Project Update 4/30/12

                I could not for the life of me either find the arduino I have been using or download it from offline. I used the search feature on the computer and the only result I got was for Arduino 17. You have UNO arduino boards and 17 does not support and or identify UNO boards. For this reason, I deviated from my main project today to fix and print off of the 3D printer.

                I had made a piece of the Great Wall of China and finally made the decision to make it happen. Starting off quite rough, the platform was uneven. This has been a reoccurring issue and for some reason I never thought of looking under the platform. The issue was that one of the allen screws was halfway unscrewed and had the platform at an angle. I screwed that back down, heated up the platform, and now have the opportunity to print my Great Wall piece.

                Gradually, I am still learning this machine even after 2 years like we always say. I’ve tried quite hard to stay away from the MakerBot because lately it just seems to waste my time, but I needed one last print before I left for college. I hope to take one of the opportunities you have granted me and intend to follow up on that fab lab place on Mass Ave. Hopefully, I’ll bee lucky enough to get my foot in the door and continue to build great things just like I have gotten the chance to in this class.

Project Update 2!

After figuring out the basics, I got a program of simple blinking lights to work. Amazingly enough, I was able to write the code myself and have a simple understanding of how it works. On the Arduino Uno, I plugged in LEDs in slots 12 and 13 after running ground to the breadboard. You have to start somewhere right?! So next I will try to understand exactly what code I will need to write in order rig up the small camera to it. Here's an example of the code I'm writing:

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);  // set the LED on
  delay(1500);            // wait betweeen blinks
  digitalWrite(12, HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);  // Turn LED off
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(12, LOW);
  delay(1500);
}

New Documentation!!!

Been a while, with college and such, but it's time to start documentation for a new project! Given the option, I have made the decision to work with arduino. I'm not exactly sure as to what kind of board I'll be using yet, but it might be a Liliypad I was given by Professor Leah Buchley at an MIT workshop I did. Ideally, I'd like to learn the basics of how to really work with and improve the arduino considering it's a really basic circuit board.

Hopefully I'll be able to rigg up a switch for a camera and then a little LCD screen to view the pictures taken. Starting simple here makes the most sense to me. Then, if I have the capacity to figure it out, may have the button tripped by a motion sensor or something of the sort. Essentially my goal is to really figure out exactly what it will take to do such a project.

This weeks results!

As of this week, as previously stated, I was left with soem stickers of a spartan's helmet, a laser cut box, and what I was most proud of, the Pantheon I designed! The fiel is very very close to being able to print and I thoroughly plan on posting it on Thingiverse just liek everythign else I do! The pantheon was another identifiable structure that everyoen knows has its home in Italy. The colosseum I was designing in sketchup is mostly finished, but got caught on a snag due to an error with the program caused by the lack of actual CURVED LINES. Instead, Sketchup makes circles out of straight lines. This problem is constantly causing me issues and stops projects from beign completed due to the innaccuracy of its appearance. Fortunately though, the Pantheon will be doen soon. This is my progress so far!

Refurbishing the Skills!

This whoel week has been dedicated to projects I've done both in the past and am presently working on. I recently redesigned both vinyl stickers and redesigned my laser cut box. The projects helped me do multiple things:
First and foremost, reestablishing how to work with open office draw fiels. I oculd not remember for the life of me how to cut let alone make a vinyl sticker. The project definately helped this rusted skill.

Second, was how to make and design a tab and slot box in open office. Ever since I did these projects last year, I've stayed as far away from the program as possible haha. This hesitation hasnt aged well over time. The tab and slot box though was a very inttricate intimate project that took both time and patience when first designing the files, but is well worth it when you see the final result.

Been a while!

It's been a while since I posted on my blog and thought it was time to reestablish this presence. Been busy in class working on various items and designs, with intentions of writing this post but it has just been hectic! I was disappointed to miss a 3D printer exhibit at the museum of science in Boston on saturday, and unfortunately had work. I am eager to know how it came out and wish I could have attended. Oh well, on to the next thing.

I believe last time I posted I was working on the mercedes SLR. The design proved quite difficult and is still left at its beginnign stages. Instead, I moved on to another simple yet refiend design, consisting of a pyramid in a cube. I hadn't created a solid design in a while that attracted attention, and especially one that was posted on Thingiverse.com. I thought that with this design I could hopefully once again attract a little bit of attention to my files and grab some downloads from people. Considering the derivative was liked so much by people on the website, I wanted to give them the kind of stuff they were askign for! So I hatched up this file and printed it out. It was a big step forward because I havent run the makerbot in wuite soem while. So happy to get a pritn out and kep on keeping on. Stay posted!

Update on gears!

Figuring out a precise system of gears is goign to be difficult, but I'm goign to deal with this isue before anything else. I've made some prototypes that don't work all that well, but they're better than nothing! Here tthey are: