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South Austin Makerspace

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About us

We are working to create an organization to better serve the South Austin maker and small business community. It will provide creative resources for both hobby and small business (i.e. prototyping or small lot production) activities. Leased office space, co-working resources, and educational activities are also in the plan.

We have a quarterly roundtable meeting to work on organizational topics. Please feel free to join the discussion.

A discord is available just ask for an invite please.

Makerspace (aka Hackerspace) -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace

The maker movement: how hackerspaces, makerspaces, and fab labs are revolutionising the way we make and live -- https://medium.com/@fab9au/the-maker-movement-a550e68a9ad3

L0pht Heavy Industries -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L0pht (Look up Cypherpunks if you're interested in the Austin connection - Jim C.)

Chaos Computer Club -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Computer_Club

c-base -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-base

Discovery Hall (c1984 - 1991, Austin TX) -- https://txarchives.org/aushc/finding_aids/00673.xml (I was a founding member - Jim C.)

Hackerspace Wiki - A global list of hackerspaces -- https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/ (Note: If you search for Austin, TX you'll find Confusion Research Center, that is my personal activities and how I got involved in this meetup effort about ten years ago - Jim C.)

Asmbly Makerspace (N. Austin) -- https://asmbly.org/

The Robot Group -- https://www.robotgroup.org/ (Was formed as part of Discovery Hall in the late 80's - Jim C.)

Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_Research_Laboratories -- https://www.srl.org/

"The Unexpected Destruction of Elaborately Engineered Artifacts" - A show put on in Austin 28 Mar. 1997 w/ SRL, The Robot Group, and many other volunteers -- https://srl.org/shows/austin/ -- https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Unexpected+Destruction+of+Elaborately+Engineered+Artifacts

Greater Austin Regional Science & Engineering Fair (GARSEF) -- https://austinscience.org/

Upcoming events

3

DIY - Makers - Citizen Science - Nature Nerds - Sci/Tech Geeks -- Monthly Junto
Sat, Mar 21 · 10:30 AM CDT
Pho Phi Restaurant, 1700 W Parmer Ln #610, Austin TX 78727, Austin, TX, US
What's a "Junto"??? -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto_(club) [1]

What local meetups are currently involved?

- Nature Nerds Austin -- https://www.meetup.com/nature-nerds-of-austin/
- South Austin Makerspace -- https://www.meetup.com/southaustinmakerspace/?eventOrigin=your_groups
- Central Texas Commodore User Group (CTCUG) -- https://www.meetup.com/central-texas-commodore-users-group/
- Austin 3D Printing -- https://www.meetup.com/austin-3dprinting/?eventOrigin=your_groups
- Austin Physics for Fun -- https://www.meetup.com/physics-1/?eventOrigin=your_groups
- Austin FPGA -- https://www.meetup.com/austin-fpga-meetup-group/
- Austin Astronomy -- https://www.meetup.com/austin-astronomy-meetup/
- Austin Arduino and MicroController Meetup -- https://www.meetup.com/austin-web-mobile-electronic-club-for-beginners-experts/?eventOrigin=your_groups

(If you know of other groups interested in participating please get in touch.)

The purpose of this gathering is to build better communication between related meetups, foster community, brainstorm, and have fun!!!

Our default time-table is the morning of the 3rd Saturday of each month. The location will change each month, moving to a different part of Austin each time.

Please post the topics, questions, or other items of interest to you, that you'd like to discuss, in comments below.

Unconferences: A Better Way to Run Meetups (28/30) -- https://psychotechnology.substack.com/p/unconferences-a-better-way-to-run

Hope to you see you there, and don't be afraid to pass the word along :)

[1] BOOK REVIEW: The First Scientific American by Joyce E. Chaplin -- https://valdostadailytimes.com/2018/11/03/book-review-the-first-scientific-american-by-joyce-e-chaplin/

[2] Applied Cryptography (the red cover 2nd edition) -- https://www.schneier.com/books/applied-cryptography/
1 attendee
FYI - Arduino Day 2026 - 27 & 28 Mar. - Hybrid - Austin TX
Fri, Mar 27 · 10:00 AM CDT
Diogenes Makerspace, 13800 Dragline Dr, Austin, TX, US
More specifics will be added as the event date approaches.

Current Arduino details available at -- https://days.arduino.cc/about

Austin, TX specific activities are open to all makes and models of single board computers.

Please let us know if you have a presentation or activity that you would like to present.

-- -- -- --

Release: 1 Mar. (Sun)

Arduino Days 2026
https://days.arduino.cc/about
March 27 & 28

Diogenes
Arduino Days 2026
March 27, 28, & 29
10a - 4p CST

March 27 (Fri):

10a - 4p - Arduino is expected to have livestream most of the day (Waiting on their schedule release)

12p - 4p - Group Arduino Automaton/Robotics Project (Day 1/3)
As a group, participants will choose their specific mechanism to build and test.

