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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Dork what?
A: Dorkbot. It's people doing strange things with electricity. In Portland.
Q: Are you dorks just about robots?
A: No.
Q: Do you dorks all build robots?
A: No.
Q: What, besides robots, do people in this group do?
A: A lot of things. Among others: circuit bending, hardware hacking, generative software, etc., etc. Some of us, believe it or not, don't do anything even remotely robot related.
Q: So, what's up with the name?
A: It's a historical thing. Ask Douglas Repetto (founder of the original Dorkbot in NYC) if you really want to know.
Q: I posted a question as a comment on an obscure part of this site. Why don't I get an answer ?!?!
A: Unless someone actively ready the rss feed or monitors the site changes no one will notice. If you want instant answers ask your question in the #dorkbbotpdx IRC channel. If you can wait a little bit you can post to the dorbotpdx-blabber mailing list.

Comments

Sat, 2009-07-04 18:00 — shah

sun tracker for solar panals

looking for sun tracker for solar panals, any one have tried and very reliable, please send the schematic, and photograph,

alternateenergi@yahoo.com

thanks

shah

Thu, 2010-06-10 08:05 — CodeWarrior1241

Sun Tracker for solar panels

I've got a two-part circuit cellar article that deals with just that - comes with description, schematics, and code. I'll email the PDFs to you, let me know (here, in a post) when you get them.

Fri, 2012-05-18 13:10 — tlhurley

Dork Board and P4 Programmer

I have used an Arduino Decimila, my own RBB Hack and Slash perf board I built from scratch, a Microchip based Digilent (MAX32), and a STM32 Micro device to develop new platforms as needed. It seems that plug and play for the P4 programmer and the Dorkboard is beyond my understanding. I have tried to connect the Programmer to the Arduino software, I do not understand what device and what programmer I should select to recognize the device. I added a two pin header to the Dorkboard to provide a 5V power supply, the board powers up and functions correctly Blinking light and all, but I can not configure the programmer to connect to the board. If anyone has insight into why this is please help! I am very frustrated and work on electronics 6 days a week so have not had time to make it to a meeting on Mondays. I have also had another Electronics Technician/Engineer verify that I assembled both devices correctly.

I would suggest making a contact us link to e-mail addresses or contact information for your site also.

Thanks for any help!

Cheers,

Terry Hurley

Fri, 2012-05-18 12:42 — feurig (not verified)

Responded Via Email.

Terry,

The p4 is Brian Rileys product and since I have nothing with an actually db9 based serial port I don't understand it either. I do know that brian provides excellent technical support and documentation which is one of the reasons I like having him as a supplier.

If you would like local support you should ask the dorkbotpdx mailing list or sign up for the Induction Tomorrow. http://www.dorkbotpdx.org/blog/feurig/arduino_cult_induction_freegeek_19may12_1_5pm_35 the whole point of the induction is to make it so that everyone walks out with working product and that issues such as these can be handled collectively and efficiently. The induction includes my programmer (a usb-ttl-serial adapter called the duce), as well as the dork board kit you build during the class.

You may also check out http://dorkbotpdx.org/blog/feurig/using_the_dorkboard_with_other_peoples_programmers and see if that helps.

Best regards. Don.