Android Open Accessory support opens up the ability of your Android device to accept input from common external USB hardware such as keyboards, mice, and game controllers. Even more exciting for the hardware hobbyist is the ability to use the Android Open Accessory APIs to control USB devices, including the popular Arduino microcontroller.

However, the official Arduino ADK boards do not support OS systems below 2.3.4! The Sparkfun IOIO (pronounced YO-YO) for Android comes to the rescue! It works on most Android devices 1.5 and up!

This 5-hour, hands-on workshop will focus on allowing Android/Java developers the opportunity get their hands dirty with the fundamentals of electronics and the alternative to Android Open Accessory APIs. The workshop will give you the chance to get acquainted with a variety of basic electronic components such as LEDs, motors, sensors, and the SparkFun IOIO. Workshop enrollment is capped at 6 attendees so you're guarenteed to get individual attention.

Attendees will walk away with their very own hacked Dyzplastic Android figurine and all the parts (including the ADK micro-controller) to continue hacking away at home.

Workshop Pre-requisites:

All attendees must supply their own compatible Android device such as a tablet or phone running OS version 1.5 or higher. The IOIO discussion board has an ongoing list of compatible devices here: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&pli=1#!topic/ioio-users/pW0wlUQnlUI

If there are any questions regarding the compatibility of your device, please email pearl[at]karma-laboratory.com before registering since refunds will not be issued.

Attendees must also have some working knowledge of Java and the Android SDK and are requested to bring their own laptop with Eclipse and the latest Android SDK installed. This workshop is best suited for Android developers with little to no prior electronics knowledge although other developers are welcome.

The registration fee includes all other equipment used during the workshop.

About the organizer: Karma Laboratory

Karma Laboratory was founded by Pearl Chen to explore non-traditional uses of technology. Pearl is an educator, web developer, artisan, and Android enthusiast. Circle Karma Laboratory (http://gplus.to/klab) or Pearl (http://gplus.to/pearl) on Google+.

About the host venue: 

The ThingTank Lab (http://thingtanklab.com/) is an open, community based collaborative ideation lab. This ideation lab is a place where the exploration, experimentation, and exchange of ideas are developed towards the building of “things”. The things our lab is most interested in are those emerging through the continuing revolution of data driven goods and services, what is notionally discussed as being the “Internet of things”. The next generation of digital content products and services have distributed and diverse modes of interaction where websites and mobile content will be only one aspect of the user’s experience. These digitally enabled networked objects are the Internet of Things.