- oshug - lists.oshug.org

Re: [oshug] Open (Source?) Hardware.
by Andrew Katz 19 Aug '11

19 Aug '11

I definitely prefer Open Source Hardware On 19 Aug 2011, at 08:58, Paul Tanner wrote: > I don't think I know what "Open Hardware" is so I'm definitely for OSH. Paul FWIW, I consider Open Source Hardware to be hardware which comes with the recipe/blueprints/source code whatever so that you can reproduce it yourself, and Open Hardware to be hardware that comes with complete specifications so that you can interface to it without any nasty surprises and without necessarily knowing what goes on inside. Open Source is better, but open is definitely a step in the right direction. Open Source hardware almost inevitably relies on open hardware: for example, you can have all the specs to a 555 timer, but you don't need to have the information necessary to build one. Or for even harder hardware, you may have the specs of a bolt (thread pitch, length, tensile strength, general resistance to corrosion etc) but you're unlikely to know the exact makeup of the alloy used to make it, or how it was tempered etc. So most simple electronic components will be open hardware. The only thing you have to be a bit careful about when talking about open source hardware is that it's more difficult to draw the boundary between source and object than it is with software. For example, I'd say an open source car is still an open source car if the complete design docs are available, even if the motors are individual proprietary units and you don't have the source for them, so long as the specification of the motors is sufficient for you to do what you want with them and they do what they are expected to do with no nasty surprises. If you take a maximalist approach, and want instructions sufficient to enable you to synthesise a car from a bunch of atoms, then you will spend most of your life sadly disappointed. It's lucky there is no one like this in the open source software (sorry, free software) world :) Best Andrew

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Open (Source?) Hardware.
by Andrew Back 19 Aug '11

19 Aug '11

Hello, Some of you may also have been following the debate regarding open hardware vs. open source hardware on the Open Hardware Summit lists and/or various others. The OHS updates list archives are, for some reason, private, but Bryan Bishop has kindly been forwarding to Open Manufacturing. See: http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/c9e1cd72d153a88e?hl=en& I have personally had some trouble with this debate in the past, and whilst we ended up being OSHUG and not OHUG, I don't find the argument that Open Hardware is, e.g. just a device with documented registers, entirely convincing. Inasmuch as it may have once meant this, but it has now come to be generally accepted that it is quite something else. I do agree with a lot of what Bruce Perens has to say... This is not to say that I think we should drop the "S". I've not completely made my mind up, and with regards to what we are called I don't think it matters _that_ much. Bruce does make a good case, though, and I'm definitely with him on this being a movement and the importance of it being " a lot of folks going in approximately the same direction". Which is to say that we don't all have to agree on everything. It would be a shame if this ended up being another Free Software vs. Open Source type split, though. I'm in interested as to what other folks think... Cheers, Andrew

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Re: [oshug] Open (Source?) Hardware.
by Paul Tanner 19 Aug '11

19 Aug '11

I don't think I know what "Open Hardware" is so I'm definitely for OSH. Paul PS. Could it be a piece of hardware with the lid open? At 07:35 AM 8/19/2011, Andrew Back wrote: >Hello, > >Some of you may also have been following the debate regarding open >hardware vs. open source hardware on the Open Hardware Summit lists >and/or various others. The OHS updates list archives are, for some >reason, private, but Bryan Bishop has kindly been forwarding to Open >Manufacturing. See: > >http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/c9e1cd72d153a88e?hl=en& > >I have personally had some trouble with this debate in the past, and >whilst we ended up being OSHUG and not OHUG, I don't find the argument >that Open Hardware is, e.g. just a device with documented registers, >entirely convincing. Inasmuch as it may have once meant this, but it >has now come to be generally accepted that it is quite something else. > >I do agree with a lot of what Bruce Perens has to say... This is not >to say that I think we should drop the "S". I've not completely made >my mind up, and with regards to what we are called I don't think it >matters _that_ much. Bruce does make a good case, though, and I'm >definitely with him on this being a movement and the importance of it >being " a lot of folks going in approximately the same direction". >Which is to say that we don't all have to agree on everything. It >would be a shame if this ended up being another Free Software vs. Open >Source type split, though. > >I'm in interested as to what other folks think... > >Cheers, > >Andrew > >_______________________________________________ >oshug mailing list >oshug(a)oshug.org >http://oshug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oshug Paul Tanner - Virtual Technologies - http://www.virtual-techno.com Tel: +44 1494 581979 Mob: +44 7973 223239 mailto:paul@virtual-techno.com

