Episode: 2336
Title: HPR2336: Liverpool Makefest 2017 Show 2
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2336/hpr2336.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 01:26:38

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This in HBR episode 2336 entitled Liverpool Make First 2017 Show 2 and is part of the series
Interview.
It is hosted by Tony Humeh, Tony H1212 and is about 6 minutes long and carrying a clean
flag.
The summary is a short series of interviews that Liverpool Make First 2017.
This episode of HBR is brought to you by an honest host.com.
With 15% discount on all shared hosting with the offer code HBR15, that's HBR15.
Better web hosting that's honest and fair at An HonestHose.com.
Hello, this is Tony Humeh with the second of a series of interviews that I conducted at
Liverpool Make First on the 24th of June this year.
Enjoy the interview.
Thanks.
Hello, this is Tony Humeh, I'm a public radio still at Liverpool Make First 2017 and I've
got with me.
Jimmy England from Wellington Fab Lab.
Hello, Jimmy.
Would you like to tell us a little bit about what you're doing here today and what you've
got on display?
Yeah, we're here today just to promote our facility.
We're based in Wellington.
We're a Fab Lab open engineering workshop specialising in digital fabrication.
We're here to show off some of the projects we've got, some of the courses we're running
for local people and just bringing enthusiasts who are to our establishment.
Do you have a website that people can access if they want to have a look a bit more?
Yes, we're straight at Wellington Fab Lab, it's got information on all the courses,
it's got information on all the facilities, the tool in the 3D printing laser, cutting
CNC routers, it's got it all on there.
Of course, sounds like you've got an awful lot of stuff.
We're pretty well equipped, yeah.
So what are some of the things you've got on display this morning?
So as far as display goes, we've got three practical 3D prints going, which includes
a 9 inch i4 tower, which should be printing throughout the day, which would be really
interesting on the race 3D.
We've got a couple of our projects from our engineering residents, which is Grey and
Brown.
He's producing a three wheeled aerosicle working with Bentley.
We've got a prosthetic hand, which has recently been on BBC News North West for two local
families with the charity Reach and we've got some commercial projects looking at casing
as well as some of the 3D printed stuff that local youth groups have done with us.
Sounds really exciting, some of the stuff you're doing.
Do you take any of this as in reach into schools?
We're actually based in schools, so my role is Fab Lab Manager and Head of Engineering
at B Monkelegic Academy in Wellington.
Oh right, oh, that's really exciting.
So we're based there.
We're open on a Thursday afternoon, 3 to 8 and a Saturday, half 9 till 4, students are
often in on the Thursday taking advantage of the kit and the equipment and the big draw
at the moment has been the 3D printed fidget spinners.
Really good.
Well, thank you very much for explaining a little bit about what you do.
Thanks for having me.
Welcome.
Nice to meet you.
Lovely.
Thanks.
Hello, this is Tony Hughes for our public radio and I'm with Patrick Fanner, I'm putting
the main invaders, but from Does Liverpool.
Oh right, could you explain a little bit about what it is then?
It is a full-sized nerf range.
And what is that when it's at home?
So it's a foot square targets that are light up and reactive, so if you hit them with
nerf foam darts, then they register the score and appear to explode the sprite and then
give you anyone.
So that's then built into this 3-metre by 3-metre black gazebo, so it's more like a physical
incarnation of a computer game.
So 30 seconds to try and shoot as many of the targets as possible and get as high as
it's possible.
Just to explain to the listeners who can't see this, we've got a load of blocks that look
a bit like Minecraft blocks and some of them have got LEDs and things like that on that
create the sprites and I suppose that's what you need to hit, is it?
Yeah, so we've got 15 targets, all 9 by 9 pixel RGB LED arrays.
So low and off resolution that you can really see the kind of pixily aspect to it and
yeah, very blocky, very Minecraft, so we've got some blank blocks in there with just
fine or stickers on to be able to support them and get them off as well.
But yeah, full-cool resolution, which is a little bit odd, so you've got lower resolution
than early computer games, but many, many more colors.
So where did the idea for this come from?
I'm banned from Nerf guns in the house and they needed a nice R&D project.
So yeah, it's one of the larger dust projects, which we're driving specifically, but lots
of other people does involved in terms of construction.
So all the boxes are all laser cut MDF and ply and even the light baffles to give us
the nice square pixels are all grayboard, all off the laser cut earth and then be able
to produce manufactured PCBs, built them in, does put them all together, lines of people
around the workshop being able to put bits together and get us all sort of for its first
out in.
Yeah, you mentioned does and I'm taking that does Liverpool, so do you want to say a
little bit about them?
Yeah, so does Liverpool is the meg space in the centre of Liverpool on Hanover Street.
So it's open, 9.35, 30 money to Friday, so it does hot desk in, a mixture of freelancers
and permanent desks and then the workshop next door, so laser cutters and 3D printers
and soldering stations and vinyl cutters and heat benders and CNC, but somebody's building
and yeah, also stuff.
Coffee machine that's connected to the internet.
A coffee machine that's connected to the internet, so you can already coffee before you get
there and it'll be ready for you when you get arrived, will it?
No, nothing useful like that, but you can see how much coffee there is from anywhere in
the world.
Okay, so young people who want to go along to does Liverpool, do they have to be accompanied
by an adult?
We don't have a strict age limit on the workshop, there's over 16's are available on their
own, under 16 then we do ask for supervision from an adult, but there really is no lower
age limit, we've had kids as young as two, really like common and brushing up, so yeah
that works too.
So as long as an under 16's are accompanied by someone that's responsible for them, they
can arrive.
Yes, I think they're allowed to help them if they've owned something as well, it's not
like you have to stand there.
So would you like to tell us what your website is?
So does Liverpool.com or this particular event, Made Invaders, would be at Made Invaders
on Twitter.
Thank you very much.
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