dorkbot-nyc

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people doing strange things with electricity

The 1g6s-th dorkbot-nyc meeting took place at 7pm on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at Location One in SoHo.

The meeting was free and open to the public. People brought amazing snacks to share. YUMM.

It featured the zygomorphic and highly elongated:

John Saunders: Home Shop CNC Machining in NYC and Rapid Prototyping
Technical developments over the past decade have revolutionized the home/hobby CNC and fabrication world. I'll discuss this progression and give an overview of how to get started - including the CNC Mill, CNC controller, software and CAD/CAM. I will also discuss the practical capabilities for rapid prototyping and design-for-manufacturing. Lastly, I'll offer some tips and tricks on operating within the confines of an NYC apartment, limited by space and noise.
http://www.nyccnc.com

Natalie Campbell: SP Weather Station
Co-founded by artists Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson in 2007, SP Weather Station is an interdisciplinary project that collects weather data, hosts a Guest Lecture Series, and organizes weather-related publications, events, and exhibitions. As an informal umbrella organization, SPWS invites participation from many other artists, groups, and weather enthusiasts, while maintaining a rooftop station base in Long Island City, New York. Natalie Campbell will introduce some recent projects sampling weather data and the station's ongoing research interests. More information about the station is online at:
http://spweatherstation.net

Victor Adán & Douglas Repetto: Chiplotle -- now that's a spicy plotter library!
Pen plotters were some of the first computer-controlled physical output devices. They were used from the 1960s through the early 1990s for rendering architecture and engineering drawings, cheezy business plots, and occasionally "plotter art." High quality, working pen plotters are currently available online for < $100. It's time for a pen plotter renaissance! Chiplotle is an HPGL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language) Python API that provides control of grungy old pen plotters with shiny new laptops. The Chiplotle library implements and extends the HPGL plotter control language. It supports all the standard HPGL commands as well as our own more complex "compound HPGL" commands, implemented as Python classes. Chiplotle also provides direct control of your HPGL-aware hardware via a standard usb<->serial port interface. We'll bring in a couple vintage pen plotters, demostrate how to use Chiplotle, and show some of the art and music being made with pen plotters today.
http://chiplotle.org

Douglas's pics from the meeting
Roberto Tobar's pics from the meeting
Ranjit Bhatnagar's notes from the meeting

	John Saunders: Home Shop CNC Machining in NYC and Rapid Prototyping Technical developments over the past decade have revolutionized the home/hobby CNC and fabrication world. I'll discuss this progression and give an overview of how to get started - including the CNC Mill, CNC controller, software and CAD/CAM. I will also discuss the practical capabilities for rapid prototyping and design-for-manufacturing. Lastly, I'll offer some tips and tricks on operating within the confines of an NYC apartment, limited by space and noise. http://www.nyccnc.com
	Natalie Campbell: SP Weather Station Co-founded by artists Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson in 2007, SP Weather Station is an interdisciplinary project that collects weather data, hosts a Guest Lecture Series, and organizes weather-related publications, events, and exhibitions. As an informal umbrella organization, SPWS invites participation from many other artists, groups, and weather enthusiasts, while maintaining a rooftop station base in Long Island City, New York. Natalie Campbell will introduce some recent projects sampling weather data and the station's ongoing research interests. More information about the station is online at: http://spweatherstation.net
	Victor Adán & Douglas Repetto: Chiplotle -- now that's a spicy plotter library! Pen plotters were some of the first computer-controlled physical output devices. They were used from the 1960s through the early 1990s for rendering architecture and engineering drawings, cheezy business plots, and occasionally "plotter art." High quality, working pen plotters are currently available online for < $100. It's time for a pen plotter renaissance! Chiplotle is an HPGL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language) Python API that provides control of grungy old pen plotters with shiny new laptops. The Chiplotle library implements and extends the HPGL plotter control language. It supports all the standard HPGL commands as well as our own more complex "compound HPGL" commands, implemented as Python classes. Chiplotle also provides direct control of your HPGL-aware hardware via a standard usb<->serial port interface. We'll bring in a couple vintage pen plotters, demostrate how to use Chiplotle, and show some of the art and music being made with pen plotters today. http://chiplotle.org