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TI Chronos eZ430.
by Andrew Back 18 Aug '11

18 Aug '11

Hello, Whilst not exactly OSHW, thought it worth pointing out that TI currently have a deal on the Chronos eZ430 wireless watch: http://tideals.com/ If you order from their eStore it works out at about £15 with shipping included. Just chatting with Ken Boak now about how easy it would be to drive one from a Nanode. Anyone on the list have experience with one? Cheers, Andrew

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Re: [oshug] TI Chronos eZ430.
by Andrew Back 18 Aug '11

18 Aug '11

On 18 August 2011 08:30, Paul Tanner <paul(a)virtual-techno.com> wrote: > Not OSHW but IoT nevertheless. > Is that price for the whole dev kit or just the watch? The watch and dongle AFAIK. > Anyone know if software can be developed and loaded from a Mac OS/X - the > links say PC? Not sure about OS X, but would suspect that this is unlikely using the official SDK. I also gather that it uses some proprietary IDE/compiler and that unless you pay for it you at most get access to a crippled (e.g. limited to certain object code size) version. Anyway, there should be details on the TI site somewhere... There is a community effort to develop an open source SDK which uses a compiler without such restrictions, but I'd imagine that it might not be as fully featured. Looks as though there is currently no solution to drive one with an RFM12B module via FSK, but have seen mention of the possibility of using OOK (ASK). Cheers, Andrew

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Re: [oshug] TI Chronos eZ430.
by Paul Tanner 18 Aug '11

18 Aug '11

Not OSHW but IoT nevertheless. Is that price for the whole dev kit or just the watch? Anyone know if software can be developed and loaded from a Mac OS/X - the links say PC? Paul At 08:04 AM 8/18/2011, you wrote: >Hello, > >Whilst not exactly OSHW, thought it worth pointing out that TI >currently have a deal on the Chronos eZ430 wireless watch: > >http://tideals.com/ > >If you order from their eStore it works out at >about £15 with shipping included. > >Just chatting with Ken Boak now about how easy it would be to drive >one from a Nanode. Anyone on the list have experience with one? > >Cheers, > >Andrew > >_______________________________________________ >oshug mailing list >oshug(a)oshug.org >http://oshug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oshug Paul Tanner - Virtual Technologies - http://www.virtual-techno.com Tel: +44 1494 581979 Mob: +44 7973 223239 mailto:paul@virtual-techno.com

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retrobsd - 2.11BSD for embedded systems
by Sevan / Venture37 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

Hiya, Saw this posted on twitter yesterday, a port of 2.11BSD for Microchip PIC32 microcontroller. http://code.google.com/p/retrobsd/ Sevan

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OSHUG #12 — Practical Approaches, Thursday 29th September.
by Andrew Back 28 Jul '11

