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Archive of past Technical Meetings

2024

February4Sunday

When: Sunday February 4th, from 2pm
What: Member and Keyholder Inductions
Who: Members Only
We are excited to announce upcoming inductions for members.

This will include the Member Induction that is required for all members who wish to use the space and the Keyholder Induction which allows qualifying members to access the space at any time.

All members must sit the member induction to use the space, this includes information about the space including important health and safely details. You will be able to be issued with a keyfob that will open the front door when a keyholder is present for an issuing cost of £5.

The keyholder induction allows members to access the Hackspace 24/7. This is available to previous keyholders and members who are in good standing who have have been members for 3 months and have nominations from 2 existing keyholders. You must have completed the members induction and been issued with a keyfob prior to this induction.

2023

October18Wednesday

When: Wednesday 18th October 2023 - 7pm onwards...
What: Annual General Meeting
Who: Members only

Welcome to your annual opportunity to vote for your directors, hear the latest developments, and have you say in how the space is run.

Agenda for Wednesday 18th October 2023

October28Saturday

When: Saturday 28th October 2023 - 1pm til 4pm
What: Halloween Paper Crafts
Who: Anyone, Free entry, drop in any time.

Free workshop, drop in at any time. Come and make Halloween lanterns, button badges, and other spooky decorations.

January21Sat

What: Lockpicking Workshop
When: Saturday 21st January 2023 12-4pm
Who: Free and open to anyone

This is a casual workshop, so drop in and leave whenever you want, I will be demonstrating and encouraging everyone try their hand at picking locks (for fun and not for profit). Lock pick and practice locks will be available for anyone to use, and lock picking sets may be available for sale.

The event is free and open to anyone who wishes to attend, not just members, but we will be accepting donations towards the cost of materials.

Anyone who attends will be expected to follow the rules of ethics, see below:

Lockpicking Rules of Ethics

2020

February25thTuesday

When: Tuesday 25th February, 7pm
What: Pancake Day
Where: Swansea Hackspace, 4th Floor, 11 Wind Street, Swansea. SA1 1DP

It's pancake day! We'll provide the ingredients, BYO toppings and fillings. £1 on the door.

Allergies: eggs, milk, gluten and nuts will definitely be present. As the hackspace is a shared space we can't guarantee there won't be other allergens. If you have any concerns please contact us.

January25thSaturday

When: Saturday 25th January, 12pm
What: Bandsaw & Laser Cutter Inductions
Who: Members Only
Fancy learning how to safely use the Bandsaw and Laser Cutter? Well, we'll be doing that then. Members only, £5 on the door.

Tools/Equipment Covered:

  • Bandsaw
  • Laser Cutter

2019

December14thSaturday

When: Saturday 14th December, 12pm
What: General Equipment Induction
Who: Members Only
This is a chance to be inducted for all of our major machinery in one go, Upon successful completion you will qualify to use these machines unattended. These sessions teach you how our machines are setup, any quirks and etiquette that goes with them, and the basics of how to use them without breaking anything.

Tools/Equipment Covered:

  • 3D Printer(s)
  • Laser Cutter
  • Vinyl Cutter
  • CNC Mill [TBC]
  • Bandsaw
  • Pillar Drill
December4thWednesday

When: Wednesday 4th December, 7pm
What: 3D Printer Induction
Who: Members Only
This course will familiarise you with the correct procedures for using the 3D printers belonging to the hackspace, and qualifies you to use it without supervision.

This course will _not_ include any 3D Printing design tutorials or guidance, only the printer specific requirements.

Monthly1 & 3Tuesday

When: 1st and 3rd Tuesday Every Month. 7pm onwards
What: Axespace at the Hackspace
Next: Tuesday 7th January 2025

A new section in the hackspace dedicated to guitar tuning, luthiery and general maintenance with likeminded people.

Please note the Axespace aims to expand the Hackspace's repertoire of skill and knowledge, not become the Hackspace School of Rock!

May1st2019

When: 7pm Wednesday 1st May 2019
What: Annual General Meeting (AGM) - All members encouraged to attend
Who: Members only
For agenda, details about nominations and more information please visit AGM2019.

All members are invited and encouraged to attend, if you are unable to attend please nominate a proxy to vote in your place, full details of how can be found on the detail page linked above.

Feb24Sun

What: Introduction to FOSS design tools - Inkscape and FreeCAD
When: Sunday 24th Feb, 12pm onwards
Who: Open to all

A one off event, providing an introduction to using Inkscape and FreeCAD.

