Category Archives: Tinkering

Nice tutorial on different motors and how to use them

Posted on December 15, 2015 by robertwilkie

I will have to remember this one for the future to help kids with motors.  Good write-up and intro into different motors out there. http://www.instructables.com/id/Complete-Motor-Guide-for-Robotics/

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Another nice CD-ROM based laser engraver

Posted on December 15, 2015 by robertwilkie

These seem to be growing in popularity to build lately.  Here is another write up to build on with an arduino to control it.  I like the box the author built for this too.  I like the safety measures the … Continue reading →

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Building garage cabinets

Posted on December 14, 2015 by robertwilkie

I like this build, its cheap, looks good, and looks simple. http://www.familyhandyman.com/garage/storage/installing-large-garage-cabinets/view-all

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Cool 3D printed swamp boat

Posted on December 10, 2015 by robertwilkie

Nice 3D printed (with parts from hobbyking) boat.  My 2 cents…you could by one cheaper. http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-printed-Swamp-boat/

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Nice intro to the TB66 for motor control

Posted on December 10, 2015 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on using the TB66, and h-bridge chip/board, for controlling a DC-motor.  I used to make my own h-bridges out of scrapes, but this looks like a good and easier alternative.  They run about $5 on ebay. http://www.instructables.com/id/MOTORS-BASICS-Finally-HOW-TO-USE-AN-H-BRIDGE/

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Another CDROM CNC plotter

Posted on December 8, 2015 by robertwilkie

OK I know, there have been lots of these builds, and you can even “buy” one for $100ish these days.  But this is one of the cleanest looking builds of a CDROM CNC I have seen yet. http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Mini-CNC-Plotter-Machine-from-dvd-drives/

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Building a laser engraver on the cheap.

Posted on December 4, 2015 by robertwilkie

And cheap it is.  The Y is an old printer carriage, X is an old flatbed scanner.  An arduino with homemade motor controllers is controlling everything.  Hold on, I think he is using stepsticks…it seems to switch.  The laser is … Continue reading →

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Make an automated cat toy

Posted on December 4, 2015 by robertwilkie

Too funny, the author built a cat toy that moves the motor when motion is detected.  He is using an arduino like device called WIZWiki (New one on me).  It does with ethernet build in.  My 2 cents, I think … Continue reading →

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How to setup an RPi without a monitor

Posted on December 4, 2015 by robertwilkie

The write-up is for the new Raspberry Pi Zero, but…you do the same thing for normal Pi’s too. http://davidmaitland.me/2015/12/raspberry-pi-zero-headless-setup/

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Swift is now opensource

Posted on December 4, 2015 by robertwilkie

First Microsoft releases a lite version of Visual Studio for users in Linux/Mac, now this? Its amazing to see corporations opening up their tools and software in order to get “developers” to adopt them. http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/03/apples-swift-programming-language-is-now-open-source/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29#.806qgy:Y55k

Posted in Linux, Misc-Life, Software Development | Comments Off on Swift is now opensource