Hi guys, This one is way OT but I know quite a few developers on the list will be interested. The other day I picked up an Arduino microcontroller and got chatting with Tim Carr from MindKits who is the NZ distributor for SparkFun Electronics (http://www.sparkfun.com).
Some of you may have seen this at Barcamp Auckland but for those who aren't familiar with microcontrollers they're essentially a computer on a chip, complete with CPU, RAM, USB/serial port and I/O pins for connecting sensors, motors, servos, LEDs, etc. They can be battery powered, can plug in to a network, read RFID cards, or connect to Wifi. I've used one years back to build a 2 metre tall cellphone replica as a controller to browse WAP mobile sites, talking to a server through PHP's Direct I/O extension - the possibilities are endless. Tim has a beginners workshop running this weekend in Auckland that sounds very cool and has a couple of places available. If you're interested in microcontrollers or robotics have a read through his email below. Kind regards, James McGlinn __________________________________ CTO Eventfinder Limited Suite 106, Heards Building 2 Ruskin Street, Parnell, Auckland 1052 Phone: +649 365 2342 Mobile: +6421 633 234 [email protected] | www.eventfinder.co.nz Begin forwarded message: > Hi all, I'm Tim from www.MindKits.co.nz here.. I see more and more > people looking to explore the fun of physical computing but they are > not really sure how to start. So, we're here to offer MindKits as an > easy way to integrate your projects with the physical world and have > support while you're at it. We've had some pretty awesome projects > come out of the combination of Arduino and software integration on a > PC - web enabled lawn mower, twittering plant, rfid memory box that > plays war memories when brought near the screen. > > So, some of you may be interested in learning more and for those who > aren't please accept my apologies for taking your time with this > email. > > If you are interested, check us out at www.mindkits.co.nz, drop me > an email ([email protected]) or check out our workshop we're > running this weekend. We're happy to help and love to hear about the > projects being built. > > The workshop is geared toward beginners but we have enough content > that beginner-intermediate users will learn plenty and be well > challenged. > I know there are an increasing number of people wishing to get into > Arduino and robotics in general so if you are interested or know of > someone who you feel would benefit you may wish to enlighten them or > pass along this email. I'm always happy to field questions too so > feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. > > So, if you're keen to come along for two days of fun on the weekend > while learning and meeting like minded tinkerers we'd love to see you. > The course is this weekend so don't delay and as of this writing we > have two positions left in the workshop(22nd/23rd). > > Contact [email protected] for more info or...... > > Auckland: > http://www.mindkits.co.nz/arduino_course-AK.html > > > Regards and thank you, > > Tim > MindKits Chief Ninja > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
