Today I ordered an Arduino. The ThinkHaus is offering a introductory course in programing and use so I figured I might as well jump in and give it a go. I've been looking at these micro controllers for a while now and have seen a number of people using them as the main interface for their CNC machines and 3D printers.
They are pretty cheap too, under $30 for the unit.
Looking around online and there are lots of resources and a growing community of users. Lots of add on boards called shields and plenty of open sourced schematics and programs.
I'm looking forward to it arriving so I can start tinkering away. ETA the 21st.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
ThinkHaus
Tonight I checked out the open house for the ThinkHaus on Dundurn St.
It's an amazing collective of very smart innovative people creating some very neat things. Under construction was a RepRap (www.reprap.org) and recently added was a laser cutter. In the works are a mill, some ham radio setups and a photo lab. I never thought I would see all of these together in one place all for use.
There is an energy and drive from this place that makes you want to just keep asking questions and picking brains, which is really the whole idea of the space. Show up with your project, use the tools and resources at hand and get input from everyone to let some fantastic ideas make their way off the drawing board and into reality. It is a very communal environment where everyone is there to help everyone else.
There were people working out ideas for motor controllers for motorcycles, people working on robotics and people just bouncing around ideas for neat little projects. One gentleman (the name escapes me now, so many new names and faces) was working on a replacement license plate frame for his car. He was using scrap wood left over from the renovations of the building along side some hand tools and the laser cutter for some intricate designs to create a one off personalized plate frame.
Neat.
I suggest visiting their site, http://www.thinkhaus.org and check out their calender for the events coming up. They have an open project night this week on Thursday where you can see all of the neat projects people are working on.
-Colin.
It's an amazing collective of very smart innovative people creating some very neat things. Under construction was a RepRap (www.reprap.org) and recently added was a laser cutter. In the works are a mill, some ham radio setups and a photo lab. I never thought I would see all of these together in one place all for use.
There is an energy and drive from this place that makes you want to just keep asking questions and picking brains, which is really the whole idea of the space. Show up with your project, use the tools and resources at hand and get input from everyone to let some fantastic ideas make their way off the drawing board and into reality. It is a very communal environment where everyone is there to help everyone else.
There were people working out ideas for motor controllers for motorcycles, people working on robotics and people just bouncing around ideas for neat little projects. One gentleman (the name escapes me now, so many new names and faces) was working on a replacement license plate frame for his car. He was using scrap wood left over from the renovations of the building along side some hand tools and the laser cutter for some intricate designs to create a one off personalized plate frame.
Neat.
I suggest visiting their site, http://www.thinkhaus.org and check out their calender for the events coming up. They have an open project night this week on Thursday where you can see all of the neat projects people are working on.
-Colin.
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