Format

We intend for the workshop to be a small group of experts across sectors, and encourage discussion and collaboration. We will accept participants to seek a balance of ideas and encourage active participation.

Topics

We’re looking for you to share your deeply technical insights and tricks to do more compute with less resources. Below are a few ideas for topics:

• Computing hiding in plain sight
• Virtual low resources (weird machines)
• Language/programming paradigms for low-resources
• Novel tricks in debugging low-resource devices
• Porting new software to old hardware
• Putting the POC in apocalypse – rebuild society with low-resource fabrication
• Resource-constrained computing beyond silicon – biological computing

The above are ideas – not limits. We seek varied perspectives and ideas from around the world.

Defining Low-Resource

We don’t assert a particular orthodoxy about the resources required for a computing system – infrastructure, reliability, power, frequency, bandwidth, or capacity are as in bounds as some resource we haven’t listed. In general, think systems that would be uncomfortable to use or even to imagine. Think:

• The USB-to-serial adapter on an embedded board rather than the traditional embedded processor
• The one-time-programmable microcontroller over the flash
• Turning your old cable modem into a desktop PC
• The 32kHz vs the 32MHz
• Execution in the JTAG TAP rather than in the processor itself
• Lookup tables vs logic
• In general, something that is not the main processor in a system executing a task

Day 1: Talks and Inspiration

Day 1 will feature a series of talks from workshop participants, each offering a perspective on low-resource computing from their area of expertise. These talks are meant to inspire, provoke, and seed ideas for the hands-on work to come on Day 2.

We’re bringing together voices from a wide range of disciplines to help reimagine what computing can be when constraints are embraced, not avoided.

Day 2: Hands-On Workshop

Day 2 is dedicated to hands-on exploration, where participants will dive into the low-resource mindset through prototyping, tinkering, and experimentation. This is the heart of the workshop — a space to test ideas, break things, and build unconventional computing systems.

While Some hardware and materials will be provided, we encourage you to bring your own — especially if there’s a low-resource device, platform, or idea you’re excited to explore.

Whether you're bringing hardware, software, or just your curiosity, this is a day for collaboration, exploration, and invention.

Day 3: Workshop Continuation and Writeups

Day 3 is an unstructured day following the focused workshops of Day 2. We've set aside this time for those who wish to continue their work from Day 2, showcase their progress, or switch topics and join in on other projects.

Participants are encouraged to provide brief writeups to be displayed on the website for next year.

Request to Participate

If you're interested in attending, let us know by sending an email to Low.Resource.Computing@dartmouth.edu. If you want to submit a talk, please send format your email using the following template:

Name:
Affiliation:

I'd like to share a talk about the following topic:
Talk title:
Talk abstract:
Estimated time needed: [ ] 15m [ ] 30m or [ ] 1h
Are you willing to provide a brief writeup after the workshop for our blog to archive ideas shared? [ ] Yes or [ ] No

Do you commit to attend the entire workshop and participate with other attendees: [ ] Yes or [ ] No

Do you need help planning logistics or have other questions? [ ] Yes or [ ] No

Would you like to request a hotel room at the special group rate (first-come, first-served)? [ ] Yes or [ ] No 

Submissions are due at 11:59:59 PM, AoE, on May 15, 2025.

We aim to notify acceptances for the workshop by June 1, 2025.