The Fab Academy of 2019 has almost ended. For module 17 of the course, the participants design and build a machine together. At Waag, this resulted in a machine to show which of the machines in the Fab Lab are available: a Marble Calender Machine.
Group assignment and documentation
The group assignment is to actuate and automate a machine and to document the group project and each participant's individual contribution. The machine is a physical representation of the booking system of the digital machines at Waag's Fab Lab. It shows the reserved slots for the selected machine: the CNC, Modela, Laser or 3D printer.
The machine will start moving marbles around, when it’s finished the marbles show which slots are open for you to use the machine and which slots are reserved. This way you’re always sure if and when you can use the selected machine. And you don’t have to go to the online to see when the machine is booked today. Handy!
Find the complete documentation how this was made at the Fab Academy website.
Also, a video was made that summarises the whole process in a hilarious way:
