Maker Faire Orlando soldering kit

October 20, 2017October 19, 2017 fustiniassembly, education, familab, LED, Maker Faire, makerfx, makerspaces, microchip, microcontroller, orlando, PIC, solderingLeave a comment

We are proud to be a sponsor of this Maker Faire Orlando soldering kit:

Advanced soldering training at Maker Faire Orlando

For the past six years at Maker Faire Orlando, members of FamiLab have taught attendees how to solder with a cool little Makey pin with 2 self-flashing LEDs. We’ve been asked for more advanced soldering training, and we responded with the addition of a PIC-microcontroller-based board twinkling several LEDs, and with a switch that can be used to change the LED display pattern.

http://www.makerfx.org/2017/10/advanced-soldering-training-maker-faire-orlando-2017/

We opted to design the board such that it can be used as a pendant on a necklace (lanyard) or as a keychain (especially for those of you who like large keychains). The design is a scalloped 2.7″ circle with LEDs on the outside circle, and a hole at the top for a keyring. Batteries are on the back of the board.

Resources

Assembly instructions: MFO-SK-Instruction-Sheet-v04
Base assembly code: main.asm

Maker Faire Orlando this weekend

October 19, 2017October 19, 2017 fustiniflorida, Maker Faire, orlandoLeave a comment

This weekend, October 21st & 22nd, is Maker Faire Orlando!

Maker Faire Orlando is a non-profit, community-organized, family-friendly celebration featuring local do-it-yourself science, art, rockets, robots, crafts, technology, music, hands-on-activities, and more. It’s an event where people show what they are making and share what they are learning.

The individuals behind these exhibits are known as “Makers” and they range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

We’ve been busy prepping the Central Florida Fairgrounds & Expo Halls for Maker Faire Orlando 2017! Now you can check out the official program or mobile apps (iOS, Android) for information about Maker Faire including featured exhibits, hands-on workshops, and schedules for Combat Robots and Power Racing.

Look for Drew Fustini (@pdp7) in purple!

https://github.com/pdp7/kicad-teensy-epaper/

https://twitter.com/pdp7

Maker Faire Denver and SparkFun AVC this weekend

October 13, 2017 fustiniavc, denver, Maker Faire, sparkfunLeave a comment

Maker Faire Denver and SparkFun AVC is this weekend!

Look for Drew in purple!

The Tiny, $25 PocketBeagle

September 27, 2017October 12, 2017 fustiniBeagleBoard.org, BeagleBone, hackaday, Maker Faire, pocketbeagle3 Comments

It was announced a day or two ago, but now the PocketBone has made its first real-world appearance at the World Maker Faire in New York this weekend. This is a tiny, tiny Linux computer that’s small enough to fit on a keychain, or in an Altoids mini tin. It’s only $25 USD, and from the…

via The Tiny, $25 PocketBeagle — Hackaday

https://hackaday.com/2017/09/23/the-tiny-25-pocketbone/

The Monolith Brings the Boom to Maker Faire

June 14, 2017June 12, 2017 fustiniAudio, hackaday, Maker Faire, mfba17, music, synth, teensyLeave a comment

[Ross Fish], [Darcy Neal], [Ben Davis], and [Paul Stoffregen] created “the Monolith”, an interactive synth sculpture designed to showcase capabilities of the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller. The Monolith consists of a clear acrylic box covered in LED-lit arcade buttons. The forty buttons in front serve as an 8-step sequencer with five different voices, while touch sensors on the left…

via The Monolith Brings the Boom to Maker Faire — Hackaday

Apertus SMT workshop at Maker Faire Berlin

June 10, 2017June 10, 2017 fustiniberlin, education, germany, Maker Faire, SMD, SMT, surface mount, workshopLeave a comment

The Apertus° open source cinema team will be running a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) workshop at Maker Faire Berlin this weekend in their AXIOM booth #121:

SMT workshop is on at @MakerFaireBER booth 121 @oshpark pic.twitter.com/0QahRreKub

