Maker Faire 2012: A Day in Pictures

The Hall of Science's rocket garden is home to actual Gemini and Mercury spacecraft.

Vehicles in monarch and swallowtail butterfly form drove kids around the fair's central circle. In the background is the Hall of Science's Gemini spacecraft.

The life-size Mousetrap game was worth the wait to witness in action.

Being in the driver's seat has rarely looked more delicious than with this cupcake car.

Green thumb not so green? No worries. BitPonics automates your growing, controlling your lights and pumps and warning you if anything is amiss.

The Ditto 3D printer.

This octopoid was the most unusual (and downright cool) 3D-printed creation we came across at Maker Faire.

The Geo-Skull, designed by John Belardo, combines the geodesic sphere with the human skull to create an "abstraction [that] represents the form that creativity can find given a narrowing of focus."

Deezmaker's Bukobot 3D printers in action.

An electric-powered radio-controlled plane from Brooklyn Aerodrome, which flew demonstration flights, and holds classes in constructing their kits.

OpenROV, a tethered telerobotic submersible craft, can reach a depth of 100 meters and is controlled with a game controller.

SpinBots, easy-to-build robots for artistically inclined children, trace out drawings with their legs, which are pens or markers.

This robot from Spartan Robotics made an astonishingly high percentage of the basets it attempted.

A Type A Machines Series 1 3D printer and assorted creations.

This remote-controlled robot uses the camera on the iPhone to change what displays on the screen depending on the look on your own face.

A 3D printed chess set made with a Formlabs FORM1 printer.

Would you dare to ride Frankenbike? Attendees were free to pedal it, at least.

The Centrifury challenged two players at a time to see how long they could hold on as it spinned increasingly fast.

Even thumb wrestling goes high-tech at Maker Faire!

The Hunt for Red September, a project of 1.21 Jigawatts, challenges the player to steady the submarine and fire all the torpodeos within 30 seconds. Water squirts all over the player who makes too many mistakes. This entire game was devised, designed, and constructed in less than 72 hours.

This case mod, titled "Diver's Last Dance," won the Asus case modding contest on Facebook. Its designer carved the case from wood, but had never previously designed another case before.

This Nintendo-inspired case mod, which Asus was showing, is one of the more distinctive we've seen in a while.

A 3D-printed Yoda head.

TekServe, the renowned Manhattan Apple retailer and service center, displayed this fascinating device. Constructed from over 100,000 fiber-optic strands, it both magnifies and lights text—using no internal light source. All the light it needs it pulls in from its surroundings.

Even some of the exhibits in the crafts section gave a nod to science.

Attendees could ride a classic giant tricycle.

Looking for a remote-control flyer that goes beyond the ordinary? Aeroquad's Open Source Multicopter gives you endless options, because you can program it yourself. Add a camera for even more fun.

The Jaemi Hubo full-size humanoid robot from the Drexel Autonomous Systems Lab (DASL).

Ever wonder what a robot looks like on the inside? This Jaime Hubo was taken apart specifically so Maker Faire visitors could find out.

The UP! mini is a 3D printer that will soon be on sale for less than $1,000.

This six-legged crawler was one of several unusual vehicles available for daring attendees to try out firsthand.

Little robots just like this one were wandering all about the Maker Faire. (Yes, we know they were remote-controlled, but we like to pretend they weren't.)

3D printing service Shapeways displays some of its wares.

Well, maybe not, but like a 3D printer, this bulldozer creates a road by following the instructions for it created in 3D software (from Trimble, which bought SketchUp from Google earlier this year), which control its motion and blade movements. The posts to either side are GPS receivers.

The Tuna Tin 2, a QRP (low-powered) ham radio transmitter built into a tuna can. Behind it is a similar rig built into an Altoids tin.

This cart race was an exciting way to kill a few minutes while wandering the show.

Not only is Biobus eco-friendly, it has introduced numerous students to microbial science with its built-in science lab.

The B9Creator 3D printer uses a projector to selectively melt layers of polymer resin to create the desired object.