaho SWE Scholarship recipients’ gift bags. Families, friends, students (and of course, guys) are welcome!

Don’t miss out on these super-fun events!

The Reuseum is located at 108 W 33rd Street in Garden City, Idaho.

Idaho Gives!

Steve Rodoletz — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 21:35:53 +0000

Reuseum Educational, Inc. is participating in Idaho Gives! Are you?

Reuseum Ed is very excited to be taking part in the Idaho Nonprofit Center‘s Idaho Gives event this year. From the Idaho Gives web site, “Idaho Gives is a special day for philanthropy across Idaho. A day for nonprofits to tell their stories and share the work that enriches communities throughout our state. A day for Idahoans to come together with one voice of support for our nonprofits, big and small. A day for you to find your passion, donate to your favorite causes and share in the excitement!”

Re Ed is a recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. While modest workshop fees help to cover some of our costs, outreach programs are delivered pro bono; material and cash donations are critical to Reuseum Ed’s funding.

Please participate in Idaho Gives! On May 1, 2014, please visit Reuseum Ed’s Idaho Gives web page at https://www.idahogives.org/organizations/reuseum-educational-inc and consider making a tax-deductible cash donation to Reuseum Educational. Your contribution will help them to deliver STEM-based workshops and outreach by funding scholarships, materials and resources. You may make a donation via Idaho Gives at any time on or before May 1; every donation received through Idaho Gives, even at the $10 minimum level, may qualify Re Ed to win a Golden Ticket Award, a Donor Appreciation Award or more, so a small donation could go a long way!

Donations may also be made directly to Reuseum Educational at their web site, educate.reuseum.org, any time you choose.

You can learn more about Reuseum Educational by visiting educate.reuseum.org. See who else is supporting Idaho Gives by watching their PSA.

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Idaho Gives 2014 PSA

Thank you so much for your kind consideration! Your donation helps Re Ed to inspire kids and adults to make, create and innovate to the benefit of all of Idaho.

Spring Break STEM Sessions

Steve Rodoletz — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 19:12:35 +0000

Over the week of Spring Break, feel free to sign up for one of our awesome intro workshops! Each class shouldn’t take too much of a chunk out of your Spring Break schedule, and might be just the kind of fun that you want to have. WE will be learning to solder for the first time, and making the badge to prove it, working on our first robots or electronic circuits, and even exploring the secrets of the universe with our new Atomic Polygons! Every workshop works to provide a new and interesting skill and activity for every kinds of active and aspiring scientist. Check out our schedule below and see what looks fun to you!

Monday 24.3.2014- Learn to Solder, Noon-2pm

Tuesday 25.3.2014- Recycled Robots, 10am-Noon

Wednesday 26.3.2014- Circuit Basics, Noon-3pm

Thursday 27.3.2014- HiveBugs! 3pm-6pm

Friday 28.3.2014- Atomic Polygons, 4pm-6pm

Saturday 29.3.2014 –Open RobotLab, Noon-2pm & Arduino Basics

Please follow the links and register to your favorite classes, there are limited spots to fill!

Recycled Robots: A First Circuit for Aspiring Inventors

Steve Rodoletz — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 02:59:21 +0000

Some obsolete technologies such as cellphones and retired pagers can be to use and become tools of learning. You might have already seen lots of ideas surrounding the art of making a simple bristlebot, essentially a motor and battery glued onto the bristle end of an old toothbrush. This is a great idea, and we put a little twist on the kit by using recycled parts from cast off phones, pagers, and other small handheld devices. Other parts that we put into kits are items such as colorful wire, springs, gears, pieces of cd’s, and electronic components, to augment our robot’s look and feel.

It is nice to look back and remember all of the robots of this kind that we have seen be made, and know that none has ever been the same as another. One’s own individuality makes such an awesome spark to add life to these robots.

Check out this awesome gallery of robots that the group at Boise Schools Community Ed made last night! Quite the hive of new bugs, I’d say!

Electronics Reference Guide Posters, For a Cause!

Steve Rodoletz — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 21:55:26 +0000

We’ve agreed to help a great online robotics community called Let’s Make Robots venture to stay ad free and so are helping to raise funds for their costs by benefiting them with proceeds from these awesome Robot Builder’s Reference Guides, created by a great mentor and member of Let’s Make Robots, the one and only Oddbot. If you would like your own poster, please come down to the shop, or contact Dave at info(at)reuseum.com! They are only $10 each, and support not one, but TWO good causes!

They are BIG (841mm x 594mm or 33.1in x 23.4in), beautiful and provide a lot of basic information on these subjects:

Volts, current, resistance, power and temperature.
Reading resistor and capacitor values.
Types of capacitors.
Reading schematic diagrams.
Robot power supplies (linear and switchmode).
Digital and analog voltage translation.
Using LEDs.
BJT and FET transistors.
Calculating the size of a required heatsink.
Conversion formulas.
Ruler (metric and imperial).

These wall charts are printed on thick glossy paper and look fantastic! Brighten up your workspace and have useful information available at a glance.

Most importantly!
For every wall chart sold, $5 will be donated to LMR. When you buy a wall chart you are supporting LMR and ensuring that LMR remains free of advertising.

From LMR-

“LMR provides a spam and advertising free site for all robot builders and enthusiasts without charging any one anything. We can only do that because you buy this stuff. It’s true. You make the difference. This visit you are doing right now do now cost bandwidth. Every visit does, we have to get the money from somewhere. Buy the poster to pay back – and get something pretty and quite handy in exchange

This robot builders electronic reference guide has been created and distributed by LMR members. It does not matter if you are a complete novice, a student or an experienced builder, this wall chart is a quick reference guide that we hope will help you for years to come.

