oshug

oshug@oshug.org

3 participants
438 discussions

OSHUG #18 — Energy-efficient Computing, Thursday 26th April.
by Andrew Back 05 Apr '12

05 Apr '12

Hello, Just to let folks know that registration is now open for this month's meeting, which will also be our second anniversary! And with thanks to SK Pang for kindly sponsoring OSHUG this month. Cheers, Andrew -- OSHUG #18 — Energy-efficient Computing (Open Compute, BeagleBoard, Event-driven XCore) On the 26th April 2012, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG (51.529049, -0.116436) // Sponsored by SK Pang Electronics: http://www.skpang.co.uk // - Registration: http://oshug.org/event/18 At the eighteenth OSHUG meeting we will hear how open source collaboration is being used to transform data centre design, and how open source hardware and software have been used to enable low cost ARM development. It will also be the OSHUG 2nd anniversary, and two years on we are delighted to welcome back XMOS, who will be giving us an introduction to event-driven programming with XCore. — The Open Compute Project Facebook uses a lot of servers, and those servers use a lot of energy. To minimise the costs associated with those servers and data center facilities, Facebook engineers came up with a fresh design. To build a community around that design it has been open sourced via the Open Compute Project (OCP). OCP is now involved in taking the requirements of many large data center users, and turning them into designs for servers, the racks that hold them, the facilities that power and cool them, and the management interfaces that control them. This presentation will give an overview of what Facebook have built, and how OCP plans to transform data centers elsewhere. Chris Swan has been an electronics hobbyist and software hacker since primary school. These days he's an IT guy at a large bank, focussed on security and innovation - including mobile, consumerisation and cloud computing. Alongside his day job Chris chairs the infrastructure working group at the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), which is partnered with the Open Compute Project (OCP). — BeagleBoard.org Community - Open Hardware, Open Software, Open Platforms BeagleBoard.org has created a number of products since its conception a few years ago, from the initial 'BeagleBoard' single board computer, through to the enhanced 'BeagleBoard-xM' with more performance and connectivity, and its most recent and expandable platform, the 'BeagleBone'. All of these have set out to achieve a goal of bringing high performance ARM-based processing technology to a wide 'community' of developers and users, in low-cost 'open' platforms, giving access to as much of the system-on-chip features as possible. The recent launch of the 'BeagleBone' was a great testament to this vibrant 'community', key to Beagleboard.org, which enabled a wealth of advanced platform and application software to be immediately available, and a large amount of hardware expertise providing feedback and ready to start building add-ons and clones. This was exactly what was hoped for when the project was initially conceived by a couple of engineers discussing at the coffee machine about how their technology could be made more widely accessible. The community continues to grow each day, with more and more exciting and innovative uses for these low-cost, open platforms revealed on the various mailing lists and chat rooms - from 'football playing robots' to 'media servers', the list, expertise and imagination seems endless! This presentation hopes to give an overview of the BeagleBoard.org community project and how the products have been created and supported. There have been many exciting moments, many challenges and many lessons learned throughout this project - some of which will hopefully be covered during this presentation and discussion. Roger Monk is a System Applications Engineer for Texas Instruments, and has spent the last 10+ years working closely with customers to build hi-tech electronic products based around Texas Instruments Embedded Processing technology across a range of application areas. Roger is passionate about open-source technology and the ability for it to help deliver higher quality, more innovative products to market quickly. He has been closely involved with the BeagleBoard.org community project since its conception. — Event-driven Programming with XCore XMOS designs concurrent, event-driven processor cores. Because of the deterministic nature of the architecture both real-time algorithms and hardware interfaces can be developed as software. The event-driven nature of the processor means that all programs pause until they need to perform a task, making them inherently efficient. In this talk we will discuss events, concurrency, and how hardware interfaces can be programmed in software. We will then show the design of the slice-kit development system, which enables XCores to be easily attached to peripheral PCB's containing, for example, an Ethernet PHY. Henk Muller is currently the Principal Technologist at XMOS Ltd. In that role he has been involved in the design and implementation of hardware and software for real time systems. Prior to that, Henk worked in Academia for 20 years in computer architecture, compilers, and ubiquitous computing. He holds a doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the event will start at 18:30 prompt. - Registration: http://oshug.org/event/18

1 0

OSHUG #17: Practical System-on-Chip event preparation
by Julius Baxter 27 Mar '12

