This class is a two day workshop(Saturday September 13th & 20th)
on GPS. Everyone will receive all necessary parts to build and program their own GPS-A-Sketch "Kit" as part of the class fee. The unit will have a microcontroller, GPS receiver & antenna, power, Graphic LCD, Speaker, LED and several switches.

As part of this class you will:

1. build your own programmable GPS receiver with LCD & audio functions
2. program a receiver to play various locative games
3. learn NMEA messaging standard to read time, and location from satellite data
4. contribute to the November art exhibition "Locating Memory" sponsored by the Hacktory for the Esther M. Klein Gallery in West Philadelphia
5. never be lost again.

This is a 2 day class (Saturday September 13th & 20th) from 10am to 4pm

DAY I
Participants will learn about GPS Satellite communication, triangulation, and the system components required to use this technology. The hardware kit will be built (requiring some soldering), and tested to ensure proper construction.

Upon leaving the class, participants will use the units to collect data for the upcoming exhibition "Locating Memory" opening at the Esther M. Klein Gallery on November 14th. The data will be used to generate future image, video and audio content for part of the exhibition. Participants will be able to keep the GPS units for their own future use and will receive acknowledgment as participants in the Hacktory community event.

DAY II
participants will learn how to recover the collected data, and learn to program their own games and applications into the handheld unit. The class will start with beginning programming by creating a pre-designed "GPS-A-Sketch" program where the user draws on the screen by navigating our environment.

After testing our new program, the essential NMEA commands will be broken down to allow for future participant exploration in programming the device. Applications such as location based music or a geographic hunt could be programmed.

Previous experience in kit building or Arduino programming would be helpful, but not completely necessary.

This class is being created in the hope that it may spawn a community of GPS hackers, who can facilitate future sharing of this knowledge, and work with future builders of the kit. The class is being run at very little cost beyond the hardware itself to facilitate a start to this community, and the "Locating Memory" exhibition.