[Speakers] REMINDER: SVLUG Wed Sep 4: Teaching Penguins to Fly - Gimzocopter the Vertical Take-off and Landing Demonstrator

[stevegt@svlug.org]

We're pleased to announce the next meeting of the Silicon Valley Linux
Users Group!  Special this month...

WHAT:

  Teaching Penguins to Fly - Gimzocopter, the Vertical Take-off and
  Landing Demonstrator

WHEN:

  Wednesday, Sep 4, 2002, 7pm-9pm or so
	
WHO:

  David Masten 
  President, Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society
  http://www.erps.org


ABOUT:

The spec says "flexible, embedded, scales well, reliable, and your
budget is whatever you can personally afford".  Linux on a x86-based
embedded system just happens to fit nicely...

Gizmocopter, a hovering rocket guidance software test platform, was a
winner of the first Embedded Linux Journal design contest.
(http://gizmocopter.org)

David Masten will be discussing the design and implementation of this
Linux based semi-autonomous flight control system. Several specific
areas will be addressed, including; embedded hardware companies'
binary drivers, the decision to go with a general purpose OS, how not
to lead a software project, and real-time patches for Linux.


MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

David Masten is a systems and networking administrator by day and a
rocket mechanic nights and weekends. He is currently serving as
President of the Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society, Inc. a
non-profit research and educational group working on inexpensive
launch vehicles.

David started playing with computers in 1982 with an Apple II and
BASIC, and has since gone through many platforms and is now a happy
Linux and BSD user. He has occasional delusions of finishing his
Mechanical Engineering degree and getting a P.E. in aerospace
engineering.

When he is not in front of a computer or building rockets, David can
be found flying airplanes, studying economics and politics, or hiking.


WHERE:

Cisco Building 9.  The land of NUMBERS. The VINEYARDS conference
center.  The side we are on is the Silver Oak/Jordan conference rooms,
where a large Cisco fountain is usually not turned on.  Directions on
how to get there are listed at:

        http://www.svlug.org/directions/cisco-9.shtml 

It's best if you arrive close to on time, as otherwise there may not
be someone posted at the door to let you in.  After the speakers end
their presentation there is usually a Q&A session, time for job
seekers and employers to meet, and often a few door prizes.  When the
meeting is over people are encouraged to chat a bit, but also to exit
the building so Cisco can lock up. Don't worry, a lot of us go to
dinner afterward so there's plenty of time to chat outdoors or
offsite.

We've tried our very best for these directions to be accurate.  If you
have any improvements to make, please let our Web Team know!
web-team at svlug.org


CALL FOR SPEAKERS:

To propose an SVLUG talk, see http://www.svlug.org/call4speakers.shtml.


We look forward to seeing you there!