First off, if you're looking for the results of last week's caption contest, they will be posted tomorrow. Lots of good captions to sort through! Also, apparently the weather didn't get the memo that it is spring, and we received a healthy coating of ice and snow overnight. We are still open, but it is taking people a little longer than usual to get in, so please bear with us as we will be a bit short-staffed early this morning.
Today, we just wanted to post a quick reminder about an upcoming class that is a “must take” for beginners and advanced electronics enthusiasts who are looking to start exploring the world of Arduino. The class is Intro to Arduino with the ProtoSnap Mini and it will take place on May 1st, from 6 p.m. to approximately 10 p.m. at SparkFun headquarters in Boulder.
In this class, our trained instructors will guide you as you go from blinking an LED to making an interactive musical instrument. This class is ideal for anyone who has never played around with Arduino before and those with some basic Arduino skills but who want to learn a bit more. We will learn about analog and digital, input and output, basic programming concepts, practice very basic Serial communication, and more. At the end of the class, you’ll go home with your own ProtoSnap Pro Mini and the knowledge to use it in your own projects!
Hope you can join us - sign up here today!
I highly recommend this course for anyone and everyone with even a passing interest in physical computing. (You know, like killer robots!) The class consisted of people with varying degrees of skill and knowledge, and the instructors (Dave, Theo, and Tim) were great about not just teaching the course curriculum, but then helping people with whatever they were working on above and beyond what the class was offering.
Second! I've taken several SF classes, and they are all excellent. Plus, you get some cool hardware to take home!
Hi, I just registered for this class. I have experience with small electronics, like fixing pinball machines, but have no fundamental knowledge of microchips, integrated circuits and programming. In fact I am such a novice, that one very simple task I want to accomplish is the entire purpose of my taking this class. I have a project that is a Lego carnival ride that is motorized. It is going to be on display at the museum for 3 months starting in June, and I would love to add a feature that allows one to press a button to run the motor for about ten seconds to view the carnival ride in action. It will be under plexi-glass on a display stand, and the museum has offered to make the necessary adjustments to add a button to the display. I am using the Lego battery box and motor, so all I need to do is interrupt that circuit, and then make it alive again when the button is pressed. It sounds so simple, and I hope I learn enough to accomplish this. But I am wondering, is it impolite, or even entirely inappropriate to ask questions about accomplishing this at the class? I understand if so.
Yes, we can cover this in the class, it's right in line with the material. Also, the 555 suggestion is an option. Bring your project, we love this stuff.
Google "555 timer" there are plenty of easy tutorials that can help you acheive your goal. Good luck.
It is great you guys do these classes! As well as the SP national tour. However, have you thought about doing an online approach - distance learning? There would of course be a cost associated with it. But then, people from all over the country could partake in the learning much easier. I would attend a class or two for the price you offer, however I live in MN. I'd easily pay $50-$100 to have access to the live recording and course content - lecture/presentations/how to's/demonstrations. Heck I would imagine a lot of people would pay the $50 registration if they recieved access to the recorded class session. I know from experience it can be difficult to troubleshoot problems people are having from afar, but I think this could be overcome easily enough. A kickstarter campaign could be done to generate the necessary start up funds. Maybe there is some obvious things I am missing that severly inhibit something like this from happening...? If so, let me know...Otherwise, what does everyone else think?
Offering video recaps of our classes is something we have been working on for a while now, and I am happy to say we are getting very close to making this a reality. The first of it's kind, an introduction to the Pico board and Scratch programming, is set to go live any day now.
On that note Greggor, may I suggest the following: Streaming the class live, with an optional chat room? It may not be ideal for some as there is no hands on experience, but with the added option of buying the class kit beforehand (Or maybe it's included in class registration? Idk SF's model on that one), and watching it live, that may provide some value add.