Inkscape is a 2D vector graphics program which can be used to prepare designs and artwork for use many of the machines in the hackspace, including the laser cutter and vinyl cutter.

FreeCAD is a 3D design tool, allowing parts to be created, modified and manipulated in 3D. These parts can then be exported for 3D printing, CNC milling or turned into technical drawings to be used in more traditional manufacturing methods.

Both tools are free and open source, and should be downloaded and installed before the workshop if possible: https://inkscape.org/ and https://www.freecadweb.org/downloads.php
Note that Linux users should probably use their usual package manager instead!

2018

August16Thursday

When: August 16th 7pm
What: An Introduction to LoRaWAN and The Things Network
Who: Open to all

An introduction to LoRa long-range low-power wireless technology, how it empowers remote sensing and low power IoT (Internet-of-Things) devices, with records of over 200km range from a small handheld device.

We investigate the kinds of devices that are available, the open and free to use networks that exist, and how you too can get started quickly and cheaply.

May17Thursday

When: Thursday May 17th, 7:30pm - 9:00pm
What: Amateur Radio joint meeting
Who: Anyone

Joint meeting with Swansea Amateur Radio Society, If anyone is interested in amateur radio, has question or just wants to find out what its all about please come along. We hope to have some things to show off. Everyone welcome.

February13Tuesday

When: Tuesday 13th February
What: Pancake Evening
Time: 7pm
Who: Open to all, £1 on the door

Its pancake day, we will provide the pancakes, BYO toppings and fillings.

February82018

When: 7pm Thursday 8th February 2018
What: Annual General Meeting (AGM) - All members encouraged to attend
Who: Members only
For agenda, details about nominations and more information please visit AGM2018.

All members are invited and encouraged to attend, if you are unable to attend please nominate a proxy to vote in your place, full details of how can be found on the detail page linked above.

February3Saturday

When: Saturday 3rd February 2018 - Midday onwards...
What: Hack the Space!
Who: anyone that wants to help out or get involved

Our quarterly event where we take a Saturday afternoon out to have a general tidy up, sort through the accumulated junk at the space, make improvements and reorganise stuff. We take this opportunity to examine current stock and equipment levels, make purchasing plans, and discuss ideas for projects and improvements. This is a great way to get involved and influence what the space has to offer. Some lunch will be provided.

Agenda for Saturday 3rd February 2017

January25Thursday

When: Thursday 25th January 2018
What: Introduction to Python

Requirements: A laptop with Python 3 installed, plus a Text Editor of your choice (e.g. PyCharm)

Checks: If you're on Windows, ensure your path is setup correctly after installing python by opening a terminal window and typing "python". If you get command not found or similar, we'll need to fix it. Do the same with "pip".

If you're unsure or have any questions, please do not just wait for the event, ask on the mailing list or at a Monday Open/Social evening as soon as you can, that way there will be more time at the event for the actual tutorial.

2017

November4Saturday

When: Saturday 4th November 2017 - Midday onwards...
What: Hack the Space!
Who: anyone that wants to help out or get involved

Our quarterly event where we take a Saturday afternoon out to have a general tidy up, sort through the accumulated junk at the space, make improvements and reorganise stuff. We take this opportunity to examine current stock and equipment levels, make purchasing plans, and discuss ideas for projects and improvements. This is a great way to get involved and influence what the space has to offer. Some lunch will be provided.

Agenda for Saturday 4th November 2017

August5Saturday

When: Saturday 5th August 2017 - Midday onwards...
What: Hack the Space!
Who: anyone that wants to help out or get involved

Our quarterly event where we take a Saturday afternoon out to have a general tidy up, sort through the accumulated junk at the space, make improvements and reorganise stuff. We take this opportunity to examine current stock and equipment levels, make purchasing plans, and discuss ideas for projects and improvements. This is a great way to get involved and influence what the space has to offer. Some lunch will be provided.

Agenda for Saturday 5th August 2017

July22Saturday


When: Saturday 22nd July 2017 - Midday onwards
What: A beginner's guide to using sewing machines.
Who: Members

Liz is running a workshop on basic sewing skills. Make your own oven glove, pillow case, or start off something more complicated (finish it later). We currently have access to 6 sewing machines, so depending on popularity of the course, we'll have to share. Please feel free to bring your own machine (especially if you'd like to know how to use and service it)

Course is free, if you bring fabric, thread and anything else you need for your project. Limited amounts of second hand pillows are available for free, and a selection of fabric offcuts for use for donations.

