Logbook

Change Of Location

Please refer to the newer logbook with pictures of the workshops, summary of new developments, and more on the GitHub Wiki.

November/December 2020

Preparation and Hosting of Online Workshops

This was a trial of a novel workshop format part of the Science Days Digital 2020, to make the best out of COVID-19 related social distancing requirements. Participants were gathering locally in small groups and then guided by me remotely via several video calls. The preparation was quite time-consuming and involved in terms of necessary communication and organization with teachers and FabLabs. The success was worth the effort and the fellowship supported me to handle certain aspects more pragmatic than otherwise possible. For example, several hardware components had to be shipped quickly to several international destinations, which I paid myself in favour of fast shipping and easier procedures.

The open hardware community platform www.Kitspace.org supported these workshops and took this as an opportunity to offer its first complete hardware kits: https://shop.kitspace.org/buy/electron-detector/

The two-page assembly guide PDF was improved and translated into German.

Also due to this occasion, corresponding software, a browser-based oscilloscope for recording detector data, was also updated and improved.

Documentation updates to the Wiki can be followed here.

In total, 30 teachers, instructors, high-school students, university students, makers and enthusiasts took part and built the electron-detector variant of my open science hardware instrument during these online workshops.

Pictures from the DIY particle detector online workshop hosted at FabLab Munich, 24. November:

• https://twitter.com/0zelot/status/1331557681186926596
• https://twitter.com/FabLabMuc/status/1331571033053212674

October 2020

Fellows-Programm Freies Wissen Kick-Off seminar - 16./17. October

First dedicated meeting with co-mentee Ludmilla Figueiredo and our common mentor Johanna Havemann - 29. October

Both events lead to the following project planning.

Main Goals & Milestones

Hardware & Software Development

• improve the web-based measurement software:
• develop the detector more towards a smartphone accessory => improve ease of use
• increase detector sensitivity (e.g. cosmic rays) with a redesign of the electronics

Milestones:

• new hardware revision by June 2021
• incremental software updates throughout the year

Documentation

• select easier to access multi-language capable web site service than the existing GitHub Wiki
• translate English project docs into German, support others to do the same in their native languages
• start blogging about it
• produce video material
• more build instructions based on 3D models

Milestones:

• blog and first article: January 2020
• dedicated project website: March 2020
• wiki & documentation updates, translations etc.: throughout the year

Workshops & Talks

• run 3 or more workshops
  • 1 workshop in a community living close to a Uranium/Thorium or rare earth mine
• do an open online talk (e.g. apply for CCC's annual congress RC3 call for proposals)

Milestones: throughout the year (hands-on DIY workshops difficult to plan due to COVID-19)