Experimenters, tinkerers, creatives, performers and art and technology creators of all sorts are being sought for the Fuse Factory’s  third annual Ignition exhibition.
Theme: Community.

Works are sought that explore both the individual and the groups with which they connect and communicate.  Artists are encouraged to submit interactive works that engage, challenge and provide unique experiences to the viewer.

We’re looking for robotics, performances, installations, short videos and films, web cam art, sculptures, stills, games, music and sound art, prints, and even paintings — to name a few.

Take us somewhere we’ve not yet been and weren’t quite expecting to go.  Let us play — and let us share our experiences with those around us.

Ignition 3.0 will take place in and around
Skylab on May 14th and 15th 2010.

Download the call for entries here.
Postmark Deadline: April 5, 2010.

Storytelling Alice is a programming environment designed to motivate a broad spectrum of middle school students to learn to program computers through creating short 3D animated movies.

To learn more about Storytelling Alice, you can visit:

http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytelling/

Our goal is to raise $1000, which will sponsor ten at-risk youth between the ages of 10 and 14 who live and attend school in the Weinland Park Area. $100 will enable one child to participate in the workshop series. Make donations at: http://www.firstgiving.com/thefusefactory

Thank you very much for your support!

All good,

Alison Colman, Founder and Executive Director, and all of us at the Fuse Factory!

Photo by Wild Goose Creative

Here is the current schedule for my upcoming Arduino workshops for January/February through theFusefactory.org . They will be held at Wild Goose Creative (2491 Summit St. Cols OH 43202 – parking and directions )

*** DON’T DELAY in signing up! Classes fill up quickly. ***

• Sun, Jan 31: Make your own printed circuit board and create an Ambient RGB lamp!
  Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm

• Sun, Feb 7: Arduino 101/Intro to soldering
  Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm

• Sun, Feb 14: Soft Circuits: Interactive Passion Sensing Scarf
  Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm

SyRen 10A Regenerative Motor Driver

We have added some new products from Dimension Engineering to the Arduino Fun Shop. We are offering a 25% Discount Coupon, good Friday – Monday on these products! Use coupon code BFCM09 when completing your shopping cart order.

The SyRen motor driver is one of the most versatile, efficient and easy to use motor drivers on the market. It is suitable for medium powered robots – up to 30lbs in combat or 100lbs for general purpose robotics.

With just one SyRen driver you can control a motor with: analog voltage, radio control, serial and packetized serial. You can build many different robots of increasing complexity for years to come with a SyRen. Owning two SyRens allows you to build differential drive (tank style) robots because they can work in tandem with built in mixing.

The operating mode is set with the onboard DIP switches so there are no jumpers to lose. The SyRen features screw terminal connectors – making it possible for you to build a robot without even soldering.

SyRen is the first synchronous regenerative motor driver in its class. The regenerative topology means that your batteries get recharged whenever you command your robot to slow down or reverse. SyRen also allows you to make very fast stops and reverses – giving your robot a quick and nimble edge.

Buffered 2g Accelerometer

The DE-ACCM2G is an off the shelf 2 axis 2g accelerometer solution with analog outputs. It features integrated op amp buffers for direct connection to a microcontroller’s analog inputs, or for driving heavier loads.

To maximise usability, it is designed to fit in the DIP-14 form factor, making the DE-ACCM2G suitable for breadboarding, perfboarding, and insertion into standard chip sockets. To keep things as simple as possible, there are only 4 pins – two for power, and two for the X and Y analog outputs.

Additional circuitry ensures that the product won’t be damaged by reversed power connections, and it has an onboard voltage regulator to allow operation from a wide range of inputs.

5V 1A Switching Voltage Regulator

The DE-SW0XX family of switch mode voltage regulators are designed to be the easiest possible way to add the benefits of switch-mode power to a new or existing project. A DE-SW050 will allow you to take a higher voltage and it step down a 5V output in a compact, efficient manner. The DE-SW0XX family is pin-compatible with the common 78XX family of linear voltage regulators. They have integrated decoupling capacitors, so external capacitors are not generally necessary.

What is wrong with a linear regulator?
Linear regulators are great for powering very low powered devices. They are easy to use and cheap, and therefore are very popular. However, due to the way they work, they are extremely inefficient.

How is a switching regulator better?
A switching regulator works by taking small chunks of energy, bit by bit, from the input voltage source, and moving them to the output. This is accomplished with the help of an electrical switch and a controller which regulates the rate at which energy is transferred to the output (hence the term “switching regulator”).