July15Saturday

When: Saturday 15th July 2017 - Midday onwards
What: Bike Repair Workshop
Who: Bicycle wielding hackspace members

Tim will be running a workshop on basic bicycle repairs and servicing. A bike stand and selection of tools will be available. Bring your own bike!

Experience and prior knowledge not required!

July8Saturday


When: Saturday 8th July 2017 - Midday onwards
What: Mystery WorkshopElectronics/Electricity
Who: Members

Electronics/Electricity and a meandering tour through some useful fundamentals. Vague plan is to cover a bit of the fundamental science, and some basic reusable bits of analog circuitry that you may be able to incorporate into something useful. Or we'll just make some flashing lights.

No charge as long as you put parts back tidily when the workshop is over!

June10Saturday

When: Saturday 10th June 2017 - Midday - 2pm
What: First Aid Awareness
Who: Open session - provided by St John Cymru-Wales

A short awareness session in basic first aid, including basic life support skills (Resuscitation, choking and dealing with unconscious casualties) as well as how to deal with bleeding and burns of various sizes.

The course will be a hands on and interactive session, run by trainers from St John Cymru-Wales.

This is a free course aimed at Swansea Hackspace members - tickets are however required in order to ensure we have sufficient trainers present.

April1Saturday

When: Saturday 1st April 2017 - Midday onwards...
What: Hack the Space!
Who: anyone that wants to help out or get involved

Our quarterly event where we take a Saturday afternoon out to have a general tidy up, sort through the accumulated junk at the space, make improvements and reorganise stuff. We take this opportunity to examine current stock and equipment levels, make purchasing plans, and discuss ideas for projects and improvements. This is a great way to get involved and influence what the space has to offer. Some lunch will be provided.

Agenda for April 1st

March18thSaturday

When: Saturday, 1pm - 6:30pm
What: Pizza making session
Where: Swansea Hackspace, 4th Floor, 11 Wind Street, Swansea. SA1 1DP

Come forth and make pizza! £1.50 on the door. Bring toppings of your choosing (and extra cheese / cheese substitute as desired) and also a pizza cooking pan if you have one.

February28Tuesday

When: Tuesday 28th February
What: Pancake Evening
Time: 7pm
Who: Open to all, £1 on the door

Its pancake day, we will provide the pancakes, BYO toppings and fillings.

February23Thursday

When: Thursday 23rd February
What: AGM - All members encouraged to attend
Time: 7pm
Who: Members only
For agenda, details about nominations and more information please visit AGM2017.

If you are unable to attend please see the instructions for Proxy voting.

January28Sat

When: 12-4pm Sat 28th Jan 2016
What: Induction day
Who: Members Only, £20 for the session.
Tickets: Pay on the door.

This is a chance to be inducted for all of our major machinery in one go, Upon successful completion you will qualify to use these machines unattended. This is not a thorough safety training, if you have any doubts on how to safely use a piece of machinery we suggest you seek out a professional training course. These sessions teach you how our machines are setup, any quirks and etiquette that goes with them, and the basics of how to use them without breaking anything.

Tools/Equipment Covered

  • 3D Printer(s)
  • Laser Cutter
  • Vinyl Cutter
  • CNC Mill
  • Bandsaw
  • Pillar Drill

2016

December3Saturday

When: Saturday 3rd December 2016 - 12-4pm
What: Basic cookery: Mince Pies
Who: Members £5

The time of festivities is rapidly approaching and Tim has long promised a baking workshop so we are combining them into this mince pie workshop.

All ingredients for 12 mince pies are included in the ticket price, but you will need to bring your own equipment.

You will need to bring a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a rolling pin, and 12 hole shallow bun tin. Also, if you have them, the following items are useful; kitchen scales, round pastry cutters, a pastry brush and a standard set of cutlery (knife, fork, tablespoon, teaspoon) would also be useful as we have limited quantities to share but aren't essential. All these things should be available from Wilko, Tesco, Sainsbury's and obviously the internet if you don't have them. If you are unsure about any of the equipment please ask.

Numbers are strictly limited and tickets must be purchased in advance, no sales on the day sorry.

November12Saturday

When: Saturday 12th November 2016 - 12pm onwards
What: Introduction to Arduino

Arduinos (in various shapes and sizes) are a common tool for small electronics projects, allowing your project to control and be controlled by a range of different components and devices. This workshop will start with the basics and work our way up through gradually increasingly difficulty towards an intermediate level Servo tutorial. For the more adventurous there will also be a selection of more advanced peripherals that you can experiment with.

