Makers UPV

Makers UPV is a non-profit community of students from the Universitat Politècnica of València (Valencia, Spain) founded in April 2013, whose objective is to enhance the learning experience of students by adding a practical approach based on "experiential learning", Do it yourself and the Maker Culture. Through projects, competitions and workshops taught by the students with special abilities (they acting as mentors), the community is retrofitted and grows.

Makers UPV
MottoThe community of proactive students always in motion.
FormationApril 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)
TypeNon-profit student organisation
PurposeEducation, Hands-on experience, Do It Yourself
Location
  • Casa del Alumno, Valencia, Spain
Coordinates39.4804082°N 0.3435011°W / 39.4804082; -0.3435011
Membership
> 100 members
Official language
Spanish, English, German
Co-founders
Juan Carlos Sebastiá García and Juan Vicén Balaguer
Other initial members
Jaime Pérez Álvarez, David Pistoni Pérez, Francisco Presencia Fandos, Germán Torres Royo
Parent organization
Universitat Politècnica de València
Websitemakersupv.com

The community has gained international attention through their success in competitions, being awarded "Top Hyperloop Design Concept" and "Best Propulsion Subsystem" with project Hyperloop UPV at Hyperloop Pod Competition ( SpaceX, 2016),[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] "Top People's Choice" with project NextVision (2014)[8][9] at NASA International Space Apps Challenge as well as "Global Top 5 Best Use of Hardware" with project GoSat (2015)[10] and Mars UPV (2016)[11][12][13][14][15][16] among others.

List of Awards
Project Award Location Promoter Date
Hyperloop UPV "Top Hyperloop Design Concept" and "Best Propulsion Subsystem" Texas A&M University, College Station (USA) SpaceX, Elon Musk January 2016
Mars UPV "Global Top 5 Best Use of Hardware"[17] Valencia (Spain) NASA International Space Apps Challenge March 2016
VIBand "Think Big"[18] Madrid (Spain) Telefónica May 2016
GoSat "Global Top 5 Best Use of Hardware"[19] Valencia (Spain) NASA International Space Apps Challenge May 2016
NextVision "Top People's Choice"[20] Florida (USA) NASA International Space Apps Challenge May 2014
HawaDawa "2nd Prize at "Think Make Start" Makeathon[21][22] Munich (Germany) Technical University of Munich March 2015
HCube Exhibited at international innovation Congress Sonar+D[23] Barcelona (Spain) Sonar+D[24] June 2015
Makers Alpha & Beta "2nd prize in the competition"[25] Barcelona (Spain) AESS Challenge Barcelona November 2013

Activities

The community has also organized some events with national impact such as BeMakerFest (October 2015),[26][27] aiming to merge makers and crafter communities, as well as the Olympic Robotic Challenge (2014, 2015, 2016),[28][29][30][31] a multidisciplinary educational robotics competition in which students learn to build their own robot from scratch with open-source hardware such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi (2016). In May 2016 the community held the first Spanish Hebocon,[32] a competition for crappy robots invented by Daiju Ishikawa,[33] which had the support of David Cuartielles,[34][35] father of the open-source hardware movement. In May 2016 Makers UPV was featured in the blog of Startup Europe[36] (European Commission).

Workshops
LED Cube Workshop by Makers UPV

The workshops are taught by students who have special abilities (usually the older ones but not necessarily), they acting as mentors. With their knowledge, mentors offer other students the possibility to have a personal experience and to learn by doing. Typical workshops include: Arduino, programming, electronics, 3D printing, CAD, robotics as well as arts & crafts: cyanotype, sculpture, engraving or photography. The main purpose of the workshops are to obtain hands-on experience and skills at the University. Usually the workshops are open-sourced to the community.

Competitions

The members of the community are connected thanks to the social networks, and they share interesting contests. When a contest sounds interesting to them, they ask other members to join and multidisciplinar working groups are created for that special purpose. This has led to several awards, as stated before in List of Awards. Competitions motivate students to work hard and enable them to establish new relationships with other members of the community.

