A laser may make you think of Dr. Evil, but for Cryptology employees it makes us think of Hackspace!
Nottinghack
For a modest monthly fee you can have access to a wide array of tools, including a 3D printer, embroidery machine, very large table saws, and more.
Most importantly an A0 laser cutter.
Laser: Vector, Not Raster
Most of you will be familiar with raster files if you have a smartphone, these are what your camera takes (JPG, PNG). These however are not good for a laser cutter as it needs to follow a computed path. This is where vector files come in. Modern cartoons are vector based, and as you zoom into the drawings, no quality is lost. A curve really is a curve and is as accurate as the designer that drew it.
Therefore, if you can create vector files, you can laser cut pretty much anything you want!
Makey Makey
Hackspace has a great community, in fact there has been some Computerphile videos recorded here.
Above all, what’s the most interesting is the variety of people and what they are using Hackspace for.
All Cryptology Escape Room branches (Nottingham, Barnsley, Sheffield) would not have the features in the games without the laser machine. We created a blog for the creation of a key feature of Sheffield’s game First Contact which can be seen here: blog. The video for this is below…
Not For Profit
Hackspace has such a great community, and they are ran by volunteers who are not here to make money. They take donations of both tools and money. Nottingham Hackspace is currently being imporved, upgraded and increasing in size; exciting times ahead!
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