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Anthony Pesce edited this page Sep 24, 2015 · 13 revisions

Welcome to our ONA15 session on Arduinos and algorithms! We're here to show you some basics on using sensors, electronics and computer programming together in the service of journalism. But don't freak out if that sounds technical -- this is meant as a broad, hands-on introduction to the topics. We'll guide you through everything we're doing and there will plenty of time for questions.

The idea is simple: we've built about five audio sensors that are going to sit in conference rooms throughout ONA15 and monitor the sound level in the rooms they're in. You can check out the results on our server here: 52.26.235.236. When it gets loud in the room, our server will automatically tweet about it @ONA15Bot.

The sensors contain a few commodity components that you can purchase for under $100, and the code to program them is open-source. The server is also pretty straightforward, using open source software like Django and the L.A. Times Data Desk Django Project Template and latimes-calculate package.

Before you come to the session, please see if you can get to the following:

  1. Download and install the Arduino IDE Editor for your OS https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

  2. Download and install the Adafruit CC3000 Library using the instructions here. Rename the .zip file and the folder inside the .zip file to Arduino_CC3000 or the import will fail. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-cc3000-wifi/cc3000-library-software

  3. Optional, if you want to get your own server running Download and install the ona15-arduino-server repo on GitHub

Next up: The Equipment »

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