28 Jul '11

Hello, Firstly, a date for the diary: on Thursday 27th October we will be hosting our first OSHcamp — a one day (likely 10:00 - 18:00, then pub) event to be held at the Centre for Creative Collaboration in Kings Cross. We're still working on the details but there will be four parallel workshops: building the Internet of Things using OSHW, practical 3D printing, electronics primer/documenting OSHW projects and prototyping accessories with the Google ADK. And before then, in September, it will be OSHUG #12: -- Practical Approaches (Double-sided PCB Design, Controlling Power, 3W RGB LED Controller) On the 29th September 2011, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG (51.529049, -0.116436) Registration: http://oshug.org/event/12 Developing a solution to a problem is not simply a matter of whether it is technically possible, but can involve all manner of challenging constraints. This is particularly the case in DIY and small-scale manufacture contexts, as there may be limited access to tools, test equipment and costly fabrication processes. At the twelfth OSHUG meeting we'll be hearing about practical approaches that were developed in tackling three different problems. One is concerned with designing a double-sided PCB to accommodate 0.5mm pitch surface mount devices, that can be reliably built using low cost DIY methods. Another with safely controlling mains powered devices from the Internet, and the third with building a 3W RGB LED controller using all open source design and development tools. - DIY Double-sided PCB Design and Development for embedded ARM Inspired by the success of the Arduino platform and driven by a recognition that to go from raw materials to a working system is both exciting and empowering, a project was born to develop a powerful microcontroller board that can be built from scratch. With this came the challenge of designing a double-sided PCB that will accommodate a 64-pin LQFP package on 0.5mm pitch, and that can be built using low cost DIY techniques. In this talk we will learn about the rules which needed to be applied in order to ensure that construction of such a PCB is practical, and discoveries that were made in its development. Garry Bulmer gained his degree in Computer Science in the early 1980s and developed software for companies including ICL, before going on to teach Computer Science and Software Engineering at degree level and beyond. During the 1990s he was a co-founder of Parallax Solutions, a software services company with customers that included Rover Group and Rolls Royce, and that partnered with Sun Microsystems and delivered their Enterprise Architecture Blueprints. He's since held the position of Chief Architect at Keane, Aspen Technology and Caritor. More recently he has become involved in education, running Arduino workshops for local schools and at events including Howduino, DEV8D and fizzPop. - A Simple Approach to Controlling Power from Internet Apps Working with mains power can be a daunting prospect and requires due care and attention. In this presentation we will hear about a simple and safe way to control mains-powered appliances from the Internet using cheap wireless links. This will include a live demo based on MBED and an explanation of this approach, and there will be opportunity to discuss its pros and cons. 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. - Using Open Source tools to design and build a 3W RGB LED Controller in a month of Sundays There are many Open Source and freely available hardware designs but almost all of them are currently hosted by proprietary tool chains. Whether it's the EDA suite used to design the boards, the compilers used to build the firmware or the dongles used to flash the firmware, the chances are that at least one, if not all, are under a non-free license of some kind. In this talk we will hear about the experience of using an entirely open toolchain to develop a 3W RGB LED controller. Specifically, the the trials and tribulations in using Kicad: the GPL PCB Suite; AVR-GCC: the GNU Compiler Collection build that targets the Atmel AVR line of microcontrollers and a parallel port programmer that can be built in 5 minutes with minimal components. Andy Bennett is an Engineer that likes to inhabit the void between hardware and the software that runs on it. After graduating from Imperial College with a degree in Electronic & Electrical Engineering he joined Access Devices Digital Limited where he designed software and FPGA cores for the UK's first Dual Tuner Personal Video Recorders. He continued working on Advanced Product Development at Pace Micro Technology before leaving to become employee number 2 at GenieDB where he applies his finely honed ability to produce software on a shoestring. In his spare time he likes to design ambitious projects from scratch. In between prototyping designs for his own PDA, digital watch and bluetooth headset, he's currently building a two wheeled, actively balanced, robot. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the event will start at 18:30 prompt. -- Cheers, Andrew

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CERN Open hardware repository
by Al Wood 08 Jul '11

08 Jul '11

Just in Via Adafruit CERN has an opensource hardware effort http://www.ohwr.org/ It has its own Open hardware license, manifesto and project management portal as well as project repositories. Very interesting, check it out.. -- http://www.folknology.com

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Re: [oshug] sourcing ADK boards
by Dan Williams 02 Jul '11

02 Jul '11

On 25 Jun 2011, at 08:57, Paul Tanner <paul(a)virtual-techno.com> wrote: > I am thinking that a whole OSHUG session is needed for this, including input from someone who's created a ADK setup with alternative hardware at a reasonable cost. Do we know anyone? I know someone who experimented with putting android phones into USB host mode pre-ADK. He was using it for external keyboards with the intent to plug in USB sensor boards or arduinos. Not sure how far he got or how relevant that is now we have ADK Dan

