What you need to know about participating in the Red Bull madness

What’s this insanity all about?

Last year, i3 Detroit did so well in all 3 phases of the Red Bull Creation challenge (the puzzle board, the Chronotune, and the final 72-hour build in New York City), that we automatically prequalified for the finals this year. But unlike last year’s 4-person teams, this year anyone can — and should — participate!

So who’s going to New York?

Nobody! This year, the Creation takes place at individual spaces across the country. Red Bull sent us some video equipment to stream our build. That means that anyone who walks into i3 Detroit this weekend is part of it!

What are we making?

We don’t know yet! The theme will be revealed at 9:00 tonight. Then the clock starts, and we have 72 hours to conceive and create … whatever!

What should I expect if I drop in?

Expect to be involved! Whatever skills you have, they might be useful, and the only way to find out is to show up and dive in..

Also, expect a bit of paperwork! In addition to i3’s guest waiver, Red Bull’s production company has a release/waiver form that must be signed by anyone who might appear in our video stream. Please review it before dropping in. Regardless, expect around-the-clock activity, as we design and build and scramble for parts. There may be food, there may be news crews, it’s anyone’s guess!

Why?

Guts, glory, and cash: The prize purse is $10,000. And for the same reason we do anything else — because it’s just plain fun!

Open Shop Friday

TGIF! Or more specifically, TGIOSF.

That’s Open Shop Friday, the day each week when Metro Detroit’s oldest hackerspace explicitly invites non-members to come visit. (The rest of the time, it’s implicit, but some folks like a direct invitation. This is that.)  We’re at 1481 Wordsworth, in Ferndale. Ring the doorbell if it’s not already open!

I hear talk of welding, and Power Wheels bodywork, and who knows what else. — there’s always something unexpected! Any time after 6-ish is probably good, or just wait for that box at the upper right to say “the space is open for guests”.

Also, did you see the photo essay over at MetroMode this week? It’s called “Where Metro Detroit Invents”, and features photos and members of OCD, TechShop, and i3 Detroit. A tip of the hat to our colleagues! (Look closely, and you’ll see that the majority of photos in the series were taken at i3.)

BeagleBone hands-on workshop May 25th

What makes these tiny Linux computers great for hacker projects?  The BeagleBoard.org project launched in 2008 and started a revolution in low-cost ARM computers (see Linaro.org).  Beyond introducing the world to affordable low-power computers, the BeagleBoard has been the platform-of-choice for demonstrating open innovation on ARM—meaning—you can find real examples of people having tried to build something like what you have in mind, be it a remote drone quadcopter (100% compatible processor), open source handheld gaming system, object recognizing robotmobile phone, video wall, connected home automation building blocks or remote underwater exploration vehicles.

These computers are supported by most major Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, Fedora, ArchLinux, etc.) and are capable of running Android, QNX, Windows Embedded and a number of other operating systems.  The latest computer, the BeagleBone, provides a bit of an Arduino-like platform in that it enables access to an extensive amount of low-level I/O, including 7 analog inputs and over 60 general-purpose I/O pins multiplexed with an LCD interface, 2 I2C serial ports, 5 UART serial ports, an SPI port, a CAN bus, an secondary MMC/SD port, 6 pulse-width modulators and much more.  At 720MHz and 256MB of RAM, with on-board Ethernet, microSD (for operating system storage), JTAG hardware debug, USB-to-serial and more, the BeagleBone is capable of running Python, Perl, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, GCC C++ compiler, autotools and a full GNOME desktop with word processors, spreadsheets, 3D games and web browsers.

I’m a co-founder of the project and I’ll be giving a hands-on workshop tonight at i3-Detroit, starting with the BeagleBone 101 presentation and diving into whatever topics attendees are looking to cover for their projects.  I’ll leave a couple of boards in the space for people that want to hack on them and will be putting together some larger workshops at the space if there is enough interest.  If you have a project you’d like to execute in the hackerspace using the BeagleBone, it’d be really great to work with you on it and help make i3-Detroit the home for advancement of low-power, high-performance embedded processing.

Upcoming events at i3 Detroit, including two more classes

Friday, April 6, 5pm-10pm-ish: Open Shop Friday, holiday weekend edition! With so many members off work for the day, there’ll be someone around the shop earlier than normal to open the doors and host guests. This is an ideal time to drop in and see the space, meet the members, and work on a project!

Saturday, April 7 8pm-2am: Twisted Toys and Mad Scientists, Victorian/Steampunk show at District VII. (off-site) Several i3 projects and members will be there.

Thursday, April 12, 7:30pm: Arduino Meetup, newbies welcome. Good platform to get started in microcontrollers.

Friday, April 13, 7pm: Open Shop Friday for those sad souls not in Cleveland at the midwest’s finest tech/art/everything conference.

Thursday April 19, 7pm-???: Tabletop Gaming. Does Dominion ring a bell? How about Settlers of Catan? Guests welcome.

Friday April 20, 7:30pm: Lockpicking for Beginners. Please register for your seat now!

Saturday April 21, 1pm-4pm: Roadside Skills For Non-Greasemonkeys. Registration required. Learn to patch a puncture, install a spare tire, jump-start a dead battery, and more.

Friday April 27 thru Sunday April 29: Penguicon (off-site). Geek-interest conference, expanding to larger digs in Dearborn this year. Several i3 Detroit members are presenting, teaching, and otherwise involved. There may not be an Open Shop this day because most of us will be at the con.

(Also, hello Detroit News visitors! What do you hack? What do you make? Let us know in comments!)

Open Shop Friday: We’re waiting for you…

Are you dipping your toes in the DIY world for the first time? Come to Open Shop and hang out with some experienced hackers and makers! Bring a project to work on, if you’d like.

Are you an expert who’s reached the limit of what your garage / basement / whatever can handle? Come to Open Shop and check out the capabilities we’ve amassed.

Non-members are explicitly welcome at i3 Detroit any time our Twitter feed says so, but since that switch is flipped any time someone’s around, it can be hard to predict. Open Shop Friday is our regular open-door event, when anyone’s welcome to visit, work, learn, and if it seems like a good idea, join as a member.

(CC-licensed photo at left by James Bastow on Flickr.)