27 Mar '12

Hi all For those intending on coming along to OSHUG 17 on Thursday, can I recommend you visit the following page on OpenCores for some details on what you'll need to install to participate in some of the practical parts of the evening: http://opencores.org/or1k/OSHUG We don't have a nice, neat distribution of the OpenRISC cross-compiler readily available yet, so part of the process is to build the tool chain. Otherwise, the rest is just obtaining a copy of the OpenRISC repository so we can simulate things on the evening. Coming with these preparations will save a lot of time and hopefully allow those who want to play along to do so. If you have any questions, let us know here, or on the OpenRISC mailing list at http://lists.openrisc.net Thanks Julius

1 0

Next Thursday and help at C4CC.
by Andrew Back 23 Mar '12

23 Mar '12

Hello, Just a reminder that next Thursday evening it will be OSHUG #17: http://oshug.org/event/17 And we'd be interested in hearing from anyone who might be bringing their own FPGA development board along to try out an ORSoC/OpenRISC build. Also, our generous hosts at the Centre for Creative Collaboration are in need of a favour. They've just picked up a couple of network switches in advance of a Pachube workshop that is taking place during the day next Weds & Thurs, and could do with a hand setting these up. I've not checked, but it might even be possible to attend the aforementioned workshop too. In any case, if you may be able to help out please contact Brian Condon (CC'ed) direct as he's not subscribed to this list. Cheers, Andrew

1 0

OSHUG #17 — Practical System-on-Chip, Thursday 29th March.
by Andrew Back 01 Mar '12

01 Mar '12

Hello, Registration is now open for the March OSHUG meeting. Cheers, Andrew -- OSHUG #17 — Practical System-on-Chip (Program your own open source FPGA SoC) 29th March 2012, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG (51.529049, -0.116436) // Sponsored by DesignSpark: http://www.designspark.com // - Registration: http://oshug.org/event/17 At the ninth OSHUG meeting we were given an introduction to FPGA development, and to the OpenCores community and the OpenRISC 1000 open source processor family. At the seventeenth OSHUG meeting we will be given a comprehensive introduction to the practicalities of programming your own open source FPGA system-on-chip. — How to Program Your Own Open Source FPGA System-on-Chip It is possible to buy a FPGA prototyping board like the Terasic DE0-nano, capable of running a complete 32-bit System-on-Chip for around £50. Even larger boards with the memory capacity to bring up a full Linux system on the design cost a few hundred pounds. In this talk Julius Baxter and Jeremy Bennett will present the OpenRISC architecture and OpenRISC Reference Platform SoC (ORPSoC), and show how to take this open source design and get it running on an FPGA board. This is a practical evening, aimed at users who have never done any chip design. Using a Xilinx ML501 prototyping board, Julius Baxter will demonstrate all the steps from obtaining the initial hardware design through to bringing up the board and booting a full Linux system. The following topics will be covered: * an overview of OpenCores and the OpenRISC project * an introduction to the Verilog Hardware Design Language * how to synthesize the design into a FPGA bitstream * what needs modifying to run on different boards * how to get software running * porting a simple (newlib) library to the board * demonstration of Linux booting // Note that this will be an interactive session, and participants are encouraged to bring their along own FPGA dev boards and laptops and to join in, should they wish. If you have a board that is not listed as having a preconfigured ORPSoC build, or you have any other questions concerning the practicalities of this, you should direct your question to the OSHUG discussion list. // Julius Baxter has been involved with the OpenRISC project for 4 years, and during that time he's worked on everything from processor Verilog RTL to the Linux kernel port. After finishing undergraduate studies in his native Australia, he then studied a System-on-Chip design Master's at KTH in Stockholm, Sweden, while working at ORSoC AB - the owners and operators of OpenCores.org. Now living and working Cambridge, Julius maintains a role as an active developer and maintainer on the OpenRISC project, largely dealing with RTL, toolchain and architecture work. Dr Jeremy Bennett is Chief Executive of Embecosm which provides open source services, tools and models to facilitate embedded software development with complex systems-on-chip. He has been involved with OpenCores for the past decade, and is responsible for much of the software tool chain. Contact him at jeremy.bennett(a)embecosm.com. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the event will start at 18:30 prompt. - Registration: http://oshug.org/event/17

1 0

jHome: Using JavaEE and open-source hardware to automatize your house
by Jim Holmes 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

