Category Archives: Workshop Update

Workshop Update for June 15th, 2012

Today we ported the open source USB to two microcontrollers, the PIC18F2550, and the PIC24FJ64GB002. While the echo demo we had worked with the PIC18F2550, it was built to work with the IR Toy, so some board specific stuff was in there. The new ports are bare bones, and are intended for any board that […]

Workshop Update for June 14th, 2012

Today we worked on the homemade flux video. Documentation for the Part Ninja continued. Most of the part recognition diagrams are uploaded, and the information on how the Part Ninja identifies different parts was added. Today we took a look at the Bus Blaster, and how we could improve it. This project is very far […]

Workshop Update for June 13th, 2012

Today we mixed up a few batches of homemade Rosin based flux recipes, the results in tomorrows workshop video. Documentation on the Part Ninja continued today, with concept and overview documented on the part specific testing page. We hit a snag with a USB cable that kept disconnecting the Part Ninja while we were collecting […]

Workshop Update for June 12th, 2012

Today we renewed websites, including 7400contest.com which is coming up again soon. We patched an SPI speed error in the Bus Pirate binary access mode. We had to cancel the company credit cards because 7 unexpected charges to Blizzard (World of Warcraft) and 4 to iTunes showed up today. In the process of checking the […]

Workshop Update for June 7th, 2012

The workshop video always sucks up a whole day, this one way longer than normal to edit though. Learn about the parts we stock and why. Routing of the soldering practice badge continues today. We set the design using 3 ‘595 shift registers, and one ULN2003 Darlington array. Two ‘595s control power to 15 columns […]

Workshop Update for June 6th, 2012

We worked on the updated sales page for the Bus Pirate. You can preview our “work in progress” in the pic above, and notice a slight update to the site-wide banner. The final render of the 3D model for the sales page is currently in progress. We decided  make two versions of the LED Dangerous […]

Workshop Update for 5th of June, 2012

Desktop cleanup yielded a few random project files that we added to the SVN. We’re preparing 2 different sales pages for the Bus Pirate. We’ll post both for feedback, and then randomly display them to determine if one is more effective. Any statistics will be posted on the blog. The DIY DP Badge is nearing […]

Workshop Update for June 4th, 2012

We commited a patch to the SPIsniffer utility for the Bus Pirate that fixes an error with correct port speed settings on some systems. We also started work on some landing, and sales pages for the Bus Pirate. A bunch of LEDs were added to the  Dangerous Prototypes solder practice badge. Part Ninja Processing app […]

Workshop Update for June 1st, 2012

Bay Area Maker Faire 2012 is over, but we still have pictures from last year (and every other Global Geek event) sitting on desktops around the workshop. We cleared 4 computer desktops that became totally packed with crap over the last year. We also finished internal and off-site backups of all systems in the workshop. […]

Workshop Update for May 31st, 2012

Today we made a video of the Get your Stuff Made presentation. We also worked on cleaning up the Bus Blaster v2/3/4 buffer logic. Design of the badge for New York Maker Faire started in full. It has options for through-hole or various surface mount part sizes. The picture above is of the latest design. […]

Workshop Update for May 30th, 2012

Today we submitted one talk and two poster proposals to the Open Hardware Summit. We’ll post those, including an idea we didn’t submit, tomorrow. A big box of PCBs from Seeed Studio’s Fusion PCB service came while we were away, today we grabbed them at the post office. We continue to develop the Part Ninja […]

Workshop Update for May 29th, 2012

Proposals for the Open Hardware Summit will be submitted tomorrow. We’re proposing a talk on USB IDs again, updated with a nod to OpenMoko’s USB VID and ethernet MAC giveaway. Based on last year’s summit line-up we think the USB talk probably won’t be accepted (again), so we’re also submitting it as a poster so […]

Workshop Update for May 28th, 2012

Today we had meetings, cleaned up the workshop, and worked on our application to the Open Hardware Summit. OHS applications are due the 31st (Thursday), we’ll post ours as soon as it’s done. We continued updating and cleaning up our Eagle part library, and made some adjustments to a soon-to-be-released PCB. Capacitor measurement in now […]

Workshop Update for May 23rd, 2012

We unpacked our Maker Faire kit, scanned in business cards, and started editing the video. There will probably be one epic “how-to participate in a Maker Faire” video with tips, project interviews, and a behind the scenes look at the pre- and post- parties. A tutorial on how to create parts with same pin names […]

Workshop Update for May 22, 2012

We are back in the workshop from the Bay Area Maker Faire, expect our full report to start tomorrow. We continue the work on the Part Ninja firmware. We implemented part specific functions for many parts. These functions figure out the pinout, and calculate part specific values, like the forward voltage for Diodes, hFE for […]