CNC Setup
Here’s a pic of the cnc setup:
Seig X1 Micromill, CNCFusion conversion kit, HobbyCNC Pro driver with 305 oz-in Motors, 24V 10A power supply
1.2 Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, Linux/EMC
More CNC’d parts
I have been playing more with my CNC machine and am working on some tiny treads for the GM10 motors. Here is a pic of the drive sprockets that I made. That is 1/4″ square grid paper that they are sitting on. I cut some prototypes out of nylon (yuck) then cut these out of some sample scraps of “Butter-Board“. That stuff cuts nice!
I made a female mold for the treads, but I don’t like it, so I’m going to redesign it. Maybe the sprockets also. I just got a 1/16″ end mill in the mail today so I can probably make them better now anyway. As soon as I tram my mill and get out the backlash, since my circles appear slightly out of round.
Deskpet redux
As an ongoing project (see Flik previously) I have been working on a small robot that could live on my desk as a pet, hence the Deskpet moniker. I’ve done some research into how to give him personality, as well as how to add emotion (links soon). Last weekend I decided to play with my CNC mill and cut out a design for the body of my deskpet robot. I’ve been working on this design for a while so it was just a matter of loading and running the program. Then, one of the guys at work used the CNC’d master to make an RTV mold, and I molded a urethane copy:
The body is shown with a Nickel for scale. The pics are really crummy because I used my cell phone, I’ll post better pics later. This will make a robot small enough to use for Micro-Sumo competition, and is designed around the GM-10 motors. I may end up selling these as just the body, or as a complete robot kit.
The impossible takes a little longer…
Take a look at this: http://wiki.airsoftcommunity.co.uk/Gatling_Gun.
According to the Airsoft Wiki, what I am attempting to do is nigh impossible. Cool! That’ll make it even more fun.
And now for something completely different…
So for anyone looking for an update on the Steampunk PDA: It’s dead. I was building it so that I would have something to sync with Outlook and remind me of appointments, tasks, etc. Well, the company gave me a Blackberry, so I now have no incentive to finish the PDA. Would it be cool? Sure. Would it be cool enough to entice me to finish it, even though I already have something that works? Probably not, but maybe someday. Who knows?
My next project is an automated sentry gun for the Defconbots competition at Defcon in Las Vegas this year. I was going to build a level 1 sentry from TF2, but a buddy here at work is already doing that. So…. I decided to one-up him and aim for a level 2 sentry.
Yep, complete with dual, counter-rotating gatling guns. I have picked up a few parts, enlisted a partner, Nate, who may be posting on the blog later, and even made a gatling-esque paperweight on the CNC mill:
Sorry about the image quality, I took that with my cellphone this morning.
Well begun is half done
My board showed up today from BatchPCB:
I managed to get the 3V power supply built and tested. Yay!
Tomorrow I will get someone at work to solder the processor on for me, as it is well beyond my skills (64 pin MLF).
Route 66
I received the display (no pics yet :’( ). It is teeny, but the contrast is really nice. Last but not least, I just finished the routing of the PCB and should be sending it out for fab at BatchPCB by Friday.
I have three “airwires” left. The auto router choked on this board, so this was the best I could do manually. I added some vias so I could solder a jumper in to connect the nets.
Which switch is which?
I haven’t been working on the Pocketwatch much because I am waiting for the display, and I have been rather nervous about constructing the encoder/switch with my limited mechanical abilities. But tonight I was putting off starting the last Harry Potter book (Don’t tell me! I haven’t read it yet! *fingers in ears* NAH NAH NAH) and I decided to head into the lab and fiddle around. I ended up picking up the pocketwatch and constructing the switch mechanism. It actually turned out rather well, nice and smooth, not wobbly. It still needs finishing, but here it is:
The tiny disc magnet is glued into a slot in the plastic shaft on the left. The bushing is made from a drilled out and turned down 2-56 nylon standoff. Pressing down on the shaft engages the tactile switch with a satisfying *CLICK* and spinning the shaft will cause the hall effect sensors to sense the rotation.
The encoder started as a sketch:
Then Prowler50mil on the Steampunk Tactile forum suggested using one magnet and two hall sensors. Great idea! I built up a demo to try it out:
Lo and behold, it works!
The display is on it’s way
I ordered the OLED last friday. The US distributor was out of stock, so I had to order from Australia. Here is a 1:1 mock-up I did to get an idea of the display size:
I spent quite a while on Sat. night grabbing pics of pocket watch dials from eBay and resizing them.
SP-PDA update
I went to the local antique fair today and found this pocket watch case for $5:
I have also started a power budget:
The good news is that I found a 300mAh battery that fits in the case along with the electronics, so I should get 4.7 hours of runtime and/or 18 days on standby before I need to recharge the battery.