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AlienCortex AV
by Eddie Chan 29 Jun '11

29 Jun '11

hi all, Following from last FPGA talk; I just want to bring to the attention that there a new Kickstarter project called "AlienCortex AV" which support the Open Core standards. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/794668827/aliencortex-av eddie

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Re: [oshug] [Open Manufacturing] Fwd: Open hardware anemometer
by John Griessen 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

> From: *christopher west* I've decided to design > my own PCB from scratch. I'm a electronic engineer by trade so this > shouldn't cause to many headaches but if this is too difficult I will > consider using an Arduino. Have you considered using pcb and gschem for the electronics? There's a supportive list and good ways to get library schematic symbols and pcb footprints besides making your own. if you have any pointers I would > be very great full. > > Regards, > Chris West great full. --> grateful. Have you done much market research on the commercial competition? There are plenty of weather stations proven and working, so all you can hope for is a cost reduction, and it might be tough to beat standard prices as they've been evolving for so long. But, if you think prices are easy to beat, that's a good reason for open hardware. The functions of a weather station barely make a microcontroller breathe hard, so I immediately think, "What else could you add in the microcontroller part to make a weather station better?", and it strikes me you should use a higher level language than C for the code, and so users can adapt their stations -- use them as development platforms. Then you have a wider market -- scientists start to be interested, tinkerers of course, and developers of instrumentation setups. Otherwise your market is just other EE/CS types, (if they like C). What I like is python-on-a-chip, running on micros like STM32 or MC13224v. See http://www.redwirellc.com/store/node/1 http://mc1322x.devl.org/ http://www.futurlec.com/ET-STM32_Stamp.shtml The STM32 stamp board can run elua, a version of lua: http://www.eluaproject.net/ That's another high level language that some say is good for rapid development. I've not tried it yet, but it looks like time. John Griessen

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Open hardware anemometer
by christopher west 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

All, I'm been mulling over the idea of making a no moving parts anemometer and releasing everything to the public. I thought that this would be the best place to start discussing the idea. My plans thus far; The main part of this project are the micro-controller and the ultrasonic sensors. For the micro-controller I'm going to use a Microchip PIC as I've have experience with these. I have thought about using an Arduino but this project will be as much about discovering if I can use open-source tools from start to finish as having a working system at the end. To that end I've decided to design my own PCB from scratch. I'm a electronic engineer by trade so this shouldn't cause to many headaches but if this is too difficult I will consider using an Arduino. The ultrasonic sensors can be used to calculate wind speed and direction. The basic idea is to use a set of sensors perpendicular to each and calculate the time delay or Doppler shift to find out where the wind is coming from. I haven't decided which is the best way to do yet so I'm going to incorporate both. The rest of it will use RS232 for communication. For power I'm hoping to incorporate a battery/solar power unit. The anemometer will have the following basic sensors; Pressure, Humidity, Temperature in shade and direct sun light. As for the open-source tools; Since I'm going to be using Microchips PICs there are in beta trials of there new open-source embedded IDE which is called MPlab X[1], which is based off netbeans so it aligns nicely with my needs. For the embedded C compiler my initial thinking will be to use SDCC[2] but that depends on what PIC I select or I might be able to use GCC but I'm not sure. For the electronic design I'm think KiCAD[3] as it I've played around with it in the past and I've quite liked it. Finally for the physical design I plan to use Freecad[4] it may not be very full featured but I'm hopeful it will be useful. I'm also trying to think of a project name at the moment and I'm very open to any ideas? Please let me know what you think and if you have any pointers I would be very great full. Regards, Chris West [1] MPlab X: http://microchip.wikidot.com/ [2] SDCC: http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/ [3] KiCAD: http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/ [4] FreeCAD: http://free-cad.sourceforge.net/

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Re: [oshug] sourcing ADK boards
by Paul Downey 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