You will need to bring a laptop, and your own Arduino if you have one (we have a small number for sale).

October30Sunday

When: Sunday 30th October 2016 - 5pm
What: Theatrical wounds for Halloween
Who: Open to all, £4 on the door

Add that extra touch of realism to your ghoulish Halloween costumes with this hands on workshop that will teach you how to make theatrical wounds and scars using liquid latex and grease paint. All materials will be provided, this event is open to all, but under 16s must be accompanied. Price is £4 per participant on the door.

Aug27Sat

When: 12-4pm Sat Aug 27th
What: Basic Bike Repair
Who: Free and open to everyone

Tool and skill share on how to do basic maintenance on your bike. Tim will be bringing all his bike tools, which include a chain whip, shimano casette nut and shimano bottom bracket spanner and road crank spanner, also a high pressure track pump and maybe some oil to share.

July16Sat

When: 1-3pm Saturday 16th July
What: Wirework Jewellery Making Workshop
Who: Members and their guests. £3 per head

This will be a workshop in the basic techniques for constructing jewellery using wire and beads. We will cover the tools and equipment you need, how to shape and form the wire, how to combine different types of beads to make for example earrings, necklaces and bracelets. The various types of wire will be provided, along with a selection of beads in various materials from glass, and plastic through to semi precious stones.

You will require a pair of Round Nose pliers to work with, also a pair of Chain/Snipe Nose jewellery (ie without serrated grip) pliers is recommended. plus wire snips, flush cut ones for preference, are very handy. These can be bought online easily, also from local crafting stores (e.g. Hobbycraft, The Range, etc). We suggest this set for £4.99 or any similar.

You are welcome to bring children, we have a range of beads and threading materials so that even the younger ones can make their own bracelets, whilst older children are welcome to try the wire techniques with the adults.

May15Sun

When: Sunday 15th May 2016
Time: 10am - 4pm
What: Robot Challenge @ Swansea Jam
Who: Swansea Jam is Free to Enter
Tickets: Swansea Jam tickets

Swansea Hackspace will be attending the Swansea Jam being held by PiCymru at TechHub Swansea. We will be running a Robot Challenge at this event, drop by anytime during the day and enter a robot into our timed challenges. Competitors times will go up on our leaderboard and we will award prizes at the end of the day.

The courses are designed with the robots that were built during our How to Build A Robot workshops in mind, there will be a line following race as well as an obstacle avoidance / maze solving course. You can bring your own robot of that or any other similar design along to try them out, we will also have some robots available for you to borrow and reprogram using our simple to use BlocklyDuino interface.

March2Wed

When: Starting Wed 2nd March for 7 weeks
Time: Wednesdays 7pm - 9pm
What: How to Build a Robot
Who: £60 members, £100 non-members, £30 hardware only
Tickets: Tickets on sale last few remaining

This will be a multipart course run over a period of 6 weeks, each week you will learn about and receive a new component which you will add to the robot you will be building, at the end of the course you will have a fully functional simple robot design to keep and build upon further.

The build will culminate with a additional competition evening, where attendees get to race their robots against each other in a set of challenges, with prizes and trophies for the winners.

Ticket sales will close 4 weeks before the course starts to allow for all of the hardware to be purchased and prepared. Tickets include a £30 non-refundable deposit, once ticket sales close this portion will not be refunded and the ticket holder will still receive their hardware kit even if they choose to refund the teaching & competition portion.

Hardware Only tickets - On sale until Jan 31st. A complete kit of all the parts required to build the robot, just without the tutorial sessions and competition. Use this to buy an extra/spare, or if you wish to follow along at home. You may optionally upgrade this to a full ticket if you pay the difference on or before the start of the tutorial sessions.

New: A small number of last minute tickets are available, you must sign up to be a member in order to buy these and they are non-refundable.

  1. Mar 2 - Introduction - Arduino Intro
  2. Mar 9 - Part 2 - Chassis, Motors & Wheels
  3. Mar 16 - Part 3 - Line Sensors
  4. Mar 23 - Part 4 - Ultrasonic - Distance Measuring
  5. Mar 30 - Part 5 - Servos - Looking around
  6. Apr 6 - Part 6 - Putting it all together
  7. Apr 13 - Competition

The course includes all of the hardware and electronics required to build a 3 wheel robot with line following and collision avoidance. Attendees will require their own laptop with the latest Arduino software installed for programming and debugging purposes.

