[McHUG] The Arduino Way

[Frank Rodski]

Goood job on the "ODE".
My main interest with these things has always been discover and control. I
would love to fly a RC plane under microcontroller control using a GPS to
tell me where I am. The M can then autopilot the plane. It would also be
neat to send video.

Speaking of remote control aircraft. Have you seen the latest TV ads on the
RC drones they are flying Overseas from a base here in the US. 

73, Frank K3MTT

-----Original Message-----
From: mchug-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:mchug-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Rich Mitchell
Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 3:22 PM
To: McHUG Reflector
Subject: [McHUG] The Arduino Way

Thanksgiving Day I started to get together some Arduino items to take along
on my trip to Vail in a week.  In doing so I found Massimo Banzi's book,
"Getting Started with Arduino".  Probably Steve had given me the book last
year.  As I scanned the first couple of chapters I came across this:
"Classic engineering relies on a strict process for getting from A to B;
the Arduino Way delights in the possibility of getting lost on the way and
finding C instead." p. 5.

That got me thinking about how to get the excitement back in McHUG
specifically and the club in general.  In the first chapter Banzi points out
that the intended audience and users of the Arduino are designers and
artists.  Remember that the Freeduino board that we built and used came from
someone who teaches at Rhode Island School of Design, not M.I.T.  Physical
Computing Banzi defines as "the design of interactive objects that can
communicate with humans using sensors and actuators controlled by a
behaviour implemented in software running inside a microcontroller". p.3.
The whole point of Arduino is to move this activity from the left side of
the brain (logical) to the right side (creative).  

The scientific method is all about proving or disproving a hypothesis under
strict control.  The Arduino Way is about not knowing where you are going
and delighting in the discoveries you make under the freedom of creativity.
And so Banzi goes on to describe prototyping, tinkering, patching, circuit
bending, hacking keyboards, playing with junk, hacking toys, and
collaboration.  One of his illustrations is the Sniffin' Glue fanzine that
gives the following instructions:  here's the A chord, here's the E chord,
here's the G chord, now go form a band.  He sees physical computing more as
the creativity of a rock band than the discipline of a scientific project.

Perhaps it's this spirit of discovery and excitement that we need to
cultivate.  Certainly we need engineers putting together modules for some of
the more difficult tasks that we can integrate into our hacking.  Maybe we
need to play with more junk, get some after Christmas discounted toys to
hack or do wondrous things with those excellent Christmas table
centerpieces.

In the hopes of capturing the delight of starting at A and accidentally
ending up at C, I have put together an 

"Ode to PICetSat, Rev A".

The PICetSat lay dormant.
For two years did she rest
Since flight on tied balloon
At HoCo fairgrounds fest.

Then up came our own hamfest
A demo needed bad.
We dusted off old PICetSat.
It worked and we were glad.

No time to calibrate
No tank of helium pure
With party gas balloon was filled
And launched outside the door.

As balloon rose slowly
PICetSat worked right.
The code sent back a message
Of temperature and light.

As minutes changed to hours
The signal did not stop.
It faded in the distance,
We never heard it drop.

And when we talk about it
And why it worked and how
We all seem in agreement
Collectively say "Wow"!

Rich, N3III
--
McHUG - Physical Computing ;) 
MicroController Ham User Group
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