Looking to work on some embedded projects as a volunteer

There are hundreds if not thousands of Open Source projects out there.

Unless you post your CV, we have no idea what you can do or what you have already done.

If your going to volunteer, pick an open source project that your interested in.

And ask them.

Pick some I/O device (that you happen to have on hand) and write a driver for it. Demonstrate that it works to gain credibility. It will also expose you to the (distributed) collaborative process (sharing code repositories, exchanging design ideas, etc.)

There are the Raspberry Pi and the Beagle Boards. Both of these can use support for driver writing.

IME if you "do" Linux there are lots of open source projects looking for people to help

It's finding something that doesn't require you to be a Linux geek that's hard

tim

One thing to be said for alternative OSes (my experience is RISC OS and FreeBSD) is they don't move as fast and there's more opportunity to get stuck in, without it having to be your full-time occupation otherwise you get left behind. The downside is this is no help if your goal is to get experience with Linux kernel development, for example if you wanted to get a job doing kernel work for, say, an Android handset maker or semiconductor vendor.

Theo

You didn't say whether you wanted to work with people online or face-to-face. If face-to-face, check to see if you have a local Makerspace group. My local group is very helpful with mentoring and helping with projects.