Organisation of events
Hebocon Valencia 2016

The Makers UPV community has organised or co-organised several events, which include:

  • BeMakerFest Valencia 2015: in collaboration with FabLab VLC, Chiquiemprendedores and Hackerspace Valencia, with support from Ayuntamiento de Valencia.[37][38]
  • Olympic Robotic Challenge 2016 + Hebocon 2016: supported by David Cuartielles, cofounder of Arduino.

Also, the community has helped to organise the following events:

  • Olympic Robotic Challenge 2015.
  • Olympic Robotic Challenge 2014.
  • Mini Maker Fest Valencia 2014.[39][40][41]

Finally, the community takes part in several events to spread the word around the city of Valencia:

  • European Maker Week (June 2016, Worldwide) [42][43]
  • Primavera Educativa (May 2016, Valencia). Project showcase.[44]
  • Techfest Valencia (October 2015)[45][46][47][48]
  • Kids Hack Day (November 2014, Valencia).[49][50][51] Workshop: design of a robotic arm. Founded by Carl Bärstad. Organised by Chiquiemprendedores.

Team projects

The community is based on collaboration, and that's why usually some members unite in several groups of interest. For example: the 3D Printing group created a 3D printer for the community, the Web Development team developed the website of Makers UPV, Hyperloop UPV, and other projects. Here some of the projects:

  • HCube Project by Makers UPV for Sonar+D 2015
    Project HCube: it was created by a team of members of Makers UPV with the purpose of showcasing the design at International Innovation Congress Sonar+D in Barcelona (June 2015). HCube is a three-dimensional interactive display of LEDs that form a two-meter cube. Each of the LEDs has the ability to reproduce 16 million colors, providing endless visual possibilities. Users can interact with the cube through a number of peripheral devices. The user is able to control the cube through body movement, play Tetris or Snake with it, communicate with it using Twitter, use it to visualize sound and music, and more.
  • Project Firebot: a fire-extinguishing robot made to automatically extinguish fires without human risk.

Visits to companies

The community also organises visits to companies to strengthen the link between students and companies. For example, the makers visited a factory to see how tablets are made, the Vandellos Nuclear Power Plant,[52] Quaternium (makers of drones and quadcopters),a Gas Compression Facility of Endesa in Paterna [53] as well as an aerodrome in Requena.

Education for kids
Rocket Workshop by Makers UPV at Valencia, April 2016

Makers UPV has a special focus on education for kids. The community has therefore partnered with several organisations to offer STEM workshops for kids, such as:

  • Robotic arm: with Arduino, wood/cardboard and some servos, the kids learn how to build a robotic arm from scratch.[54]
  • Drawdio: invented at MIT,[55] kids learn how electrical circuits work by creating an easy circuit made by a pencil and other components, which make sound.[56]
  • Rocket science: with paper and scissors, kids build rockets that can be launched thanks to an air pump.
    Drawdio Workshop Makers UPV

