-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis ISMS, Computing Goldsmiths, University of London JID: ironchicken@jabber.earth.li http://www.richardlewis.me.uk/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > OSHUG #15 — Wireless (Hacking Commodity Wireless, Practical Wireless, > Contiki OS, CWIG) > > On the 26th January 2012, 18:00 - 20:00 at Centre for Creative > Collaboration, 16 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG, (51.529049, > -0.116436) > > ** Registration: http://oshug.org/event/15 ** > > At the fifteenth OSHUG meeting we'll be taking a look at wireless > technologies. We will hear how you can repurpose low cost commodity > equipment, we will be given an introduction to RF basics, we will > learn about the Contiki operating system, and we will be introduced to > Ciseco's new Wireless Internet Gateway. > > - Hacking Commodity Wireless > > Many people build their hacks from the ground up, but those short of > time sometimes prefer to repurpose cheap off-the-shelf components that > can be made to fit the bill. A good example being a wireless > thermometer for external use, where an off-the-shelf device provides > an inexpensive option complete with the requisite weatherproof > packaging. However, such devices typically use proprietary protocols > and good documentation is rarely available. This talk will look at how > to interface such devices where a degree of reverse-engineering is > frequently required. > > Paul Tanner is a consultant, developer and maker in wood, metal, > plastic, electronics and software. His day job is IT-based business > improvement for SMEs. By night he turns energy nut, creating tools to > optimise energy use. Paul graduated in electronics and was responsible > for hardware and software product development and customer services in > several product and service start-ups, switching to consulting in > 2000. > > - Practical Wireless > > Adding wireless connectivity to your latest open hardware project is > not difficult, provided that you take the time to understand some of > the principles of RF communication. In this talk we will learn about > the basics of wireless propagation, and take a look at some of the low > cost modules which now make adding wireless even easier. > > Ken Boak joined BBC Research Department after graduating and worked on > digital picture processing of HDTV images, and coding algorithms for > video distribution around studios. Since then, Ken has worked in > laboratory instrumentation, telecommunications, low power wireless and > consumer electronics produced in the Far East. With an interest in > renewables, Ken now develops laboratory instruments to teach > undergraduates the principles of photovoltaic and wind power. Outside > of work, Ken is interested in smart wireless sensors, open source > hardware and low cost solutions for the Internet of Things. > > - An Introduction to the Contiki O/S > > This talk is aimed to introduce the Contiki OS and some of the > development hardware. We will learn about the process of bootstrapping > the development environment and there will be a hands-on tutorial. > > Ilya Dmitrichenko was born in Soviet Latvia in 1985, grew up and > attended a secondary school there, and moved to UK as soon as Latvia > joined the EU. He attended the biggest university in London and was > rather disappointed with the education, but nevertheless carried on > and had fun working on a final year engineering project which served > as an introduction to the topic of this talk. Ilya is interested in > various aspects of hardware and software, spanning from WSN to DSP and > several other random fields. > > - CWIG — The Ciseco Wireless Internet Gateway > > The CWIG is a new open hardware device that is designed to be the "one > and only" platform you'd need for a wireless gateway. It employs the > same ATmega328 microcontroller that is familiar to Arduino users and > supports Ciseco's TI CC1110-based XRF module, XBee, Bluetooth, RFM12B, > X10/HomeEasy, FRAM, SD, Ethernet and over-the-air programming with > AVRDude. It's sized to be housed in a low cost, compact enclosure and > to be cheap to build using through-hole components. In this talk we > will be given an introduction to the CWIG and also to the XRF wireless > UART and programmable RF module. > > Miles Hodkinson's twenty-odd year relationship with IT ended around > six years ago when he decided that it was time to do something > completely different. He had looked around without success for > something to log and control his wind turbine, solar panels and Lister > single cylinder engine, and found that nothing was flexible enough for > the money he wanted to pay (tens of pounds per device), so he decided > he would try and build it himself. After a number of years working on > a human-focused method of networking originally built using XBee > modules and now termed LLAP, his company developed the TI CC1110-based > XRF module. > > Note: Please aim to arrive for 18:00 - 18:20 as the talks will start > at 18:30 prompt. > > ** Registration: http://oshug.org/event/15 **