JigSolve: on loan for art project!

Steven, a member of the local hackspace, is building an art machine. Imagine a table with a thin bed of sand. a metal ball rolls through the sand, making spirograph patterns all day. The metal ball is moved by a magnet from beneath the table, giving it an almost magical appearance. If you’ve been to the San Mateo fair, you know what I’m talking about.

So with two weeks before the local maker fair, his mechanism to move the magnet crapped out and he called me for the design files to JigSolve. “Why not just use the whole machine?” I asked. So he did.

Apparently he’s gone the extra mile and redesigned most of the parts and then laser cut them from acrylic. I’m not sure if he’s building a complete second system or if he’s modding the original. Either way, I should soon have some video of JigSolve being used for something other than jigsaw puzzle solving, which makes me feel better.

It’s odd – My booth has gone sideways and my hot new thing has fallen apart, but I’ll have four or five other booths showing stuff in which I played a significant role. Does it help my maker business? Only time will tell.

Check back ~June 12, I should have video from the Vancouver Mini Maker Fair of the system in action.