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Revision as of 21:49, 7 July 2016

Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!

Bloominglabs is Indiana's first hackerspace (also known as a makerspace). We are a group of community members that have commonly rented a place where we can build projects both collectively and individually. Our space is located at 1609 S. Rogers Street, Building 4. We are open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm and are family friendly.

Stay informed

• Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
• New! We have a discuss mailing list now.
• Our Calendar of events
• Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabs, Facebook, and Google+.
• Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
• Our IRC server is at irc.bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
• We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.
• Send us email to get an invite to our Slack site.
• We have a new mailing address! P.O. Box 2443, Bloomington, IN 47402

Support

Bloominglabs Incorporated is a non-profit registered within in the state of Indiana and has 501(c)3 charitable status. Want to make a donation with PayPal? Please use this link:

• (Note to members - this link should not be used for paying membership dues)

Information for our members: this is how we process cash and hardware Donations.

News

Current Events (PastEvents)

Useless machine page! (Follow-up from the spring useless machine workshop series)

• Makevention
  • August 27th from 10am to 4pm at the Bloomington Convention Center
  • Come celebrate the DIY spirit with makers from Bloomington and the surrounding communities
  • Do it with us at Makevention!

• Public Hack Meetings!
  • Every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm
  • Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
  • All ages and everyone is welcome

Current Initiatives

• Space Improvements
  • Tool and workspace arrangement

Fund Drives

• A new 3d Printer

Membership

We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details. If you are a new member please check out the New Members page as well.

Meetings

Currently we meet every Wednesday at 7:00pm at 1609 S. Rogers Street Building 4, Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public; anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.

• Meeting_Minutes
• Bloominglabs Log - highlights of Bloominglabs events and news

Laser Cutter

We have a laser cutter!! What can people do with this you might ask?? It can cut light wood and acrylic for rapid prototyping. It can also etch wood, acrylic, and metal. Many objects from iphones to laptops can be directly engraved with a laser. Be sure to watch some videos here, here, and here.

We have a 5th generation 40W laser from Full Spectrum.

Who are we?

We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us. Expression of this interest takes at least as many forms as we have members, and often employs an amalgam of found and newly-constructed hardware and/or open-source and self-authored software components, but may be as simple as screwing some pieces of wood together to make a useful tool we don't have yet.

Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club.

• Read our Bylaws for a more formalized overview

What is a hacker space?

It's a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also an incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.

Uploaded files: Special:ImageList

Nearby Hackerspaces/Makerspace or initiatives:

• Club Cyberia (INDIANAPOLIS!)
• Castlemakers (Greencastle, Indiana)
• The SHAK (Kokomo, Indiana)
• Hive13 (Cincinnati, OH)
• LVL1 (Louisville Kentucky)
• Vault404 (Louisville Kentucky)
• Collexion (Lexington Kentucky)
• Pumping Station: One (Chicago)
• Dayton Diode
• Detroit Facility
• i3 Detroit
• Makerspace Goshen (Goshen Indiana)

Other Cool Groups in Bloomington

• The Bloomington Print Collective -- a non-profit community print shop. Closed their doors October of 2015 :(
• Indiana Filmmakers Network -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
• Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
• Indiana University Amateur Radio Club
• IU Makes
• Bloomington personal Fabrication Group (IU 3D Printing Club) (no longer meeting) - also a trac hosted here
• The annual Hoosier to Hoosier event (resale trail)
• Discardia
• Press (jigsaw) Puzzles