Makerspace in Action: A Hands-On Introduction to Arduino Electronic Prototyping Platform - Special Two-Part Session - Part 1 of 2 - Sponsored furniture provided by Herman Miller

Makerspaces are zones of self-directed learning, providing a physical laboratory for inquiry-based learning and are primarily used for technological experimentation, hardware development, and idea prototyping, but increasingly, individual inventors and creative teams are using makerspaces to build projects in fields other than engineering and technology. Come to this learnshop and experience a makerspace firsthand using Arduino devices. Arduino is an easy-to-use device for connecting simple electronic components (e.g., LEDs, switches, sensors, loudspeakers, and motors) to each other that also describes how they should behave. PLEASE NOTE: Attendance is limited to 40 participants. Seating will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

In this workshop you will learn: How to install Arduino on your laptop, write simple programs, and download them to the Arduino board * How to build simple electronic circuits and connect them to Arduino * How to gather data from multiple sensors and control multiple output devices (LEDs, speakers, etc.)

IMPORTANT: You must bring a laptop (not a tablet) to participate in this workshop (Arduino is supported on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux). You'll need to download and install the free Arduino 1.5.5 BETA or the latest version of 1.5 prior to the workshop, available either from http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software or at the information desk on thumb drives that can be checked out. Note that this workshop spans two sessions and that material covered in the first half will not be repeated in the second.