Mitch Altman, microcontroller hacker extraordinare and inventor of wonderful gadgets like the TV-B-Gone will be at HacDC on Sunday, September 7 at 2:00 PM to help show you how to build your own Brain Machine. Mitch will be bringing all the parts, tools and inspiration necessary, all you need to do is show up!
The event is free and open to the public, however, if you want to build your own Brain Machine, bring $25 to cover the cost of the kit. (HacDC will be purchasing some kits you can help build if you don’t want to take one home.)
What: A five-part microcontroller course, taking you from zero to hero in just 30 days!
Where: The space.
When: Monday nights, 7:00pm to 9:00pm (nominally). Sept 8 through Oct 6.
Syllabus:
Each class will be about 30 min introductory lecture, 20 min lab, 20 min lecture, 20 min lab. We’ll cover two big topics per night (usually) and get cool projects working for each.
0) Setup: What the AVRs are, what all the pins do, what it can do for you. Then the toolchain: soldering together the programmer kits, getting the software up and running. Reading the datasheets. Labs: building the kit and running a test LED flasher. (Almost all lab today, little talk.)
1) Outputs and bit math: How to make chips speak to the outside world, pin-by-pin. Enough C programming fundamentals to make it work. Pulse-width modulation. Labs: Cylon eyes and dimming LED’s. Extra credit: cross-fading cylon eyes!
2) Inputs: Buttons and Analog-to-Digital conversion (ADC). Gather data input the world. Labs: pushbutton organ, light-dependent theremin. Extra credit: something else!
3) Interrupts and Timers: Interrupts call subroutines when certain conditions are true. Timers let you time stuff. Together, they take a lot of the programming burden off your shoulders, and enable really cool stuff. Labs: Driving servo motors and/or build a better audio synth, use an LED as a light-source and light-sensor. Extra credit: capacitive touch-switch!
4) Serial I/O: Make the micro speak to your computer (and vice-versa). We can also cover other serial protocols (I2C, SPI). Labs: Basic serial in/out, data-logging light sensor. Maybe SD/MMC cards? Extra credit: ADC + serial output + Python + laptop = ghetto oscilloscope.
5) EEPROM, PROGMEM, etc: Tying up loose ends, special requests. PROGMEM lets you use the program memory to store lots of (constant) data. EEPROM is like flash — there’s not much of it, but it stays when you power off. Can also do misc topic requests here. Labs: writing out really long strings to serial, saving last known states for battery failure. Maybe I can think up something sexy to use these methods. Maybe not.
The Kit: The class will be based around the ATMega 48 ($4 in bulk). The basics of a programming kit for the AVR chips include: a computer (bring a laptop), a programmer ($22), a breadboard ($5). We’ll be rounding out the projects with some push-buttons, LEDs, light-sensing resistors, speakers, and servo motors. Some of this stuff is in the space, some I’ll bring in, and some will be bought for you all. $35 for the basic kit, delivered.
For $20 more, you can opt to get a super-swanky USB/TTL-serial cable, which will enable simple and clean bi-directional communication with laptops. I highly recommend ponying up for one if you think you’ll continue using micros, but if you want to kludge something together out of a plain-old USB/RS-232 Serial converter, I can help.
Let me know by Friday, Aug 29, what kind of kit you want and if you’re interested but bringing your own gear.
WHERE: HacDC 1525 Newton ST NW Washington D.C. 20010
WHEN: Saturday August 30, 2008 from 1:00PM - 4:00PM
WHO: Rob Seger
So you’ve got this great new idea, but it requires a computer.. The
blasted thing just doesn’t do what you need it to do out of the box.
You’ve got a few options: you can give up on your project (I’m just
saying..), you can find a programmer to whisper sweet nothings to your
expensive doorstop (you may have to bribe them), or you can master the
art of pillow talk for your processor. Presumably, you’re interested
in the last option. While I can’t promise you that you’ll become the
Fabio of circuitry over-night, I can promise you’ll know how to
motivate that doorstop of yours if you attend my class.
