Hey all, here's a new one on the radars..

"Proposed special interest group for construction of low cost scientific devices, exploiting new components, open source hardware projects, with particular interest in the Arduino platform and interdisciplinary applications." .. from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/34667068/SCICOMP-HOMEBREW-CLUB or: http://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/Haseloff/SciComp/intgrps/assets/SciComp_Homebr...

And from the main site: http://www.scicomp.org.uk/

""" SciComp Homebrew Club New special interest group for construction of low cost scientific devices, exploiting new components, open source hardware projects, with particular interest in the Arduino platform and interdisciplinary applications.

Interested in building stuff and DIY construction techniques? We are starting a group which will meet after the SciComp meetings - to talk about building low cost hardware and software devices and to show details of ongoing projects. If you are interested, contact Jim Haseloff at jh295@cam.ac.uk - or simply come along to the SciComp meeting on 12 Feb 2009.

At the Feb 12 meeting, Vincent Rouilly and Tuur Van Balen will discuss the use of the arduino platform for DIY hardware construction. The Arduino platform is well suited to scientific work, where new sensors, optics detectors and computers can be linked. Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP). See www.arduino.cc

For more news about Physical Computing and DIY construction, see www.synbio.org.uk/hardware/scientific-computing-news.html """

- Bryan http://heybryan.org/ 1 512 203 0507