Peru's ambulantes (street sellers) mark the streets of Lima. Their ever changing structures, depending on the type of preparation and location,together with Peru's pride for food make them a perfect theme for this years competition!
Requirements/ Characteristics:
1. Must be transformable into at least two different stages
2. Must be transportable by one person (free dimensions)
3. Must use at least one fab lab tool and process
4. Must be made at a Fab Lab
5. Cannot cost more than $200 in strucutral/functional materials
6. Must be physically present and demonstrated in Limas public space, on August 19th
Champaign-Urbana Community FabLab and MSI Fab Lab in Chicago, Illinois formed a team to work on an ambulante to showcase Illinois Popping Corn at FAB 7. Popcorn is a popular snack in the United States where it is usually served with salt. It is served with butter or a butter flavor or sweetened. When it is sweetened it is called caramel or kettle corn. New flavors are developed each year to add diversity to the flavors. As the result of an elementary school project, popcorn became the official state snack food of Illinois. The "Popcorn Capital of the World" is Ridgway, Illinois. This is a popular snack in Illinois. Popcorn or 'popping corn' is corn (maize) which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy filling. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive "pop" results. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns. Popcorn has been served at movie theaters and sports events from around 1912. In the United States the The Boy Scouts of America's yearly fundraiser is to sell popcorn. As a snack popcorn is high in fiber, low in calories and fat if air popped with not extra salt or flavoring added.[1]
Our popcorn will be popped over an open flame using a bio-mass fueled camp stove in an pan with a lid.
Charles Cretors redesigned an existing peanut roaster to do both peanuts and popcorn. He "took his new popcorn wagon to the Midway of Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and introduced the new corn product to the public." [2] "Cretors' invention introduced the first patented steam-driven popcorn machine that popped corn in oil. Previously, vendors popped corn by holding a wire basket over an open flame. At best, the result was a hot, dry, unevenly cooked confection. The Cretors' machine popped corn in a mixture of one-third clarified butter, two-thirds lard, and salt." [3]
CUCFabLab's Team includes:
Betty Barrett, Mercedes Mane, Virginia McCreary, Dean Rose, Whitney Street, Mary Watson.
MSI's team includes: Dan Meyer and Rabiah Mayes
In our planning and design meetings it was agreed we would purchase a stove, bring Illinois Popping Corn, special seasoning salts, and the traditional cardboard containers used by outdoor vendors.
Dean is doing a press-fit proto-type for our cart.
Dean has lawmower wheels which we may use over the bike wheels since they will go on the plane easier.
Dan Meyer designed the 36 inch diameter umbrella. Whitney worked on making the canopy/umbrella. Virginia is doing the decals. Betty is gathering the stove, accessories, and a way to ship everything to Lima. Mary K is in charge of getting the eight pounds of unpopped popcorn kernals to the airport and trying to document everything the group is doing. Dean is designing, sawing, hammaring, welding, and crafting the rest of the cart.
Dean's progress on the cart includes:
Virginia's designs for the cart include the following:
[1] Illinois Government News Network (2003-08-04). "Governor Signs Official Snack Bill: School Project Becomes Law". Press release. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
[2] Lusas, Edmund W.; Rooney, Lloyd W. (2001). Snack Foods Processing. CRC press. ISBN 1566769329, pp. 388-389.
[3] Wikipedia. "Popcorn". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn
[4] Wikipedia. "Charles Cretors". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretors