Day 1 - NHG Training

Monday 11th December – Day 1

Yesterday’s snow leaving freezing roads at 6:45 in the morning was not a good start to a Monday. At least the train was warm and by 9:25 I had arrived at my destination, the Eagle Lab in Notting Hill Gate.

Meeting colleagues, old and new, for the first of five days training with Tony Fish, Fab Lab pioneer, book author and serial entrepreneur. Tony starts with a very stern ‘no interruptions’ policy and our modern communication devices are exiled to the ‘Fish Bowl’. There must have been a few thousand pounds of devices in that glass bowl including my £20 ZTE.

Introductions complete and our room has expert engineers with experience in 3D printing, automotive software, computer aided design, national statistics, electronic engineering, laser cutting, teaching and even stand-up comedy…! (with a technical twist. Maybe more will be revealed before the end of the week). We now have a room full of MAKERS.

Tony has filled three tables full of all sorts of technical equipment and components that I can only describe as toys for geeks. We are all in awe. Christmas has indeed come early. We all rummage around picking up unopened boxes and packets showing each other the contents and odd words fill the air, awww NFC reader, air quality sensor, Ardunio, Pi, Microbit, H-bridge, humidity, accelerometer, neo pixels. Then on the other table there are drones, Fuze, LittleBits, test equipment and an assortment of cables.

Our task for today and days to follow, is quite simple. Make something. This is the techie version of the cookery program ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ where you are given a set number of ingredients and asked to rustle up a gourmet meal. In our case, bring these components together and build something.

It’s not just the actual making, but exploring the process. Teambuilding. Refreshing and sharing our skills and finally, communicating the journey through blogging. This is that blog.

I have collected my ingredients, Raspberry Pi, Fuze system, Neopixel strip, power supply, an assortment of cable and a soldering kit. It takes a little while to settle in. Have you tried to cook a gourmet meal in someone else’s kitchen?

My project is started, solder a few wires to connect things together and then delve into the software creation starting with driver downloads. Before we notice, Mrs Time has crept up on us and it’s like taking toys away from children.

Reluctantly we have to wait until tomorrow to continue.