Category Archives: Tinkering

A true story of outsourcing

Posted on February 26, 2016 by robertwilkie

The unfortunate reality of outsourcing is that the “tech” jobs that are supposedly in high demand, really are not.  Hopefully congress will do something right here.  Like support a minimum wage for the visas at 120K or more.  That way … Continue reading →

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Another IoT standards group

Posted on February 25, 2016 by robertwilkie

Whats this like the 5th one?  The Open Connectivity Foundation, is yet another standards group to help with control/setup/etc with IoT based devices.  This one has some low end manufacturers involved and Microsoft.  The articl goes a good job listing … Continue reading →

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An Opensource FPGA tool

Posted on February 25, 2016 by robertwilkie

The world has changed.  IceStudio is an opensource FPGA tool for generating verilog code from block diagrams onto the Lattice Semi iCEstick board.  I did FPGA work in the past, and the tools for this are HUGE in side, typically … Continue reading →

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Nicest looking opensource eggbot yet

Posted on February 24, 2016 by robertwilkie

I don’t typically put up thingiverse stuff.  But this has to be ones of the nicest eggbots I have seen on there yet.  And its small enough I might beable to print it out myself.  I like the use of … Continue reading →

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Ethernet for an RPi

Posted on February 24, 2016 by robertwilkie

So you got the RPi Zero or one of the A’s without an ethernet port.  Apparently its pretty easy to add one with $5 in parts.  This doesn’t make much sense with an A (its only $5 more for a … Continue reading →

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Build a wireless 3D Drawing Stylus with a Blue Bean

Posted on February 24, 2016 by robertwilkie

Interesting build that you can use to draw with into a computer program. http://www.instructables.com/id/Wireless-3D-Drawing-Stylus/

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Turn a bed frame into a bench

Posted on February 24, 2016 by robertwilkie

I could totally see myself doing this.  The write-up is pretty simple, the only part I didn’t get was where he got the rod off the frame for the side rails.  Ok I see it now, it was the rail … Continue reading →

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Laptop stand out of plywood

Posted on February 24, 2016 by robertwilkie

I like this build…but unless a shopbot is going to show up for free at my doorstep, I won’t be making one of these anytime soon.  My little homebrewed CNC’s would take months to get this cut out. http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Laptop-Stand-Out-of-Plywood/  

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How to know if your kids are home

Posted on February 23, 2016 by robertwilkie

The first few choices are commercial stuff.  The last one, you use an RPi and a bluetooth sniffer that detects when there phone is at home.  And yes, this is on my list now. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-alerted-kids-home-school/

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Swarm of robot boats

Posted on February 19, 2016 by robertwilkie

All the bots are using RPi’s and talk to eachother to get a job done. Interesting build. Swarm of Robot Boats Coming To An Ocean Near You Soon

Posted in Cheap, RaspberryPi, robots, water | Comments Off on Swarm of robot boats