MindKits News and Blog

Over the last week a couple of tech articles stood out and gave me that come under the banner of 'Awesomology'.
One is RFID - the researchers visualised the surrounding radio waves using an RFID card and an LED. Pretty cool really.

You can grab some RFID kit from MindKits here

Immaterials: the ghost in the field from timo on Vimeo.

The next one comes from MIT where they have built an autonomous indoor craft that can avoid obstacles, map out a room and fly around. Pretty damn cool seeing the results of its laser scanner in real time appearing on the computer screen.

Friday the 9th of October saw a great turnout for the  Arduino Users Group meet-up for Auckland and below are a few pics so you too can share vicariously in our random banter and a few cold lagers too.

We had a good turn out for what could arguably be called the first 'proper' AUG meet up and there was certainly no shortage of ideas being thrown around, ideas shared or a few chuckles at the 'Arduino Beer Glass' which measures the temperature of the beer and can alert the drinker to any potential temperature problems by transmitting its data back to base to be graphed and an alert threshold set for 'Defcon One' aka 'Warm Beer'.

For the next meeting we're twisting Vik Ollivers rubber arm to get him to bring the RepRap along and show us how it works. If you've not heard of the RepRap yet its a DIY Arduino powered 3D printer which can even print copies of the majority of parts for itself.

Maori TV:
We'll also have the folks from Maori TV along to do some filming and to check out what all this fuss about Arduino is about. They promise not to be invasive or film anyone who doesn't want their mug to be shown on TV while trying to enjoy a cold beer.
I would be absolutely stoked to hear from some of you who have Arduino based projects that you could bring along on the day though as it would be awesome to be able to show them just what these tinkers get up to. Don't be shy if it's not in the best condition; it's the tinkering that they're interested in not the look of the project. Contact me if you'd like to bring something along.

Pictures:
Anyway, that's enough from me. Check out the pics below and we hope to see you for the next Arduino Users Group in Auckland which meets on the second Thursday of every month at 6pm at the Playhouse Pub by Aotea Square. Novembers meeting will be on the 12th.



People came and went but in general we had a great turn out. Hope to see you join us next time. No one really knew each other at the start but by the end we had a chance to hear about some awesome projects and have fun doing it.







  Borisinvestigating the use of Arduino for tracking people playing sports in real time.



Sebastian Hamilton came along and we were able to check out the [currently] finished version of his Arduino based project which tracks a user and then projects a sensory experience around them and on them using vibration and light. It has to be seen to be believed. Check out the YouTube video here.



The Arduino Beer Mug which is keeping me safe from drinking a warm beer. Phew!

Hello all you busy tinkerers out there!

Next Meetup:
October 8th at 6PM

Note: Sorry for any confusion over the last meetups - we had some hiccups - and we were either present but weren't spotted or the days had changed. We're on track now and looking forward to seeing you all.

With the growth of Arduino over the last year we've decided to start the Arduino Users Group in Auckland and we'd love it if you came along to say hello and tell us about your projects over a beer.

Tim Carr (that's me, the MindKits Chief Ninja) and Kim Newall will be hosting and we are looking forward to seeing many of you at the Arduino Users group which started again on Thursday 3rd of September and runs on the second Thursday of the month from there.

We've got some fun plans to bring you a mix of community, entertainment and education so we'd love to see you come along and say hello over a beer and a bit of a chat. It's all rather relaxed so just turn up, say hello and grab a seat.

http://www.mindkits.co.nz/Arduino_Users_Group_Auckland.html

The Arduino Users Group will include:

Guest speakers - delivering information on current areas of interest or requested info. An opportunity to ask experts for advice and help with problems A show and tell so you can share what you've been working on with others A chance to meet people interested in the same stuff as you A fun way to quench your thirst over a beer Bit or byte swap - exchange your goodies for others stuff

Details:

Where:
Playhouse Bar (next to Aotea Square at the side of the IMax building) - We'll have a sign on the table so you know it's us.

When:
6pm.  Second Thursday of the month

Who:
Anyone who is interested in learning about Arduino, is working with it or wants to meet others who are interested in it.

Please feel free to bring along anyone you think would enjoy it too.

Astime goes on we'll get some sponsorship sorted and perhaps some prizes too. Also there will be a 'parts swap' so you can trade bits and bobs.

If you'd like to know more, have questions you can contact me (Tim at Mindkits.co.nz or @Mindkits on Twitter)

We'reboth looking forward to having you at our meet ups and would love it if you could help us spread the word to others who may be interested via Twitter, Facebook or even the old email (hell, we'd be fine with IP over Carrier Pigeon if it works for you)