How do planets, stars and galaxies move through the Universe? How to turn your smartphone into a physics laboratory? How to play a musical instrument without contact? Today we tell you about the EDUCATION projects chosen for Maker Faire Rome 2021.
Bioeconomy Village
What is the circular bioeconomy and what are the bio-based applications in everyday life? Come and visit the Bioeconomy Village interactive house to discover how the sustainable future is already a reality. The Bioeconomy Village, promoted by the BIOVOICES and Transition2Bio Projects, funded by the European Commission and EuBioNet, is an event format already tested at Maker Faire Rome 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The 2021 edition aims to raise awareness and improve knowledge about products of renewable origin and promote the applications and benefits of the bio-economy, circular economy and sustainability, encouraging dialogue, discussion and sharing between the general public and representatives of universities, research centres, projects, companies, associations and startups. Through the exhibition of products, examples, thematic workshops and practical demonstrations, visitors are shown how the circular bio-economy is increasingly part of our daily lives and how conscious consumer choices can have a positive impact on the environment, society and the economy.
New this year is a recyclable cardboard display representing various domestic environments where visitors can interact with the circular bio-economy and bio-based products. Another novelty is dedicated to children, who will be involved through an interactive book to discover through play what the circular bioeconomy is.
Ecoboat
Ecoboat is an eco-raft built by the students of the Tito Acerbo Technical Institute in Pescara from recycled materials to compete in the most fun and ecological school race. The Ecoboat Race project is aimed at upper secondary schools: an educational initiative where training and information are combined through play, fun and sports competition, thus facilitating the active participation of the new generations in improving the quality of life in our territories.
HEART (the artificial leaf)
Tommaso Caligari, Giada Bausani and Zineb Kamal from ITI Omar in Novara are the student makers at Maker Faire Rome 2021. “We have produced Cu2O nanoparticles to develop an artificial photosynthesis process to convert CO2 and water into methanol,” they explain. “Our slogan is: scientific innovation at the service of the planet, this is the challenge that we young people of the new millennium want to take up for a greener future. Our aim is to capture atmospheric agents such as CO2, which cause the greenhouse effect, and transform them into new fuels, in order to improve the environment”.
Lasercut origami structures
Lasercut origami structures is the result of a multidisciplinary research and teaching project dedicated to the parametric design and digital fabrication of origami structures. The project has involved students from master’s degree courses in the creation of prototypes of origami structures through the combined use of parametric modelling and laser cutting. The prototypes stimulate an integrated reflection on the concepts of form, structure and construction and on the practices of open source design and widespread production. The authors of the project are Ilaria Giannetti and Andrea Micheletti, associate professors at the Department of Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Alessia Bisconti, Gabriele Mattei and Alessia Terrezza, who have just graduated with a master’s degree in Building Engineering-Architecture.
BodyMove
Marco Martucci, together with the students of the three-year course “Health and Social Work Services” at IIS C. Cavour in Vercelli, will take BodyMove to the Maker Faire Rome 2021. Cavour of Vercelli will bring BodyMove to Maker Faire Rome 2021. The project stems from the need to be able to carry out a whole series of useful activities in real-time in DaD in order to obtain immediate feedback. The starting point is the connection of the smartphone to the PC via OSC, using the opensource software VCV Rack, so that every time the smartphone moves, the accelerometer sends data to the PC. This system is useful both for simple exercises for disabled people and for physiotherapy sessions using tools such as BodyMove and CircleMove.
Tata
Filo brings to the Gazometro Tata, a project whose mission is to educate and train aware parents through products, digital services and information that help them face the new challenges of the modern family. Filo is a Tech Atelier, an innovative company that aims to build end-to-end IoT products: from prototyping to manufacturing, from branding to sales. “We create products and technology that simplify the lives of parents and strengthen the relationship with their children; we produce content through authoritative voices that help spread a parenting culture consistent with the new needs of families; we build a supportive community by bringing parents together and stimulating sharing and mutual support.”
DIY spacetime
What is gravity? How do planets, stars and galaxies move in the Universe? What did Einstein describe in his Theory of Relativity? We’ll be experimenting with this together with astrophysicists Adriana Postiglione and Ilaria De Angelis at their stand at Maker Faire Rome 2021: thanks to an inexpensive and easy-to-reproduce DIY structure and a guide, you’ll discover that masses can deform space-time, bend light, and even create black holes and gravitational waves.
68k-MBC 68008 (educational retrocomputer)
The 68k-MBC 68008 is a project by Fabio Defabis and Giovanni Pirozzi, who have created a complete development ecosystem using the sLoad boot mode (it is possible to compile, load and run an Assembler or C program on the target with a single command).
What’s in the smartphone?
The smartphone is a physics laboratory. We will discover with Norma Gaetani (AKA Physics in Pills) how sensors work and the physics hidden in our pockets.
Smart Theremin
Smart Theremin is a musical instrument that produces sounds without touching any keys. With the movement of the left hand you adjust the volume and with the right hand the frequency of the note. Smart Theremin uses a microcontroller and allows the control of several parameters: volume, pitch, registration and tone. To try, at the stand of Achille De Santis and Alessandra De Vitis.
sources: makerfairerome.eu
Cover photo: makerfairerome.eu
Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition has been committed since eight editions to make innovation accessible and usable to all, with the aim of not leaving anyone behind. Its blog is always updated and full of opportunities and inspiration for makers, makers, startups, SMEs and all the curious ones who wish to enrich their knowledge and expand their business, in Italy and abroad.
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