Somerville Robot Competition Begins Sunday

Which team will build the most ferocious robot?

Battling Robots to Compete in Somerville

Eight autonomous robots will fight head-to-head in an upcoming tournament.

An upcoming competition gives designers "one week to craft the most devastating robot possible," and on April 21 those robots will engage in combat at The Center for Arts at the Armory. Yes, we're talking about battling robots. The competition is part of a design challenge launched by Somerville's Artisan's Asylum and MathWorks, the software company, and it represents the grand finale of the upcoming Cambridge Science Festival.  In a nutshell, eight teams will have one week to design and build autonomous robots that will fight for supremacy at the April 21 battle. Because they're autonomous, "These robots are not piloted by people," explained Paul Kassebaum, an Artisan's Asylum member, MathWorks employee and one of the organizers of the …

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3D Printing Pen Developed in Somerville Attracts Over $1.8 Million on Kickstarter

The 3D pen lets people draw things in the air.

A creative product developed at Somerville's Artisan's Asylum launched a capital-raising Kickstarter campaign on Feb. 19 with the goal of raising $30,000 by March 25. As of Monday night, it had raised over $1.8 million from more than 20,000 backers. The product is called 3Doodler, which bills itself as a "the world's first 3D printing pen." It's the creation of WobbleWorks LLC co-founders Peter Dilworth and Maxwell Bogue, according to the product's website. In addition to raising a ton of money on Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing funding site where backers can invest small amounts in projects they find worthy, 3Doodler has also received a ton of press, according to its website. It's been featured by Wired, CNet, Fast Company, and The Telegraph…

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MASSCreative, a New Group, Celebrates Launch in Somerville

The group brings together artists, artisans and other creative types to boost the arts and creative sector.

Here's an announcement that got a little buried due to Hurricane Sandy. On Oct. 30, a group of arts and culture leaders from Somerville and Cambridge got together at Somerville's Artisan's Asylum to help launch a new group called MASSCreative. Here's the announcement from the group: More than 80 arts and cultural leaders from across Cambridge and Somerville gathered at the Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville to help launch MASSCreative, a new organization that will work to bring more resources to the Massachusetts creative community and strengthen arts education for all students. Founded by leaders of the creative community, MASSCreative’s mission is to provide a powerful voice on the local, regional and state level for creative organizations, …

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Artisan's Asylum's New Digs: More Space, Tools, Classes, Craftspeople

The new site, in a warehouse near Union Square, will offer more rentable workspace, tools and potential to invest in the city's arts scene.

This fall, the woodworkers, welders and other craftspeople who belong to Artisan’s Asylum will pack up their East Somerville workshop and head to a much larger space near Union Square. The move will enable the non-profit organization to rent more workspace, pay a small staff and invest in the community, said founder and president Gui Cavalcanti. Since the craft space opened last July at 13 Joy St., Cavalcanti has taken on artisans to teach people how to sew, repair bicycles and design and build furniture. About a dozen people also pay $200 to rent a spot and use the band saws, grinder, sander and other tools. The organization collected enough money from rent, membership dues and fees for classes to pay teachers and keep the space open, but…

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