BHA3 Preparations

In order to hit the ground running, please make sure you have taken care of the following:

Hardware

• Laptop computer running Linux, Mac OS X or Windows
• BioHack Academy board make it yourself from scratch or buy a kit
  • Or go for a seperate Arduino UNO microcontroller + USB cable or a cheaper equivalent board such as Freeduino, Seeeduino or Sparkfun Redboard
  • We also welcome other kinds of MCUs like Raspberry, Particle, BeagleBone, Galileo, etc, but you’ll have to write the code and do the wiring from scratch
  • Also check the suppliers page for stores to purchase electronic components
• For those of you that are planning to make things at home (otherwise provided in the lab): soldering iron, multimeter, helping hand, solder and heat shrink (iPrototype)
• We will need a lot of screws for making prototypes, let’s start with 100 M3 DIN84 or DIN933 (what ever you prefer) bolts and nuts DIN934 in several lengths, such as 10 mm (most used), 20 mm and 30 mm.

Software

• Text or code editor such as Notepad, Notepad++, Xcode, gedit, etc
• Arduino IDE 1.6.7 for programming the Arduino microcontroller
• OpenSCAD and FreeCAD for parametric 3D design
• SketchUp 2016
  • SVG export plugin
• Fritzing for documenting electronic circuits. You may use EagleCad or KiCad too, but the usage is not taught in the course
• InkScape for editing vector drawings
• Cura for operating the 3D printer (Ultimakers and Printrbot)

Cloudware

• Register an account on the following website:
  • GitHub.org for sharing your code and after the second class you will set up your personal academy page using Github Pages
  • Youmagine.com for sharing 3D designs
  • cloud.netfabb.com for fixing broken STL files
  • issuu.com for sharing PDFs under Creative Commons license
  • fablab.waag.org for documenting fab moments in the Amsterdam Fablab
  • Disqus.com for commenting on the BioHack Academy syllabus

Wetware

In case you wish to do experiments at home you will need the following equipment, otherwise these will be provided for in the lab:

• Fridge, freezer and stove
• Pressure cooker (6 Liters or more)
• Empty glass marmalade or vegetable jars
• Pasteur Transfer Pipettes (disposible single use are fine), 15 mL volume pipettes (don’t forget the pipetting balloon) and micropipettes (Gilson, Pipetman or go for cheap Huawei via Alibaba)
• A scale, 1 gram accuracy will do for most of the work. Perhaps also consider having a gold scale for smaller amounts eBay.
• Labogaz 206
• Lab coats

That’s it, you’re all set!