February25Thursday

When: Thursday 25th February
What: AGM - All members encouraged to attend
Time: 7pm
Who: Members only
For agenda, details about nominations and more information please visit AGM2016.

If you are unable to attend please see the instructions for Proxy voting.

January16Sat

When: 11am-4pm Sat 16th Jan 2016
What: Induction day
Who: Members Only, £15 for all, or £5 per session.
Tickets: Pay on the door.

This is a chance to be inducted for all of our major machinery in one go, we will be scheduling four back-to-back sessions covering the Laser Cutter, 3D Printer, CNC Mill, and Vinyl Cutter. You can opt to attend only some of these sessions, but there will be a discounted price for taking them all. Upon successful completion you will qualify to use these machines unattended.

Preliminary timetable

  • 11:00 3D Printer
  • 12:00 Vinyl Cutter
  • 13:00 Lunch @ Tino's (not included)
  • 13:30 Laser Cutter
  • 14:30 CNC Mill
  • 16:00 end

2015

December2Wednesday

When: 7pm Wednesday 2nd December 2015
What: Linux Basics - Using the command line
Price: Free
Who: Open to all

A tutorial on Linux command line basics, how to install software, how to navigate the filesystem, how permissions work, using the help system, manipulating files, working with images, and other simple but useful tips and tricks.

Please bring your own laptop for this session, if you do not have a linux install (e.g. Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian/Raspbian) already please bring an empty usb key that we can install a 'live' system on for you to experiment with.

November21Saturday

When: 12-4pm Saturday 21st November 2015
What: Laser Cut Xmas Decorations
Price: £5 Members, £10 Non-members
Who: Open to all, members get a discount on ticket price.

A workshop on creating festive decorations out of acrylic, felt, card, and wood, using the laser cutter. Crystal clear acrylic snowflakes to hang on the tree, greetings cards with cutouts and filigree, personalised engraved baubles, anything your imagination can create.

Ticket prices include all time on the laser cutter and some sample materials, a limited range of additional materials will be available for purchase on the day, or bring your own.

A laptop with inkscape is recommended for designing your own items.

November11Wednesday

When: 7pm Wed 11th November
What: Microcontrollers Night
Topic: Shrinking your Arduino Project
Who: Free and open to all

Part of our regular scheduled night dedicated to all things Micro-controller based; Arduino, PIC, ESP8266, Spark, etc.

This is a skill sharing session, bring along your project, your ideas, or your questions and we will work together on them.

This Sessions Topic: Shrinking your Arduino Project

We will concentrate on how to move your arduino project to smaller and cheaper hardware in order to better hide it within a project, or to make it more affordable to leave it permanently in situ.

Bring your laptop with the latest Arduino IDE installed, other components will be provided.

NB: This event didn't happen as not enough people showed up to make it worth actually running it, for anyone that is interested in future i wrote it up.

October27Tuesday

When: 11am - 4pm Tuesday 27th October 2015
What: Coastal Housing Family Fun Day
Where: LC2 Swansea

We will be holding a stall at this fun family event, the theme for the day is "Music" and we will providing demonstrations of the Makey Makey with a banana/fruit piano, as well as 3D printing some musical instruments like whistles and pan pipes. Come along and show your support.

October24Saturday

When: 12-4pm Saturday 24th October 2015
What: 3D Printing Halloween Special
Price: Tickets £3 Members, £5 Non-Members
Who: Open to all. Under 16s welcome (accompanied by an adult)

A gentle introduction to the world of 3D printing, we will cover how to find and download some spooky objects from the internet, a basic introduction to some easy to use 3D design tools to make your own, and then we will take you through the process of 3D printing them in batty black, pumpkin orange, or ghostly glow-in-the-dark green plastics for you to take home your spooky creations.

October19Monday

When: Monday 19th October 2015, 7pm - 9:30pm
What: Open Social Night, Soldering Workshop, plus special guests
Where: Swansea Hackspace, 1st Floor, TechHub Swansea, 11 Wind Street, Swansea. SA1 1DP

Regular Open Night and Social, open to everyone, feel free to drop in, have a look around, and meet people.

This session includes our special guests Ragworm PCB and a Learn To Solder workshop.

The Ragworm folks will be here to answer your questions about PCB design and manufacturer, as well as showing off their wares, we will also be running a soldering practice workshop with giveaways and goodies to take home.

Photos

October17Saturday

When: Saturday 17th October 2015 12-4pm
What: Textiles: Costume Design with EL Wire
Who: Tickets £5 members, £10 non-members

How to use and incorporate EL Wire into your costume and clothing designs.

