We're proposing a community workshop weekend at Bridge Rectifier hackspace in Hebden Bridge on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May 2026. On the Saturday, we'd like to run something like (tbd) an informal guided walk along the Calder Valley -- perhaps visiting Slow the Flow flood prevention sites and scoping the terrain for permanent sensor infrastructure. Additonally while simultaneously doing a signal-mapping survey of the valley using handheld Meshtastic devices. Pat ( who's as you know a BR, StF trustee and local flood warden) and perhaps we can draw on Dr Steph Bond (Leeds Geography
The Sunday is the main event: a full-day build workshop for around 15 participants. In the morning, everyone builds a complete LoRaWAN sensor node using a Heltec CubeCell dev board with an onboard LoRa radio, something like a BME280 environmental sensor, a battery, and an antenna. Each node joins a live LoRaWAN gateway running at BR and transmits data to a shared dashboard on the projector -- participants see their own sensor data appearing in real time the moment their build is working. The afternoon shifts into production mode: groups organised around real deployment partners (Steph's university monitoring site, Slow the Flow's flood infrastructure, and the ongoing Project Arlo prototype pipeline) build sensor nodes configured for actual field use. I'll be honest, his is where your lesson from Edinburgh -- keep the focus on the environment being sensed, not the code -- kinda shapes the approach.
The workshop connects to Project Arlo (ongoing open-source sensor prototyping at BR), which is also part of the DATA Project at Leeds, which is building community-owned LoRaWAN monitoring infrastructure in the UK and Southern Africa. The university is separately covering catering, student travel, and production pipeline hardware from its research budget, so the SSI contribution would go entirely toward participant kits and your suggestion of some durable workshop infrastructure.
Outcomes: 15 participants introduced to open-source environmental sensing, each leaving with a complete, working LoRaWAN sensor node they built themselves. Bridge Rectifier gains a set of durable workshop tools (e.g. soldering stations, hand tools, fume extraction fans, test equipment) that support ongoing community prototyping sessions well beyond this event. We generate a real LoRaWAN coverage map of the Hebden Bridge valley and begin building actual sensor nodes for three deployment sites. The workshop provides a documented, replicable model for your wider series (if of use ofc), we'll also share a HOWTO on our site as well.
Proposed budget: