linux.conf.au 2019 Open Hardware Miniconf · New Zealand · 2019

LCA2019 Donkey Car

Raspberry Pi and TensorFlow self-driving car kit for the Open Hardware Miniconf

linux.conf.au 2019's Open Hardware Miniconf included a Donkey Car self-driving car kit designed by the Open Hardware Miniconf team, assembled by participants, and used for TensorFlow-based driving experiments.

linux.conf.au Open Hardware Miniconf New Zealand Christchurch Donkey Car Raspberry Pi TensorFlow machine learning robotics Oceania

Eventlinux.conf.au 2019 Open Hardware Miniconf

Serieslinux.conf.au Open Hardware Miniconf

LocationUniversity of Canterbury, Christchurch

CountryNew Zealand

People

Authors & Credits

Donkey Car kit designers

Open Hardware Miniconf team

Marc Merlin's first-hand writeup describes the Donkey Car as the Open Hardware team's design; this pass has not mapped every individual contributor to the kit.

Source

Donkey Car kit preparation and hardware support

Jon Spencer

Marc Merlin's writeup says Jon Spencer worked through the night to help get the Donkey Car kits ready for participant assembly.

Source

Donkey Car kit preparation and software support

Andy Gelme

Marc Merlin's writeup says Andy Gelme worked through the night on the kits and later helped present the Donkey Car software flow.

Source

event and Open Hardware Miniconf publisher

linux.conf.au 2019 / Linux Australia

Official publisher of the programme and miniconf pages used for the Christchurch conference setting and Open Hardware Miniconf context.

Source

Why It Mattered

The Donkey Car record fills the New Zealand side of the LCA robotics lineage: it shows the Open Hardware Miniconf moving from badge boards and training bonnets into camera-equipped Raspberry Pi vehicles before the improved 2020 DingoCar.

Hardware

The first-hand source documents a car kit with an onboard camera connected to a Raspberry Pi, a custom last-minute Raspberry Pi HAT, participant assembly, and optional NeoPixel decoration. The official LCA2019 programme and miniconf pages provide the Christchurch event and Open Hardware Miniconf context.

Software & Apps

Marc Merlin's writeup describes training-video data gathered from the car and analyzed offline by TensorFlow, followed by attempts to get the assembled cars to self-drive after training. This pass does not claim a recovered public repository, model files, schematic, BOM, or official firmware archive.

Lore

Marc's field report says Andy Gelme and Jon Spencer worked through the night to get the kits ready, then participants built the cars, heard design/software talks, and tried to train their own cars after the miniconf.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

machine-learning workflow source-backed

TensorFlow training-data workflow

The miniconf workflow gathered training video from the car and analyzed it offline with TensorFlow before attendees tried self-driving runs.

Compatibility: LCA2019 Donkey Car

Source

robotics hardware platform source-backed

Raspberry Pi camera car platform

Marc Merlin's first-hand report documents a Donkey Car kit with an onboard camera connected to a Raspberry Pi and a custom last-minute Raspberry Pi HAT.

Compatibility: LCA2019 Donkey Car

Source

workshop and talk sequence source-backed

Open Hardware Miniconf context

The official linux.conf.au 2019 miniconfs page anchors the Donkey Car work inside the Monday Open Hardware Miniconf and its beginner-to-advanced hardware/software framing.

Compatibility: LCA2019 Donkey Car

Source

workshop workflow source-backed

Participant assembly and driving track

Participants assembled the cars, manually drove them around the track to collect training data, and then attempted autonomous driving after model training.

Compatibility: LCA2019 Donkey Car

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

kit-artifact classification note

The source trail proves a Donkey Car robotics and machine-learning kit used in the Open Hardware Miniconf, not a conference-wide admission credential.

The entry is modeled as an LCA hardware-kit artifact in the badge lineage while avoiding claims about attendee identity-badge issuance.

Confidence: official and first-hand sources
Status: documented
Timeframe: 2019 Open Hardware Miniconf
Source note: LCA2019 programme/miniconf pages and Marc Merlin Donkey Car writeup.

missing rights-cleared image note

No Donkey Car image is published because the recovered attendee photos and event pages have not been paired with complete source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes for catalogue publication.

The record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying attendee photos, thumbnails, screenshots, or generated imagery.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, LCA2019 programme/miniconf pages, and Marc Merlin Donkey Car writeup.

source-depth caveat note

The public trail documents the Donkey Car kit, Raspberry Pi camera control, TensorFlow training-data workflow, participant assembly, and self-driving attempts, but this pass did not recover a stable schematic, BOM, model archive, firmware repository, kit quantity, or explicit project license.

The record keeps hardware and software claims to official event context and first-hand evidence until deeper project archives are recovered.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs public repository or hardware archive
Timeframe: 2019 hardware-kit archive pass
Source note: LCA2019 programme/miniconf pages and Marc Merlin 2019 Donkey Car writeup.

Resources

LCA2019 Donkey Car attendee writeup first-hand attendee writeup · Marc Merlin's Open Hardware Miniconf report documenting the Donkey Car kit, Raspberry Pi camera control, custom HAT, TensorFlow training workflow, and self-driving attempts. linux.conf.au 2019 Open Hardware Miniconf miniconf page · Official miniconf source documenting the Monday Open Hardware Miniconf and its beginner-to-advanced hardware/software focus. linux.conf.au 2019 programme overview programme page · Official programme source documenting the January 21-25, 2019 Christchurch event context and miniconf/tutorial structure.

Sources

Marc Merlin: Donkey Car with Tensorflow Video Analysis at Open Hardware Miniconf Retrieved 2026-05-15 · First-hand attendee source for the Donkey Car kit, Open Hardware team design claim, Raspberry Pi onboard camera, TensorFlow training-data workflow, participant build, and self-driving attempts. linux.conf.au 2019: Programme Overview Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source for the January 21-25, 2019 University of Canterbury, Christchurch conference setting and miniconf/tutorial framing. linux.conf.au 2019: Miniconfs Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source proving the 2019 Open Hardware Miniconf as a Monday linux.conf.au stream covering software and hardware issues from beginner to advanced topics.