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Dublin Hacks: Disaster-Smart Cities

Come hack for urban disaster preparedness!

Geeks Without Bounds is hosting Dublin Hacks in the TOG hacker space as a way for technologists and coders to contribute to the wellbeing of their city during a disaster scenario – and help response efforts go as smoothly as possible. Urban disaster preparedness seeks to create technologies that help empower people in the face of uncertain circumstances to be the architects of their own rescue.

So what are we doing?

Curated challenges for urban disaster preparedness will be presented by local humanitarian and disaster groups, and participants will form teams around those challenges. You are also heartily encouraged to pitch your own related idea at the event and submit your project at the final judging. Teams will have all day Saturday to work on their projects before final submissions are due at 18:30.

Safe Space.

Coders of all genders and presentations are welcome, and we provide a safe space to learn, make mistakes, and try again. We encourage techies of all skill sets and experience levels to attend, from the brand new coder to the veteran C+er. We set the expectation of mutual respect for everyone at the event, and work to make sure participants feel welcome.

Schedule:

Friday, Nov. 1st

  • 19:00 – 19:30: Doors open – snacks and beer
  • 19:30 – 20:30: Overview, intros, talks, and challenges
  • 20:30 – 21:30: Team Formation
Saturday, Nov. 2nd
  • 9:00 – 9:30: Doors open – breakfast and caffeine
  • 9:30 – 13:00: Hacking!
  • 13:00 – 13:30: Lunch
  • 13:30 – 17:30: Hacking!
  • 17:30 – 18:30: Presentations
  • 18:30 – 19:00: Judging
  • 19:00 – 19:30: Prizes and closing summary

Registration at https://dublinhacks-smartcities.eventbrite.com/

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3D Printer Reprep Code Improvement

220px-RepRap_'Mendel' SmartController

On Saturday 5th of October from 2pm-6pm TOG is holding a 3D Printer Arduino code improvement day.

3D printers are all the rage at the moment. However they are not without their faults and some of the budget, hobbiest models could do with an improvement or two.

The aim of the afternoon will be to improve the Reprap code to add extra features.
The stand alone reprap uses an Arduino based stand controller to print without needing a computer connected.

A second project would be to add bluetooth wireless operation.

The controller being used is:
http://reprap.org/wiki/RUMBA

The display is:

http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRapDiscount_Smart_Controller

and the code is:
https://github.com/ErikZalm/Marlin/tags

http://reprap.org/

Whoever works on the project will be given access to a working Reprap with all the hardware for testing the setup. There may be a budget for the time involved if working on the code after the first day. The main plan for the day is to specify what changes need to be made.

No need to book, just show up. Anyone with an interest in 3D printing is welcome. While the event is free we will be asking for donations to cover the hosting costs.

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Workshop: Intro to LilyPad

Protosnap LilyPad Arduino Board
Protosnap LilyPad Arduino Board

E-textiles, electro-craft, wearable electronics; it’s about taking technology and transforming it around your body, creating symbiosis. Helping technology meld seemlessly into the very fabric of our lives.

Whether you’re looking to augment the human condition or you’re more interested in the romantic ethereal glow of twinkly lights, you have to start somewhere.

LilyPad is a microcontroller system, a wearable version of the Arduino microcontroller (and equally as Open Source), with many accessory boards of sensors and actuators. It is designed to facilitate the development of wearables and e-textiles.

Using it is equal parts hardware, software, and craft. All the information you need to get started with it is available online. But sometimes you’d like a kick in the right direction, so we’re holding a series of LilyPad workshops, every two weeks, to do just that. You can sign up for just one, or all of the workshops. Whatever interests you.

Content;
The first workshop is for complete beginners; an introduction to the LilyPad system, from what the different parts of the board do, to some basic coding, getting data in, and turning on/off some lights. The only thing you’ll need to bring with you is a laptop with USB port, everything else is provided. (If you want to bring your own LilyPad components that’s great, just let us know when you’re booking and we’ll make sure you have everything you’ll need.)

Important: please bring your own laptop with USB port. Closer to the event you will receive instructions on how to install the programming environment.

Optional materials; Any LilyPad board (preferably the Protosnap), with light sensor, switches, and LEDs.
If you want to play with the LilyPad before buying, Protosnap boards can be provided for the duration of the workshop, but you’ll probably have to work in groups of at least two people.

When: Thursday, October 10th. From 7pm until 10pm.

Where: TOG.

Cost: €10 for non-members, €5 for members. (All proceeds go to support TOG.)

Please register through the contact form below the cut.

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Playing with Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift is a Virtual Reality headset which enables the wearer to get full stereoscopic vision in a 3D environment along with real time head tracking. The manufacturer describes it as “a next-generation virtual reality headset designed for immersive gaming.”

Last night before the biweekly Lock Picking meet-up, I (Sean Nicholls) brought in my newly acquired Oculus Rift developer edition to Tog and offered anyone who wanted an opportunity to play with it.

I should also say that an invite was sent out on the Tog Mailing list, which if you’re not already subscribed to, you should be! or else who knows what kind of cool stuff you might be missing out on!

Enough of me blathering on, here’s some photos of it in-action:

photo 3

photo 1

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RTÉ Documentary on Tog Lock Pickers

IMG_0094
Ronan Kelly of RTÉ’s Curious Ear featured the Lock Picking group on RTÉ Radio 1:

Every other Tuesday, the group meets to pick locks. They have a table full of, mostly, padlocks and they use their picking tools to try to open those padlocks.Some of the padlocks are simple three pin ones, while others are the more challenging five-pin ones with extra ‘security’ pins.

Some of the locks have names and initials on them. These are locks that were put on the Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin by couples eager to display their lasting love.

You can listen to the full 12 minute feature on RTÉ’s website.

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Bubble Bird House at the Picnic

ep_logo_birthday

We are delighted to be invited to this year’s Electric Picnic, taking place this weekend. The new and improved Bubble Bird House will be spreading bubbles all over the Midfield area.

Since the Dublin Mini Maker Faire, we have replaced the fans of the bird house with new more powerful ones. This should help the bubbles blow even further around the site. It turns out that bubble mixture and motors don’t mix . We had to replace all the motors due to corrosion. But never mind all that, with all the replacement parts now in place version 2.6 is better than ever.

To find us, look for the Science Gallery tent ( our hosts)  in the Mindfield area. Map Here