Skip to content

Tag: workshop

3

Published on 3 Comments on LVL1 2012 Boneyard Hackathon Recap

A big personal thanks to everyone who came out to the 2012 LVL1 Boneyard Hackathon.  We had 9 teams consisting of 54 hackers compete for 24 hours straight, putting to the test their technical capabilities, endurance, and creativity.  We had 9 great projects, and everyone had a lot of fun!  Our youngest competitors were only 11 years old! Everyone here already looks forward to the next event.

Thanks to Jon for recording a summary of the projects at the hackathon.  I'll upload a full video of the project showcase soon!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1maAoSg6Fdo]

Team Bloominglabs made an incredible 3 musical instruments, a mixer for them all, and a bunch of LED blinky stuff! They brought 9 hackers to bring this all together, and were a flurry of activity throughout the hackathon.

DSC_0728.JPG

The Raging Narwhals, a team from the Triangle Fraternity at LVL1, made a floppy drive keyboard. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite working by the end, but it was an impressive effort, and they plan to come back to finish it up. They brought a huge team, and almost all of them stayed through the night!

DSC_0737.JPG

The LVL1 Stonecutters managed to make a 3-D Scanner and Animated Gif Maker using the parts in the boneyard!

DSC_0740.JPG

Team Rainbow Unicorn built a first place trophy, so even if they failed, they would win.

DSC_0748.JPG

The Dirty Cheaters put together an incredibly impressive Rock 'em, Sock 'em robots kit, which included rack and pinion steering, and no microcontrollers.

DSC_0754.JPG

Destined for Failure built a looping synthesizer controlled by a PS2 mouse. Very impressive, especially consdiering this was the group's first foray into Arduino progrmaming!

DSC_0761.JPG

Team Polar Bear build a laser pong game, complete with scorekeeping, 8 bit sound effects, and varying difficulty levels. Superb engineering, guys!

DSC_0756.JPG

The Noobs were our youngest team, and they put together a custom computer using parts from the basement, including custom LED signs.

DSC_0765.JPG

Finally, Bob the Bodybuilder built a very loud keypad controlled synthesizer. They even devised a means to convert sheet music to keypad tablature.

DSC_0769.JPG

I owe a huge thanks to everyone involved. Thanks to FoodCalc Inc. (http://www.foodcalc.com) for supplying libation for the event. Thanks to Joe L. for helping out throughout the event. Thanks to Gary F. for being a trooper, staying way later than he meant to, and helping out almost every team here. Thanks to Jose C. for taking way more crap than he deserved. Thanks to Lauren, Jynn, and Steph for acting as team breakfast, and keeping us all from starving.

Plenty more photos on the flickr stream. Peruse through, and if this interest you, come to our space! Links above and to the right will help you find us.

Published on Leave a comment on Kicad Workshop, Saturday 1/21, 1pm

This Saturday, January 21st, there will be a KiCad Workshop from 1pm to 5pm.  Sign up here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2696636713.

KiCad is a free utility for designing and laying out printed circuit boards.  Printed circuit boards connect your circuits together without the need for breadboards and jumper wires.  With circuit prototyping services cheaper than ever, it's simple to turn your design into a real, working board.

This workshop will cover the basics of KiCad, from Schematic Capture, to Board Layout, you'll walk out of the workshop with the knowledge necessary to take your circuit ideas from dream to reality.

If you're already familiary with Eagle, KiCad has a number of advantages, including unlimited board size, up to 16 copper layers on your board, multiple sheets of schematic, and more.

Please install KiCad before coming to this workshop.  If you have any problems, or questions, don't hesitate to let us know.  If you need help installing KiCad, show up early and we'll try to help you out.

Published on Leave a comment on Beginner Beekeeping Class

Who needs GPS for directions when you have a waggle dance?Field Bees At the Hive EntranceThere will be a beginner beekeeping class at LVL1 on Sunday 3/13 from 2-4.  As people get more interested in gardening and learning where their food comes from urban or neighborhood beekeeping is gaining in popularity. I will bring every type of equipment I own plus pictures of things I don't.  You will learn what can be expected if you decide to get some bees.  Why would I want bees you ask?  They make honey.  They help your garden.  They make honey.  They help your neighbors garden.  They make honey for goodness sake! There will be no bees at the class. This is a perfect opportunity to find out if beekeeping is something you want to try.  I'll be bringing some honey to sample.  There is no cost for this class.

Todd W.

Remember daylight savings is Saturday night!

2

Published on 2 Comments on CMKT Circuitbending Workshop

CMKT Circuitbending Workshop, Friday March 11th, starting at 7pm.

We start by building a simple tool, a Bending Buddy, that will help everyone learn how to solder, drill plastic and mount components. This device will aide in their exploration of circuits. After that, we would have a broad overview of topics that would including basic pitch bends and types of potentiometers, several ways to wire an audio output, other types of bends (distortions, glitches), types of bendable toys, reading schematics, and working with ICs, breadboarding, and prototyping. People are encouraged to bring projects in-progress or any problem-projects to share/brainstorm. Students would come away with a circuit-bending tool, a basic understanding of circuit bending, and some ideas about how to further control their toys with external circuitry.

$20 for the class. The $20 covers the materials for the bending buddy, helpful circuit bending reference sheets, and the materials used in the instruction of the class. We will also have other kits and components for sale "a la carte".

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130027143736128