Tag: inventions

Building a giant fire-breathing robot for Maker Faire!

Robot Resurrection is being assembled for the Maker Faire in Balboa Park this weekend!
Robot Resurrection is being assembled for Maker Faire, which takes place in Balboa Park this weekend!

A super gigantic fire-breathing robot is coming! You don’t believe me? I saw it today!

The amazing 28 foot tall mechanical man will be drawing a crowd in Balboa Park during the big Maker Faire event this weekend, but right now it’s lying in the Plaza de Panama being assembled!

Robot Resurrection, the name of the giant robot, is actually an articulating sculpture made from 95% airplane parts, piloted by a human operator in the metal torso. The cool creation is the brainchild of Shane Evans, who is based in Denver, Colorado. Robot Resurrection has thrilled kids and adults alike at Maker festivals all around the country!

Maker Faire kicks off Saturday at 10 am. At this epic celebration of technological and artistic innovation, all sorts of inventions and gizmos will be outside on display, including cupcake cars, a giant 12 foot electric giraffe, drones, and something called a Battlepond! Ten of Balboa Park’s museums will also participate, with related exhibits and cool events of their own! If you like this sort of stuff, you’d better go check it out! I’ll definitely be there!

Maker Faire San Diego will include many cool sights up and down El Prado, including the Imagining Zone!
Maker Faire San Diego will include many cool sights up and down El Prado, including the Imagining Zone!
Robot Resurrection will stand 28 feet tall when ready to go. It will move its arms about and shoot fire from its mouth and fingers.
Robot Resurrection will stand 28 feet tall when ready to go. It will move its arms about and shoot fire from its mouth and fingers.
Getting a giant robot ready to thrill thousands at Maker Faire.
Getting a giant robot ready to thrill thousands at Maker Faire San Diego in Balboa Park.
I was told this is one of Robot Resurrection's feet.
I was told this is one of Robot Resurrection’s feet.
And here's the futuristic-looking head. It kind of appears like a robot from an old sci-fi movie or the cover of a vintage science fiction magazine
And here’s the futuristic-looking head. It kind of appears like a robot from an old sci-fi movie or the cover of a vintage science fiction magazine
Flames will be shooting from the mouth of Robot Resurrection! I'll try to get photos!
Flames will be shooting from the mouth of Robot Resurrection! I’ll try to get photos!
Working inside the robot's torso on late Friday.
Working inside the robot’s torso on late Friday.
This complicated creation arose from an airplane junkyard and one man's fantastic, unfettered dreams.
This complicated creation arose from an airplane junkyard and one man’s fantastic, unfettered dreams.

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Peek into the San Diego Firehouse Museum.

sign at the firehouse museum in little italy

If you’re ever in the Little Italy neighborhood in downtown San Diego, you might want to check out the small but jam-packed Firehouse Museum.

Shiny red fire trucks, interesting historical photos, old fire fighting apparatus, memorabilia and even Smokey Bear are on display. And excited kids can climb into one of the cool fire engines!

This sign by the sidewalk invites tourists and passersby to take a peek into the firehouse.

a peek at a cool firetruck and smokey bear

I took a photo from outside, aiming left.

old firetrucks in san diego firehouse museum

And then the above photo aiming right.

The next pic was taken on a later day, in the early morning when the museum was still closed…

The San Diego Firehouse Museum in the early morning.
The San Diego Firehouse Museum in the early morning.

A plaque appeared on the museum’s exterior in mid to late 2015!

Old Fire Station Number Six. From 1915 to 1970, San Diego Fire Department's original Fire Station 6 proudly served the community of Little Italy.
Old Fire Station Number Six. From 1915 to 1970, San Diego Fire Department’s original Fire Station 6 proudly served the community of Little Italy.

The plaque includes this fascinating information:

In the workshop on this site some of America’s most significant fire service innovations were created by the specialty trade-skilled firefighters who worked here, including the world’s first gas engine powered fireboat, the Bill Kettner. In 1963 the National Fire Protection Association declared the national standard thread the official fire hose thread of the United States of America. The machine which enabled this federal legislation was invented here six years earlier by inventor and battalion chief Robert Ely. The common thread allowed thousands of American firefighters to connect their fire hoses together, allowing them to work as one. As a result, countless lives and priceless amounts of property and the environment have been saved.

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