Going bananas at Aylmer library

Brody Goodliffe played a “banana piano” at Aylmer Old Town Hall Library on Thursday evening, May 28 during the grand opening of the new Maker Space there. The new department includes a three dimensional Makerbot printer, a 3D scanner and digital video (VHS to DVD) conversion equipment. The 3D printer and scanner can be used to make small items out of plastic. Other equipment in the department includes Raspberry Pi units (small computers that can be used to teach basic programming skills) and the MakeyMakey that was used to power the banana piano. Instead of using the keyboard, bananas were hooked up to the MakeyMakey’s computer chipboard and could be touched to produce musical notes. Maker Spaces encourage interest in technology through tinkering, exploring and sharing of ideas. A donation from the Dorothy Palmer Estate paid for the equipment in Maker Space department. All of the equipment can be used for free except for a 10 cent per gram charge for the plastic used by the 3D printer and blank DVDs used in the digital video conversion process.