Hardware assembly session registration / preparation status
Jonathan Oxer
Registrations for the assembly session have worked out pretty much as
well as I could possibly have hoped. Over the last 2 days I've sent out
an email (included in full below) to every person who registered, and 5
people have now submitted payment to cover hardware costs.
Several people have requested multiple Pebbles, and a surprising number
have requested multiple XBee modules and Explorer boards. We may have to
scramble to get enough of these since it seems that both Andy and I
underestimated the interest in XBee.
More people than I expected have said they can bring their own tools,
and a couple have even said they can bring multiple
temperature-controlled soldering stations for other people to use. One
person even offered to bring a hot-air SMD rework station to do a
demonstration of SMD assembly.
Overall it's looking like this is going to work out well.
The current rego summary is below, but note that the "24" figure
includes a couple of people who will be acting as tutorial helpers but
submitted the rego form anyway because they want to buy hardware.
Total:
* 24 registrations via the form
Soldering experience:
* 4 have no soldering experience at all
* 13 have basic soldering experience
* 7 have good soldering experience
* 0 are soldering ninjas
Arduino experience:
* 11 have no Arduino experience at all
* 11 have basic Arduino experience
* 1 have good Arduino experience
* 1 are Arduino ninjas
Pebble:
* 4 requests for bare kits
* 19 requests for half-assembled kits
* 2 requests for fully-assembled boards
* 1 requested no kit and to be paired up
Extras:
* 12 Arduinos requested
* 5 USB cables requested
* 7 USB 240V-to-5V plug packs requested
* 18 XBee modules requested
* 11 XBee Explorers requested
Tools:
* 7 people can BYO tools
Payment:
* $2774 total payable by attendees
* $911 paid so far by attendees
* $892.06 paid by attendees after Paypal fees
Below is the pro-forma email I've been sending out, but of course each
one has been personalised with their order quantities and prices from
the spreadsheet.
Cheers :-)
Jon
================================================================
Hi <FirstName>,
Thanks for registering for the hardware assembly / soldering tutorial at
the Arduino Miniconf at LCA.
https://conf.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/Arduino
We now have enough registrations to run with a full room: 20 individuals
or pairs, each working with a set of tools and a Pebble bare kit or half
assembled kit. We still have room for more people to join in as the
second half of a pair but no more who want to do their own assembly.
The next stage is to arrange payment for the various bits of hardware
you requested on the registration form but before doing that I want to
clarify what each one is just in case you want to change your request.
* Pebble (AU$44 kit or half-assembled, AU$48 fully assembled)
General purpose I/O shield to fit an Arduino such as a Duemilanove.
Provides a 20x4 LCD; 3 button inputs; analog pot input; temperature
sensor; light sensor; 2 relay outputs; headers to plug in XBee wireless
module. Does not include the module itself. The Pebble is not a
stand-alone device, and needs an Arduino to operate.
http://www.practicalarduino.com/news/id/581
* Arduino (AU$40)
An Arduino Duemilanove with a 328P CPU. The most common Arduino model
for general experimentation. Ready to plug in and go. If you don't have
an Arduino already you'll need one to use with the Pebble.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=666
* USB A-B cable (AU$5)
Standard printer cable to connect your Arduino to a PC to upload
programs. The Duemilanove doesn't come with the cable so if you don't
have a spare printer cable handy you'll need one of these. It's like one
of these, but the ones I've bought are gray:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=512
* 240V USB plug-pack (AU$10)
This is totally optional but it's a handy thing to have around so I
thought I'd put them on the list just in case anybody wants one. It's a
small switch-mode 240V plug-pack with a short flying lead that ends in a
USB "B" socket. All it does is provide regulated 5V through the socket,
so you can use this with a USB A-B cable to provide power directly to an
Arduino without needing to have it connected to a PC. Great if you want
to connect up your Arduino somewhere and leave it running.
http://ritmotech.com.au/satotech/product_info.php?products_id=119
* XBee module 2mW (AU$38)
Module that plugs into the Pebble and lets it become part of a ZigBee
wireless mesh network. Note though that you need two nodes to have a
network: if you get just a Pebble plus one of these you'll be able to
play with the mesh we set up at the miniconf, but when you get home
it'll be like clapping with one hand. To do anything much useful you
need 2 of these.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8691
* XBee Explorer USB (AU$37)
The XBee module itself needs to plug into a special header and
communicate via a UART (serial) connection. This tiny board acts as an
adaptor, allowing you to plug an XBee module into it and then connect to
your PC via a mini-USB cable (not included). You can then do things like
have an app on your PC communicate wirelessly with your Arduino + Pebble
+ XBee. The price on this has dropped by a couple of dollars compared to
what was listed on the rego form, and it looks like this:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8687
So what we need to do now is make sure that the hardware you requested
on the registration form is actually what you need. At present my
spreadsheet shows you requesting the following items:
0 x Pebble bare kit @AU$44 = $0
0 x Pebble half-assembled kit @AU$44 = $0
0 x Pebble fully assembled @AU$48 = $0
0 x Arduino Duemilanove @AU$40 = $0
0 x USB A-B cable @AU$5 = $0
0 x 240V USB plug pack @AU$10 = $0
0 x XBee module 2mW @AU$38 = $0
0 x XBee Explorer USB @AU$37 = $0
Total: AU$0
If that's correct then I'd appreciate it if you could submit payment via
Paypal to "j...@oxer.com.au". Andy, Mitch, and I have all personally
footed substantial costs pre-ordering parts, tools, and PCBs, so the
sooner I receive payment the sooner I can make sure the relevant people
are reimbursed. If you can't pay via Paypal please let me know and
alternative arrangements can be made.
If you want to change any of the quantities just let me know before
making payment.
Cheers :-)
--
Jonathan Oxer
Ph +61 4 3851 6600
* Internet Vision Technologies (www.ivt.com.au)
* Practical Arduino (www.practicalarduino.com)
* SuperHouse Automation (www.superhouse.tv)
* Geek My Ride! (www.geekmyride.org)