How to make your clothes and items glow in the dark, light up your projects with electroluminescent wire, strips and panels. Its easy to use and makes you stand out of the crowd.

This workshop will take you through the basics of how to use and handle EL Wire, you will get your own EL wire kit to take home and keep. Tea and biscuits also provided.

September23Wednesday

When: 7pm Wed 23rd September
What: Microcontrollers Night
Topic: Internet all the Things!
Who: Free and open to all

Part of our regular scheduled night dedicated to all things Micro-controller based; Arduino, PIC, ESP8266, Spark, etc.

This is a skill sharing session, bring along your project, your ideas, or your questions and we will work together on them.

This Sessions Topic: How to internet enable (via wifi) your projects and gadgets using an ESP8266. These tiny development boards are available cheaply and readily from many sources and contain a reasonably powerful microcontroller, flash disk, and wifi capability. They can be programmed using the familiar Arduino development environment with minimal equipment or experience. Bring your laptop with the latest Arduino IDE installed, other components will be provided.

August29Saturday

When: 12-4pm Saturday 29th August 2015
What: Laser Cut Stencils
Price: Tickets Members £5, Non-members £10
Who: Open to all, members get a discount on ticket price.

Stencils are a great tool for any art and crafter, they can be used in decorating walls, furniture, clothing and just about anything. Cutting out your own can be pretty tedious and delicate work with a knife, but a laser cutter can carve the finest of details in just seconds from tough reusable mylar film, or one off paper and card.

This workshop will take you through basic stencil design techniques on the computer, finishing with turning those designs into stencils using the laser cutter, the results are yours to keep. The ticket price includes all materials and machining costs, you will take home at least one mylar reusable stencil and one cardboard disposable one.

The event is open to members and non-members alike, no previous experience is required. You may like to bring your own laptop to work on your designs during the workshop, we suggest using the OpenSource Inkscape software. 1

August1Saturday

When: 12-4pm Saturday 1st August 2015
What: Laser Cut Rubber Stamping
Price: Tickets Members £5, Non-members £10
Who: Open to all, members get a discount on ticket price.

Ever wanted your own custom personalised rubber stamp?

This workshop will take you through turning your own text, logo or other design into a rubber stamp in minutes using our laser cutter and some specialised rubber sheeting. You get to keep your finished stamp (max approx 50x50mm). It will help greatly if you have already selected some artwork to use.

Stamping isn't just for ink and paper either, you can personalise clothing, decorate pottery, make custom wallpaper, and many other artistic and creative uses

This workshop is open to members and non-members alike, no previous experience is required, and all materials will be provided. You may like to bring your own laptop to work on your design during the workshop, we suggest using the opensource Inkscape software. 1

July23Thursday

When: 7pm Thursday 23rd July 2015
What: Introduction to Git
Price: Free
Who: Open to all

A brief introduction to Git - a popular, open source version control system.

July1Wednesday

When: 7pm Wednesday 1st July 2015
What: Laser Cutter Induction Course
Price: Members Only £5 Tickets

This course is intended only for members, and upon completion will permit unattended use of the system, really curious non-members are welcome, but cannot be permitted the same unsupervised use unless they later become a member, sorry.

This is an induction course on how to safely use the laser cutter, it will cover setting up and checking the equipment, types of materials that can be used, using the software to drive the system and engraving and cutting a range of materials. The Course fee includes all materials and laser time.

This course is required if you want to use the equipment outside of supervised workshops.

If you would like to experiment with your own logo designs, please bring them as black on white in an .emf (enhanced metafile) format, otherwise one will be provided.

April18thSaturday

When: 11:00 - 15:00 Saturday 18th April
What: Analogue Electronics - Filters and more by Tom Lake

A brief introduction to analogue signal processing, including some basic filters and simple signal generation using op-amps.

April9thThursday

When: 7pm Thursday 9th April
What: Working with EL Wire

A demonstration of working with Electroluminescent (EL) Wire and EL Panels, How you use them, how to connect them, and how to solder new wires and joints.

March28Saturday

When: 11am - 5pm Saturday 28th march
What: Ardunio Day 2015 (Open Day)
Cost: Free and Open to everyone

To celebrate Arduino's Birthday we will be holding a day of events and activities centred around the Arduino platform. There will be a drop in beginners workshop running all day, as well as exhibits of members projects, and demonstrations.

Further Details...

