A $50 CNC
In theory, there’s isn’t much to building a CNC machine. Hook a bit to a motor and move the motor around with some lead screws and stepper motors. Easy. But, …read more Continue reading A $50 CNC
Author Archives: Al Williams
Measuring an Atom
Do you need a well-equipped lab to measure the size of an atom (German, machine translation)? According to [stoppi], no. You need sunflower oil, some bear moss spores, and a …read more Continue reading Measuring an Atom
Helicopter is Full of Compressed Air
[Tom] likes to build little helicopters and decided to build one that runs on compressed air. (Video, embedded below.) Turns out it was a little harder than he thought. Originally, …read more Continue reading Helicopter is Full of Compressed Air
Texture Adds Stiffness to 3D Parts
[Stefan] is always looking for a way to make stronger and better 3D prints. His latest experiments involve using a texture on thin plastic parts to increase stiffness. You can …read more Continue reading Texture Adds Stiffness to 3D Parts
Logic Flows, Literally, in this Water Adder
A lot of elementary electronic texts use water as an analogy for electricity. You know, pressure is voltage, flow is current, and pipe diameter is resistance. It is ironic, then, …read more Continue reading Logic Flows, Literally, in this Water Adder
Retrotechtacular: Renewable Energy, 1948 Edition
If you’ve got 10 minutes, how about a quick break to watch a video about renewable clean electric power? Must be a recent video, right? Nope. The Coronet Instruction Film …read more Continue reading Retrotechtacular: Renewable Energy, 1948 Edition
Linux Fu: A Little Bit of (Network) History Repeating Itself
These days, embedded systems often have networks and that can make them significantly more complex. Networks are usually pretty nondeterministic and there are a variety of oddball conditions. For example, …read more Continue reading Linux Fu: A Little Bit of (Network) History Repeating Itself
Virtual Reality Experiment Tricks Your Feet Into Walking While Sitting Down
The whole idea behind virtual reality is that you don’t really know what’s going on in the world around you. You only know what your senses tell you is there. …read more Continue reading Virtual Reality Experiment Tricks Your Feet Into Walking While Sitting Down
Debug ARM Virtually
With the advent of super powerful desktop computers, many developers make use of some sort of virtual or psuedo-virtual machines (VM). We run Windows in a VM and do kernel …read more Continue reading Debug ARM Virtually
Ooohhh, That Smell: Arduino Monitors Air Quality
According to [Dr. Tom Lehrer’s] song Pollution, “Wear a gas mask and a veil. Then you can breathe, long as you don’t inhale!” While the air quality in most of …read more Continue reading Ooohhh, That Smell: Arduino Monitors Air Quality