Fablab's Quest : an Open Field Escape Game About Fablab Machines

Welcome to the most life changing quest of your life : the Fablab's Quest !

Yes future Maker, I'm talking to you ! Soon you'll be able to use the digital machines of a MakerSpace to create your own things, build your inventions and hopefully fix the world !

In this 5 steps adventure, you'll need to find 4 challenges spread around a place (like a Maker Fair for instance), each challenge will make you discover one of the 4 main machines/skills of a fablab : the Lasercutter, the 3D printer, the CNC milling machine and electronics. With your MAP (printed recto-verso, one for each team) you'll go to the LOCATIONS (one print to keep at the basecamp/stand/reception, fill it in with the specific places of your event) and read the corresponding instructions. Each challenge will give you 2 letters. Those letters will give you in turn a symbol. At the last step (back at the basecamp/stand/reception) you'll need to turnthose 4 symbols into Numbers to open the box and take your Maker badge !

This project was developped by Delphin Bawin and Navid O'Lari (@escap.orium) during a one week residency in Chemnitz, Germany, for the Makers United Festival 2024. The pictures shown up there are the onces from our first version. We took new pictures for the present Instructable.

This version was made opensource for the Mutation Festival Ghent 2024, thanks to the support of De Creatieve Stem (Ghent) and Digital Belgium Skills Fund.

WARNING : the setting numbers used for the different puzzles are WRONG, they are here for games purpose and show people what kind of settings they have to do when using the machines but there are not realistic !

1. 4 plaques of 3mm plywod (30cm*42cm) + some extra for the Ruler (approx 20*10cm)
2. 3mm plywood plaques for the badges (size depends on the quantitiy you wanna build, we did 72 on a 30*42cm)
3. 3D filament
4. 10 momentary push button switch Normally Open (12mmØ)
5. 1 battery pack (3x1.5v)
6. 2 white LEDs (5mmØ)
7. 2 resistors (around 50-80 Ω) - Here I used 68Ω
8. 4 bolts and nuts (m3), around 10mm length
9. some electric wire
10. piece of rope/string
11. Material samples 4*6cm (PLA, Wood, Plexiglass, Cork, Leather, Cardboard)
12. Pieces of thick wood

1. 3Dprint the file "HAlighter.stl" : MIND THE COLOR CHANGE you need to put a pause at 1mm (layer 5 if you set it on 0.2). First layers are in WHITE (or something really clear) and the rest in BLACK (or something really dark)
2. Lasercut the file "PlaqueElectro.svg". Parameters : 2500/7.0 for engraving and 1200/100 for cutting.
3. Keep the extra pieces that are in the rectangle window in the middle : those are for Step2 Lasercutter Challenge
4. Screw in the 10 switches
5. Connect together the followings : 4.5V - Switch - LED - Resistor. Leave the rest unconnected.
6. Connect one end to the Battery pack (+)
7. Place the 3Dprints inside the window as pictured, secure with hot glue.
8. Hot glue the 2 LEDs in the holes, and solder a Resistor on each of their (+) legs.
9. Solder those two Resistor legs together with the free end of the switch circuit (see fig1)
10. Now if the 4 correct swtiches are pressed simultaneously, it should reveal the letters HA !

1. Lasercut the file "PlaqueLaser.svg". DON'T FORGET the extra pieces from PlaqueElectro !
2. Lasercut the 6 pieces of different materials identically (6cm/4cm). You need: cork, transparent plexi, leather and cardbord. For the PLA rectangle, we used the 3Dprinter but if you have one plaque of PLA, you can also use the lasercutter. You don't need the do a wood rectangle.
3. Glue the 6 samples at the correct locations (the written settings are not correct, they are here for game purpose)
4. Assemble the little extra pieces as shown in the pictures 1 and 2. They have to glide in their rails, on one side it has to point to a setting, on the back side it has to point to a letter.

1. Lasercut the field "Plaquegear3D.svg".
2. Print in 3D all these files"3D-cog-hex.stl"in black, "3D-cogs-point.stl"in black (if you want to have two colors, as us, you have to stop the printing to change the color, "3D-corn.stl" in yellow ; "3D-notLego.stl" in red ; "3D-plasticbottle.stl" in blue ; "3D-vase.stl" in white and the "3D-chocolate.stl" in brown.
3. Glue the vase, corn, lego, chocolate and the bottle in the round as shown on the final picture.
4. Fix the two cogs "hex" on top with one screws and a nyl stop.
5. Bolt in the 4 cogs as shown in the pictures : the Pointer ones on the lower part, and the ones with hexagonal holes on the top part, not too tight so they can spin freely (the first screws were too long, I changed them)
6. MIND THE POSITIONS of the cogs when fixing them (see picture 3D-answer)
7. The left ones : when the arrow is pointing ABS, the hex must show D
8. The right ones : when the arrow is pointing 80°, the hex must show K

Once its bolted in, it wont change. It's not suuuuper precise but good enough, isn't it ?

1. Lasercut the file "PlaqueCNC.svg".
2. Laser cut the file "Ruler.svg"
3. Glue the two parts of the ruler together with wood glue
4. For the large wooden blocks, there are two options : the CNC machine or the manual one. We used the manual one. You have to cut several pieces, the aim is to create some kind of construction where different zones have different heigths.
5. One part must measure a height of 2 (based on the RULER)
6. Another part must measure a height of 3 (based on the RULER)
7. The rest doesnt matter, it can be different heights, have fun.
8. The blocks that measures 3 with the ruler must be positioned at X1 ; Y3 on the grid.
9. The blocks that measures 2 with the ruler must be positioned at X9 ; Y5 on the grid.
10. Attach the Ruler to the plaque with a string long enough to measure all the points.

1. Lasercut the file "Box-lock.svg".
2. Assemble the box, use glue if necessary. MIND the symbols engraving, they need to be on the outside of course.
3. 3Dprint Box-Lock,glue it on the inner part of the sliding box as shown on the picture
4. Lasercut the file "badges-maker.svg"
5. Put them in the box, 72 can fit at once !
6. Put a 4 digit lock, the code is 1306 !
7. You should be ready to go.
8. Hopefully.