vertical challenge
there is nothing cool about a robot that needs wires plugged in — actually it vexes me to no end. running ubuntu in an embedded device can be a real pain when first setting up a new device, like this xaxxon robot pictured. many robots are running linux on low cost itx boards these days…
intellectual honesty is pretty rare, there is always a motive or agenda. when the topic is drugs the judgemental types always recoil and offer stupid platitudes. good journalism on the topic isn’t hard to find, but it’s still often shunned and almost never reflected in public policy. an honest effort by Sam Harris titled, Drugs…
after many months of power tools, dust, painting.. on and on.. I finally have the wheelchair accessible apartment I’ve always wanted. my desk, my storage and kitchen has been upgraded to create more usable room and increase functionality for me. lost of decorative choices too of course, but mostly the changes were designed around making…
so, we went climbing because the tv cameras came out. a crew from Belgium found the climbing blog via the “boosting” news stories. they chanced the weather for mid October but we got lucky, very lucky. that’s what I remember most about any of our big climbs, constantly checking the forecast leading up to the…
progress on the rgb leds continues, here is the code for a useful android testing tool, with a very brutal looking UI.. awful. sliders for the red, green, blue light levels, few buttons for presets and scrolling debug messaging. the only noteworthy thing is defining the range of the sliders to suit the pwm levels…
Philips has a new led lightbulb coming soon for $12, but of course it doesn’t have wifi or bluetooth radios for that price. cheap and hackable led bulbs are being done on kick starter too (but also without a radio). this is because just the wifi radio costs $15 dollars. but.. is a sweet rgb…
this has been a very messy few weeks, months even, but finally I have the perfect home-theater/workout-out .. living room. i can do my pulls and watch movies through the rainy months in great comfort (and no excuses not to exercise daily). great effort was required to get this false ceiling in place, but it…
I own two drobos and they cause me great pain. Why buy two of them then? Well, drobo won the american business awards for best product, and many more. The problem is that it’s simply underpowered hardware and that the hard drives can’t be mounted by any other system. Now I can say a few…
So, things break and need repairs. My Dad has always said.. “don’t repair, fit the spare”, but this part hasn’t been available a long time. I looked, made calls, sent emails, got calls back.. but no luck. The board is simple, just a few AC Power relays, but it is the controller for bed and…
here is an arduino sketch (below) to control a pan and tilt system from your keyboard. I chose high torque servos hoping they would be a bit smoother and less “buzzy” when tracking into new positions. with the lightweight gopro camera there is still some jittering, but nothing that can’t be removed with a good…
Winter has been pretty kind with sunshine thus far, but the rain is coming. Days where I can’t wheel on the seawall, I do more “pulls.” Getting ready for climbing the chief climbs I spent hours on this simulator at home. (see notes on performance boosting) After many versions, I’ve come up with the ideal…
Here is a short video of us testing the elevation wheelchair with the disk brakes we designed. This project has been both frustrating and rewarding. The tiny details add up quickly. The disk brakes require a bit of extra chair width, and this can be deal breaker for most users. It can make getting into…