> Interesting question that caused me to Google around a bit. > Looks like the question should include "at a reasonable price" Indeed! We joked that there must be a silk-screen layer for each colour in the Google logo, but I don't think that's the case. Nigel's points about the unusual USB interface and the economics of a small number of Androids with the latest version sounds most likely. I'd imagine the size of market will change, so was puzzled why we're not seeing a flood of cheap clones. > I am thinking that a whole OSHUG session is needed for this, including input > from someone who's created a ADK setup with alternative hardware at a > reasonable cost. Do we know anyone? heh, I asked this question in preparation for talking to Android people at Google about the ADK on behalf of OSHUG, and our proposed OSHcamp in October. I'll report back on both as soon as I know more! -- Paul (psd) http://blog.whatfettle.com

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sourcing ADK boards
by Paul Downey 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

I wondered if anyone here knows where we can get our hands on Android ADK boards? Are they really still expensive and difficult to find? If so, does anyone know why? -- Paul (psd) http://blog.whatfettle.com

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Meego gathering at Skills Matter 5th of July
by Thibaut Rouffineau 24 Jun '11

24 Jun '11

Hi I was wondering if anyone was interested in a meetup in London around Meego? I am trying to put together a regular meetup on the subject, and we'll be starting on the 5th of July! The meetup will be talking Meego and Meego development... there are quite a few project committers and hackers coming to the event from across the UK. The event is sponsored and free to attend http://ce1.com/intel/2011/londonappuplab/ (it's on an Intel page as they're sponsoring the whole thing but this doesn't mean that ARM or Tegra ports are not discussions are not welcome :D). If you're available on the 5th feel free to register and come! I hope this can be useful, and look forward to seeing you soon! Cheers Thibaut

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Bristol Braille Hardware Developments
by Edward Rogers 22 Jun '11

22 Jun '11

OSHUG members, We thought it might interest some of you to know what developments are occurring within Bristol Braille Technology at the moment. As was discussed in OSHUG meeting no.10, BBT is seeking to address the gaping absence of affordable Braille hardware. We have no grand announcement as such, but important steps are being taken nonetheless. The latest news item can be seen below; but it is worth checking the site regularly as there will more than likely be an increased volume of news from now on. http://bristolbrailletechnology.com/#news.22-06-2011-prototype Yours Faithfully, --------- Ed Rogers, Director, BBT Ltd. ed.rogers(a)bristolbrailletechnology.com +44(0)7908 569 214 www.bristolbrailletechnology.com ---------

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OSHUG #11 — Goes to Canterbury!, Thurs 23rd June (Collaboration, building communities, surface mount adventures)
by Andrew Back 26 May '11

26 May '11

OSHUG #11 — Goes to Canterbury! (Collaboration, building communities, surface mount adventures) On the 23rd June 2011, 18:00 - 20:00 at School of Engineering and Digital Arts, Jennison Building, The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NT, (51.298383, 1.064172) Register: http://oshugcanterbury.eventbrite.com/ Lanyrd: http://lanyrd.com/2011/oshug11/ For our 11th meeting, we are visiting the School of Engineering and Digital Arts at the University of Kent. Trains run regularly to and from central London and take approximately an hour. For anyone wishing to stay overnight please: http://oshug.org/other/canterbury-bnb-2605.pdf . - Open Source Hardware Collaboration An assessment of the current state of the art in hardware collaboration through a tour of a series of Open Source Hardware projects. How easy is it to discover projects, view and understand their designs, build your own version and contribute changes back? Paul Downey (psd) is a doodling software hacker, former member of Osmosoft--a small Open Source software team--where he represented BT at the W3C, a co-organiser of OSHUG and a co-founder of SolderPad, a collaboration platform for electronic design. - Building open, communicating communities The hardware engineering community is typically seen as fragmented, closed and conservative, shackled by the dependency on restrictive closed-source tools. Thankfully, we are now at a time where this is changing. In this talk, Saar Drimer will discuss his efforts to bring the FPGA community together so we can reach the level of sharing and project integration that the open source software community currently enjoys. The end goal is to reach a state where projects are integrated in a similar way to what Linux's package mangers enable: "sudo apt-get ddr2-controller". [Background reading]. Saar Drimer is an experienced hardware engineer. In the past he's hacked the UK's Chip and PIN payment system, and advocated reproducible research practices in the engineering sciences. Now he's working on boldport, an "IndieEDA" company that aims to make HW/FPGA easier. - Adventures in working with surface mount devices An ambitious open source hardware project--Amino--recently called for Alan Wood to uplift his home lab to support prototyping, testing and basic production using surface mount devices. Alan will be sharing with us some of the things he has learnt, and giving us a run through what you might require in order to tackle working with surface mount devices yourself. Rather than using expensive off-the-shelf tooling, Alan will be covering a number of affordable approaches that make this possible without breaking the bank. Alan Wood originally trained in systems engineering, got lost in software engineering and open source for a decade, before returning back to his hardware roots via the open source hardware and makers movement that has gathered momentum over the last few years. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the event will start at 18:30 prompt. Parking is available at the Jennison Building, however, please ensure that you are parked within a bay. -- Andrew Back mailto:andrew@carrierdetect.com

