We will be primarily working on Particle Photons, which are cheap, WiFi-enabled microcontrollers. To work online, ask one of our hackroom volunteers or organizers for access to a photon (or go to the hardware lab?).
Working with photons is super painless with Particle's web IDE. Sign up for an account, then add a new device. Enter the ID of the photon you'd like to claim (written on photon), then come over to the Hackroom guru and swap your ID for access. Afterwards, you'll be able to update device code directly over WiFi!
We have provided some sample applications in the examples folder. You can also see hacks from other attendees in projects.
Open up the web IDE if you haven't already, and get cracking! Note that libraries like neopixel and LiquidCrystal_I2C can be automatically searched for and imported using the web IDE. There are a ton of tutorials online for using different sensors, as well as built-in ways to make internet-of-things applications using Spark.function(), Spark.variable(), and Spark.publish() functions.
Save, verify, and flash your code over WiFi. If everything goes well, your photon will flash purple, then pulse white, and your project will work!
Once you're ready to leave, unclaim your photon in the IDE and pick up your identification. We'll make sure everything is good to go, and your project will live on until the next hacker comes by to do it all over again.