Workshop 88

Learn to Program! For Kids (Session 2)

achmorrison — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:19:21 +0000

Sure, you know how to play games on a computer, but do you know how to program one? How awesome would it be to actually control what the computer is doing instead of just playing someone else’s game? If you come to Workshop 88′s kid’s programming lessons we help you learn you how. We use a variety of tools like Kids Ruby and MIT Scatch to learn and practice the fundamentals of programming. All interest and ability levels are welcome. Ages 8 – 16. Please bring your own laptop and power cord. We will provide you with the software needed. $25 per class and $25 for the textbook (or join W88 for $50 / month and come to all the classes you want!)

Each Session is independent, so come whenever you can!

Session 1 January 5th, 7-8:30pm

Session 2 January 26th, 7-8:30pm

Questions? Email info@workshop88.com.

Next round of Arduino classes at Workshop 88!

achmorrison — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:41:11 +0000

Workshop 88 is offering our introduction to the Arduino platform at our makerspace in Glen Ellyn. Class attendees will learn how to configure their arduino programming environment, how to design simple circuits for interfacing with the arduino and how to write simple programs to control the arduino. What is Arduino, you ask? From their home page:

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.

You can order Arduino systems from several places, including Adafruit and Sparkfun. Both companies have lots of tutorials and howtos to get you started with Arduinos. If you’re looking for a local source to get Arduinos, try Trossen Robotics.

What you’ll get from this class: If you choose the tuition + materials option, we will have an arduino and assortment of electronics components for you to take home after the class. In this class you will learn how to start programming in the Arduino environment including interacting with the inputs and outputs of the Arduino.

You should bring: a laptop with the Arduino environment downloaded installed.

Please contact us (info@workshop88.com) if you have any questions.

New meeting schedule

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:04:26 +0000

Workshop88 is happy to announce a new meeting schedule staring February 2012. Meetings will be at 7 pm Thursday evenings every week, and the open hack night will be Monday nights. Class schedules and the meetup schedule will be updated to reflect these changes. Board meetings will be scheduled once a month.

We look forward to seeing you at our new weekly meetings.

Intermediate Arduino – February 2012

achmorrison — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:43:14 +0000

Workshop 88 is offering a follow-up to the Introduction to the Arduino class featuring a concentration on interfacing the arduino with various sensors and learning to use communication protocols with the arduino. If you already have an arduino, you have all the materials you’ll need for this class. Otherwise, you can order a kit and we’ll have it for you when you come to the class.

Learn to Program! For Kids (Session 1)

achmorrison — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:16:16 +0000

Each Session is independent and the classes will be ongoing, so come whenever you can!

Session 1 January 5th, 7-8:30pm

Session 2 January 26th, 7-8:30pm

Questions? Email info@workshop88.com.

Our friends at PS:1 have a kickstarter going now…

achmorrison — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:18:47 +0000

We are not the only hackerspace in the Chicago area that is working on a kickstarter campaign. After you’ve signed up for the Hackerspaces in Space Challenge and pledged to the kicketarter, you should check this out:

Some of the guys over at nearby Pumping Station: One have a kickstarter that is a about halfway done. They call their project the “Power Wheels Racing Series”. What they do is encourage makers to trick out Power Wheelst toys into souped up racing machines. Then, the makers all get together and race them for pride and glory. Support our neighbors to the east!

Where to look for Workshop 88 information online

achmorrison — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:00:31 +0000

We’ve been trying to reach out online and connect with makers and hackers in the suburbs of Chicago for the last 2 years or more. Here is a sampling of all the places where you can get information on what is happening at Workshop 88.

First, if you’re reading this, congrats. You’ve found the blog. Also note that the blog has an RSS feed. (Yay, RSS!)

Every post that goes up on the blog is also sent out on the Workshop 88 twitter feed. Announcements are made there on occasion. We reply to people when they send us messages on twitter, as well.

We have had great success with our meetup group. A majority of our newest members and guests have found us through meetup.

So there you go. All of the information that we post online can be found in these places. We post events to all of the places above at the same time, so no matter how you follow us, you should always get the details.

One last thing: it can be a little tricky to find Workshop 88 the first time you come to the space. Fortunately, Fredo made a video showing how to get to the space.

Encourage science exploration in schools!

achmorrison — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:34:04 +0000

Our Hackerspaces in Space project has been posted to Hack-a-Day!

Thanks to the increased traffic from the Hack-a-Day readers, our kickstarter is starting to grow closer to being funded. It’s great to see that the post on HaD really emphasized the educational component of the HSIS challenge. Every time we get a $100 pledge, a kit that will go to a school somewhere in the country is 1/3 funded.

What can you do to help us engage kids in science exploration?

Hackerspaces in Space: Year 2

achmorrison — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:51:39 +0000

A few days ago we launched (no pun intended) Hackerspaces in Space: Year 2. HSIS (as we like to refer to it) is a challenge that we extend to other hackerspaces (and like-minded groups of people) to design, build and launch a weather balloon equipped with cameras to take photos at near-space altitudes. The HSIS website has all the rules regarding the contest which you can check out if you’re interested.

Last time we ran the challenge, we had a great response from the makerspace and hackerspace community. We’re hoping to make HSIS better this year. We want to use HSIS to promote science exploration and discovery in schools. We want to take whatever best designs come out of this year’s challenge and send kits based on the winning designs to schools, so that student can launch their own balloons to near-space.

To make that happen, we’ve set up a kickstarter project. (You may have seen the banner at the top of the page.) Take a look at some of the prizes we’re offering and consider becoming a backer to this project so that we can get kits into schools!

Also, we need your help spreading the word about HSIS. Please link to the page, tweet it, facebook it, retweet, upvote it on reddit, or just post it wherever you share your information online. We can’t make this happen without your help!

Public meetings schedule updated.

achmorrison — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:33:49 +0000

The public meeting schedule on our events page expired after last night’s meeting. It should now be up to date. Also, you can connect with us on meetup, if you prefer.

General meetings are always open to the public. We encourage everyone to bring ideas to improve Workshop 88. If you can’t make it to the meeting but still want to share your ideas, just email info@workshop88.com and we’ll be happy to bring it to the table for you. Hope to see you all there!

Feel free to come early to the meetings. We run the “business” meeting from 6:30pm to just before 7:30pm, then we break off and dive into whatever interesting projects people are working on.