OHMC2020
The Open Hardware MiniConf (OHMC) is a 1-day event that runs as a specialist stream within the linux.conf.au conference.
Participants learn hardware skills by assembling their own electronic project which includes soldering and understanding how circuits work, as well as hearing interesting talks about various projects and techniques related to the morning project and to open hardware in general. It provides an intro to the emerging "Maker" culture.
OHMC is mostly run by Andy Gelme and Jon Oxer, with able assistance by their team of robots. 2020 also has the following human assistants: human, human, human.
Contents
Before the day
Registration and cost
To attend you must register for the main conference, which provides the venue. The Open Hardware Miniconf is part of LCA as a specialist stream for conference attendees: it's not a stand-alone event. See linux.conf.au for more information.
LCA 2020 will be held at Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
We typically also charge an additional amount for participants undertaking the assembly project to cover the cost of the materials. This is usually around $60 to $100. There is an extra registration form that needs to be completed to enrol for the hardware build. Space is limited so get in fast!
If you just want to come along and watch or attend the talks, you don't need to do anything beyond registering for LCA.
Where is it?
Tuesday January 14, Room 8.
What to bring?
Yourself!
Want to present?
Call for Papers! We have X 30 minute slots. Submit your talk idea via email/carrier pigeon/exploding robot to our papers committee by date X and we'll get back to you by date Y. Talks we're interested in cover these kinds of topics. Don't submit this other kind of topic.
Lightning talks! Got something to share in 5 minutes or less about your experiences with Open Hardware? Great! We have X lightning talk slots on the day and we'd love to hear from people who want to share their Maker knowledge. New to open hardware and want to tell us your achievements? An old hand and want to tell us your gritty warfront stories of failures? Please Andy and Jon with your lightning talk proposal.
On the day
The miniconf is split into morning and afternoon sessions.
Morning: build your own XYZ
In the morning, the hands-on assembly session lets participants assemble a special hardware project developed for the miniconf. For 2020, the project will be a ... Building it lets you the assemble the hardware and then experiment with the software.
One of the drivers of the popularity of the Open Hardware community is easy access to cheap devices such as Arduino, which is a microcontroller development board originally intended for classroom use but now a popular building block in all sorts of weird and wonderful hobbyist and professional projects.
Interest in Open Hardware is high among FOSS enthusiasts but there is also a barrier to entry with the perceived difficulty and dangers of dealing with hot soldering irons, unknown components and unfamiliar naming schemes. We use the assembly project as a stepping stone to help ease software developers into dealing with Open Hardware. Plenty of instructors will be on hand to assist with soldering and demystifying any questions around hardware assembly.
NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! That is, after all, what this session is all about!
Afternoon: talks and further discussions
The second part of the day will be presentations about Open Hardware topics, including information on software to run on the hardware project built earlier in the day.
Interested in giving a lightning talk on the day? Please email Andy and Jon if you'd like to present!
Schedule for the day
| 10:40 - 12:20 | Assembly Workshop (registration required to participate, spectators also welcome) |
| 12:20 - 1:30 | Lunch |
| 1:30 - 1:55 | topic: presenter |
| 1:55 - 2:20 | topic: presenter |
| 2:20 - 2:45 | topic: presenter |
| 2:45 - 3:10 | topic: presenter |
| 3:10 - 3:50 | Afternoon Tea |
| 3:50 - 4:15 | topic: presenter |
| 4:15 - 4:40 | topic: presenter |
| 4:40 - 5:30 | Lighting Talks (5 minute blocks) |
Assembly Project
Each year we help attendees build a project specially developed for the Open Hardware Miniconf.
The project for 2020 is Super Sparkle Magic Unicorn Umbrella, a self-motivated icecream controlled by a Raspberry Pi using a machine learning system.
Some things are pre-built (x and y) and we'll be attaching these other bits (a, b, c) using soldering, wiring, magic, spit, duct tape and luck.
The hardware kit includes:
- RC car chassis
- Raspberry Pi model B+
- Raspberry Pi Camera
- Custom chassis parts for mounting
- Voltage regulator, PWM output controller, and other required parts
We'll then hook it up via a thingo to a computer to program the other thing using stuff. BYO computer. It will need to be pre-loaded with some stuff. OHMC2020 Software instructions.
