Revision as of 23:14, 15 March 2024

Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!

A space for sharing tools and knowledge to make stuff

Bloominglabs is Indiana's first hackerspace (also known as a makerspace). We are a group of group of people who rent a shared workshop where we can build projects both collectively and individually. Our space is located at 1840 S. Walnut Street.

We are open to the public Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm. Our open hours are family friendly.

Who are we?

We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us. Expression of this interest takes at least as many forms as we have members, and often employs an amalgam of found and newly-constructed hardware and/or open-source and self-authored software components, but may be as simple as screwing some pieces of wood together to make a useful tool we don't have yet.

Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club.

• Read our Bylaws for a more formalized overview

What is a hackerspace?

A hackerspace is a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also an incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.

Stay informed

• Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
• We have a public discuss mailing list too.
• Our Calendar of events
• Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabs, Facebook, and Instagram.
• Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
• Our IRC server is at bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
• We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact [at] bloominglabs [dot] org.
• Send us email to get an invite to our Slack site.
• Send mail to P.O. Box 2443, Bloomington, IN 47402

Support

Bloominglabs Incorporated is a non-profit registered within in the state of Indiana and has 501(c)3 charitable status. Want to make a donation with PayPal? Please use this link:

• (Note to members - this link should not be used for paying membership dues)

If you often shop at Kroger, Kroger has a program to support local non-profit organizations. This program makes fundraising easy by donating to local organizations based on the shopping people do at Kroger. Steps for setting up Bloominglabs, or the NPO of your choice, are given here:
https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards
If you do choose Bloominglabs, every bit helps. Thank you!

Members, this is how we process cash and hardware donations: Donations.

Hardware Donations

We appreciate hardware donations too! However, please ask before bringing any item donations and arrange to meet someone for the handoff. contact [at] bloominglabs [dot] org This gives us a chance to decide what of your donation is useful to us currently. For things we can't use, we'll help you figure out other groups in Bloomington who would appreciate them or help you determine the best way to dispose of them.

Current & Upcoming Events

(PastEvents)

Public meetings!

• Wednesdays from 7pm until 10pm
• E-mail contact [at] bloominglabs [dot] org or ask in Slack if you would like to arrange access to the space at another time.
• Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
• All ages and everyone is welcome

Upcoming Workshops

Solar Eclipse Lens Filter Making Workshop

Saturday, March 24th, 2024 - 12pm to 4pm

Come make a solar viewing filter for your telescope, camera telephoto lens, DSLR, point-n-shoot camera, or binoculars! This is an all ages event! We provide all materials to make the solar filter, you must bring your own optical equipment so that the filter can be custom made to fit it. Space is limited so sign up early!!

Workshop will include a short presentation on solar eclipses, photos and experiences from the 2017 total eclipse, and experiments people can try out during next months total solar eclipse.

Public meetings and Membership

Please see the Membership Manual and New Members for more details.

During normal non-pandemic conditions we meet every Wednesday from 7pm to 10pm at 1840 S. Walnut Street. These meetings are open to the public; anyone is welcome to attend. Having access to tools is only part of the equation. Socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. If it's cool and interesting you'll find somebody who's interested.

• Meeting_Minutes
• Bloominglabs Log - highlights of Bloominglabs events and news

Nearby Hackerspaces/Makerspace or initiatives:

• Castlemakers (Greencastle, Indiana)
• The SHAK (Kokomo, Indiana)
• The MakerHive (Elkhart, Indiana)
• Hive13 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
• LVL1 (Louisville, Kentucky)
• Pumping Station: One (Chicago, Illinois)
• Dayton Diode (Dayton, Ohio)
• i3 Detroit (Detroit, Michigan)
• Kre8Now (Lexington, Kentucky) (related to the former Collexion space)

Other Cool Groups in Bloomington & Monroe County

• Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
• Indiana University Amateur Radio Club
• Southern Indiana Amateur Radio Association
• IU Makes
• Discardia
• Press (jigsaw) Puzzles

Special Wiki Pages

Uploaded files