Mudge A100

02/18/2015

Have you ever taken something apart and found a little green board, with a bunch of wires attached? That's a Printed Circuit Board, or PCB. Almost any product that has a power switch has a printed circuit board inside. Your car, your coffee machine, your door lock, your laptop, your rice cooker, maybe even your watch.

PCBs seem mysterious if you don't know better. In reality, they're just a bunch of wire connections, printed onto a strip of plastic. It's actually super easy to design your own PCBs, using a free tool called EagleCAD. And, once you've designed one, you can get it manufactured for a few dollars at OSHPark. Custom PCBs are a great tool to use in your own projects, and are used everywhere in industry. Plus, it's a great skill to have on your resume if you're looking for ECE-related jobs.

Unfortunately, Carnegie Mellon's ECE curriculum doesn't really teach you how to make a PCB. But that's okay, because we will! A100 will be running a tutorial at 4pm on Sunday in the Mudge Reading Room. All you need to bring is a laptop (and maybe a mouse). We'll show you everything you need to get started making your own circuit boards, including how to set up Eagle, design a board, and send your design to a manufacturer. This event is open to everybody regardless of major, and you don't need any experience or ECE knowledge to partake!

11/22/2014

Yo.
Are you a broke college kid? (yes)
Have you thought about holiday shopping yet? (lol)
We gotchu. A100 is going to be making some DIY holiday gifts tomorrow at 2pm. Come hang out, eat fresh chocolate chip cookies, and get your holiday gifts done early!
Everybody knows that the best presents are the ones that you made yourself. Plus they're free, so generally it's a win all around. We've got stuff to make earrings (for your mom or sister, or your dad if he's into that). Resistor earrings, snowflake earrings, bead earrings, and if there's interest we can 3D print some stuff too.
We'll also be making some dope custom T-shirts - bring a black & white image, and we'll laser cut a stencil to spray paint it onto a t shirt (or a hoodie, or a polo). Here's two random t-shirts to get your creative juices flowing. That's Abe Lincoln on a grizzly bear, a perfect gift for the hipster in your life.
Anyways, bring your creativity and make some cool presents for special people!

11/05/2014

HEY, EVERYONE!

So, 15-112. The "introductory" programming class that puts all other courses to shame. Where you go from no experience to TETRIS in the space of mere weeks. Where you go from speaking English to singing Parseltongue (um, I mean, Python). Where you're expected to come up with a final project that will let you showcase everything you've learnt so far, dazzle Kosbie's mind

If you're worried about that last part, WORRY NO MORE! A100 is hosting a 112 Term Project Brainstorming Session, where you can discuss ideas, learn about useful Python modules, and gain the confidence to create something truly rockin'! The event will be led by seasoned 112 veterans, and will be on SATURDAY AT 9PM!

Be there!

10/19/2014

Nothing like making some iOS apps to spice up your lazy Sunday afternoon.

10/19/2014

Have you always wanted to make an iPhone app?! Well, come to A100 tomorrow (Sunday) at 2pm to learn how! Although seemingly daunting, the process of publishing your very own creation to the iOS App Store is actually quite simple!

We've got an excited team of experts who will Swift-ly get you started! We'll be going over the basics of creating an app from scratch - and if there's enough interest, we'll show you how to integrate and use the Facebook API! If you'd like to learn something else instead, we're open to suggestions as well.

Bring a Mac with Xcode 6 installed :)

09/27/2014

COME TO A100's KARATE-IN-THE-KOURTYARD EVENT, HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! ENJOY ONE OF THE LAST WARM DAYS OF THE SEASON, AND SOME COOL ICE TEA AFTERWARDS!

09/06/2014

HEY THERE!

Have you ever had the burning desire to control your Christmas lights from anywhere in the world with a Tweet? Or harness the power of bright neon LEDs? Or make a robot…that moves?!

You can do ALL of the above (and MUCH MORE) with an Arduino - a wildly popular hobbyist electronics platform! Come to Mudge A100 on WEDNESDAY, 6PM for an exciting, hands-on Arduino session! You don't need ANY experience or equipment - we've got all the stuff you'll need!

Mudgeluv,
(Ashley, Bob, Maya, Mukund, and Tian)

08/19/2014