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Host Your Own Build Party

If people in your community are interested in building their own Transit Tracker, you can host your own build party! This document provides logistics tips and resources to help you organize a successful event.

Confirming RSVPs​

Typically the first thing you should do is register interest with your community so you know how many parts to buy. You can collect RSVPs however you like, but for our inaugural build party we made a Google Form with the following fields:

  • Name
  • Email
  • How many Transit Trackers would you like to build?
  • Can you cover your share of the parts?
    • See the Funding section below for more information.
  • Can you 3D print your own frame?
  • Which of these locations would you be able to travel to for the build party?
    • We listed a couple of local libraries to see which would be most convenient for attendees.
  • Are there any particular days of the week you would prefer?
    • Unsurprisingly, Saturday and Sunday were the most popular options.
  • Would you like us to cover your transportation costs?
    • We offered to cover transportation costs under a reasonable amount to help people get to the event.
  • Will you require any other accommodations?
    • Wheelchair access, allergies (if you plan to provide food), etc.

Your RSVP form doesn't need to look exactly like this, but we hope it gives you a good starting point. The most important thing is to get a confirmed list of attendees and the number of units they want to build.

Funding​

You should consider how you want to fund the parts for your build party. For ours, we encouraged attendees to cover their own costs if they could, but also wanted to make sure everyone was able to participate regardless of financial situation, so we provided three choices on the RSVP form:

  1. Yes, I can pay for my own parts
  2. Yes, and I can help cover for those who cannot afford it
  3. No

In the end, we had a handful of very kind people choose the second option that were able to cover the costs for those who could not afford it.

When it came time to actually collect the money, we made a PayPal pool and emailed it to everyone who selected option 1 or 2, as well as the total cost of their parts.

Ordering Parts​

Once you have a confirmed list of attendees, you can order the parts needed for each Transit Tracker using the materials list. Here are our recommended vendors for each part:

Adafruit Matrix Portal S3​

These can sometimes be difficult to find in stock, so you might need to order them from multiple vendors.

Waveshare RGB-Matrix-P2.5-64x32​

We highly recommend ordering these directly from Waveshare since they are the manufacturer and will list for significantly cheaper than resellers. It's important to note, though, that they ship from China, so you should consider shipping times and import tariffs against the other options.

Heads Up!

You need TWO of these displays for each Transit Tracker.

  • Waveshare (best price, ships from China, HIGHLY recommend DHL for shipping)
  • Adafruit (more expensive, ships from the US)
  • Amazon (official Waveshare reseller, more expensive, ships from the US)

If you order a somewhat large quantity from Waveshare, they might ask you via email to confirm your order. If they have any questions about the purpose of the order, you can tell them that you are ordering them for a community event and point them to the Transit Tracker documentation. Note they will also probably want payment via wire transfer, so you should factor that into your timeline.

M3x8mm Machine Screws​

You can find these at pretty much any hardware store, but McMaster sells them in bulk for a reasonable price.

Power Supply and USB-C Cable​

These components are technically optional, and you can tell your attendees to bring their own. It's important to note that we recommend at least a 5V/2A power supply, and to make sure the USB-C cable transfers data as well as power.

3D Printing Frames​

Heads Up!

The provided file is one half of the frame, so you need to print TWO of these for each Transit Tracker.

Each Transit Tracker requires a 3D-printed frame to house the electronics and display panels, so you should consider how you will get these printed. For our event, we sent a call for volunteers in our Discord, and a handful of people signed up to print frames. We kept track of the frames in a simple Google Sheet.

If your event is small, then it's possible that only a single person could print all the frames.

If your team lacks access to 3D printers, you could also consider a 3D printing service like JLC3DP, Craftcloud, etc. Local libraries or makerspaces may also have 3D printers available for public use.

Day-of Logistics​

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Section under construction!

Questions​

If you have any questions about hosting your own build party, please feel free to reach out to us via email or Discord.