2026-11-03 –, Workshop 2
Consensus is easy to describe and hard to feel. This workshop makes it visible.
Each participant builds one node: an LED ring driven by a NodeMCU. Alone, it’s a circuit on a table. Joined with 99 others, it becomes a single synchronized installation, with no central operator and no one running the show. The piece only works if everyone shows up and runs their part.
The build
Assemble your node. Wire an LED ring to a NodeMCU (ESP8266) and bring it online.
Write your logic. Program how your node behaves: color, timing, patterns.
Join the network. Connect to the collective and sync state with the other 99 nodes.
Reach consensus. Flip the switch and watch 100 independent devices agree on one output.
What you’ll walk away with
Hands-on experience with microcontrollers, addressable LEDs, and networking
A working intuition for synchronization and coordination across distributed devices
A node you built, running inside an installation none of you could have made alone
Each participant builds one node: an LED ring driven by a NodeMCU. Alone, it’s a circuit on a table. Joined with 99 others, it becomes a single synchronized installation, with no central operator and no one running the show. The piece only works if everyone shows up and runs their part.
The build
Assemble your node. Wire an LED ring to a NodeMCU (ESP8266) and bring it online.
Write your logic. Program how your node behaves: color, timing, patterns.
Join the network. Connect to the collective and sync state with the other 99 nodes.
Reach consensus. Flip the switch and watch 100 independent devices agree on one output.
What you’ll walk away with
Hands-on experience with microcontrollers, addressable LEDs, and networking
A working intuition for synchronization and coordination across distributed devices
A node you built, running inside an installation none of you could have made alone
Vaibhav Chhabra is a Mechanical Engineer turned Carpenter and Educator. With a degree from Boston University, Vaibhav spent his early career at EyeNetra, a startup from MIT Media Labs, building portable Virtual Reality-based eye diagnostic devices. During his time in India for the eye diagnostic prototype, he recognized the need for accessible makerspaces and founded Makers Asylum in 2013 out of a small garage in Mumbai. Maker's Asylum is India's first community Makerspace in India, equipped with various co-located labs that facilitate prototyping of interdisciplinary ideas. The key focus of this space is to share the joy of making, empowering community members to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative skills.
Through Makers Asylum, Vaibhav has been driving open innovation and hands-on education. He is also a visiting faculty at IDC - IIT Bombay, Judge school at Cambridge university, Advisor to the Museum of Solutions, Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Young Indians – Confederation of Indian Industries, a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum, and a member of the French President's Young Leaders Club. These roles have allowed him to contribute to driving innovation, education, and community development globally.
Co-founder & Chief Maker at Maker's Asylum