OHMC2022

Project status -- About the OHMC

• OHMC2022 Project announcement and details: find out what we're doing this year

• OHMC2022 speakers are announced, schedule is on the LCA website.

• Twitter @OpenHWConf: follow us for project notifications using hash tags: #ohmc2022, #lca2022

• A note on imposter syndrome: the open hardware miniconf is really a conference for all, no matter your current level of experience. Newcomers VERY welcome!

• Discussions on GitHub for OHMC2022: talk to the team, get help!

• For the previous twelve years, the OHMC team has hosted the Open Hardware Mini Conference for the Linux Conference Australia. Those projects are linked on the left-hand sidebar

What to do whilst waiting for OHMC2022 hardware ?

This year's project will be backward compatible with last year's SwagBadge, so you may like to dust off your SwagBadge 2021 and get up-to-speed with ESP32 development using microPython.

If you don't have a SwagBadge from LCA2021, you can build your own DagBadge from scratch

We will be offering an updated SwagBadge 2022, fully assembled and delivered prior to LCA2022 ... with a focus on the Simple Add On (SAO) devices and how to design and build your own. So we recommend getting up to speed with the SAO connector de-facto standard (the name has been changed to be more family friendly !). Note: We utilize the more recent 6-pin version (power, I2C and two GPIO pins).

We will also be offering a SAO FPGA + Audio + Theremin that is significantly influenced by Tim Ansell's FOMU project, which has great on-line workshop materials.

Getting Started

New to electronics or to the badge?

• Newcomers guide: Read our guide from 2021 if you haven't done much hardware before and need more fundamentals before diving in
• Getting started guide: Swagbadge: Your Swagbadge has arrived. How to plug it in and turn it on.
• Swagbadge 2022: What's different between Swagbadge 2021 and Swagbadge 2022?

Build your own applications

• Development Environment: Set up your computer so you can update the code on the badge
• SoftwareDev: Badge Software Development
• MQTT: Talking over MQTT

Build your own hardware SAOs

• SAO development: for your own extension boards
• Dagbadge: build your own badge

Need more help?

• GitHub discussions: Forums for hardware participants to talk with each other and the OHMC team
• Swagbadge and Dagbadge community: See what others have made!
• SwagBadge2021 FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

Resources

• GitHub repository: swagbadge hardware
• GitHub repository: Aiko Engine for microPython

Project announcements

• 2021-09-12: OHMC2022 Project announcement and details
• 2021-08-06: Open Hardware Mini Conference is accepted for LCA2022.
• We'll be listening for questions and feedback sent to Twitter @OpenHWConf

OHMC2022 submission to LCA2022

One of the drivers of the popularity of the Open Hardware community is easy access to inexpensive and capable microcontrollers and development boards such as the Arduino and ESP32.

In 2022, for the first time at OHMC, we’re diving into the wonderful world of FPGAs ... and fully embracing the LCA2022 theme of community.

Not only do FPGAs open up new capabilities for your projects, but they also help bring Open Source further down the stack closer to the silicon. It is easier than ever to run Open Source software on an Open Source processor core (RISC-V) that you can hack yourself, and install directly onto an FPGA using an Open Source FPGA development tool chain.

If you’ve never used an FPGA before, or don’t even know what it stands for, don’t worry. We’ll take you through the basics and get you started with a Simple Add-On (SAO) that can be used standalone or plugged into many different electronic conference badges. If you have an LCA2021 SwagBadge you can combine it with the LCA2022 SAO to build a musical project that will demonstrate the unique capabilities of FPGAs.

We’ll also have an updated LCA2022 SwagBadge available in case you didn’t get one last year. There will be opportunities in the months leading up to LCA2022 for you to participate in online workshops and local community events to learn about skills such as soldering, PCB design (your own SAO) and developing applications for your SwagBadge / SAOs (both 2021 and 2022 variants).

The mini-conference day will run in two distinct halves. The morning sessions will discuss the design of the LCA2022 FPGA SAO and SwagBadge applications, explaining how to use the hardware and firmware that runs on them. The afternoon sessions will be presentations about more general Open Hardware topics, with contributions by both LCA2022 attendees and the OHMC team.

Follow along and join in with the OHMC team as we prepare, plan, design and build. We'll be posting regular updates here on this Wiki.