Electronics / Robotics Committee Meeting 4/2/15 5pm (w/ sandwiches!)

I would like to schedule an Electronics / Robotics Committee meeting for next Thursday at 5pm. The meeting is open to all DMS members, we would like to encourage everyone who is interested in Electronics or Robotics to please attend.

If it is hard for you to make it in person we can try to setup a Google Hangout.

We have a couple of items of business to do but mostly we would like to share some news of things we have been working on. Here is the news brief.

** We need to propose a chair to submit to the Board of Directors. When the BOD is re-elected we have to reset as well. I would like to continue to serve but I’m certainly open to what the committee membership wants.

** Big donation by @ARBatteiger who is not a member of DMS but heard our call for a serious need of a good benchtop power supply. Alan donated three great bench supplies, some amazing robots and other items to boot! This was facilitated by @nick & @artg_dms who took time out and went to Plano to meet Alan and look over his generous offer. We can’t thank them all enough.

** As chair I have been working with Hakko, Rigol, Tektronix and Agilent to sweet talk them into free or discounted gear. It is quite possible we will have Hakko & Rigol take the tour next Thursday. I have also invited them for a personal visit if that is more convenient to them.

** At the last board meeting we were allocated $1,000 for supplies and small items to complete outfitting the workbenches. Plus an increase in our ongoing monthly budget from $20/month to $250/month.

** Also at the BOD meeting were were granted a request for a Desktop PC. I asked for $800, they gave us $1,200. Our DMS President @AndrewLeCody is selecting the parts and building us a super sweet computer. I think I saw a glint and sparkle in Andrews eye at the prospect of building another PC.

** We need to thank several members who have been holding classes and allocating the honorarium to electronics. At last count it looks like we had 9 classes related to electronics/robotics for the month. There are several scheduled for April already! If you have an idea for a class you may want to get on the schedule soon, it’s getting hard to get a room!

** The Adafruit order has been a great success! We have ordered over $2500 worth of stuff and saved members about $650. We are order #4 so if you want something visit this thread Adafruit Group Order - 30% Off on most items Thanks to @Kluper who had the forethought to sign us up for a makerspace account. Next month we will try a SparkFun or other vendor. Let me know who you are interested in trying a group discount.

** Most of all thanks to everyone who has been doing a great job keeping the room clean. It’s not perfect but we are doing well.

SO MUCH FOR BEING BRIEF - :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the updates,
I’m excited to see the interest reignited in the electronics room. I hope to see you all at the meeting.

Thanks for all your hard work. See you there!

Supplies? Maybe some decent soldering irons and tips :smile:

I love the electronics lab but become saddened when I see sawed off tip on the weller (which we have one weller…)

The Weller has a blunt chisel tip. It runs at 600-700 F(?) and erodes
fairly fast. Works good for soldering wires and large things - not so good
on pc brds, ics etc. Use Metcal. I’ll check my stock of tips and see if I
have another one. Can’t see putting a fine tip on it since it will not
last long - especially when there are other stations available.

Rick Salberg, Regional Manager from Hakko USA is tentatively confirmed to be coming to Open House on Thursday. Hopefully he will see our need to outfit the electronics benches with some new gear!

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Has anyone tried reaching out to VEX Robotics? They are fairly local…over in Greenville. They do a lot with the BEST robotics competitions. Maybe they could contributor something?

http://www.vexrobotics.com/

We can try. I did not want to step on DPRG’s toes. Even though we are a group committee I have not got the lowdown on what robotics is up to. Loved their display at the Grand Opening though!

Just to confirm, committee meeting is tomorrow, 2 April, 5pm ~ est 6:30pm - right?

Looking forward to catching up…

Yep, the Electronics Committee meeting is tomorrow April 2nd at 5pm.

I’m planning to attend tonight and look forward to meeting other electronics/robotics enthusiasts.

Just got the confirmation from Rick at Hakko USA. He is going to come out before open house to join us for our committee meeting. He is very interested in helping us with soldering irons and other tools to get our e-lab setup.

Since our meeting will run through dinner time and many members help the tour right after. I will be getting a Jason’s Deli sandwich tray for us to nosh on.

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Getting to DMS at 5 PM from East Plano would be brutal, but I might try to make it.

I’ve named the Electronics Committee as my sponsor for my last few laser lectures. I would like to work with people in electronics in making or obtaining lasers for the Space and for members.

ETA: I got some last-minute paperwork that I have to try getting out ASAP.

ETA2: So, what was the outcome of the meeting? What did Rick at Hakko have to say? Do you have any sandwiches left?