[Watford] Open Source Hardware Camp 2012.

[Alain Williams]

from another list .......



On the 15th September 2012, 09:00 - 16th September 2012, 16:00 at The
Birchcliffe Centre, Birchcliffe Road, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire,
HX7 8DG, UK

— Registration: http://oshug.org/event/oshcamp2012

Open Source Hardware Camp 2012 will take place place in the north of
England in the Pennine town of Hebden Bridge. Building on the success
of last year's OSHCamp, it will be a weekend long event with nine
talks on the Saturday and four parallel workshops on the Sunday.

Hebden Bridge is approximately 1 hour by rail from Leeds and
Manchester. Budget accommodation is available at the Hebden Bridge
Hostel which adjoins the venue, with discounts available for group
bookings.

- Practical Experiences with the Google Android Accessory Development Kit 
(ADK)

The ADK is an exciting development platform that makes it possible to
easily combine Android applications with custom hardware built around
Arduino. Such combinations have the best of both worlds by enabling
the creation of a mobile phone application with access to peripheral
devices that is only limited by your imagination.

This talk will cover two projects that extend what the phone can do by
integrating both input and output devices. And will cover some of the
dos and don'ts of using the ADK and associated IDEs. If time permits
there will also be a demonstration with a quick run through of the
code.

Paul Tanner is a consultant, developer and maker in wood, metal,
plastic, electronics and software. His day job is IT-based business
improvement for SMEs. By night he turns energy nut, creating tools to
optimise energy use. Paul graduated in electronics and was responsible
for hardware and software product development and customer services in
several product and service start-ups, switching to consulting in
2000.

If you can't wait to get your hands on the ADK software browse to
http://developer.android.com/tools/adk.

- The Internet of Things and Arduino

As connecting hardware to the network becomes cheaper and cheaper
we're seeing the rise of what is being called the Internet of Things,
or “IoT” for short.

This talk will give an introduction to the Internet of Things and
explain how open hardware platforms such as Arduino are helping it
grow. With plenty of examples of IoT projects, from using sensors to
map global radiation levels to bakeries that tweet when the bread is
fresh out of the oven.

Adrian McEwen has been connecting odd things to the Internet since the
mid-90s. Starting with cash registers, and then as part of the team
who were first to put a web browser onto a mobile phone. As the mobile
phone and set-top box work became more mainstream he dropped down a
level to Arduino which led to Internet-enabled bubble machines and
chicken-food silos...

Adrian has been working with Arduino since 2008 — which is when
Bubblino, the aforementioned bubble machine which watches twitter, was
created — and is charge of the Arduino Ethernet library. He is based
in Liverpool, where he runs MCQN Ltd, a company that builds IoT
devices and products.

- Developing Linux on Embedded Devices

This talk will provide an introduction to developing Linux on embedded
devices. Firstly we will look at the capabilities of popular boards
such as the BeagleBone and the Raspberry Pi. Then using the example of
a BeagleBone controller for a 3D printer the talk with explain how to
develop for an embedded device. It will consider what comprises an
embedded Linux software stack. The talk will discuss boot loaders,
kernels and root filesystems. We will discuss what are the minimum
software packages required in a root file system. The talk will then
go on to consider the tools required to develop for an embedded
target. It will look at what tools are available to help the embedded
developer and speed up this development process. Once you have
developed your software you need to debug it. The talk will look at
what debugging tools are available for debugging embedded devices.

Melanie Rhianna Lewis started a life long love of electronics as a
child when her Dad helped her make a "crystal" radio with an ear
piece, a coil of wire, a diode and a radiator! At the same time the
home computer revolution started and she would lust after the "build
your own computers" advertised in the electronics magazines of the
time. She never got one but did end up the proud owner of a BBC Micro.
Melanie learnt everything she could about the machine and including
assembler, operating systems, drivers, interrupt, and, thanks to the
circuit diagram in the Advanced User Guide, digital electronics. After
the BBC Micro came the Acorn Archimedes and so started a long
relationship with ARM processors. In the 90s Melanie became interested
in Linux and then developed one of the first ARM Linux distributions
running on an Acorn RISC PC. The hobby became a job and Melanie
currently works for an embedded device consultancy near Bradford where
a lot of her work is still with ARM processors.

- Interfacing the Raspberry Pi to the World — Everything you need to
know about P1

You've received your Pi, set up a web server on it and maybe played a
few rounds of Quake. You're looking for a new challenge and suddenly
the header on the corner of the board catches your eye. A quick Google
search for "P1 Raspbery Pi" gets you to the eLinux wiki page on Low
level peripherals, and you suddenly realise that you can do all sorts
of fun stuff by adding extra bits to your Raspberry Pi using this
magical expansion port. Where do you start? Is it safe to connect a
motor directly to the pins? What sort of interesting components are
out there?

In this talk we will look at the ways we can communicate with the
outside world using the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi. We will explore
the mechanical, electrical and software side of things and talk about
a few example projects you can try at home, and the hardware
limitations will be covered and workarounds provided.

Omer Kilic is theoretically still a research student at the University
of Kent, although he intends to submit his thesis (which is about a
reconfigurable heterogeneous computing framework) pretty soon. He
likes tiny computers, things that 'just work' and beer. He currently
works for Erlang Solutions in London, exploring the use of Erlang
programming language in the Embedded Systems domain and develops tools
and support material to help the adoption of this technology.

This talk will also serve as an introduction for the Raspberry Pi
workshop on the Sunday, where we will explore the example projects
covered in more detail.

- Sensing Wearable Technology

An introduction to wearable technology that will include examples
which incorporate sensors, plus work which makes use of the LilyPad
Arduino, an open source, sewable microcontroller.