This list may well be interested in this free presentation by Yara Senger at Skills Matter in London in a couple of weeks. http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/java-jee/jhome EVENT DETAILS What:London Java Community:jHome: Using JavaEE and open-source hardware to automatize your houseWhere:The Skills Matter eXchange, London<http://skillsmatter.com/location-details/java-jee/1268/96> When:21 Feb 2012 Starts at 18:30 jHome: Using JavaEE and open-source hardware to automatize your house During this presentation we will be showing how you can use Java EE and open-source hardware, like Arduino, to automatize your house. Using jHome, a complete Java EE 6 API for home automation, you can control lamps, wall sockets, electric gates and doors using Web App and Twitter. We will not present a product! It's a complete solution that you can do it yourself with open-source hardware and software and you will have a lot of fun with Java EE 6 with this different usage context! This talk will cover: - Introduction to Home Automation and open-source hardware - Project jHome Cool demos: - Servlets controlling lamps - Controllling RGB with jQuery - Scheduling coffee-machine with EJB's - Using sounds and FFT(fast fourier transforming) to control your house This is a basic talk and useful for any developer professional level. I'm not sure about "automatizing" anything, and no doubt this will all be very basic for some here, but of interest I hope.

1 0

Five open source hardware projects that could change the world.
by Andrew Back 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

Hello, I wrote an article for The H on five open source hardware projects that could change the world. Whilst many will know most of the projects covered, it may be of interest to some. http://www.h-online.com/open/features/Five-open-source-hardware-projects-th… Regards, Andrew

1 0

OSHUG #16 — Manufacturing, Thursday 23rd February 2012.
by Andrew Back 06 Feb '12

06 Feb '12

Hello, Registration is now open for the February meeting and details are below. Also, there is room for a third speaker if anyone would like to propose a manufacturing related talk. Wouldn't need to be too long, and could be on any topic, experiences or challenges etc to do with the manufacturing of open source hardware. If interested drop me a line asap. Regards, Andrew -- OSHUG #16 — Manufacturing (Breadboard to Finished Product, Arduino Shield) On the 23rd February 2012, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG (51.529049, -0.116436) Registration: http://oshug.org/event/16 At the sixteenth OSHUG meeting we will be hearing about first-hand experiences of taking an open source hardware design from being a project to a product. With insights into prototyping, some of the manufacturing options available and the challenges that may be encountered. — From Breadboard to Finished Product You have a cool project, people are sending you emails asking where they could get their hands on one and you find yourself googling "electronics manufacturing"... Should you get yourself a toaster oven and start a miniature production line in your living room or should you just outsource it? What challenges await you if you decide to go down the contract manufacturing route? This talk aims to give the audience an overview of the electronics manufacturing process, using a project recently completed by the speaker as a case study. Omer Kilic is theoretically still a research student at the University of Kent, although he intends to submit his thesis (which is about a reconfigurable heterogeneous computing framework) pretty soon. He likes tiny computers, things that 'just work' and beer. He currently works for Erlang Solutions in London, exploring the use of Erlang programming language in the Embedded Systems domain and develops tools and support material to help the adoption of this technology. — Arduino Shield: From Design to Manufacturing The Arduino CAN-Bus shield gives the Arduino CAN-Bus capability. In this presentation we will learn about the design process from PCB layout and prototyping, to testing with a simulator and eventually testing with a real car. And about the perils of using a simulator, small scale production and outsourcing. Sukkin Pang is a design engineer and a director at SK Pang Electronics Ltd. He graduated from the University of Hertfordshire and has over 20 years of industrial experience. He is passionate about open source hardware and has four Arduino shields published. He used to tinker in assembler on the Z80, 6502, PIC and AVR, but nowadays he mainly uses C and C++. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the talks will start at 18:30 prompt. Registration: http://oshug.org/event/16

1 0

Barcamp Canterbury
by Martin Ellis 28 Jan '12

28 Jan '12

Hi guys, Thought you might be interested in an event we are organising. Barcamp Canterbury[0] is an un-conference all about technology. Barcamps[1] are run all around the country for and buy technology enthusiasts, and what's better they are totally free! The event is going to run on weekend of the 28th and 29th of April. thank Martin [0]http://www.barcampcanterbury.com/ [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp

1 0

OSHUG #15 — Wireless (Hacking Commodity Wireless, Practical Wireless, Contiki OS, CWIG) — Thursday 26th January.
by Andrew Back 05 Jan '12

