UAVs and sensors at Winston Salem Project Night - October 21st

UAVs, Raspberry Pi Sense Hat

We are continuing this project. Progress has been a little slow, but we are hoping to pick this up again this coming Wednesday.

If your interest doesn't lie in UAVs:

Do you have a project you want to show off? Or do you need a second set of eyes on your code? Would you like to hack on an open source project? Perhaps you need help getting a module on a specific platform? Don't have a project but would like to help others or to learn more Python?
Whatever the case may be, project nights are your opportunity to get some help or to help others, so bring your laptop (or Raspberry Pi or whatever device that can run Python) and let's get things going

As always, plenty of projects to work on, mentoring available and interesting conversations. 

When

This meeting will be on Wednesday, October 21 at 6pm in the Dash room at Inmar:

Where

Inmar

635 Vine St,
Room 1130H "Dash"
Winston-Salem, NC

RSVP

http://www.meetup.com/PYthon-Piedmont-Triad-User-Group-PYPTUG/events/222999414/

Coming to our senses for Project Night Winston Salem - Sept 16th

Raspberry Pi Sense Hat, that is.

Continuing the UAV quadcopter project. We have an assembled frame, one frame ready to be assembled, we have micro sd cards ready to be flashed with different distros (we need to choose). 

I also have a Raspberry Pi Sense Hat on hand! (see:https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/the-sense-hat-headgear-for-the-terminally-curious/) It is an amazing piece of tech, available for only $30 and it includes a gyro, compass, accelerometer, air pressure sensor, humidity and temperature and even a tiny joystick and 8x8 RGD led matrix. But wait, there is more, if you call in the next 5 minutes... :)

Seriously, there is more, an atmel microcontroller (an arduino basically) that is wired through i2c. And that can be reprogrammed on the fly from the raspberry pi... Which is basically the architecture we wanted to design for controlling the UAV!

If your interest doesn't lie in UAVs:

Do you have a project you want to show off? Or do you need a second set of eyes on your code? Would you like to hack on an open source project? Perhaps you need help getting a module on a specific platform? Don't have a project but would like to help others or to learn more Python?
Whatever the case may be, project nights are your opportunity to get some help or to help others, so bring your laptop (or Raspberry Pi or whatever device that can run Python) and let's get things going

As always, plenty of projects to work on, mentoring available and interesting conversations. 

When

This meeting will be on Wednesday, September 16 at 6pm in the Dash room at Inmar:

Where

Inmar

635 Vine St,
Room 1130H "Dash"
Winston-Salem, NC

RSVP

http://www.meetup.com/PYthon-Piedmont-Triad-User-Group-PYPTUG/events/224796370/

PYPTUG Meeting - February 23rd (Security and Forensics) -

PYthon Piedmont Triad User Group meeting

Come join PYPTUG at out next monthly meeting (February 23rd 2015) to learn more about the Python programming language, modules and tools. Python is the perfect language to learn if you've never programmed before, and at the other end, it is also the perfect tool that no expert would do without. Monthly meetings are in addition to our project nights.

What

Meeting will start at 5:30pm.

We will open on an Intro to PYPTUG and on how to get started with Python, PYPTUG activities and members projects, then on to News from the community, including some details on a network forensics shell.

Then on to the main talk.

Main Talk

by Adam Sheesley
Title: "Hell is Other People's Code"

Bio: Adam Sheesley is a Penetration Tester who has experience and training in vulnerability assessment and (network/physical) penetration testing. Experienced as a web application developer, network administrator, and penetration tester, Adam has a broad knowledge of in-depth knowledge of implementing systems, breaking into networks, and training duck-sized horses.

Abstract: 

This talk will cover modifications and additions that Adam made to a fantastic tool, Responder.py put out by SpiderLabs. 

As Responder was originally a NetBIOS spoofer we will cover a brief overview of the NetBIOS protocol. Specifically the pieces dealing with authentication. We will cover the motivations behind the modifications, the reasoning process for modifying existing code versus writing something new, and the challenges he encountered during the project. Finally we will cover a collection of other popular information security tools written in Python with a "Security is fun an so can you" approach.

 HAB Project

We will replace the lightning talk sessions for this meeting, since we cancelled the project night, and work some on the High Altitude Balloon Project (Team Near Space Circus).

