Intro to Arduino Workshop - it's on!

1

So, now that I’m a bit more organised I’ve sorted out the details for the into-to-Arduino workshop.

It will be held on the 26th Feb (7-10pm) and 28th Feb (10am-1pm). I’ve decided on 2 (repeated) sessions to allow more people to attend the workshop, as the large garage can only hold 12 or so people.

The cost will be $70 and will include all hardware, except a laptop (required). $5 of this will go towards MHV as a donation for using the space.

The hardware we’ll be using is a Sidekick Basic kit (http://www.australianrobotics.com.au/products/sidekick-basic-kit-for-arduino) plus an Arduino (not decided on the exact model yet).

This workshop is aimed at people with no prior experience with programming or electronics. It will go through the basics of programming the Arduino and using a few interesting hardware parts (temperature sensors, buzzers, LED lights, buttons and light sensors).

It should be a fun workshop :smile:

I’m also looking for a few assistants to help out on the day - message me if you’re able to help.

To register for the workshop, complete this form on Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LcGlvK08E6r5hx_0oWFzyDHHL8b8yyEd4ZtAzLUtDa8/viewform

2 Likes
2

And for those who want to see what sort of cool projects can be made with an Arduino: http://blog.arduino.cc/

3

Excellent, Stephen. I have scheduled these workshops on Meetup

I should be available both days to help but will speak with you before then anyway.

1 Like
4

The Freetronics Leostick is an awesome starter Arduino, just plugs straight into a computer for programming. It has two RGB LEDs and a piezo buzzer on-board. It is also really small, so it might even pack into the starter kit you have suggested here.

5

Just a reminder that there’s still a few spots left for the workshop!

6

An update to the Arduino IDE, version 1.6.0, has just been released with what sounds like some good improvements: https://makezine.com/2015/02/10/arduino-ide-1-6-released/

1 Like
7

And all the sports at the workshop are filled :slight_smile:

For all those that are still interested, I might do another set of workshops later in the year.

1 Like
8

So all the plates are cut…

However unfortunately I’ve totally run out of time, off for an overseas trip on Friday and way too much to do. Any chance someone(s) can help out assembling them for the course? Probably a hour or so relatively mindless work pealing the acrylic protective layer and putting the clips in. I can drop it all in the space tomorrow night.

Also haven’t had the chance to source the screws or nylon washers… Sorry…

9

I’ll be at MHV over the weekend, so I’ll do it then :smile:

10

This is in tonight, right? Still need help assembling?

It is weird: I get email updates from the forum for new posts but not for activity on posts I have replied to :frowning:

11

Yep, it’s definitely on tonight (and tomorrow morning).
I’ve been busy moving house, which is why I’ve been a little quiet of late.

    -Stephen

Sent by Outlook for Android

12

By “tomorrow” you mean “Saturday”, yes?

13

Yes, Saturday :slight_smile:

    -Stephen

Sent by Outlook for Android

14

http://www.pighixxx.com/test/pinoutspg/boards/page/2/#prettyPhoto

Some pinout diagrams to help folks remember where to plug things in.

15

Some feedback from the middle of the course:

My preference would deb to get the attendees into running code as quickly as possible: show them the blink or “hello world” code, tell them to type it in, work through the debugging with the blinking LED as the reward/accomplishment. We had something like 15–20 minutes of talking to slides. We had one helper for every two attendees, so there was plenty of scope for interaction to sort out problems :smile:

Make sure you write the values of resistors on the slides, since colours are hard to read on projected images in lit rooms. Ideally, have the breadboard and schematic views available, and perhaps have the circuits and code available in a PDF for attendees before the course.

Your slides had Arduino on the left, breadboard on the right, while the MHV holders had the Arduino on the right.

For the code, consider using screenshots of the Arduino interface. This way the people writing the code can use syntax colouring as a debugging aid.

For the noise maker, I would introduce the piezo buzzer first, write the code to control it, then introduce the push button and then the potentiometer. Simply to introduce the attendees to the idea of incremental development (get one thing working, then get the next thing working, so there’s less to go wrong). Amd lots of print debugging!

The laser-cut boards are pretty nifty!

Feedback about organisation:

Tonight you had one attendee turn up who signed up in Meetup but didn’t register in Google Docs. Thankfully you had spare kit, so you were able to accommodate the surprise guest :smile:

While the link to register via Google Docs is present, there is no mention of required equipment (i.e.: laptop).

Having RSVP on Meetup and a Google Docs form for registration is possibly a little confusing (why do I need to fill out the Google Docs page when I’ve already RSVPed on Meetup?). I would leave it to the activity organiser to decide to use Meetup (it looks like it will help with event “discoverability”) versus Google Docs (we all love spreadsheets, right?).

Thank you for organising the course, and here’s to a successful event on Saturday!

1 Like
16

Hi all,
last night I mentioned some parts suppliers, here are their links:
Arduino Kit Wiki (as supplied in workshop) - http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/Sidekick_Basic_Kit_for_Arduino_V2
Suppliers:
http://www.australianrobotics.com.au
http://iteadstudio.com
http://www.seeedstudio.com
https://www.sparkfun.com

Regards,
SteveD

17

Some excellent tutorial material here:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/

18

And here’s the example code and presentation from the workshop:

Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bALmKRG_eSYTEyNjJuazN2cEk/view?usp=sharing
Example Code: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bALmKRG_eSYTNhSzdWMXB2eUU/view?usp=sharing

19

Some useful Arduino libraries: http://rweather.github.io/arduinolibs/index.html

Includes:

  • LED blinking library that doesn’t use delay() (which means you can use that time for something else)
  • DS1307 and DS3232 I2C Real Time Clock support (including alarms support for the DS3232)

I’m also starting a GitHub project for command-line Arduino, based on various projects around the place: https://github.com/AlexSatrapa/Arduino

My current project is to get DS3234 support for the “Arduinolibs” RTC library. The DS3234 is very similar to the DS3232 except that it uses SPI rather than I2C to communicate. The DS3234-into-RTC thing is a side tour from my pneumatic water level sensor project.

20

Great thread, and looks like it was a succesful workshop.

Is there any interest in holding another one in the second half of 2015?

2 Likes