What are Tinkerer Workshops?
Tinkerer Workshops are based around the open hardware platform of the BeagleBone Black and designed to teach you the basics of electronics and programming.The workshops will be run by a Logic Supply Engineer with a couple of Technical TAs to help you get to grips with the BeagleBone Black. Each workshop starts with an introduction to the BeagleBone Black outlining its key features, providing you with the background knowledge to get started. Working in pairs, you will take on a series of projects that ramp up in complexity, teaching you new skills at each level.
View the Tinkerer Workshop Schedule
How Techie Do I Need To Be?
The workshops have been designed to be accessible for all ages* and levels of technical abilities. While the seasoned engineer may find the basic level projects a breeze, there are more challenging ones that you can quickly progress to. As the name of the workshop suggests, we welcome tinkering with the code to see how it impacts the output.You can view the different projects below and view the walkthrough guides.
*We welcome budding young techies, but if you are under the age of 10 parental supervision is required.
Do I Need to Bring Anything?
No. Just yourself and an eagerness to learn.The BeagleBone Black you will use in the Tinkerer Workshop will be set up with a Display and a Keyboard with a trackball mouse, and the JavaScript Files will be saved to the board. If you are not in a Tinkerer Workshop and want to do these projects, you can find a guide on how to attach a keyboard with a trackball mouse and a display here. You will also need to add the JavaScript files, which can be found here, to the following directory on the BeagleBone Black: /var/lib/cloud9/workshop
Workshop Overview
Introduction
A brief overview of the BeagleBone Black, explaining the benefits of this platform and how it is different to other boards, such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino. In the introduction you will also get a guided tour of the board and it's features.Project 1 - Blink an LED
This very basic starter project will guide you through using the BeaagleBone Black and a breadboard to create your very first circuit. You will then load some simple JavaScript and run it to see how the code drives the output of the LED.View Project 1 Guide
Project 2 - Red, Yellow and Green LEDs
Taking the principles that you have just learned in Project 1, you will now recreate a circuit with Red, Yellow and Green LEDs. You will then load some JavaScript to get them to blink in a random sequence.View Project 2 Guide
Project 3 - Read a Push Button Switch, Control 3 LEDs
Building upon the circuit from Project 2, you will incorporate a push button switch that will start and stop the LEDs blinking.View Project 3 Guide
Project 4 - Read a Push Button, Control a Buzzer
In Project 4 you will build a new circuit with a buzzer and push button. When you run the code you will be able to control the buzzer with the push button. By playing with the code you can control the volume and frequency of the buzzer.View Project 4 Guide
Project 5 - Read Temperature and Control a Buzzer
Building upon this new circuit with a buzzer, you will remove the push button and add a temperature sensor to control the buzzer.View Project 5 Guide
