Mitch teaching the basics of soldering

Mitch gave a great introduction to microcontrollers, and entertained everyone with, among other tales, his experiences in the US, recounting how he left his job in Silicone Valley and got into hardware hacking, and amusingly how the Noisebridge hackerspace is insured somewhere under the category of “Artistic Robotics”.

He and Jimmy had a great selection of projects on show and available as kits for hacking; the LoL Shields went down well, around 6 of us opted to build them for our arduinos.

Heads-down and soldering!

Another attendee constructed an Atari Punk Console, while someone else constructed their first arduino clone from a Boarduino kit.

Our guests continued their tour of the UK the following day, going on to their next event at the Brighton hackerspace BuildBrighton.

If you’re interested in hardware hacking or learning to solder, why not join the discussions on our google group? If you want to stay up to date with the latest SoutHACKton news the google group is also the place to go!

Mitch Altman, well known for making TV-B-Gone (a keychain that turns off TVs in public places), and also the co-founder of Noisebridge, a really cool San Francisco hackerspace, is coming to Southampton to teach you How To Make Cool Things with Microcontrollers! In Mitch’s words:

You do not need any tools, or any experience to come to the workshop.

The workshop is free (including our time) — we do this because we love teaching people to make things. We ask to be reimbursed for any parts you use from us. Cost of the parts is between £5 and £20, depending on the project. It is totally fine to bring your own parts and projects for the workshop.

Here is a list of projects that I’ll be bringing; I’ve included the prices for the parts:

Mignonette Game kit @ £20 each
– a way fun, way low-resolution hand-held computer console that you can use to create your own games

Trippy RGB Waves kit @ £5 each
– waves of colors follow your hand as you wave it over these

TV-B-Gone kit @ £15 each
– turn off TVs in public places from up to 50 meter away!

USBtinyISP kit @ £15 each
– a programmer for AVR microcontrollers

MiniPOV3 kit @ £15 each
– display messages of your choice through the air you wave this through

Brain Machine @ £15 each
– hallucinate beautiful colors and patterns while you drift off into fabulous meditation

MintyBoost kit @ £15 each
– with 2 AA batteries you can charge anything with a USB charging input (such as an iPhone)

Drawdio @£15 each
– fun and annoying noiseamaker that changes noise as you draw on paper

LEDcube @ £15 each
– 3x3x3 cube of LEDs with animated sequence

DC BoArduino kit @ £15 each
– Arduino clone kit

FTDI cable @ £15 each
– this is not a kit — it is required to communicate with the BoArduino (and many other open-source projects)

TripGlasses @ £25 each
– this is not a kit — it is a ready-made version of the Brain Machine (hallucinate beautiful colors and patterns while meditating!)

EU TV-B-Gone @ £15 each
– this is not a kit — it is the ready-made keychain to turn off TVs in public places (with a stealthy batman-like look)

NA TV-B-Gone Pro SHP @ £30 each
– this is not a kit — it is a ready-made version, the size of an mp3 player, that turns off TVs in public from up to 150 meter away! One model for the entire world! Comes with built-in rechargeable batteries and a charger

Info on most of the above is available on my website: http://www.CornfieldElectronics.com “maker faire” tab

Jimmie will be bringing Open Heart kits, LOL Shield kits, Atari Punk Console kits, and some cool circuit bending stuff. Jimmie’s website gives more info on his projects that he’ll be bringing: http://jimmieprodgers.com/

More details can be found on the groups – please let us know if you intend to attend.

Sunday 28th June, 3pm

I’ll be hosting the event at my flat, the address is on this page (members only – it only takes a moment to become a member).

If you’re coming, please comment on this post/post a message to groups/email me so I know how many people to expect.

ABSOLUTELY NO KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED. Fun for all the family!

Come and make some noise and eat some pizza with us! Just go down to your local charity shop/poundland/etc and buy some very cheap noise producing electronics (such as press and talk/ speak and spell/ my first electric keyboard/etc) and bring them along. Your task will be to expose the electronics and see what noises you can make by shorting connectors with your wet finger. “Lick it and see!” The coolest noises/tunes from the cheapest electronics win. Strictly battery powered devices only. (I’d recommend buying a few devices as some will be more hackable than others.)

Looking forward to seeing you!