05 Jan '12

Hello, Registration is now open for January's meeting. Regards, Andrew -- Event #15 — Wireless (Hacking Commodity Wireless, Practical Wireless, Contiki OS, CWIG) On the 26th January 2012, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG, (51.529049, -0.116436) ** Registration: http://oshug.org/event/15 ** At the fifteenth OSHUG meeting we'll be taking a look at wireless technologies. We will hear how you can repurpose low cost commodity equipment, we will be given an introduction to RF basics, we will learn about the Contiki operating system, and we will be introduced to Ciseco's new Wireless Internet Gateway. - Hacking Commodity Wireless Many people build their hacks from the ground up, but those short of time sometimes prefer to repurpose cheap off-the-shelf components that can be made to fit the bill. A good example being a wireless thermometer for external use, where an off-the-shelf device provides an inexpensive option complete with the requisite weatherproof packaging. However, such devices typically use proprietary protocols and good documentation is rarely available. This talk will look at how to interface such devices where a degree of reverse-engineering is frequently required. Paul Tanner is a consultant, developer and maker in wood, metal, plastic, electronics and software. His day job is IT-based business improvement for SMEs. By night he turns energy nut, creating tools to optimise energy use. Paul graduated in electronics and was responsible for hardware and software product development and customer services in several product and service start-ups, switching to consulting in 2000. - Practical Wireless Adding wireless connectivity to your latest open hardware project is not difficult, provided that you take the time to understand some of the principles of RF communication. In this talk we will learn about the basics of wireless propagation, and take a look at some of the low cost modules which now make adding wireless even easier. Ken Boak joined BBC Research Department after graduating and worked on digital picture processing of HDTV images, and coding algorithms for video distribution around studios. Since then, Ken has worked in laboratory instrumentation, telecommunications, low power wireless and consumer electronics produced in the Far East. With an interest in renewables, Ken now develops laboratory instruments to teach undergraduates the principles of photovoltaic and wind power. Outside of work, Ken is interested in smart wireless sensors, open source hardware and low cost solutions for the Internet of Things. - An Introduction to the Contiki O/S This talk is aimed to introduce the Contiki OS and some of the development hardware. We will learn about the process of bootstrapping the development environment and there will be a hands-on tutorial. Ilya Dmitrichenko was born in Soviet Latvia in 1985, grew up and attended a secondary school there, and moved to UK as soon as Latvia joined the EU. He attended the biggest university in London and was rather disappointed with the education, but nevertheless carried on and had fun working on a final year engineering project which served as an introduction to the topic of this talk. Ilya is interested in various aspects of hardware and software, spanning from WSN to DSP and several other random fields. - CWIG — The Ciseco Wireless Internet Gateway The CWIG is a new open hardware device that is designed to be the "one and only" platform you'd need for a wireless gateway. It employs the same ATmega328 microcontroller that is familiar to Arduino users and supports Ciseco's TI CC1110-based XRF module, XBee, Bluetooth, RFM12B, X10/HomeEasy, FRAM, SD, Ethernet and over-the-air programming with AVRDude. It's sized to be housed in a low cost, compact enclosure and to be cheap to build using through-hole components. In this talk we will be given an introduction to the CWIG and also to the XRF wireless UART and programmable RF module. Miles Hodkinson's twenty-odd year relationship with IT ended around six years ago when he decided that it was time to do something completely different. He had looked around without success for something to log and control his wind turbine, solar panels and Lister single cylinder engine, and found that nothing was flexible enough for the money he wanted to pay (tens of pounds per device), so he decided he would try and build it himself. After a number of years working on a human-focused method of networking originally built using XBee modules and now termed LLAP, his company developed the TI CC1110-based XRF module. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the talks will start at 18:30 prompt. ** Registration: http://oshug.org/event/15 **

1 0

Free XMOS XC-1A dev kits.
by Andrew Back 16 Dec '11

16 Dec '11

Hello, Just in case anyone hadn't spotted this, XMOS are running a promotion where you can pick up an XC-1A dev kit for free: http://blog.solderpad.com/post/14114783567/free-xmos-xc-1a-development-kits For the sake of clarity: SolderPad blog link as we were asked to help promote this, and I couldn't see a link to the form on either xmos.com or xcore.com. Cheers, Andrew

1 0

← Newer
1
...
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
...
44
Older →

Jump to page:

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

oshug