The energy losses involved in moving chunks of energy around in this way are relatively small, and the result is that a switching regulator can typically have 85% efficiency. Since their efficiency is less dependent on input voltage, they can power useful loads from higher voltage sources.

Switch-mode regulators are used in devices like portable phones, video game platforms, robots, digital cameras, and your computer.

AnyVolt 3

The AnyVolt 3 Universal DC-DC Converter is an adjustable step up / step down 3A switching regulator. The output is adjustable from 3 to 24V. The output voltage is set with a small screw potentiometer on the back of the AnyVolt 3. Once the output voltage is set, it does not matter whether input voltage is higher, lower, or the same as the desired output. The potential applications are endless and only limited by the unit’s specifications and your collection of gadgets that require DC power at a different voltage than their supply.

Input power and output loads are connected with reusable screw terminals, so no soldering is necessary.

GridConnect

GridConnect has added a $50 Coupon to the Fun with Arduino Contest.  The coupon can be used on any item! Grid Connect (formerly Synergetic / Lantronix) has been a leader in the embedded and networking marketplace for more than 15 years.

Submit your Arduino project today!

Arduino Workshop 21 Nov 09

Saturday turned out to be a great day for working with the Arduino at Wild Goose Creative. Although we missed the OSU Football game (but we already knew they would beat Michigan!) we had a great turn out. I was actually surprised at the amount who showed up on the big rivalry game day! It seems like the Arduino is catching on in Columbus.

I have added some photos to my Flickr page from today’s class. I need to start taking more photos at these events. I tend to forget to bring a camera with me

Future classes are being planned and I will update with a schedule as soon as it is ready.

ShapeWays.com

ShapeWays.com has added a $50.00 Coupon to the ArduinoFun – Build It- contest! Have you ever wanted to turn your 3D designs into reality? Enter Shapeways! Just upload your design, we print it and ship it to you – it’s easy. Within ten working days you’ll hold your own design in your hands.

But that’s not all – we’re offering you everything you need to meet fellow Shapeways users, share your work and find inspiration.

We’re using a technique called ‘3D Printing’ which has proven itself as a high-quality production technique, but up to now has always been very expensive. By creating a large community we are able to produce much cheaper, meaning better prices for you.

Enter your Arduino project today!

Prizes:

• 1st place winner will receive an Arduino Mega and a $50.00 Coupon for ShapeWays.com
• 2nd place winner will receive an Arduino Pro Mini 328 – 3.3V/8MHz
• 3rd place winner will receive an Arduino Screw Shield

In this workshop, participants will learn to create an arduino from scratch, using an easy-to-assemble kit from ArduinoFun.com. This workshop is a great introduction to the arduino for kids and adults, as well as an excellent introduction to robotics and electronic engineering in general. Participants will be led through the process of creating an arduino, which they will be able to take with them and use for future projects.

The arduino has become the microprocessor of choice for artists, designers, roboticists and hobbyists around the world due to its affordability and ease of use.

• Contest Start Date: 01 | Nov | 09
• Contest End Date: 31 | Dec | 09
• Judging Begins: 01 | Jan | 10
• Top 3 Winners Announced: 08 | Jan | 10

Prizes awarded to the top three Arduino projects. Projects will be judged by Shawn Augustson of ArduinoFun.com, Guilherme Martins of Guibot.net, Dr. Alison Colman of theFuseFactory.org, and we will also accept viewer submitted votes through Twitter

How to Enter: Contestants must create a project using the Arduino (any board). The project must be geared towards the beginner to intermediate user to help learn more about what the Arduino is and can do. Project can have already been submitted elsewhere, for example you already published it on another site like Instructables, etc.

Each project MUST HAVE the following in order to be considered:

• Photo of the finished project
• YouTube or other service video showing the project working
• Step by step supporting documentation on how a user can complete your project
• Arduino code used for project
• List of sources used, for example if you borrowed ideas from another project on the web

(Optional) – Bonus points for adding a statement of what the Arduino has meant to you.

How to Submit Your Project: Send photos, documentation, links to your video and your arduino sketch pasted into a text file to shawn at arduinofun dot com. Projects will then be posted to ArduinoFun.com (you remain the project owner, we will not use projects in anything other than published to ArduinoFun.com)

Prizes:

• 1st place winner will receive an Arduino Mega and a $50.00 Coupon for ShapeWays.com
• 2nd place winner will receive an Arduino Pro Mini 328 – 3.3V/8MHz and a $50.00 Coupon for GridConnect
• 3rd place winner will receive an Arduino Screw Shield and Deluxe Solder Kit from ArduinoFun.com

New products will continue to be added, so check back periodically.