Arduino For Total Newbies workshop

Arduino is an amazingly powerful tool that is very simple to learn to use. It was designed so that artists and non-geeks can start from nothing, and make something cool happen in less than 90 minutes. Yet, it is powerful enough so that super-geeks can use it for their projects as well.

This workshop is easy enough for total newbies to learn all you need to know to get going on an Arduino. For ages 10 - 100.

Taught by Mitch Altman. Participants will make their own Arduino clone from a kit, and set it up on solderless breadboards to make their own TV-B-Gone remote control to turn off TVs in public places -- a fun way to learn Arduino (and electronics) basics.

Optional: Bring your laptop, if you can.

Big thanks to Ken Shirriff, who came up with the original TV-B-Gone for Arduino

Workshop Itinerary: * Intro to Arduino * Very short lesson to learn everything you need to know about electronics! * Then we will learn to solder. Don't let this scare you! I've taught tens of thousands of people to solder, most of whom have never made anything before in their lives. It is actually a very easy skill to learn. It is also very useful. * Then we will each make our own Arduino clone from a kit made by Samurai Circuits: U-Do-It-Duino. * Now that we each have our own Arduino board, we will set up the free and open-source Arduino software on our laptops (if you bring one) -- Windows, Linux, and MacOS are all fine! * And then its time to make something and learn how easy it is to use Arduino! I'll (very easily!) show you how to read schematic diagrams, and you'll put together your own TV-B-Gone remote control using your Arduino clone board. We will use a solderless breadboard. These are really useful, and provide a fast, and very easy way to put circuits together without needing to solder. * Target practice is available all over the world after the workshop.

Materials costs: The workshop is free, but if you would like to partake in the hands-on aspects of the workshop, Mitch will have materials for €40 (useful for making many different projects).

Workshop page: Arduino For Total Newbies workshop page