I’ll be teaching a new course at ITP in the Fall that examines collaboration on wireless networks. Students will create experimental devices and connect them together. Here’s the official description:
Collaborative Mesh Networking
H79.2672 (Robert Faludi) Wednesday 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Modern devices no longer need to be isolated. Recent advances in wireless mesh networks have created the potential for a massively interconnected world of easy information sharing. Cheap communications, high reliability, unique addressing, small size, efficiency, standardization, broadcast options and routing features combine to enable exciting new interactions. Developers of toys, wearables, performance devices, portables, network objects and sensor arrays can take advantage of radio mesh networking to design more interesting, better informed and more complex behaviors for their projects. This course explores devices that connect with and respond to each other. The technical focus will be on 802.15.4/ZigBee wireless mesh networks. Interconnections with other platforms and devices will be examined as needed. Students will gain an expertise in all functions of the ZigBee system to facilitate smart and novel behaviors in their projects. Through a series of accessible weekly exercises, students will build skills and explore the challenges and delights of mutual connectivity. As a final project, the class will construct an dynamic device network. Most labs and projects involve group work, so students should be ready to collaborate extensively as they experiment on the cutting edge of device interaction.