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Open Hardware Summit 2011.
by Andrew Back 23 May '11

23 May '11

Hello, It was just announced that this will be taking place on 15th September in New York: http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/ Cheers, Andrew

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Community Server/Networking Project in London
by Thomas Wright 16 May '11

16 May '11

I would appreciate it If you could take a couple of minutes to have a look at the link below and if anyone is interested in getting involved it would be great to hear from you. http://www.shoestringnetworks.org/ Many Thanks Thomas (thomas(a)shoestringnetworks.org)

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Looking for OSH blogger
by Rupert Goodwins 16 May '11

16 May '11

Hi, all I'm looking for someone who can blog regularly (2-ish times a week) on ZDNet UK on the subject of open source hardware. The idea is to report on developments, projects, what you're up to... anything that may be of interest to our general (geeky, IT-focussed, hack-minded) readership. I hope to spread the word about OSH, really, and to be a starting point for those who are so minded. Also, it's just cool. There's a bit of money involved, after a trial period, which should keep you in solder and 555 timers. Drop me a note if you fancy it, or if you could suggest someone I should talk to. Thanks! Rupert, ed, ZDNet UK

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Re: [oshug] [OT] Question
by Edward Rogers 03 May '11

03 May '11

> Subject: [oshug] [OT] Question > Hello friends: > I need help for buying a new laptop or net book with Linux or at > least with hardware that Linux can recognize without problems. I don't > mind if it is slow, I just want a cheap laptop that I can use for many > years. I hope you can give me a way to discriminate those machines built > for big corporations who only care about selling and not giving a nice > product to people. Cheers, > LAMG I'd second the suggestion of a Think-pad. I think the X40's are about GBP100 on ebay, X60 closer to GBP150 (if you shop about). Getting it from a reputable local dealer (such as, in Bristol, Compuwave. I saw those exact two models in their window this morning) would add about GBP60 to that. --------- Ed Rogers +44(0)7908 569 214 Bristol Braille Technology www.bristolbrailletechnology.com ---------

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OSHUG #10 - Open for Change, Thursday 19th May.
by Andrew Back 28 Apr '11

