Pumping Station: One

The second Wednesday of the month is coming up which means that our monthly Automation Night (was DIY CNC night)  is upon us again!

Are you interested in at-home automated manufacturing? Do you like the idea of owning your own 3D printer, laser cutter, automated mill, router table, or other astounding automatons? Then this is the night for you!

Automation Night is an ever-growing group of enthusiastic amateurs and professionals in the field of do it yourself automated manufacturing (ie 3D printers, CNC mills, laser cutters, cake frosters, etc) hardware and software.

Please come if you’re interested in learning more, already have an automated tool at home, want to show off your latest build, or just want to meet locals who are into this exciting technology!

• Who: Open to the public
• Where: Pumping Station: One, 3354 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL
• When: Wednesday, April 11th, 7pm
• Cost: Free ($5 suggested donation for non-members to help us pay the rent)

Planned Schedule:

• 7-7:10: people show up
• 7:10-7:25: introductions round-robin
• 7:25-’till everyone leaves: schmoozing, machine assembly and show off, discussion of tools and techniques

Image: 120 Cell by Thingiverse user George Hart

Arduino 101: A hands-on workshop presented at Flourish 2012 by Pumping Station: One (pumpingstationone.org) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Room 430 Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted, 1:00pm

Instructor: Ed Bennett

The purpose of the Flourish Conference is to promote the use and adoption of Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) by demonstrating the practical applications of FLOSS in the business and academic world.

The workshop had around 40 attendees. It introduced the Arduino platform starting from the basics of software, hardware, and microcontrollers. Since there were a lot of programmers at the conference, we went a little further into the “behind the scenes” aspect of the Arduino environment than is usual with basic introductions.

Working with circuits and breadboards isn’t hard, but you have to train your eye to see the physical sense of the thing. Starting afresh, it’s very easy to make mistakes. If it weren’t for the volunteers from PS:One who patrolled the room watching for people needing help, the workshop would not have been possible.  Patrick, Anna, Avner, Steve, and Eric stayed very busy for the whole two hours.

More images and the workshop outline are at KineticsAndElectronics.com.

Images by Anna Yu.

You may have heard that we had issues with our laser cutter. This was a cover story. The laser cutter has been down for upgrades. We can now cut 1/4″ steel. Welcome to the future, where there are no limits.

April is going to be a good month, fools!

Do you like beers and peers and find that your Sundays need more structure, such as drinking and doing science? If so, this event is for you.

Beer tasting: bring a few bottles of something you like that you think others may not know. We will do a potluck beer tasting. Tiny beer steins (for tiny beers) will be provided but bring your own if you prefer. Homebrews are highly esteemed, and you will get some beer peer review from your peers in beer!

After (and during) the tasting, we’ll discuss the science of beer brewing and other scientific questions and pursuits. Peer review of projects will happen if people have something to show; 300 seconds of non-fame with frequent interruptions.

You are of course welcome to come even if you do not consume beer or other alcoholic beverages! You must be 21 to drink at beer church.

6 days ago, we had Beer Church. It’ll definitely happen again! We read up on some science, learned some new beers, and then got right back into our projects! I hacked for 12 hours. I built a time machine, sort of.

It will send video messages to the future! Yes, yes. This it in Development and Drinking(tm) mode:

Just a few days ago, one of our members donated me a Dell Mini 9 to turn into the computer backing the Actual TARDIS project. I’ve since… altered it. By the time I’m done, you won’t think it’s a laptop.

Read the rest of this entry →

Session 3 of the Circuits and Arduino class will meet Sun. 3/18. from 12:30-2:30pm. Session 3 will be Motors and Actuators part 1: Servos.

In session 2, we read analog sensor input into the Arduino, and had the Arduino print the data to a character display.  In session 3, we will read sensors with an Arduino, and then interpret the data to control the position of a servomotor. If you want to build an Arduino-controlled entity that has physical motion, this is a very good place to start.

The only new hardware component introduced this week will be the servo. I’ll have a small quantity of servos available for sale on Sunday for $12 ea. For class you will need only one servo, however there is the option to use more than that for your own experiments.

Who: everyone (members and non-members are welcome), seating is limited to 10 people. Reservations are preferred but not required.
Cost: $12 for a servo, unless you bring your own
When: 3/18/2012 12:30-2:30pm  (Please note the time change.)
Reservations: email ed at kineticsandelectronics dot com
Where: Pumping Station: One 3354 N Elston Ave Chicago, IL 60647

Last night was a busy night at the space.  Toba was working on a project that will be the subject of a later post.  Ryan and Steve were working on repairing our laser cutter.  And Loclhst, James and I did a little bit of making.  (An ironic activity at a maker space.)

There is something that’s just.. right about someone soldering at PS:1 while drinking cheap American beer and soldering some artsy-fartsy LED toy.

James completed two levels of his cube.  Localhst did two of his own two.  He also built a 12 volt power supply to drive a solder fume extraction fan.

One of the LED cubes did reach a functional level of completion.  If you’d like to see more of the process, and a little more commentary, stop on by my blog: http://realtinker.blogspot.com/2012/03/cubists-interpretation-of-blinky-led.html

And here’s what the end result looked like:

Obviously it’s not finished yet.  Steve gave me a laser cut project box to put my cube in.  Hopefully James and Loclhst will finish their cubes soon too.

And as always, come on by, there’s usually something interesting going on!

Friday Evening, March 16 at 6:30

Dwayne Forsythe and friends from 2DKits are coming to Pumping Station: One to teach us how to solder by making Blinkies.

photo by 2DKits.com

This is where you get to build one of those LED flashing things.

You start with the kit, use the tools we have in the room. When you are
done, you will have a working blinkie. We have blinkie Techs to help you
debug any problems.

We do allow and encourage children to build their parent’s blinkie,
but the parent has to stick around and learn about the process.

• When: Friday March 16  6:30 to 9:00
• Where: Pumping Station: One
  3354 N. Elston, Chicago
• Who: Open to the public
• Cost: $5 suggested donation for non-members plus cost of kits.

Kits will be provided by 2Dkits. They cost between $7 and $21.

Do you like beers and peers and find that your sundays need more structure, such as drinking and doing science? If so, this event is for you.

Beer Tasting (Sciencerament)

Bring a few bottles of something you like that you think others may not know. We will do a potluck beer tasting. Shot glasses (for tiny beers) will be provided but bring your own if you prefer.
By accepting beers into your hearts and bloodstreams you will accept the body (and nose) of bioscience as your temporary saviour from low blood alcohol and slight social awkwardness. Homebrews are highly esteemed, and you will get some beer peer review from your peers in beer!

Sermon

Once the sciencerament has been administered, we will read the sermon (the frontpage of /r/askscience) and if anything moves us, we will choose it for a short investigative google scholar-ing (supplications).
The event will then turn to peer review. This can be anything from an airing of grievances (if an aluminum pole is available) to feedback and constructive criticism on one another’s projects and ideas. No religious arguments (such as vim vs emacs) will be considered kosher.

Come on Down!

If the event is successful it will become semibiweekly. Needless to say, all 21-and-older people are welcome, at no charge (although participation in the tasting is predicated on your bringing some beer to share). This is a public event.

We have a new tool in the space, a small sheet metal brake. It was PS:One designed, built, and tested.

It has a 12″ width capacity, and we’re still up in the air as to what it’s vertical capacity is. So far we’ve bent some 16ga steel, and 20ga aluminum. It does the job beautifully.

We have a wiki page for it already: Sheet Metal Brake – 12 inch  So come on in, and get bending!

It’s in the shop.  Steve or Nerobro will be happy to show you how to use it.