Magic Wheelchair Builds
Magic Wheelchair is a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kiddos in wheelchairs — at no cost to families.
MakerFX Makerspace members have participated in several Magic Wheelchair builds and continue to make a contribution to this community.
Bumblebee - Feb 2019
MakerFX members, along with other makers from ATMakers, Makers Hollow, MakeMIA, FamiLAB, and Tampa Hackerspace worked together under a crazy 3 week deadline to turn Alex’s wheelchair into an epic interactive Bumblebee costume as part of the Magic Wheelchair program.
Links
Tie Silencer - March 2019
Not long after we finished Bumblebee, we were approached by a group of builders from Portland, Oregon. They were building a Tie Silencer for a young fan. We spent two weekends jointly building electronics based on Bumblebee and vastly improved the code we’d started with Bumblebee!
Links
- Engine Test Video (ALL THE LEDS!)
- Reveal Video 1 (Facebook)
- Reveal Video 2 (Facebook)
- Flickr Album (Electronics build only)
- GitHub Repo
Milano - June 2019
As part of NOMCON 2019 in Chattanooga, TN, makers from around the country worked to make a Guardians of the Galaxy Milano spacecraft for Amelia.
Links
Magic Wheelchair “Motherboard” (Ongoing Project)
The Magic Wheelchair Motherboard is a printed circuit board that makes it much easier to add interactivity to Magic Wheelchair builds (or other interactive projects).
Features include:
- Plug-in support for Teensy 4.1 and the Teensy 4 audio audio adaptor
- 4 channels of non-blocking addressable LEDs (ws2812, neopixel, etc.) full compatible with FastLED
- Stereo sound input, processing and output including volume control, filters, polyphonic sound output, multiple channels of simultaneous sd-card playback, FFT and peak level analysis and much more.
- Level-shifted GPIO
- Full breakout of all Teensy pins
- .91” OLED Screen for debugging or status
- Multiple channels of high-current transistor driven output
- Selectable voltage (5v or 12v) for addressable LED outputs
- Pluggable connectors for VIN, LED outputs and high-current outputs
- Small prototyping area for adding additional components
- Expansion header for connecting to a daughterboard
- Support for USB host mode through the Teensy 4.1 USB header
- Note that this board is still in the development and testing phase. If you are interested in obtaining a board for a Magic Wheelchair project, or for another interactive project, email us to learn the current status and availability of boards.
Links
Tyler’s Spiderman Wheels
Tyler’s Grandmother wanted to do something special for him as he headed back into yet another surgery, so she posted on Facebook looking for someone that could “add some LEDs to his wheels”. The MakerFX community took on the project and knocked out these awesome Spiderman wheels with LEDs and battery packs behind the masks. This wasn’t an official Magic Wheelchair project, but we think its a great a example of how makers can use their skills to help brighten someone’s day!