March21Saturday

When: 11am - 3pm Saturday 21st March
What: CNC fabrication with JSCut & HeeksCAD

An introduction to cutting and milling out simple designs on the CNC Mill using JSCut or HeeksCAD to turn vector drawings into GCode instructions. Illustrated by cutting a sample piece from perspex/acrylic sheet.

Please bring laptops, and change to buy plastic with.

Software:

  • Inkscape is required
  • HeeksCNC & HeeksCAD is the application I intend to teach, but alternatives are available if people have trouble getting it to work
  • OpenSCAM is very useful for checking you've done it right

Please can attendees please install the software before the workshop so we have time to make sure everybody gets their thing made.

February26Thursday

When: 7pm Thu 26th Feb 2015
What: Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Tickets: Free Tickets

This is our first AGM and is a great chance for all members to contribute to the future of the community and to help elect the next set of directors.

Read More...

February5Thursday

When: 7pm - 9pm Thursday 5th February
What: Microcontrollers Night: Hacking the ESP8266 Wifi module

These dirt cheap (£2) Wifi-Serial convertors can do so much more, they contain a fast 32bit micro-controller, the manufacturer has since released a full API and C compiler for free, and there are now many custom firmwares and hacks for them, we shall explore one such hack nodemcu

January29Thursday

When: 7pm - 9pm Thursday 29th January 2015
What: 3D Printing: Download, Slice, and Print
Cost: Free excluding any Materials used (sold by the metre)

A very gentle introduction to using a 3D Printer, how to find and download 3D Models from the internet, Simple customisations, Slicing the model and printing it.

This is aimed at the absolute beginner, no skills required, your own laptop is helpful but not essential, and the session is free and open to everyone.

January17Saturday

When: 11am - 5pm Saturday 17th January 2015
What: PCB Design - from concept to reality
Cost: £5 for materials
Tickets: Free Ticket

This will be a day long course where we will go through the entire design and build cycle for a simple circuit. Starting with entering the schematic into a computer, layout out of the PCB, milling and drilling the physical board and finally soldering the components in place.

  • Software Required: Fritzing, FlatCAM, Universal G-Code Sender
  • You will need your own laptop to fully appreciate the course
  • Estimated Course Length: 6 hours
  • Estimated Materials Cost: £5

By the end of the day you should leave with your own working circuit board.
All materials and components will be provided for the cover charge.
You will require your own laptop pre-installed with Fritzing and FlatCAM
Places are strictly limited, get your Tickets here

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Thu 8th January 2015, 7-9pm

Introduction to Arduino


2014


Saturday 22nd November, 11am-3pm

Instructables Build Night with spark.io We have a big pile of these fascinating little dev boards to experiment with, a fast little microcontroller board with builtin wifi and an optionally cloud based dev environment which is based upon the same language that the Arduino uses. Come and see what you can build with these controllers and the LED/button shields that we have.

Due to the limited number of devices this event was strictly ticket holders only.


Saturday 18th October, 11am - 3pm

A Mathsless introduction to electronics by Tim Clark

Everything you need to know to get started with electronics, including the what, why and how for resistors, leds, transistors and more. All required numbers will be provided free of charge, but you will require the kit (on sale for £5), a breadboard and jumper wires.


Saturday 11th October, All Day

SWAMP Fest. (South WAles Makers & Programmers)

This will be a grand open day to showcase the range of coder, hacker, maker, and associated groups in South Wales.

The day will be free of charge, open to all the family, and feature a selection of talks, workshops, exhibits, and stands to showcase the things that we do and inspire new people to join in. Details - Tickets - Poster

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Saturday 13th September, 11-3pm

3D Printing with OpenSCAD by Gerrit Niezen

Learn to design 3D models for printing using the open source OpenSCAD software. Also induction courses for anyone that wishes to learn how to use the space's printer.

Friday 12th September, 19:00 - 21:00hrs

Build Night

This Build Night is to introduce this wonder-material called 'Sugru' and to fix/improve something participants already own and are encouraged to bring along.

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Saturday 16th August, 11am - 3pm

PCB and Circuit design with KiCad

This tutorial will take you through the stages of drawing up your circuit diagram (schematic) and generating a PCB layout ready for fabrication.

We will use the open source KiCad software suite which is available for Linux, OSX and Windows. You will require your own laptop with KiCad installed to participate.

Saturday 2nd August, 11am - 3pm

RepRap 3D Printer Workshop

This workshop is to further develop peoples printing skills, help people with their own designs, and getting them printed and finished. Your own laptop is advised.