In a less-than-formal environment, I plan to take you from not even
having python installed to understanding the fundamentals of
programming. If all goes well, you should be able to create fairly
complicated programs, understand (and know how to find) the python
online documentation, and have this irrational urge to learn more. For
those with some background in programming, we’ll be covering:
variables, if-statements, looping, fundamental data structures,
functions, and modules. If that didn’t make any sense, or you don’t
already know how to do all that in python, this is the class for you!
My fellow DCers! This Friday some friends of HacDC will be putting on a gaming and music event outside of Philadelphia (Bellmawr, NJ) - I wanted to throw this out to anyone interested in going. I will be heading up there Friday afternoon (around noon) and we may have an extra seat or two, anyone interested please email me at andrew@i11industries.com. For more information check out their post:
Hey everyone, wanted to let you know that me and a few friends of mine are going to be putting on a fundraiser in South Jersey for the American Cancer Society. We’ll have live music from some local bands and Japanese Punk Band Peelander Z, in addition we’ll have TVs set up for gaming, everything from old school Nintendo to Xbox 360s. There will be a few tournaments for Halo 3, Rock Band, Soul Calibur IV, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl with great prizes. If you have a chance stop by the Station 33 Fire Hall in Bellmawr, NJ on the 22nd of August at 4pm.
Tickets are $20 at the door, for more info go to http://www.extinctionlevelevents.com or email Aaron@ExtinctionLevelEvents.com
Thanks and hope to see you there!
What a brilliant idea, sewing 2D barcodes onto patches that re-direct to specific (and changeable) URLS ! The thing that amazes me MOST of all is that you can snap the p8tch with an iPhone and some software to decode this. WOW ! I’m not sure what I was doing a couple years ago but when I developed a 2D Matrix (PDF417) barcode reader, I couldn’t get any software to image and decode that damn thing. Congrats 2Dsense you are a better man than I.
enjOi - I am buying one for my black lab coat. I know what everyone is thinking right now, this is just another excuse to create a severely over-arching attempt to rick roll somebody. Be a little more creative than that.
Read more here: P8TCH
The truth is, we are more than our credit scores. Who gave 3 companies the right to use secret calculations to
determine if we qualify for credit, for a job, or even renting a house. We did. Credit scores are used everywhere as a standard measure of character. But the truth is, humanity can’t be summed up by looking at open lines of credit and how close you are to your credit limit. Did using your credit card to replace your fridge for your family devalue you as a human? Experian would beg to differ…
We are changing this! We can redefine character, using real values. We are humans, not machines, and we have a say!
This code project is an open-source social experiment. I am leading the development of a new system, one where the scoring algorithms are developed by the people. It’s a system where we each hold another accountable for our actions and value what really matters to each of us.
It culminates to Judgmatics.
The kickoff for this project has been postponed, but stay tuned for the new date!
Richard E. Bewley, Jr.
rbewley@gmail.com
what I see through the beauty of 2x *sigh*
This weekend has been full of rocking out the surface-mount soldering for my current project - Building the Proxmark3. Figured I would upload some pictures on Flickr here
The only magnification I’ve had during this is my 2x radio-shack bought magnifying glass, needless to say I’m looking for a nice scope now. Thanks to Virosa and Ellen for the help with this project, should have one ready to play with soon. Will give a talk at the space when it’s working and get some usage under my belt.
Tags:
Pancakes,
Projects,
Proxmark3
Come check out our sound system for our first ever HACDC movie night before we take it down! You don’t have to bring one-hundred-thousand marks to the phone booth outside the Spirale Bar by noon, but you do need to bring youself to HACDC by 9:00pm tonight (Saturday, July 26).
BYOP (Bring Your Own Popcorn)
Email info@hacdc.org with questions. Image by Pedro Simões.
We’re having our first meeting, to discuss the roadmap for the multi-touch interactive display (MTID), on Wednesday July 30th at 7:30pm. Pepperoni pizza will be on-hand and soft drinks.
‘Easy going’ agenda:
- Discuss Theory of TIR/FTIR
- Discuss LED + Plexiglass Construction strategy
- Discuss LED circuitry
- Discuss LED + TIR optimization
If you’re not a member then sign up , be a part of HacDC and improve the world by creatively rethinking technology!
Project Information
Then join us afterwards at Brickskellar for drinks!
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