Electronic “Build-It” Workshop

line follower*** STOP PRESS …. Our workshop is full for this Saturday. We may run another soon. Get in touch with us on the “contact” link above if you are interested in taking part in our next one ***

We’re holding an electronic “Build-It” workshop in TOG on Saturday 14th May at 14:00. Many visitors to TOG tell us that they would like to get started with electronics, soldering or assembly, but they are unsure how to do so. This workshop will help. The workshop will run for approximately 3 hours. You will get to build (and keep) an electronic kit. The kit that we have chosen is a line-follower robot car. It will follow a black line or any line where there is reasonable contrast. You can see a video of the kit in action here.

The kit comes as a complete set of mechanical and electronic parts including a bare circuit board. You get to do all the electronic assembly and soldering as well as the mechanical assembly. If you’ve never built an electronics kit or soldered before, then this workshop is ideal for you. We’ll show you everything that you need to know. No previous experience at electronics, soldering or kit assembly is needed. We’ll explain the circuit and how it works too. All tools and equipment are provided. The workshop will take about 3 hours from 14:00 – 17:00.

E-Bike Battery Surgery

battery deadOne of our long term visitors is an e-biker. One of his batteries was on the blink. There was no output on the normal output connectors, but there appeared to be an output via the charge port. We suspected that the balance circuit was shot, but when we opened the battery case, it looked like one of the cells was physically damaged. Lots of pics here.

We ordered a replacement cell. When we removed the bad cell, we noticed some others damaged. It looks like we need 4 replacement cells in all. We plan to cannibalise these from an old spare battery. We tested the remaining cells and they seem able to take a charge and deliver reasonable current. A 2 Ohm power resistor came in handy. Check back with us to see how the rest of the repair went.

OSM MapJam Saturday 23rd of April

OpenStreetMap (OSM) Ireland members will meet Saturday 23rd of April in Dublin and do OSM mappy stuff on laptops in TOG. Like an indoor mapping party / hack day / social meet up / barcamp.

What is OpenStreetMap?
OpenStreetMap is a world wide, open content map. It’s often referred to as the Wikipedia of maps in reference to the fact that it is open to be edited by anyone.

If you’d like to learn more about OpenStreetMap, come along! Want to start mapping your local area, and want help? Come along! Want to find out how to use the low level OpenStreetMap data? Come along! This event is open to all.
If you’re already an OSM mapper and would like come, but not sure what to do, don’t worry we have loads of townlands to map and plenty of people who will give you a hand learning the details.

In addition there will also be a meeting of the Irish Open Source Geospatial Foundation, their first in person meeting. OSGeo was created to support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use.
Where and When?
Tog Dublin Hackerspace
Saturday 23rd of April 2-5pm
Open Street Map Ireland Website

Worldwide editable map

OSM Ireland email list

Open Source Geospatial Foundation

OS Geo Ireland email list

CAD and Electronics is back

cad1Our regular joint CAD and Electronics evening is kicking off again next Monday 18th January at 19:00. We’ve had a break while we moved to our new space at 22 Blackpitts. Now we’re ready to go again ☺. Come in and catch up with us. We’ll give you a tour of our fantastic new space. This evening is open to anyone  with an interest in CAD or Electronics. Everyone from absolute beginner to experienced is welcome. Look forward to seeing all of our old friends and new visitors.