When

Monday, February 23rd 2015
Meeting starts at 5:30PM

Where

Wake Forest University,

close to Polo Rd and University Parkway:

Manchester Hall
room: Manchester 241 

Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109

 Map this

See also this campus map (PDF) and also the Parking Map (PDF) (Manchester hall is #20A on the parking map)

And speaking of parking:  Parking after 5pm is on a first-come, first-serve basis.  The official parking policy is:

"Visitors can park in any general parking lot on campus. Visitors should avoid reserved spaces, faculty/staff lots, fire lanes or other restricted area on campus. Frequent visitors should contact Parking and Transportation to register for a parking permit." 

Mailing List

Don't forget to sign up to our user group mailing list:

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

It is the only step required to become a PYPTUG member.

Meetup Group

In order to get a feel for how much food we'll need, we ask that you register your attendance to this meeting on meetup:

http://www.meetup.com/PYthon-Piedmont-Triad-User-Group-PYPTUG/events/220107220/

PYPTUG Meeting - June 30th

PYthon Piedmont Triad User Group meeting

Come join PYPTUG at out next meeting (June 30th 2014) to learn more about the Python programming language, modules and tools. Python is the perfect language to learn if you've never programmed before, and at the other end, it is also the perfect tool that no expert would do without.

What

Meeting will start at 5:30pm.

We will open on an Intro to PYPTUG and on how to get started with Python, PYPTUG activities and members projects, then on to News from the community.

Finally, the main part of the meeting will be a workshop. Not Python specific, but about creative problem solving, it should be of interest to many people.

Demystifying MacGyver:

Creative Problem Solving with a Mullet

Demystifying MacGyver is brand new workshop designed and instructed by Evan Booth, creator of Terminal Cornucopia. The mission of Demystifying MacGyver is threefold:

1. Equip attendees by covering the theoretical and practical fundamentals of creative problem solving
2. Inspire attendees with real-world examples
3. Engage attendees with hands-on exercises

Who would benefit from Demystifying MacGyver?

Regardless of the industry, one's ability to successfully apply unorthodox thinking to solve problems is the fuel that powers progress and innovation.

When

Monday, June 30th 2014
Meeting starts at 5:30PM

Where

Wake Forest University, close to Polo Rd and University Parkway:

Manchester Hall
room: Manchester 241 

Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109

 Map this

See also this campus map (PDF) and also the Parking Map (PDF) (Manchester hall is #20A on the parking map)

And speaking of parking:  Parking after 5pm is on a first-come, first-serve basis.  The official parking policy is:

"Visitors can park in any general parking lot on campus. Visitors should avoid reserved spaces, faculty/staff lots, fire lanes or other restricted area on campus. Frequent visitors should contact Parking and Transportation to register for a parking permit." 

Mailing List

Don't forget to sign up to our user group mailing list:

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

It is the only step required to become a PYPTUG member.

Meetup Group

In order to get a feel for how much food we'll need, we ask that you register your attendance to this meeting on meetup:

http://www.meetup.com/PYthon-Piedmont-Triad-User-Group-PYPTUG/events/187478772/

Mailing list reminder

Membership

Just a reminder that the mailing list for PYPTUG is at groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/pyptug.

There is no complicated forms to fill nor fees to be part of PYPTUG. But, we do ask that you join the mailing list.

RSVP

Sometimes, for special events, we ask for members to RSVP. When that is the case, we will provide detailed instructions through the list and on this site.

For example, for this saturday's PyHack Workshop (#03), we kindly ask that you take the time to RSVP through Meetup.com event 98256872.

PyHack Workshop #03: Python ICU

PyHack Workshop

A monthly workshop using the wonderful Python programming language to do cool hacks, bridging the virtual and the physical. Presented by PYPTUG, in collaboration with Fablocker. We invite anyone who is interested in learning Python to attend.

Last month, Workshop #2 featured the Raspberry Pi, and the RPi.GPIO library.

We connected some motors (DC and steppers) to the Raspberry Pi, and controlled them from Python. We explored modules that help with hardware hacking, and we wrapped it up with some interesting demo involving a toy and some of Bresenham's algorithms.

For those that didn't attend, we know you are dying to get the details. Well, you'll have to wait until next week for more information due to another Raspberry Pi event going on the 9th.

Workshop #3

This month (January), we continue to feature the Raspberry Pi.

The theme will be Python ICU (not the medical kind: I see you), and of course this will involve some webcams (and we will talk about the upcoming camera module from the Raspberry Pi foundation), the Raspberry Pi, and Python.

