Hackaday Superconference 2024

Writing a blog after years, so I could get myself into the habit of documenting more seriously!

I self-taught myself into Electronics prototyping since my 9th Grade summer breaks, and my primary motivation was seeing like-minded people spend time on creating or hacking their way into their ideas. This led me into buying Arduino kit to play around with, what followed was a separate blog altogether! One of my favourite site to get started had always been Instructables, as I grew older with the hobby, I found myself spending time on other sites such as Hackster.io and Hackaday. These sites were more hardcore and involved topics that were more inter-disciplinary.

During this time, I noticed these communities organized physical meetups for hardware enthusiasts and like-minded people to network. Their idea was to create “Aha!” moments when you meet a person behind one of your favorite projects on the site. I fortunately got the chance to attend one of these events - the Hackaday Supercon 2024.

My Unexpected Journey at Hackaday Supercon:

As a CFI alum with over a decade of electronics experience, I thought I knew what to expect at Hackaday Supercon. But, I was in for a surprise! Interestingly, this year marked Hackaday’s 20th anniversary. It’s amazing to see how far the community has come!

Centre For Innovation (CFI) is the largest student-run innovation lab in India situated at IIT Madras, Chennai.

A Diverse Community

The first shock was the incredible diversity. I met people from all age groups, each bringing unique perspectives to the table. One memorable experience was a 60-year-old enthusiast leading a presentation on repurposing old electronics with the right-to-repair movement. It was refreshing to see young and old sitting together, collaborating on projects like hacking the event badge.

The Badge Challenge

Speaking of badges, let me explain what that means. Every attendee received an electronic board (PCB) featuring a Raspberry Pi Pico and various connectors, primarily using the I2C protocol. The challenge? Design your own PCBs and add-ons (affectionately called “shitty add-ons”) to attach to the board and program it using MicroPython. This competition ran throughout the three-day event, with prizes for the best add-ons.

A Fresh Perspective on Technology

What truly amazed me was how people approached technology. While I’ve always seen it as a problem-solving tool, these makers viewed it as a medium for creativity. They built things simply because they thought it was cool (even when they did not make practical sense sometimes) – a change from the more practical focus we had at CFI.

Cross-Domain Application

The Hackaday community demonstrated a strong technical background, but what set them apart was their ability to apply this knowledge across various domains. This interdisciplinary approach is something we didn’t emphasize as much at CFI - maybe having multiple clubs had its boundaries?

Individual Projects vs. Collaboration

One notable difference from CFI was the focus on individual projects. At Hackaday, people came with their own ideas and problems to solve, whereas CFI emphasized collaboration. While we may have had stronger technical knowledge at CFI, the Hackaday crowd excelled at turning their personal visions into reality. While I don’t complain and given the time and scale of things, the use of smaller groups felt that things happened much faster.

Learning from the Pros

I had the opportunity to attend a workshop and even chat with Samy Kamkar, infamous for creating the MySpace worm named Samy. These conversations often circled back to a crucial point: the importance of first principles thinking. Based on my experiences, we often let go of first principles to get something working quickly. However, the advise I recieved emphasized the value of revisiting these fundamentals. This advice wasn’t new as we do this all the time in academia, but the makers here encouraging this perspective even when building practical projects was really new for me to hear.

How different is it from clubs at CFI?

Honestly, there were only a few differences, CFI felt like an Indianised version of this community. While I or anyone could certainly pick on specific things that could be made better, the community as a whole functions and prevails, which is usually a hard task on it’s own.

My one and only ~~difference~~ complaint with CFI would be to create & maintain a structure of documentation that all of us can agree on and “religiously” follow. I have seen really cool things that happen in our clubs, only for it to be forgotten or only be remembered wwhen Google photos sends me the “This day - 4 years ago” notification. This isn’t ideal as both the people part of the project could not showcase it or get the recognisition for the work they did!. Honestly, our projects or atleast the progress are (most of the times) up to good standards (seriously!), compared to similar communities, but we lack and lose out a lot in repeating things and wasting precious time - recreating the basics.

While documentation isn’t the magical solution that’s gonna change CFI overnight, it is certainly a step forward in recognising team efforts and having a public facing archive that we could look at and have as part of our memories and something.

Conclusion

This experience at Hackaday Supercon has given me a new perspective on electronics and making, especially to use it as a tool to enjoy and do creative things. While the technical session weren’t so hardcore or advanced, the ability to have a community, share and recieve knowledge and try something out of the box for the fun of it was certainly worth it.

Caltech

A Big Bang Theory Fan’s Dream: My Visit to Caltech

As a fan of The Big Bang Theory, I’ve always been fascinated by Caltech, the prestigious institution where the show’s main characters work. So when my friend, who’s pursuing his Ph.D. there, invited me to visit, I jumped at the chance to explore the real-life setting of one of my favorite TV shows.

Exploring Cutting-Edge Labs

The highlight of my visit was undoubtedly the tour of some of Caltech’s labs. As someone with a keen interest in robotics, I was in for a treat. The projects I saw were not just impressive; they were truly inspiring. From advanced AI systems to intricate robotic designs, each lab showcased the kind of groundbreaking research that Caltech is renowned for.

One lab that particularly caught my attention was working on aerospace autonomous systems. The researchers there were developing algorithms for robotic systems that could potentially be used in space exploration – it felt like science fiction coming to life! Watching YouTube videos about scientific advancements is one thing, but seeing these projects in person was an entirely different experience.

More Than Just Science

While the scientific aspect of Caltech was undoubtedly the main attraction, I also enjoyed soaking in the atmosphere of Pasadena. The city has a charm of its own, blending academic prestige with California cool. While it was sad that I could not meet Sheldon or Leonard, I managed to grab some authentic south Indian biryani that I’d been missing for months!

From GTA V to LA: A Gamer’s Real-World Adventure

As a GTA V player, exploring Los Angeles felt like stepping into the game’s virtual world. My first stop was the Griffith Observatory, where I witnessed a stunning sunset that rivaled any in-game graphics. The panoramic view of LA’s skyline brought my digital adventures to life in breathtaking detail.

Next, I visited the bustling Santa Monica Pier, another GTA V hotspot. The familiar sights and sounds – from the Ferris wheel to the crashing waves – created an exciting blend of virtual nostalgia and real-world excitement.

To cap off my LA tour, I indulged in a Michelin-style Indian dinner at Mayura. While not part of the game, this Kerala-style feast was the perfect end to my journey, offering a taste of home amidst my virtual-turned-real adventures.

This unique tour bridged the gap between my gaming experiences and reality, giving me a new appreciation for both the game’s attention to detail and the vibrant energy of Los Angeles itself. It was like completing a real-life GTA V mission – an unforgettable blend of digital nostalgia and real-world exploration.