28 Apr '11

Hello, For those who couldn't make it along to OSHUG #9, Skills Matter kindly recorded the event and the videos can be found at: http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/ajax-ria/a-brief-introduction-to-programmab… And registration for OSHUG #10 is now live. --- OSHUG Event #10 — Open for Change (Radiation Monitoring in Japan, 40 Fires, Bristol Braille Technology) On the 19th May 2011, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WV1X 9NG. Registration: http://oshug.org/event/10 A great deal of open source hardware is built by engineers for engineers, and comprises mostly electronics and/or computing technology. Which is not at all surprising given the origins of the movement and where we are on the adoption curve. However, a growing number of projects are seeking to tackle ever more challenging problems and working with an increasingly broader selection of technologies. At the tenth OSHUG meeting we will be hearing about the efforts of hackers in Japan to build their own open source radiation monitoring infrastructure. We will learn about the work of 40 Fires, a foundation that is building an open source hydrogen fuel cell electric car. And we will hear from Bristol Braille Technology about the need for an affordable refreshable Braille display, and the potential open source hardware opportunity. - Open Source Radiation Monitoring in Japan Hackers in Japan responded to recent nuclear plant radiation leaks by setting up their own monitoring infrastructure. In this talk we will take a look at some of the radiation monitoring devices they built, the technology they used to share and make sense of the data and the work that continues to be done. Nick Weldin initiated the first public Arduino course in the UK in 2005, because he didn't want to program PIC chips on the accounts computer at work after everyone else had gone home any more, and he couldn't get his boss to send him to the Arduino course that was running in Spain. When Tinker London started up he joined them and ran courses teaching Arduino wherever anyone was interested. He continues to run a course on Arduino, and is co-author of the recently released Arduino Cookbook. - An open source approach to developing energy-efficient technology Two years ago start-up company Riversimple unveiled a ground-breaking vehicle that has the potential to transform the auto industry. The Riversimple urban vehicle, due to be in production in 2014, is lightweight, powered by hydrogen and capable of 300 mpg (energy equivalent). As part of its strategy, Riversimple announced the establishment of an independent open source foundation, 40 Fires, that would make available the designs for the car on-line under an open source license. Two years on, the 40 Fires team report on the joys, trials and tribulations of working on a potentially game-changing project in one of the world's biggest industries. Patrick Andrews is project leader of the 40 Fires Foundation and a board member of eco-car company Riversimple. A former corporate lawyer with Kingfisher and Pratt & Whitney, he now spends his time pursuing an interest in social innovation, with a particular focus on alternative business models and governance structures. - Developing a revolutionary, affordable Braille Cell Display Braille usage has been shown to have a strong correlation with employment—and by extension independence—amongst the blind. However Braille usage is stagnating under a lack of technical innovation which has left it hugely expensive and uncommon. Bristol Braille Technology was founded on the 6th of January, 2011, when the first meeting of interested professionals met to discuss the need for more affordable refreshable Braille. We are currently designing our first prototype cell display. Our aim is to make a Braille cell display;that is a tactile 'screen' which connects to a computing device—which, unlike the current models, is affordable to the majority of blind individuals in the UK and, eventually, anywhere around the world. Ed Rogers is a Bristolian and recent graduate from the University of the West of England where he studied Animation and Interactive Design. During this course he first began to consider the issue of digital Braille. After leaving university he continued to pursue the goal of an affordable Braille cell display, eventually founding the not-for-profit Community Interest Company, Bristol Braille Technology. Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the event will start at 18:30 prompt. Registration: http://oshug.org/event/10

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Introduction to Open Source Hardware article.
by Andrew Back 26 Apr '11

26 Apr '11

Hello, Not that many subscribers to this list would need such a thing for themselves, but I wrote a brief OSHW intro for the April edition of RS Components eTech magazine: http://is.gd/M0gAqK (Note: it's a 5.5M PDF!) Though, this may come in useful if someone asks what OSHW is, and some of you may recognise the photographs from OSHUG meetings. Cheers, Andrew

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OSHUG #9 - Chips, Thursday 21st April 2011.
by Andrew Back 24 Mar '11