Rain Ashford creates wearable technology & electronic art, her most
recent work involves investigating physiological sensing technologies
and how they can be applied to wearable artworks to measure and
interpret moods, health and lifestyle data. Rain also creates fun,
interactive and aesthetically pleasing works that include gaming and
musical elements. She is keen to demonstrate that electronics,
components and circuitry doesn't have to be regarded as cold, boring,
hard and boxy and instead can be fun, colourful and elegant, plus be
integrated into an overall design of a work.

Rain’s background is in developing online activities for the BBC as a
Senior Producer at BBC Learning and also as Technologist at BBC R&D,
co-running BBC Backstage. She currently works as a freelance
consultant for the Open University and for Technocamps designing and
leading workshops in coding and electronics in the form of wearable
technology for 11-19 year-olds, plus is a PhD researcher, peering into
wearable electronics & art.

- Running OpenBTS in the Real World

This talk will explore the OpenBTS project and describe how it uses
software-defined radio and open source Internet telephony to create a
small but complete GSM mobile phone network.

Experiences of operating OpenBTS installations on the Pacific island
of Niue and at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert will be
covered, along with how OpenBTS has been integrated with other systems
for use in disaster relief. Licensing permitting there will also be a
live demonstration.

Tim Panton is a software engineer with a particular interest in
projects that blend web applications and person-to-person speech into
an integrated user experience. He has many years hands-on experience
with the OpenBTS project, working closely with the core development
team on numerous installations.

Tim is currently working on the Phono.com, Tropo.com and Rayo.org
products at VoxeoLabs, producing web developer-friendly APIs by using
XMPP protocols to drive innovative telephony applications that can be
used anywhere by anyone.

- The 3D Printed Revolution

Over recent years Open Source 3D printers have quickly developed
alongside their commercial counterparts offering affordable and
accessible alternatives. This talk will cover experiences using
commercial printers and how the speaker's interests have moved to open
source designs and how the two compare. Examples will be shown of
projects using these technologies, such as "Fable", a clock
manufactured by Selective Laser Sintering, and a wrist watch designed
to be printed on a RepRap. There will also be a run through of the
design considerations and how files were created, fixed and sliced in
preparation to print on a RepRap.

Mark Gilbert graduated in 2000 from Sheffield Hallam University with a
degree in Industrial Design Innovation. After several years working as
a design engineer, Mark started working as a freelance industrial
designer for several companies in the Northwest. Over the last 6 years
he has also worked closely with the Bolton Science and Technology
Centre as the "Designer in Residence" where he has developed workshops
around the centre's 3D printing and CAD facilities.

In 2008 Mark set up the design studio Gilbert13 with his wife Angela
where they design and develop products inspired by experimentation
into digital manufacturing processes, 3D printing and additive
manufacturing. Recent projects have taken their experience from rapid
prototyping to use 3D printing as a manufacturing tool that can change
the way people design, co create and distribute objects.

- The Bots are Coming

In the last two decades we have seen software and data change the
fabric of economics, and the advent of personal computing and the
Internet enable many new business models. However, the next two
decades will be even more radical as that wave of innovation shifts
from the virtual domain to a physical manifestation. Atoms are the new
bits and the open sourcing and democratisation of bot technology is
allowing us to enter into an era of personal production. And this talk
will explore how 3D printing and additive manufacturing are
revolutionising production as we know it.

Alan Wood originally trained in systems engineering, got lost in
software engineering and open source for a decade, before returning
back to his hardware roots via the open source hardware and makers
movement that has gathered momentum over the last few years.

- DIYBIO - The Next Frontier

DIYBIOMCR is an public group based at MadLab dedicated to making
biology an accessible pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur
biologists and biological engineers who value openness and safety.
This talk will give an overview of the movement, and what is going on
at MadLab involving not only biology but also diverse fields such as
hardware-hackers, artists, journalists and the open-source movement.

Hwa Young Jung is a co-founder and a director of MadLab, a community
centre for creative, tech and science based the Manchester. Over 50
user groups meet once a month, including DIYBIOMCR, initially a joint
funded project with MMU and the Wellcome Trust.

** Sunday Workshops

Workshops will be reasonably informal and shaped by the participants,
and details are subject to change depending upon the level of interest
expressed.

Please feel free to bring along equipment and components provided that
you are able to take full responsibility for your own personal safety
and that of others. Common sense should be exercised!

- Practical IoT Applications with the Google ADK and Arduino

Hands on IoT building sessions that follow on from Saturday's ADK and
Arduino talks.

- Interfacing the Raspberry Pi to the World

- Here you will learn how to connect a selection of devices to your
Raspberry Pi utilising the methods discussed during Saturday's talk.
We will have a few Raspberry Pi boards available for the workshop but
please bring your own if you were one of the lucky ones to have
received one.

- Building GSM Networks with Open Source

A look at the practical steps involved in creating a low power GSM
network using open source technology.

Note: this workshop will be subject to a spectrum licence being granted.

- Practical 3D Printing

Details TBC.

Note:

* Please aim to arrive for 09:00 on the Saturday as the event will
start at 09:30 prompt.
* A light lunch and refreshments will be provided on the Saturday.

                            Sponsored by:

        Capital SCF:  http://www.capitalscf.com
        DesignSpark: http://www.designspark.com
        Cosm:           https://cosm.com

                  OSHCamp kit bags provided by:

       SK Pang:      http://www.skpang.co.uk
       Oomlout:       http://oomlout.com


-- 
Andrew Back
http://carrierdetect.com

-- 
Alain Williams
Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer.
+44 (0) 787 668 0256  http://www.phcomp.co.uk/
Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php
#include <std_disclaimer.h>