Suggestions, but the group can pick their own.
- Karakuri Ningo (からくり人形)
Karakuri Puppet -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakuri_puppet
Japan's Only Karakuri Doll Master. 300 Years of Exquisite Mechanical Art. -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU-kqpkZWjc
- Automated & Tracking Nerf Compatible Weapon
- da Vinci Mechanism

March 28 (Sat):

10a - 12p - HABEX Monthly Update - "Arduino & LoRaWAN" - Seeeduino LoRaWAN (J. Choate) - Hands-on pair/group.
- The first hour will be a presentation of the HABEX2 project and the hardware.
- The second hour 2 will be a hands on familiarization with the SEEEDuino LoRaWAN board. I have 3x boards. You'll need a computer to program them. Intend to do blink and GPS.
https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Seeeduino_LoRAWAN/

12p - 4p - Group Arduino Automaton/Robotics Project (Day 2/3)

March 29 (Sun):

10a - 12p - Wanna get Weird? Plan 9 on Raspberry Pi (J. Choate) - Hands-on as you will need a Raspberry Pi, SD Card, & Computer
Plan 9 Installation on Raspberry Pi 3 -- https://web.archive.org/web/20200111162735/http://ssz.com/Projects/RPi_Plan9_Install.html
Plan 9 available -- https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=24480
Plan 9 operating system for the Raspberry Pi – demonstration by Richard Miller -- https://raspi.tv/2012/plan-9-operating-system-for-the-raspberry-pi-demonstration-by-richard-miller
9Front -- https://9front.org/

12p - 4p - Group Arduino Automaton/Robotics Project (Day 3/3)

Unscheduled (at this time):

The Linux Build System - A High Level Introduction (J. Choate) - 1 (possibly 2) hrs. - Presentation w/ discussion.

To Do:

ESP32 (We have several ESP32s and ESP32 WROOM boards available) - Volunteer?

BeagleV-Fire (Has an SOC FPGA) - I have one board and have done a couple of projects with it, very beginner. The toolchain for this is mostly provided by Beagle online (though I do have the toolchain installed locally as well). - Volunteer?

Arduino Uno Q - I have one board and hope to have at least got blink done by the target date. - Volunteer?
3 attendees
HABEX2 - High Altitude Balloon Flight - Design Update - Hybrid
Sat, Mar 28 · 10:00 AM CDT
13800 Dragline Dr, Austin, TX, US
This is the monthly design status and update meeting. Participation is both in person and online.

Members of Austin Physics for Fun are now involved in the effort. -- https://www.meetup.com/physics-1/

The meeting will be held at a private makerspace, Diogenes. It is located in the same building as the adult club Colette Austin. The door is at the left end of the building, Suite C. Go to the back of the first floor workspace and head upstairs.

If you have questions please feel free to submit them in the comments below or send them to me directly.

Zoom meeting details will be posted about a half hour before the meeting begins.

HABEX - High Altitude Balloon Experiments

The reference to experiments is two-fold. The first is in regard to the actual balloon construction and flight processes. The second is a reference to the payload and what it does during the flight (e.g. images, environmental measurements, etc.). To be clear, there will be two design processes going on in parallel, the balloon proper and the payload. This initial flight is really focusing on the balloon to get that process pinned down and clearly defined. The initial payload should be simple (e.g. digital camera taking pictures).

One of the primary design considerations will be the use of CanSat techniques in the design and construction process. We may need to build a technology demonstrator for this (i.e. dummy payload) before the actual flight process.

Design Process:

Design/Buy > Assemble > Test > Loop (Will it fly?) > Flight Plan

Meeting Sequence:

Pilot - Initial meeting (possibly two) to gauge interest and get first round of participants.

Design - Group responsible for the first four stages of the Design

Process. - Multiple meetings.

Pre-Flight - Review process to date and verify readiness - Set the date of launch - Possibly two meetings

Launch - Two teams (Launch and Recovery)

Clean up - Launch team cleans up launch site and transitions to tracking and telemetry

Recovery - Recovery team (possibly several groups) chases the balloon and tries to stay ahead of it.

Post-Flight - Review, analysis, and release of flight report (including experimental results if any).

Flight Plan:

Pre-Flight

Schedule

Assembly

Launch

Tracking

Recovery

Constraints:

COVID 19

Budget

Resources/Tools/Facilities

Legal (e.g. FAA rules about weight and number of modules)

People

Transportation

Review/Release Results
2 attendees

Past events

175

Organizers

Rob Ristroph and 2 others

Members

971

Related topics

Microcontrollers

DIY (Do It Yourself)