hacklab.to

IMPORTANT UPDATE: (2009-03-30) The workshop is now full. – Andrew

Okay electronics and music enthusiasts, it’s time to get out your soldering irons! (or buy one if you don’t have one yet) We’re going to build Theremins! (no experience required) If you’re not familiar with this amazing musical instrument, check out the following video of Clara Rockmore, or read the Wikipedia page.

We’re going to build a design by the late great Robert Moog. The circuit is excellent, easy to build, and you’ll end up with a professional-quality instrument on par with any commercial model.  This is a great opportunity to learn some soldering and electronics skills and build a unique project. We’re going to provide kits since many of the parts are hard to find and expensive in single quantities. Here are the important details:

• Andrew Kilpatrick will lead the group
• Members and non-members are invited to take part – no electronics experience is necessary
• A maximum of 6 spaces are available this time around
• 4-6 workshops on Wednesday nights to build the project (extra time available as needed)
• Parts and supplies will cost approx. $120 – Please pay in advance to reserve your space.
  • includes quality parts, PCBs, power supply, connectors, controls
  • includes an acrylic laser-cut control panel (your choice of colour!)
  • doesn’t include a wooden enclosure – we can build some here if someone wants to help
• Andrew is designing an optional amplified speaker which you can build for approx. $50

Please email Andrew: hacklab-mail at andrewkilpatrick.org to express your interest and reserve a space. Once we have six people signed up and paid up we’ll get the parts and start building.  Andrew will mail participants with more details.

Hello, everyone from Torontoist!

I’ve made a full writeup of the laser engraver project including the current firmware and schematics. It will be updated as things are tweaked and improved, but hopefully this helps give everyone a sense of what we’ve been up to.

Check out the article here.

About two weeks ago Hacklab acquired a Universal Laser Systems ULS-25P laser engraver. Ted found it for sale used for a small sum. But it had broken, ancient electronics which was the reason the unit was sold. We decided that it might be fun to try building our own electronics to get the unit going again. Exactly one week ago Dan and I came into the lab in the evening and tested the laser. We made a little Arduino program to send the laser the correct control signal. Amazingly, it worked! We burned a hole quite successfully through a piece of paper. With a 25W CO2 laser it would be possible to etch and cut a lot of materials under computer control!

A bunch of us worked all last weekend and a few nights this week building electronics, learning to configure and use the emc2 CNC software, and install a place for the unit to sit and proper ventilation to extract smoke and fumes from the etched material. And I am happy to report that exactly one week after initially testing the laser we have a fully working system! Below is a video of the very first run with the laser on.

We still have more to do learning about g-code and the CNC software, calibrating laser power and so on. Also, the machine needs to be moved to its final home in the bathroom with proper ventilation. I’ll be writing a complete page about all the technical details, including schematics, firmware, photos, etc. soon. For now enjoy the video, and please check it out next time you’re at the lab or ask on IRC.

I gave a 5-minute Ignite talk about HackLabTO at DemoCamp last week.  Check out the writeup over at my blog:

http://hypatia.ca/2009/03/hacklabto-ignite-at-democampto19/

Slides are up at Slideshare if you just want to see the pretty pictures :)

-Leigh

To celebrate that important annual geek milestone, Pi Day (March 14), we’re having a party featuring a pie contest at the lab.  We haven’t decided what the prize will be, but it will be AWESOME and probably be made on the lazzor.

Entrance to the party will be a $10 donation (which will go towards lab expenses), or bring a pie.  Homemade pies only!  Quiche and other savory things made in round dishes count as pie.

Things will start up at 7pm, though there will likely be folks around the lab earlier.  As usual, check our IRC channel (#hacklabto on freenode) to see if people are around if you want to drop by early.

Feel free to get in touch with me (hypa7ia on irc or leigh at hypatia dot ca via email) if you have any questions!

Here’s a button to add it to your Google Calendar or otherwise see details: