I have been asked a few times about makerspaces / hackerspaces in Ottawa, so here is a list of the ones I know of.

 

OttawaU Makerspace

Located at the University of Ottawa, this makerspace has 3D Printers, a Laser Cutter, soldering irons, and many other tools. It is open to the public on Sundays from 11am-5pm. Just show up and use them if they are not in use.

 

Imagine Space at the Nepean CenterPoint Library

This one has 3D Printers and a few laser cutters that can be booked via the Ottawa Library website. You need to book the equipment in order to use it.

 

Makerspace North

Has regular meetups on Wednesday nights. See their website for more details.

 

Hack 613

This group changes locations that they meet. Check out their website for current details.

Drivers for the Arduino clones that use the CH340 USB to Serial chip can be found below.

 

Windows:

Install the drivers before plugging in the Arduino.

Download the drivers HERE.

Unzip it and run the installer.

Then plug in the Arduino, and it should be recognized. It may take a few minutes though.

You may need to restart the Arduino IDE to be able to select the appropriate COM port.

 

 

For OSX (Mac) and Linux, have a look at this excellent page: https://sparks.gogo.co.nz/ch340.html