References
  1. "The future of sustainable transport is already here with the Hyperloop!! – Fundacion Comunidad Valenciana – Region Europea". www.climatekic-valencia.org. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  2. "Awards". hyperloop.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  3. "MIT leads in first round of Elon Musk's Hyperloop contest, but UW is in the race". 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  4. Martí, Anna (2016-02-05). ""Si construyes has de ir poco a poco, pero si piensas puedes ir directamente al final", entrevista al Hyperloop UPV Team". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  5. BBVA (2016-02-25). "Hyperloop: the fifth mode of transportation, capable of travelling at the speed of sound - BBVA NEWS". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  6. País, Ediciones El (2015-12-11). "Un tren 'supersónico' de universitarios españoles compite por ser el más rápido del mundo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  7. "Un equipo español gana el concurso de diseño del tren supersónico Hyperloop". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  8. "Next Vision (Space Helmet) | Space Apps Challenge". 2014.spaceappschallenge.org. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  9. "Space Helmet: El casco para hacer turismo espacial - Neoteo" (in Spanish). 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  10. "GoSat | 2015 SpaceApps Challenge". 2015.spaceappschallenge.org. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  11. "Mars UPV". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  12. "Un exoesqueleto, una mochila propulsora y un casco de realidad aumentada: el traje espacial 'made in Valencia'". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  13. Levante-EMV. "Un proyecto de la UPV para ir a Marte, seleccionado por la NASA". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  14. "NASA selects Valencia university Mars spacesuit project". spanishnewstoday.com. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  15. "Ciencia: Un grupo español entre los 25 mejores proyectos del 'International Space Apps Challenge'" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  16. Makers UPV (2016-05-22), Mars UPV - LaSexta Noticias [21/05/2016] HQ, retrieved 2016-08-12
  17. "Un proyecto marciano de la Politécnica de Valencia, finalista para la NASA". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  18. anonymous. "VIBand". thinkbigjovenes.fundaciontelefonica.com. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  19. "GoSat | 2015 SpaceApps Challenge". 2015.spaceappschallenge.org. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  20. "Next Vision (Space Helmet) | Space Apps Challenge". 2014.spaceappschallenge.org. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  21. "TUM Neuroscientific System Theory (NST): #EightBillionLives Fellowship for Hawa Dawa Labs (TMS#1)". www.nst.ei.tum.de. Archived from the original on 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  22. "Home". Hawa Dawa. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  23. "Sónar +DMakers UPV - Sónar +D" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  24. "Sónar +DSónar+D". Sónar +D. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  25. "Noticia UPV: Los dos equipos de la asociación Makers UPV obtienen tres de los cinco premios en liza en el concurso, que obliga a diseñar y construir un robot que resuelva un problema inicial en menos de un día. | Universitat Politècnica de València". www.upv.es. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  26. Levante-EMV. "El movimiento maker toma la ciudad con la primera BeMaker Fest". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  27. "El movimiento maker toma la ciudad con la primera BeMaker Fest | DissenyCV". dissenycv.es. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  28. "Olympic Robotic Challenge 2.16". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  29. UPV Radiotelevisió (oficial) (2016-05-05), David Cuartielles en el Olympic Robotic Challenge ORC - Noticia @UPVTV 05-05-2016, retrieved 2016-08-12
  30. Makers UPV (2016-05-25), Olympic Robotic Challenge - ORC 2.16, retrieved 2016-08-12
  31. "Olympic Robotic Challenge". orchallenge.es. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  32. "Hebocon Valencia | Arduino Verkstad Malmo". local.arduino.cc. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  33. Bridgman, Andrew. "Hebocon - The Robot Battling Competition For Crappy Robots". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  34. UPV Radiotelevisió (oficial) (2016-05-06), David Cuartielles en la UPV - 05-05-2016, retrieved 2016-08-12
  35. "Arduino Blog – David Cuartielles judges robots at Hebocon Spain and Tokyo". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  36. "Makers UPV: making locally, winning globally | Startup Europe". startupeuropeclub.eu. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  37. InnDEAVAlencia TV (2015-11-17), InnDEA Valencia patrocina BemakerFest 2015, retrieved 2016-08-12
  38. Silvia Valdeolivas (2015-11-23), BEMAKERFEST_Nov2015, retrieved 2016-08-12
  39. UPV Radiotelevisió (oficial) (2014-06-05), Noticias Destacadas: Mini Maker Faire Valencia [2014-06-05] -- UPV, retrieved 2016-08-12
  40. "IDEAS UPV | La UPV acogerá en junio por primera vez la Mini Maker Faire". www.ideas.upv.es. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  41. "Maker Faire Valencia 2014". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  42. "European Maker Week Valencia". Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  43. Week, European Maker. "European Maker Week - View event". events.europeanmakerweek.eu. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  44. "La Primavera Educativa 'inunda' el río en Valencia". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  45. "Techfest Valencia" (in Spanish). 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  46. "Techfest | Cultura informática | 14 y 15 de octubre en ETSINF | Noticias.inf". noticias.inf.upv.es. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  47. César (2015-10-01). "| techfest UPV 2015". ETSINF, Informática, Empresa. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  48. UPV Radiotelevisió (oficial) (2015-10-14), Noticia @UPVTV: Techfest [14-10-2015], retrieved 2016-08-12
  49. "Quiero que mi hijo sea 'hacker'". Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  50. "Kids Hack Day". Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  51. "Kids Hack Day". www.chiquiemprendedores.es. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  52. Central Nuclear de Vandellós
  53. "Estación de compresión de gas". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  54. "Kids Hack Day". Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  55. "DRAWDIO - draw music with a pencil, or a kitchen sink, or a banana, or..." web.media.mit.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  56. "Drawdio". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.