Saturday 19th July, 11am - 3pm

Arduino Workshop

This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience, we will start with the very basics and work our way up through gradually increasingly difficulty towards an intermediate level Servo tutorial. For the more adventurous there will also be a selection of more advanced peripherals that you can experiment with.

You will need to bring a laptop, and your own Arduino if you have one (we have a small number for sale), the Servo tutorial will also require some colouring pens/pencils.

Attendance is free for members, you can sign up on the day, non-members should make an appropriate donation.

Also something we had been meaning to do for a while now, using eventbrite for ticketing so we have an idea how many will attend.

Saturday 5th July, 11am-3pm

3D Printer workshop - induction course and beginners guide

Monday 28th April 2014, 7pm - 9pm

Tech Hub, 11 Wind Street, Swansea
Introduction to Arduino

This technical meeting will be a gentle introduction to Arduino. The Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform intended for artists, designers and hobbyists to easily create interactive objects and environments.

To participate you will require a laptop with the Arduino software installed. If you have your own Arduino please bring it as I only have a small number of loan units. You can download the software from http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

The course notes for this tutorial.

Monday 3rd March, 7pm. Volcano

Decorative Chain Maille - Making a small decorative keyring. There will be a step-by-step guide to making your choice of colourful keyring chain which you get to keep. Attendies will require two small pliers, smaller pointy nosed ones are the best choice, all other materials will be provided.

Meeting actually turned into a debate on what kind of courses we could run and ways to widen our membership, how we might raise money, and how we can try to break through the barriers to establishing a physical space. Concluding with an agreement that the next meeting will be focused on building an official business plan.

3rd February 2014

7pm. Volcano, 229 High St.

Further Adventures in 3D Printing

Talk on methods of 3D manufacture, the process of going from 3d model file to actual print, a few of the pitfalls and limitations of the FDM process and how to work around them, and some very simple ways to create objects of your own design.

6th January 2014

7pm. Volcano, 229 High St.

Design and Print 3D Objects

In this workshop you will learn how to create a 3D model using OpenSCAD, that can then be printed on a 3D printer. OpenSCAD is an open-source CAD (Computer-Aided Design) application, where you specify what your design should look like using a script, which is then compiled into a 3D model. During the workshop you will design your own enclosure for a Raspberry Pi. Our own Swansea Hackspace 3D printer (thanks to Alan Cox for the donation!) will also be on display.


2013


2nd December 2013

7pm. Volcano Theatre, 229 High St

Some experimenting with a RepRap 3D Printer, and crochet!

4th November 2013

7pm. Volcano Theatre, 229 High St

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7th October 2013 - Introduction to Micro-Controllers

7pm. Lecture Room 1, Fulton House

A set of short talks about the various Micro-Controller systems on the market, and an introduction to the new season of tutorial/workshops.

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9th September 2013 - Technical Meeting

7pm. Engineering Building, Swansea University. The planned tutorial was building upon PIC Lab 2 and reading from Analogue input sources to measure voltage and resistance.

Tutorial was abandoned in favour of discussions.

  • Gerrit gave us a quick talk and slideshow of his tour of hackspaces whilst he was in california.
  • Discussion of the relative merits of Arduino vs PIC for tutorials
  • Offer of use of a CNC milling machine to make custom PCBs

12th August 2013 - Technical Meeting - PIC Workshop 2

7pm. Engineering Building, Swansea University. This workshop is an introduction to using a PIC microcontroller to interface between a desktop class computer and "real world" devices.

All of the components required will be supplied, one member of each team/group will require a laptop to work on, anyone that can bring a pickit program will help..

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15th July 2013 - Technical Meeting

7pm. Lecture room 1, Fulton House, Swansea University. Insufficient turnout, tutorials abandoned.


17th June 2013 - 3rd Technical Meeting - PIC Workshop

7pm. Fulton House, Swansea University. This meeting will be a hands on introduction to the PIC microcontroller, giving you all the chance to build a simple circuit and program the controller for it.

All of the components and tools will be supplied, i have enough parts for 5 teams to work on their own projects, some example projects will be provided or you can make up your own.

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20th May 2013 - 2nd Technical Meeting - Implimentation Technologies

7pm. Castle Room, Fulton House, Swansea University. A series of short talks on microcontroller technologies that help you to impliment your ideas.

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22nd April 2013 - 1st Technical Meeting

7pm. Marino Room, Fulton House, Swansea University. This as our first technical / event meeting, it comprised of a series of 10 minute Lightning Talks.

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