— apertus° (@ApertusOSCinema) June 10, 2017

Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Workshop

In the course of attending a lot of fairs and exhibitions, we’ve noticed that our cameras and components attract the attention of people from all walks of life. We’ve found that despite our reassurances, people discovering the world of Open Hardware tend to doubt their capabilities where soldering tiny components by hand is concerned.

https://www.apertus.org/smt-workshop

This is why we hold Surface Mount Technology workshops – so that with a little confidence, the right tools and some initial guidance from members of our team, anyone can have great fun learning to make their own PCBs. The workshops are very popular and we have visitors designing pendants and earrings with colour LEDs and blinking patterns – which always creates a buzzing atmosphere.

https://www.apertus.org/smt-workshop

apertus has shared the boards on OSH Park:

ART Base

ART Tear

ART Star

ART Diamond

I/O Expander for LED Arcade Buttons

May 30, 2017May 26, 2017 fustiniAudio, LED, Maker Faire, mfba17, music, synthLeave a comment

Teensy creator Paul Stoffregen has shared a new project on OSH Park:

I/O Expander for LED Arcade Buttons

The Monolith Synth Project needed to use a large number of these LED lit arcade buttons.

Dimming of the LEDs was required. Initially I considered using this Adafruit 16 Channel PWM board. But the LEDs in these buttons have integrated resistors which require 12 volts, so 16 transistor circuits and another board for reading the switches would have also been needed.

It uses the same PCA9685 chip for 12 bit PWM control on every LED, with mosfet drivers to handle 12V outputs, and also a MCP23017 chip to read the buttons. Every button has a discrete 1K pullup resistor (rather than using the higher impedance on-chip pullups) to help with use in the same cable bundles cross coupling to 12V PWM signals.

Monolith Synth

Four of these boards where used in the Monolith Synth project:

The project is featured in this Tested video:

Photos of Bring-A-Hack after Maker Faire Bay Area 2017

May 28, 2017April 29, 2018 fustini#bringahack, Maker Faire, mfba17Leave a comment

https://goo.gl/photos/GuPDiwS33J5QDrtL8

Thanks to everyone that came to Bring-A-Hack last weekend after Maker Faire Bay Area! Here’s a gallery of photos:

Bring-A-Hack after Maker Faire Bay Area 2017

https://goo.gl/photos/GuPDiwS33J5QDrtL8

People were quite impressed by this soldering handiwork by Mike Szczys of Hackaday:

@szczys awesome solder work at #bringahack pic.twitter.com/iLKixAmCI5

— FriedCircuits (@FriedCircuits) May 22, 2017

Mike also did a great job tweeting about all the wonderful hacks such as this care-free robot:

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee#bringahack pic.twitter.com/fxrGsE6jGt

— Mike Szczys @[email protected] (@szczys) May 22, 2017

Follow #bringahack on Twitter to see more!

#BringAHack after Maker Faire Bay Area 2017

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 fustini#bringahack, Maker Faire, makerfaire, MFBALeave a comment

Join us for #BringAHack at BJ’s after Maker Faire on May 21st!

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

2206 Bridgepointe Pkwy, San Mateo, CA 94404

Sunday, May 21st, 6pm to closing

Portland Mini Maker Faire recap

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 fustiniMake, Maker Faire, OMSI, pdx, pdxmakerweek, portlandLeave a comment

Portland Mini Maker Faire made for a fantastic weekend at OMSI earlier this month. We’ve shared our favorite photos of the fun.

https://goo.gl/photos/yBeuCLiAxBynL3sj6

Thanks to everyone that visited our booth. It’s wonderful to meet our customers in person and hear about their projects!

https://goo.gl/photos/yBeuCLiAxBynL3sj6

Sergey Kiselev and his son stopped by our booth to show us projects they’ve created including this Intel Quark environmental sensors board.

https://goo.gl/photos/yBeuCLiAxBynL3sj6

People enjoyed seeing our full PCB panels in person and learning more about the manufacturing process. We’ll also have them on display at our open house on Open Hardware Summit eve next week.