Talks 2011-12-15 16:Dec:th 2011-12-15 16:Dec:th http://jon.oxer.com.au jon@oxer.com.au Copyright 2011 Jonathan Oxer Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:52:56 +1000 Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:52:56 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/124 <p>Talk given at Linux Users Victoria about the experience of writing Practical Arduino, and some of the cool things that can be done with short-run manufacturing.</p> Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:51:11 +1000 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:51:11 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/123 <p>Access to small-scale manufacturing facilities, shared knowledge, and collaborative workspaces called &quot;hackerspaces&quot; now allows anyone with an idea to create unique products at remarkably low cost.</p> Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1000 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/122 Some modern cars pack more processing power in their in-car entertainment system than the space shuttle does in its entire flight management system, and some of the things recent cars can do are pretty nifty. The electronics in a modern car is typically treated as an inscrutable black box but it's actually quite easy to connect a laptop up to most cars and see what is going on behind the scenes. In this talk Jonathan provides an introduction to the current state-of-the-art in vehicle electronics and shows how he has modified his RX-8 with Linux-based data logging, full-time Internet connectivity, and other gadgets. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:22:48 +1000 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:22:48 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/121 The Ansari X-Prize generated a flurry of activity around technology development related to reaching Earth orbit at low cost, culminating in the first ever privately-funded manned space mission with the successful flight of SpaceShipOne in June 2004. Since then the Google Lunar X-Prize has raised the bar and generated a huge amount of interest and activity relating to technology designed to reach Earth's moon without government funding or assistance. Many teams around the world are working right now on building the technology required to put a rover on the moon and claim the prize for themselves.<br /> <br /> The idea of a group of enthusiasts getting together to plan, build, and execute their own moon mission seems like something out of a fairy tale, but it's happening right now with the White Label Space team who have taken a very pro-FOSS approach to space technology. A joint Australia / New Zealand group called Lunar Numbat is working as part of the WLS team to design, develop, and deliver a number of mission-critical subsystems, including:<br /> <br /> * Throttle control electronics and software for a brand new continuously-variable rocket motor to be used in future AUSROC launches and possibly the WLS lunar lander.<br /> * A radar altimeter built on software-defined radio technology.<br /> * Video compression and transmission system to maximise the effectiveness of the limited uplink bandwidth from the lunar lander.<br /> * Prototype avionics system with associated orbital mechanics calculations and flightpath simulations.<br /> <br /> All technology developed by the Lunar Numbat team is released under Open Source licences.<br /> <br /> This talk will provide an overview of the current development status of the various subsystems, and will touch on issues relating to developing systems in an environment of strict regulation, stringent testing, where software "failure modes" include your hardware being scattered across the sky in flaming pieces and where pre-flight checks mean literally that! It will also show how to get involved in this exciting field: there's a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in, so the more people willing to help out the better. Activities cover a broad range of disciplines and technologies, so there's bound to be a job for you. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:16:33 +1000 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:16:33 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/120 After spending years working on desktop or server systems with vast amounts of memory it can be hard to get your head around the restrictions of working within a microcontroller. Instead of floating around in a sea of gigabytes of memory you have to start watching every individual byte, and often the difference between defining a variable as a "byte" or an "int" can determine whether your program will fit in memory. This talk explains how the ATmega CPU segments its memory; how the stack and the heap actually work; what sorts of things can go wrong when you run out of memory; and how to tell how much memory your program is using. Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:27:18 +1000 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:27:18 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/119 Some modern cars pack more processing power in their in-car entertainment system than the space shuttle does in its entire flight management system, and some of the things recent cars can do are pretty nifty. The electronics in a modern car is typically treated as an inscrutable black box but it's actually quite easy to connect a laptop up to most cars and see what is going on behind the scenes. In this talk Jonathan provides an introduction to the current state-of-the-art in vehicle electronics and shows how he has modified his RX-8 with Linux-based data logging, full-time Internet connectivity, and other gadgets. Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:13:43 +1000 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:13:43 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/118 (Joint presentation with Jared "Flame" Herbohn)<br /> <br /> Modern cars pack more processing power in their in-car entertainment system alone than the space shuttle does in its entire flight management system, and some of the things recent cars can do are pretty nifty. But what happens when a pair of open-source hackers apply their skills to a Mazda RX-8 and a Nissan 300ZX, retrofitting Linux-based onboard systems to extend the cars' capabilities? This presentation explores some of the challenges involved in connecting open-source hardware and software to existing vehicle electronics to provide full-time internet connectivity; in-car video conferencing; remote vehicle management, diagnostics, and reporting; touchscreen-driven MythTV-based in-car entertainment; wifi and 3G integration with the owner's home automation system; remote start; and other features including a few special surprises that won't be revealed until the presentation.<br /> <br /> Both cars will be brought to the conference so attendees can see them in person. Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:10:51 +1000 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:10:51 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/117 (Joint presentation with Hugh Blemings)<br /> <br /> Arduino boards have become the de-facto standard for 8-bit embedded microcontroller hacking under Linux. This popularity has come about due to the combination of the flexible hardware platform itself, and the availability of entirely Open tools for development.<br /> <br /> This tutorial will cover getting the software stack installed and running, setting up the hardware (the Arduino Diecimila) and then building some sample applications.<br /> <br /> The second half of the tutorial will be participant directed and, depending on the level of interest/expertise of participants could cover further sample applications, using TCP/IP and embedded Ethernet hardware with the Arduino, and other advanced I/O techniques for communicating with devices such as accelerometers. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:58:40 +1000 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:58:40 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/116 Something I've experimented with recently is having a device linked to a MythTV box that detects when there is a person present in front of it, and if they move away (walk out of the room, for example) it pauses automatically. Then if they walk back into the room it resumes playing. I'm currently working on extending the concept to provide a "follow me" feature so that if you walk from one room in the house to another your show will pause in the first room, then continue playing from that same point in the second room. Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1000 http://jon.oxer.com.au/talks/id/115 OSDcLang is a joke language I created (read: stole blatantly from BF) for an early OSDC, and it's become something of a meme with talks about it at every conference since. In this lightning talk I demonstrated the use of OSDcLang to communicate with the engine management system of my car.