24 Mar '11

OSHUG #9 — Chips (Programmable Logic, Computer Conservation with FPGAs, OpenCores & OpenRISC 1000) On the 21st April 2011, 18:00 - 20:00 at Skills Matter, 116-120 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7DP, UK (51.525335, -0.099056) Registration: http://oshug.org/event/9 Programmable logic, and in particular field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), is a topic that has frequently come up at OSHUG meetings, both in informal discussion and in presentations (see use of FPGAs in projects covered at OSHUG #5 & OSHUG #8). This is a particularly exciting technology in the context of open source hardware, as it presents an opportunity to realise performance gains approaching those that are associated with custom silicon – an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) - albeit without the enormous foundry start-up costs which make this largely the reserve of major industry. Furthermore, the design artefacts lend themselves to collaborative development and can be handled in a manner similar to that employed with the source code to computer software. At the ninth OSHUG meeting we will be given an introduction to programmable logic and the associated development cycle, we'll hear about applications in computer conservation, and we will learn about open source chip design, the OpenCores community and the MIPS-like OpenRISC 1000 CPU. // A Brief Introduction to Programmable Logic Programmable Logic Devices - mainly FPGAs – are frequently utilised in high speed and computationally intensive applications, and with modern devices containing several million transistors and many gigabits/second of connectivity they are becoming increasingly popular in the race to achieve exascale computing power. But what does this all mean and how can FPGAs achieve this processing power? How do they differ from the good old CPUs we have in our everyday computers? In essence, an FPGA is a device that contains configurable blocks of logic along with flexible interconnect between these blocks. They can be configured to contain exactly and only those operations that appear in the algorithms employed in a particular application, which can potentially give them quite a bit of an advantage in terms of throughput and efficiency when compared to static instruction set processors such as a traditional x86 CPU. In this short introductory talk we will cover the basics of programmable logic devices and talk about the design, synthesis, simulation, implementation and programming cycles associated with FPGA projects. Omer Kilic is a research student at the University of Kent working on dynamically reconfigurable architectures and embedded systems. When he is not busy working on his PhD project (a reconfigurable heterogeneous computing framework) or running lab classes, he enjoys tinkering and drinking good beer. // Computer Conservation with FPGAs Having acquired an IBM System/360 Model 30 mainframe whilst he was at university, Lawrence Wilkinson brought it back to life, then abandoned it when the rent and power costs became a drain, and has since felt very guilty. As they became obsolete in the early 1970s, very few IBM System/360s now exist in running order. To make amends he embarked on a project of re-creating the Model 30 as a gate-level simulation, using the original circuits and microcode. While the software-based Hercules emulator is available to run all 360 and 370 software, Lawrence's programmable logic-based solution faithfully replicates the Model 30 with its limited storage and I/O capability, and provides a front panel interface. The basic CPU is implemented in a Xilinx S3 FPGA and the VHDL is available for download under the GPL. Development of the project continues with the further addition of storage and I/O devices. Lawrence Wilkinson started out as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer in Auckland in the 1980s, transmogrified into an IT and Accounting support person in the late 80s, then went back to hardware and low-level software upon moving to England in the mid 90s. Eventually ending up with the new BAR Formula 1 team, he spent a few years writing and supporting on-car control software, won the World Championship with Brawn Grand Prix in 2009, and currently supports various factory test systems for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix in Northamptonshire. // OpenCores, Chip Design and the OpenRISC 1000 Opencores dates back to 1999 as a forum for open source chip designs, primarily intended for FPGA, but also used in ASIC. It now hosts several hundred designs, and has over 100,000 registered users world wide. This talk will look at what is involved in putting together an open source chip design. In particular the licensing issues represent a challenge, with standard F/OSS licenses having serious weaknesses when it comes to licensing hardware. It will finish with an overview of OpenCores' flagship project, the OpenRISC 1000. This is a 32-bit MIPS-like RISC processor, with a full reference SoC design. It comes with a GNU development tool chain, a number of RTOS ports and an up to date uClibc Linux kernel/BusyBox implementation. In recent years the entire front-end design flow has become open source, as open source electronic design automation (EDA) tools have become available. It has now reached the stage of maturity where some of its development is by commercially funded engineers, as well as a large community of volunteers. Dr Jeremy Bennett is Chief Executive of Embecosm Limited. Embecosmi provides open source services, tools and models to facilitate embedded software development with complex systems-on chip. He spends two days a month working as the Embedded Systems Champion for the Electronics, Sensors and Photonics KTN, which seeks to improve the flow of knowledge between academia and industry. He can be contacted via 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/9

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