And you can always look at it and be proud that you helped in keeping the site alive ;D”

3D Printing for Education

Steve Rodoletz — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:18:28 +0000

In 2012 we received a very humbling request to make two 3D printers for local high schools, and this fall we installed them and began training teachers and students alike to operate the printers. In the near future, we hope to help them learn to assemble new printers, and harness the awesome power to not only manufacture and prototype new things, but to build the machines that make those things as well. It is for learning these fundamental skills that we strive to incorporate into our service, and part of the experience we provide with every new printer we bring into the world.

Open-source desktop manufacturing is quickly becoming the next major technological revolution, and like many that have come before, it promises to shed new light on the way we think about creating and inventing, as well as the way we act as consumers. Much to the credit of global movements like Reprap the technology and community of science, open-source hardware is evolving at an extremely rapid pace. Companies that design and build 3D printers often suffer from their own structure as they try and maintain a proprietary model that hinders the true nature of growth and innovation embraced by individuals and institutions alike through Reprap. Not only do we provide a 3D printer, but the service of training and fostering the ethic that makes Reprap a technology based on growth and new ideas.

In 2013, we will be continuing our work of making, inventing, and fostering community culture, and we would like to bring it to your doorstep. We would like to offer to individuals, educators, and educational institutions the ability to make and use their own desktop 3D printer, as well as resources and consultation on forming grassroots community campaigns to provide funding and subsidization. Our current educational package includes a kit or fully assembled and ready to print Reprap 3D printer, training, and hardware upgrade options to keep in line with the rate of progression and innovation that this technology sees.

If you or your organization is interested in sourcing a 3D printer, please contact Dave at info(at) reuseum.com, and make sure and include “3D printers for Education” in the subject line.

Hivebugs Workshop

Steve Rodoletz — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:13:09 +0000

Our in-house robotics enthusiast has dreamed up some pretty cool 3D printed robots that have some fun and intriguing features. Hivebugs are simple to build and hack, but can respond to each other and communicate with light. These robots resemble a firefly that flickers different colors of light when it sees others of its kind doing the same, and can attract or repel other Hivebugs with its magnetic antennae. They can even combine to make swarms and shapes together. At the Hivebugs Workshop, you will have the opportunity to make your own custom made version of these incredible creatures!

Using low cost pieces, and a colorful part printed on a Reprap 3D printer, these little ‘bots make for a fun time, and lots of interesting experiments.

Here is a short video we made of a little group of these cool critters!

On Saturday, February 2nd 2013 from Noon-3pm, we’ll be building and hacking these fun starter robots and making our own hive! This workshop is recommended for ages 8-198. We will be covering basics and there is no soldering required for the kit.

If you would like to attend, please follow the link to register!

Cost of the workshop is $35.00+tax and includes:

-3D printed platform piece

-Breadboard

– 2 ea. CD Rom motors

-Components for 3 different robot designs

-Test Batteries

-Printed robot building tutorial booklet for each project.

This Holiday Season we’re building our own ALFs.

Steve Rodoletz — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:13:14 +0000

This Holiday Season we’re building our own, ALFs? Yes, that is right, instead of small yet fantastic minions to do our bidding, we’ve got some of our own handiwork to do! Analog line following robots are one of many interesting ways to start learning about robotics and science, and can be assembled with creative and fun elements added in that make your new creature come alive in your own unique way.

Our friends at the Shanghai Hackerspace, Xin Che Jian have put together a unique collective that develops and creates many unique designs for popular genres of robotics such as BEAM and builder communities like LetsMakeRobots.com.

We’ve got some great ideas on activities for these awesome ‘bots, like tracks, or making addons that let it interact with others and let you personalize your robot.

From 11-4pm on Saturday the 29th of December, we’ll be making these critters, and will have tools and materials to make your own ALF robots, plus some knowledgeable experts on soldering and making things to guide you though the process.

Cost of the Workshop is $25 including a kit, or if you have your own kit already, it’s only $10 for class instruction and consumables! No need to register for this one, first come, first served! This workshop is fit for individuals as young as 8 years old, as long as they have a parent supervisor along to help them use a soldering pencil.

The Art & Science of Indie Gaming

Steve Rodoletz — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:58:27 +0000

A great way to have some great quality time is to simply play games. We all have bins and closets packed with our favorites and we think it might be a fun time if we all got together and had a gaming night at Reuseum Ed to celebrate the holidays!

We love our games, and like playing classic games we grew up with, making new concepts for the games we have, and even inventing our own games with our imaginations and ingenuity. We have the tools to make lots of fun stuff too, and practice creating sculptures with our 3D printers, papercraft templates and inspiration from other awesome games that you make.

Feel free to bring your favorite game to play from home, or bring your game with missing pieces to hack together with another game in like condition in order to make a game mashup!

We’ll also have some awesome homemade games like Seej and other DIY favorites out for play, like our giant Interplanetary Exploration game that our Raising Makers group is inventing. Members of Open Lab Idaho will also be there, showing off some fun independently produced video games that excel that bring tons of creativity into their play, and bring a lot of what has always been fun about video games back into the limelight.

Come one, come all to the Reuseum on Saturday, December 15th All day, from 10am to 6pm. This is a free event! Optional materials and kits for DIY games and pieces are available for purchase.