Is there something with every other year and Maker Faire weather. In 2013, we exercised our rain plan and had a giant goldfish bowl of rain! In 2015, we used our rain plan again. Last year, it rained overnight, but not during the event. This year in 2017, I was excited about the weather. It was going to be shorts weather with not a cloud in the sky.

Turns out there’s a downside to that. It was too hot for the robots. On Saturday, the robots started overheating and we were caught by surprise. The RoboTigers made a sunhat for their robot:

On Sunday, we let the teams know what to expect. In particular to make sure the robots took breaks in the shade and not just the humans. The problem was there wasn’t much shade. So I made some with tablecloths. Elegant looking robots:

The Brooklyn Blacksmiths needed to cover a part of the robot so the motor didn’t overheat when running. They had a work glove around so added that. Then the robot became a high five robot!

We also brought a water cooler that we kept refilling so water was handy. Finally, when people around us left early, we expanded into their space. Good for us to have more space. And good for Maker Faire to not have that gap.

And we won a ribbon. In shorts and all!