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Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!

Bloominglabs is Indiana's first (and so far only!) hackerspace also known as a makerspace. We are a group of community members that have commonly rented a place where we can collectively build projects. We are open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm and are family friendly.

Who are we?

Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club. We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us.

Stay informed

• Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
• Our Calendar of events
• Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabsand Facebook.
• Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
• Our IRC server is at irc.bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
• We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.

Our Location

We have 1,000 sq ft of which 750 sq ft is unfinished, cement floor workspace and 250 sq ft is finished office space for hanging out. There's also a full bathroom. The address is 3927 W. Roll Avenue which is just north of 2nd Street up Curry Pike. Come check it out! [MAP]

Workshops/Classes

• Two week soldering workshop February 21st and 28th from 6:30pm until 9pm - $20 for one week, $30 for both weeks
  • First week is intro to soldering, the kit is a simple "phaser" with adjustable flashing led and piezo speaker element (all through-hole components)
  • Second week is surface mount soldering and also finish-up of the first week's kit if needed
  • Both classes include a kit to solder, additional electronics kits available at additional cost
  • Everything you need will be provided for you, but if you wish you may bring your own soldering iron and hand-tools
  • Send an email to rsvp ]at[ bloominglabs ]dot[ org to sign up! RSVP early while seats are still available!

• Intro to Computer Programming course Thursdays from 6:15pm until 8:45pm
  • http://harold.uits.indiana.edu/~jtillots/IntroToProgramming/
  • This 15 week long class will start on January 12th and end on April 26th with no meeting on March 15th for spring break.
  • The course will be taught in C and a syllabus can be found here(subject to minor changes).
  • Text will be Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language: 2nd edition"
  • Cost is a minimum of $50 for the 15 week long course (feel free to pay more if you want!) and all proceeds will go to Bloominglabs.
  • I also ask that you be committed to attending every week and there will be assignments to work on outside of class (but no exams!).
  • Send an email to contact ]at[ bloominglabs ]dot[ org if you are interested in attending.

• For members: check out our page about selling things at the workshops at SellingThings and for calculating sales tax, check out Sales Tax Calculator for 47401

Current Events (PastEvents)

• Every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm
  • Public hack meetings!
  • Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
  • All ages and everyone is welcome

What is a hacker space?

It's a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.

Membership

We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details.

Meetings

Currently we meet every Wednesday at 7:00pm at 3927 W. Roll Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public, anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. We currently have an electronics and robotics focus but there's also interest in general science and astronomy as well. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.

• Meeting_Minutes
• Bloominglabs Log

Current Projects

Projects

What needs to be done yet?

Check out the Todo list to see the latest things we need to get done.

Also see who else is working on this project: Special:ListUsers

Uploaded files: Special:ImageList

Nearby Hacker Spaces or initiatives:

• Hive13 (Cincinnati, OH)
• LVL1 (Louisville Kentucky)
• Vault404 (Louisville Kentucky)
• Collexion (Lexington Kentucky)
• Pumping Station: One (Chicago)
• Dayton Diode
• Detroit Facility
• i3 Detroit

Other Cool Groups in Bloomington

• The Bloomington Print Collective -- a non-profit community print shop.
• Indiana Filmmakers Network -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
• Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
• Indiana University Amateur Radio Club