Along with the Pi and the webcam, we will be using Python and pygame. That's the main portion of the workshop, but we'll also use a phone, a web server and a web framework on top of that. And OpenCV if there is some time left. To do what? You'll have to be there...

There will be a Pi configured for anybody to log on to it and test their program on it. Or you can bring your own setup. Having said that, any laptop and, optionally a USB webcam, should do the trick, since no GPIOs will be harmed in the making of this Workshop!

Prerequisite

All experience levels are welcome. You might have just done a Hello, World program in Python (or not even that), or at the other end of the spectrum, written your own package. All will learn something new.

It is recommended to create an account on BitBucket if you plan to follow along with your laptop and Raspberry Pi. If not, don't worry about it. The bitbucket repository will be posted on the PYPTUG mailing list before the event, and on this site after the event.

You might want to give your Raspberry Pi a unique name, and follow these instructions, to set up zeroconf on your Pi: bonjour-zeroconf-avahi.html

When

Saturday January 12 2013
At 3pm-6pm EST

PYPTUG GROUP Calendar

Where

1020 Brookstown Ave #17
Winston-Salem, NC 27101 

The door is on the side of the building. See also the fablocker.org website for more detail on the location.

Meetup RSVP

If you have a meetup account (it only takes a brief moment to create one if you don't), please RSVP for PyHack, on saturday January 12 2013:

http://www.meetup.com/Fablocker/events/

That way we have an idea of how many people will be at the workshop.

We also encourage you to join our mailing list if you plan to attend, as we communicate pre and post workshop links to bitbucket and things like that.

The PYPTUG mailing list is at:

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

A python module for workshops

The PYPTUG python PyHack workshops are about bridging the virtual and the physical, using Python. Since we use the Raspberry Pi, and it is still hard to get a hold of them in a timely manner, several potential attendees were asking if they could still benefit from coming to the workshop this saturday, without a Raspberry Pi.

Definitely

But the answer doesn't stop there. We've made available a RPi.GPIO replacement for testing Raspberry Pi GPIO code on non Raspberry Pi platforms. Meaning, your laptop.

Your laptop will have a split personality

How?

It is a Python module that implements a setmode(), setup(), cleanup(), input(), output(), tracks 54 GPIO states and directions, broadcom and board modes, placeholders for the 4 set_*_event() functions, has some error handling. There is even a debug mode (gpio.debug = True).

Enough to not get an error trying the code for the workshop.

Where?

Head over to the Raspberry Pi Python Adventures blog for the full instructions (right here) on getting this from bitbucket.

Questions?

Leave a comment, we'll gladly help.

PyHack Workshop #02: Get Your Motor Runnin'

PyHack Workshop

A monthly workshop using the wonderful Python programming language to do cool hacks, bridging the virtual and the physical. Presented by PYPTUG, in collaboration with Fablocker. We invite anyone who is interested in learning Python to attend.

Last month, Workshop #1 featured the Raspberry Pi, and the RPi.GPIO library.

And of course we made a quick quiz game, the PiQuizMachine, a project that turned out to be quite popular, and was featured on the main page of the Raspberry Pi Foundation's website not too long ago (here).

Workshop #2

This month (December), we continue to feature the Raspberry Pi.

The theme will be Get Your Motor Runnin', and of course we'll connect some motors (DC and steppers) to the Raspberry Pi, and control them from Python. We'll explore more modules that help with hardware hacking, and we'll wrap it up with some interesting demo.

You don't know how to interface a specific motor? Bring it to the workshop, we'll figure it out.

Prerequisite

All experience levels are welcome. You might have just done a Hello, World program in Python (or not even that), or at the other end of the spectrum, written your own package. All will learn something new.

It is recommended to create an account on BitBucket if you plan to follow along with your laptop and Raspberry Pi. If not, don't worry about it. The bitbucket repository will be posted on the PYPTUG mailing list before the event, and on this site after the event.

When

Saturday December 8 2012
At 3pm-6pm EST

PYPTUG GROUP Calendar

Where

1020 Brookstown Ave #17
Winston-Salem, NC 27101 

The door is on the side of the building. See also the fablocker.org website for more detail on the location.

Meetup RSVP

If you have a meetup account (it only takes a brief moment to create one if you don't), please RSVP for PyHack, on saturday December 8th 2012:

http://www.meetup.com/Fablocker/events/91555232/

That way we have an idea of how many people will be at the workshop.

