Repurposing Technology, Making Art

Need some inspiration before our Intro to Arduino class starts this Wednesday? Check out the Arduino Playground, a “publicly-editable wiki about Arduino.” It’s packed with tips and tutorials, a list of Arduino-related books, project ideas, and my favorite feature: links to people all over the world who are playing with Arduinos. Browse this site until you’re hooked — then sign up for Intro to Arduino, starting this Wednesday!

** We still have some open spots for this class, so we will welcome drop-ins for $30 per session!

Curious what you’ll be building during this month’s Intro to Arduino class? Your instructor Brigid demonstrates the circuit you’ll learn to wire up to your microcontroller — an array of 6 LEDs, controlled by a potentiometer, with a buzzer that you can program to play any little ditty you like!

In case you need some more convincing… check out this car.

The class will be held on Wednesdays 11/28, 12/5, and 12/12 from 6:30 to 8:30pm at Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street.

Tickets are $90 for all three sessions!

That’s right! Bring your own project to solder tomorrow night and you’ll get $20 off the $30 ticket price. Yow!! Email contact@thehacktory.org to get your discounted ticket!

At The Hacktory’s soldering class this Wednesday, November 14, you won’t just be learning a valuable skill that can save you time and money when your old electronics need a connection re-soldered. You’ll also be building your own neat-o gadget to take home, all materials included in the $30 price tag! We’ll have three projects to choose from, all from Lady Ada.

The first option is a super handy portable USB charger housed in an Altoids tin. The AdaFruit flickr group has tons of photos of completed projects — here’s an example of the MintyBoost.

MintyBoost project by flickr user ifrpilot999

Option #2 is a programmable persistence of vision kit. Here’s jpstanley’s Halloween-themed MiniPOV:

MiniPOV project by flickr user jpstanley

And your last option is the Drawdio — that’s Draw + Audio — a musical pencil!

Here’s Lady Ada herself with a quick  demo:

And here’s a less finished version that requires an extra finger to complete the circuit — but the music is so good!

To make one of these projects on your own, join us this Wednesday from 6pm – 9pm at Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street.