As I prepared for the AAPT Beyond First Year conference (see the next post, above), I had some trepidation about how to get my show-and-tell Arduino PID gadget to Philadelphia without incurring the wrath of the TSA! Turns out, it wasn’t that big a deal, at least not for me, thanks in part to the fact that I had read the extensive discussion of this issue at the Arduino forum. I’m glad I took the time to follow the recommendations there. All I endured was having to wait a few minutes while the TSA did the chemical swab wipedown of the hardware. Other attendees at the conference weren’t quite so lucky; several experienced long delays, and one grad student had components confiscated from his carry-on luggage!
