Workshop: Arduino Basics
“Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.”
Starting in February we plan on running a series of workshops focused on the Arduino and other microcontrollers . These workshops are open to anyone wishing to dive into learning more about microcontrollers and how they can be used in all sorts of hardware based projects such as tweeting the temperature of a room, motion detection or using GPS as just a few examples. The workshops will be focused on the very basics initially, to allow people to become familiar with the device and will also introduce people to the development environment. First workshop is scheduled for Saturday 1st February from 14:30 - 17:00. The workshop is free for Lightbox Lab members and 5 euro for non-members. If you are interested in attending please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. NOTE: We cannot gurantee access to arduino boards for every workshop attendee so you are asked to bring your own if possible,
python tutorial - request library
As part of the learning to program in python tutorials we are planning to do a rerun of the third python tutorial. This tutorial provides an intro to the vast number of python libraries and APIs out there and focuses on one for the purpose of demonstration. We will be covering "Requests" which is an elegant and simple HTTP library for python (more info here: http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/index.html ). We plan to hold this on Saturday 23/03, the class is free for members and 5 euro for non-members. If you are interested in attendingthis class please send a mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Introduction to Unity 3D
Introduction to Unity 3D - 1st December 2012
On Saturday the 1st December 2012 we will be hosting an introduction to the FREE* Unity 3D engine . Topics will include (in order):
- Intro to Unity - what is it? why use it ? competitors? licensing?
- Unity Editor basics - primitives, lighting, transforms, components, terrain, importing models etc
- Examining the first and third person controllers - prefabricated components you can just drag and drop into a level
- Asset Store - prebuilt models and scripts, GUI toolkits, etc
- Large game development community - Unity Answers and other sites
- Unity scripting basics - Javascript / C#, moving things around, collision detection.
- LESS OF ME TALKING AND MORE EVERYBODY PLAYING AROUND WITH THE ENGINE AND BUILDING FUN STUFF !!!!!!
Prerequisites (Optional): If you have a Windows or Mac laptop (Intel only), please install a version of Unity 3D 3.4 or newer (we're up to version 4 now). The free version is more than enough to work with and has absolutely everything you would need for an intro to 3D / Game Design. *The Pro version of Unity has advanced extras like Navigation Meshes, advanced shaders, etc, but is not entirely necessary for general game design.
If you don't have a computer with you: That's fine, as you should still learn plenty about the engine.
Location: Lightbox Lab (Drogheda's Makerspace) - Millmount, see our "LOCATION" page above for a map.
Time: 11am - 3pm (we will definitely take breaks)
Price: COMPLETELY FREE!
In the future I plan to do more Unity days / nights, and possibly might delve into the free Unreal Development Kit (UDK)
TO SIGN UP OR FOR MORE DETAILS: Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Links:
http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/game-list
http://unity3d.com/unity/licenses
http://unity3d.com/asset-store/
http://answers.unity3d.com/index.html
http://www.unity3dstudent.com/
http://t3kd.com/gaming/so-you-want-to-make-your-own-games/
Unity System Requirements:
Windows: XP SP2 or later; Mac OS X: Intel CPU & "Snow Leopard" 10.6 or later. Note that Unity was not tested on server versions of Windows and OS X.
Network Security Workshop
So after the Christmas lull we are back with some more workshops for the next few months. To start off we will be holding a security workshop on the 26th of January from 11am-4pm. The plan for the day is to allow anyone with an interest in systems and network offense/defense to learn with the group and others some new skills within in this area and to ask and answer questions on the subject. We will set up a small network with a few machines configured with various security holes for testing purposes. We all have various levels of experience in this area so its a good chance to learn something new and a chance to figure out what security flaws your own home/office system may be open to and how to fix them. The idea is also to "learn together" so there will be no fixed agenda for the day. The workshop is free to members and 5 euro for non members. Anyone wishing to attend should email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more detailed info with regards to what software/hardware is required . Hope to see you there!
Ruby Tutorial Slides
{jd_file file==5}