Last weekend I went down to Melbourne to attend PyconAU 2016. As always, it was a fantastic event but the highlight for me was the opportunity to run the inaugural Internet of Things (IoT) miniconf on the Friday. We had some fantastic speakers, including Damien George and Nick Moore, who packed the room throughout the day and I was overwhelmed at the response we got from participants.
While IoT is a terrible buzzword, I think Damien summed it up best when he described the revolution we are currently seeing as the collision between computation and communication. When you think about it this way IoT is no longer a buzzword and accurately summarises both the challenges and opportunities we are seeing in the embedded space.
The IoT session covered everything from embedded devices and micropython, through to how python can be used to wrangle servers and 3D printers. On the latter front we even got to see the python staff of enlightenment, as printed from a 3D printer controlled by python.
The "#python staff of enlightenment" at #pyconau in Melbourne. How about that @gvanrossum @pyconau @ThePSF pic.twitter.com/ckCyYnX20b
— Lachlan Blackhall (@lblackhall) August 12, 2016
I was fortunate to also give a talk in this session; Working with Real Time Data Streams for IoT Devices. The talk focussed primarily on the Kalman Filter, and its attractiveness for working with real-time data in embedded devices (although its uses don’t just stop there). My strong opinions on the matter, and a lively Q&A session after the talk gave rise to a recurring theme throughout the conference that all problems could be solved with a Kalman Filter!
@lblackhall I have this funny recurring rash – just wondering if a Kalman Filter might clear it up? #pyconau
— James Stewart (@amorphic) August 12, 2016
The weekend talks were of excellent quality and there were two fantastic keynote speeches by Damien George and Russell Keith-Magee. The title of Russell’s talk, Python All the Things, really didn’t do justice to the diversity of content and ideas discussed, and it was reassuring to know that people like Russell are offering such influential thought-leadership for the python community.
All in all it was a great weekend and I can’t wait for PyconAU 2017, which will also be in Melbourne – I hope to see you there 