Maker Faire LA (2024)
I had the pleasure of exhibiting Scarab, my environmental data-collecting rover, at LA Maker Faire 2024! It was an incredible day filled with creative energy, curious minds, and hands-on innovation—all the things I love about the maker community.
For those unfamiliar, Scarab is a robot inspired by both nature and necessity. It’s designed to monitor air quality and is powered by open-source hardware like Arduino boards and off-the-shelf sensors. It started as an attempt to see if I could build a walking robot and evolved to its current form, after I witnessed the growing need for real-time environmental monitoring in the wake of wildfires and pollution events in 2023.
At the Faire, I focused primarily on showing how Scarab uses its various sensors to gather air quality data. I also opened up the robot’s components and shared how others can replicate or modify the design using Arduino and simple sensors.
One of my favorite parts of the day was talking with fellow makers, students, educators, and families who stopped by to learn more. I was blown away by the thoughtful questions—everything from "How do the sensors communicate?" to "Can Scarab be adapted to monitor different environments?" I even had a few younger visitors brainstorming new features they’d want to add, like solar panels or AI-based obstacle avoidance.
It was a fantastic reminder that when you make your projects open and approachable, they can spark ideas far beyond what you initially imagined.
