Copter Planning

[mikeal]

I'd like to use this issue to nail down all the planning for the Copter session at NodeConf.

I'm willing to purchase any copters we might need as well as spare parts.

The space you'll be working with will be outside and have a few picnic tables. If you need to presentations we have a few options, one is to use an outside projector and another might be to set you up in the barn with a smaller screen.

@voodootikigod @nexxy

[KarbonDallas]

+1 for the barn!

[mikeal]

can we put together a list of equipment you'll need. also, because Chris isn't 100% confirmed, and 2 people is pretty light on coverage for a handson, i'd like suggestions for people that might be able to help out with this session that we can add to the camp counselor roster.

[voodootikigod]

I can give you teh equip list we have for JSConf nodecopter event. I need to know how many people estimated to attend this event. Would suggested a limited quantity of people.

[voodootikigod]

Are you doing this outside ofthe bounds of Summer of Drones?

[mikeal]

if i knew what the fuck it meant to be "inside the bounds" of Summer of Drones I might be inside it, but since I have no clue, i guess i'm out :)

No more than 40 people will be in the session at one time. An estimate per person would be great so that I can adjust it based on the next month of ticket sales.

[voodootikigod]

For JSConf its roughly 201.11 per attendee. We bought 51 copters and the necessary "fix kits" (hulls, adhesive, etc) for that quantity. They are the property of JSConf and can be used for events. For 40 people, I would say if you have 18 on hand you should be good. We have a deal with them for a reduced rate, not sure if you want ot procure your own OR use the jsconf.

[mikeal]

Oh wait, add in the fact that 8 groups of up to 40 will be using them. What is the average breakage rate?

[mikeal]

For obvious reasons this session will be in the outside area of picnic benches and grass near the "Boogie Barn". If by some crazed act of god it rains in June in California we can move in to the Boogie Barn as a fallback.

[mikeal]

Also, since this session is outside, we'll need to find a way to print anything you should normally show as slides or examples and put them on an easel since projecting outside mid-day won't work.

[mikeal]

adding @aulvi to this session. @aulvi please register for a staff ticket when you get a chance.

[aulvi]

@mikeal Awesome, thanks!

[aulvi]

@mikeal I'm planning on bringing a VM with a full npm private repo on it so participants can install whatever modules they need. Should I plan on bringing an AP as well?

[mikeal]

this would still rely on the local wireless, which would be a mistake. get all the modules you want installed and pushed to this repository.

[mikeal]

shit, i just realized, the copters rely on a local wireless as well. we should bring a private wireless network.

please let me know what hardware you'd like for that.

[aulvi]

The copters are their own AP, so we don't need wireless to fly 'em using node (yay!)

However, wireless would absolutely be required for accessing our local npm repo and stuff. I can bring a linksys AP running dd-wrt for the copters track, but it may be useful to have other APs around too. I'm quite happy to share copies of the VM I'm building, I figure other tracks may need modules as well so supplying them with some basic infrastructure could be nice.

[mikeal]

Trying to solve problems with a small wireless network is likely to make them worse, especially if you try to rope in the other sessions.

The camp is quite large and we're using different spaces all over it so it won't stretch. The camp actually has a decent wireless network and a decent connection but we have to assume its going to fall over as soon as 300 geeks get on it with all their devices.

Any modules you need in your session need to be checked in to this repository. We'll be sending out a tarball ahead of time and we're keeping a copy on several usb keys as well. Feel free to install node_modules and check them in and put any other tools, utilities, or code samples people should run in the copters directory.

[mikeal]

ok, time to figure out how many batteries and copters we need.

@voodootikigod you just ran something similar at JSConf, we've got about 8 hours of copters with about 40 people using them that entire time, what do you think?

[KarbonDallas]

3 batteries should be enough to get a drone through the session. It's a matter of how quickly we can get them recharged. I've never really paid attention to exactly how long it takes to get a battery fully recharged...

[mikeal]

A charge takes up to 90 minutes. I just ordered 30 batteries because amazon had a good price and 30 was the max for one order.

I also ordered 10 drones. We may want more, but we'll need at least that many so I went ahead and ordered them.

Any ideas on extra parts?

I can't seem to find a good link for extra charge cables.

[aulvi]

Nice, 10 drones and 30 batteries is awesome. Ben Acker from Walmart Labs has access to a half dozen drones and has been bringing them to pdxnode events, I will ask if we can borrow them for NodeConf.

As for parts, the hull seems to get beat up the most, so we'll need some masking tape for repairs.

Spares to buy: o Props (http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_product.aspx?i=199951) o Gears (http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_product.aspx?i=199964)

Folks tend to stick their hands into the props to shut them off, so props and gears get beat up quickly. Overall I haven't seen too much breakage with these guys so I'm not sure what else would be required.

Nice-to-haves: o Crossbar http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_product.aspx?i=231061 o Spare motor (http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_product.aspx?i=199962) I have seen these break, too.

The chargers are funky and seem to be hard to find for less than $40. Here's a couple links but I'm sure you found them earlier: o http://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Drone-2-0-Charger-Set/dp/B007HZLSWU o http://www.parrotshopping.com/us/p_parrot_product.aspx?i=230890

[mikeal]

Could someone take the initiative and add the dependencies you're going to need for this session to the nodeconf2013 package.json?

[aulvi]

Deps have been added, thanks!

[nvcexploder]

PS -I have the drones from WMLabs that I'm shipping out next week. I also have an extra hull, some extra motors, 2 extra batteries per coptor, and 10 chargers.

Mikeal, should I ship them to you or to Walmartlabs?

[nvcexploder]

... and a toolkit.

Having some good duct tape (Nexxy has a rad roll in her toolkit) is REALLY useful also.

As is a soldering iron & some other bits & bobs (which I/we can bring).

[mikeal]

You can send them directly to the camp if you want.

Walker Creek Ranch 1700 Marshall-Petaluma Road Petaluma, CA 94952

Hold for "Node" should be on the front of the mailing.

[nvcexploder]

Dag. Good call. Thanks!

On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Mikeal Rogers notifications@github.comwrote:

You can send them directly to the camp if you want.

Walker Creek Ranch 1700 Marshall-Petaluma Road Petaluma, CA 94952

Hold for "Node" should be on the front of the mailing.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/mikeal/nodeconf2013/issues/1#issuecomment-19782744 .