Brighton Mini Maker Faire - 6th September 2014

[BeligerAnt]

Thanks guys!

Oliver, Dave thanks again.

Will, Rory, Alex it would be great to have you along as it's nice to have some different robots on the stand.

[bitternboy]

Hey,
Missed this before, but I'm definitely available.

[BeligerAnt]

Hey everyone, only a month to go!

Rory, I know you're signed up as a maker in your own right. Can you bring Will and/or Alex along as part of your team? It makes it easier for us as we need a relatively large number of people just to provide enough robots to make a decent display.

All, please confirm that you're still coming! Time to get the drive-all-day robots up to scratch

[Rapidrory]

Yeah, should be able to manage that. I may have to message the organisers to update my team details, but it should be fine.

I'm planning on bringing 7 ants along, though I only have 2 transmitters (may have 3 by then if I get round to buying another blade..)

[Shakey]

I'll still be there

Should have Stanley and PICaxe that can be handed to the audience and then a third either spinner or fan bot (maybe fan it's kinda entertaining). I might see if I can wrangle the third into another drive all day though I should have more weapon servos around.

[BeligerAnt]

It's always good to have a good supply of drive-all-days but it's also useful to have a number of other robots on static display or for periodic demos. So it's not essential to bring only drive-all-days, or even completely functional robots! More exotic and/or part-built robots can be very good as talking points or as illustrations.

We will have one arena, generally for the public to play in but periodically for a spinner (or other) demo.
We also have a number of protective screens to shield static displays from visitors' fingers.
We usually manage to give away a good number of flyers and plans for the Pants kit.
We also try to display useful YouTube, web and Twitter links as it's a pretty tech-savvy crowd.

Useful web links and suggestions of other demos/exhibits welcome! (Especially if you can supply them!)

[Shakey]

I don't have any other demos/exhibits except a feather but I don't know if that takes up too much space, they tend to attract attention though. Just had a root around and looks like I'll be bringing 4 ants with me.

What's parking like there?

[BeligerAnt]

Ah, the perennial Brighton parking problem!

By far the cheapest deal (and coincidentally closest to the venue!) is to get parked before 8:00 at the Church Street NCP.
This costs £6 for the whole day, compared to the best part of £5 per hour most other places.

For sat nav, use postcode BN1 1US.
Google map

The event is at the Corn Exchange, more or less the same place as the museum & art gallery is shown on the map.

The next cheapest place to park is probably the pay & display parking on Madeira Drive (seafront) at £15 for 11 hours it's a lot more than the Church St car park and a 20+ minute walk to the venue. To get a place you still have to arrive early!

There is also a multi-storey on North Road, only 5-10mins from the venue and according to Parkopedia only £5 if you arrive before 8:30. Be sure to check the tariffs before parking, as it could cost you £25 for anything over 4 hours! Some reports suggest the parking charges are/were not clearly displayed and you could get stung for a £4 minimum charge even if you drive in, see the prices and decide to drive straight out again. So beware!

Parking in Brighton is a nightmare and even parking outside the centre and getting a bus in will cost £5 on the bus plus whatever you end up paying for parking. Free parking is not easy to find unless you venture out into the housing estates then it takes an eternity to get into the town centre on the bus!

[Rapidrory]

Alex and Will have been added to my stand, and apparently we're the same end of the hall at least. They're gonna see if our stands can be moved a bit closer though.

I'll try have a few ESCs and kits to demo, though I'll probably only be able to take postal orders on the day as I won't have very many. I'll do a price list and a bit of an info sheet to go with them.

[teamocean]

Hi Guys, I'm sorry but I won't be able to attend this now- mixed up my dates and with the heavyweight UK Champs next week I desperately need to get Manta back in working order this weekend.