We also encourage you to join our mailing list if you plan to attend, as we communicate pre and post workshop links to bitbucket and things like that.

The PYPTUG mailing list is at:

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

Hot off the press

PyHack Workshop #01

Yesterday, PYPTUG held its first PyHack workshop at Fablocker in Winston Salem, NC. The Raspberry Pi was briefly introduced along with some background information on the foundation.

Environments

David Mitchell presented iPython, the iPython notebook (uber cool, look into it if you dont know what it is) and the Adafruit WebIDE, along with how to install this (which some set it up during the workshop) and some demo. This was quite interesting, and David's presentation is available here.

Source Code

Read more about it and check out the code on the Raspberry Pi Python Adventure blog.

For PyHack Workshop RSVP

Meetup

If you have a meetup account (it only takes a brief moment to create one if you dont), please RSVP for PyHack for this saturday, november the 10th:
http://www.meetup.com/Fablocker/events/90075422/

Details

And for the details of the workshop:
http://pyptug.blogspot.com/2012/10/pyhack-workshop-details.html

PyHack Workshop Details

PyHack Workshop

A monthly workshop using the wonderful Python programming language to do cool hacks, bridging the virtual and the physical. Presented by PYPTUG, in collaboration with Fablocker. We invite anyone who is interested in learning Python to attend.

Workshop #1

This month, we feature the Raspberry Pi.

We will also demonstrate how to setup AdaFruit's WEB IDE for Python. We will also get you going with ipython, and with GPIOs. We will do a bit of tinkering, make a special interface cable, write some code and build the PiQuizMachine! By the conclusion of the workshop, we should be able to actually play the game (up to 4 teams).

 

 

 

Prerequisite

All  experience levels are welcome. You might have just done a Hello, World program in Python (or not even that), or have written your own library. All will learn something new.

It is recommended to create an account on BitBucket if you plan to follow along with your laptop and Raspberry Pi. If not, don't worry about it.

When

November 10 2012
At 3pm

Where

1020 Brookstown Ave #17
Winston-Salem, NC 27101 

The door is on the side of the building. See also the fablocker.org website for more detail on the location. It would be best if you could confirm on our mailing list if you plan to attend, so we have an idea of how many people will be at the workshop (we will provide some cheat-sheets, LEDs and resistors to all in attendance). The PYPTUG mailing list is at:
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

 

FAQ

Q: I don't have a Raspberry Pi, should I come?
A: Yes, definitely. There is a lot to be learned, plus come and meet other people interested in Python.

Q: What should I bring?
A: At a minimum, nothing. But you might want to bring paper and pen, or a tablet or laptop, to participate in some way or shape. If you want to bring your Raspberry Pi, that would be swell.

Q: I hear we will make a special cable?
A: Yes, we will make a GPIO cable for the Raspberry Pi. If you want to make your own right there and then, please bring an IDE disk drive cable. Intrex in Winston Salem (and Greensboro) has one for $2.99 (CBI-IDE133        Ultra ATA 133 IDE Ribbon Cable, IDC40 x 3, 18" ) but I'm pretty sure everybody has at least one in a drawer somewhere. Ideally a cable with 2 connectors is best (we'll cut the third anyway) such as this one:
idc-ribbon-cable/2102-218.htm

In the end though, we'll end up doing the equivalent of this:
Adafruit Raspberry Pi GPIO cable

So if you already have that cable, or even their complete Cobbler:
Adafruit Raspberry Pi Cobbler
Then bring that instead.

Optionally, bring a pushbutton, something like this:
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160449w345.jpg

Radio Shack sell 4 of them for less than $4. Radio Shack should also carry a 40 pin IDE hard disk cable, for about $5.

Q: Do I have to bring and IDE cable and make the special cable?
A: No, it is not required. You can participate as little or as much as you want in this workshop.

Q: Is there anything I can read beforehand?
A: Sure. As far as background material, The Mag Pi is a fairly light magazine
on the Raspberry Pi. It is free, and there have been 6 issues published up to now. For example, the first issue ( http://www.themagpi.com/view?issue=1 ) on pages 23 to 29 has a brief overview of Python syntax.

PyHack Workshop

We are working on starting a workshop on hacking with Python. Of course, the Raspberry Pi will be one of the featured items for discussion, but it will go well beyond that.

Make sure you are signed up to our mailing list:
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/pyptug?hl=en

 We will announce very soon the place and date. It will be a recurring workshop.