Collaborate Disseminate
In any mechanical field of work, accurate measurement is key to success. [Patrick Panikulam] knows this well, and decided to build a device that would be useful for some of the more tricky measurement tasks he was encountering.
[Patrick]’s digital multi-functional measurement tool packs a bunch of useful hardware into …read more
Continue reading Digital Multimeasure Helps You Get The Job Done
Old school vernier calipers served engineers and machinists well for a long time — and did a perfectly good job. Digital models then came along and were easier to read. They now rule the roost, despite their thirst for batteries. Humans are naturally wired to make the least effort possible …read more
Continue reading Digital Protractor Makes Angular Measurements a Snap
Specialized tools that focus on one particular job tend to get distilled right down to their essentials and turned in an economical consumer product. One example of this is radius (or fillet) gauges: a set of curves in different sizes that one uses to measure the radius of a curved surface by trial and error. To some, such products represent solved problems. Others see opportunities for a fresh perspective, like this caliper-enabled 3D printed radius gauge by [Arne Bergkvist].
[Arne]’s 3D printed radius gauge is a simple object; a rigid attachment for a nearly ubiquitous model of digital caliper. By …read more
Continue reading 3D Printed Radius Gauge, Just Add Calipers (And A Wee Bit Of Math)
Getting a good measurement is a matter of using the right tool for the job. A tape measure and a caliper are both useful tools, but they’re hardly interchangeable for every task. Some jobs call for a hands-off, indirect way to measure small distances, which is where this image analysis measuring technique can come in handy.
Although it appears [Saulius Lukse] purpose-built this rig, which consists of a microscopic lens on a digital camera mounted to the Z-axis of a small CNC machine, we suspect that anything capable of accurately and smoothly transitioning a camera vertically could be used. The …read more
Continue reading Replace your Calipers with a Microscope and Image Analysis
Oh, sure – when you buy a new set of drill bits from the store, they come in a handy holder that demarcates all the different sizes neatly. But after a few years when they’ve ended up scattered in the bottom of your toolbox for a while, it becomes useful to have some sort of gauge to measure them. [Caspar] has the solution, and all you need is an old steel rule.
The trick is to get a ruler with gradations for inches and tenths of inches. After cutting the ruler off just after the 6″ point, the two halves …read more
Continue reading Drill Bit Gauge Is Interdenominational Black Magic
Personal data is collected and used than ever before and in an incredibly diverse number of ways. Traditionally, government and employer ERP systems held our Social Security Numbers, an insurance company database had medical information, and scattered … Continue reading All Security is Cybersecurity
To measure how fast something spins, most of us will reach for a tachometer without thinking much about how it works. Tachometers are often found in cars to measure engine RPM, but handheld units can be used for measuring the speed of rotation for other things as well. While some have mechanical shafts that must make physical contact with whatever you’re trying to measure, [electronoobs] has created a contactless tachometer that uses infrared light to take RPM measurements instead.
The tool uses an infrared emitter/detector pair along with an op amp to sense revolution speed. The signal from the IR …read more
Current. Too little of it, and you can’t get where you’re going, too much and your hardware’s on fire. In many projects, it’s desirable to know just how much current is being drawn, and even more desirable to limit it to avoid catastrophic destruction. The humble current shunt is an excellent way to do just that.
To understand current, it’s important to understand Ohm’s Law, which defines the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance. If we know two out of the three, we can calculate the unknown. This is the underlying principle behind the current shunt. A current flows through …read more
Our world is obsessed with measurement, and I blame Moneyball. Once it became a bestseller, everyone wanted to use statistics to evaluate everything. How bad is your mother-in-law? Well she scored <6.7 in nine different categories related to emotio… Continue reading Measure Your Cloud Security in 5 Steps
If you have ever ventured into the world of motor vehicles you may be familiar with a dynamometer, possibly as a machine to which your vehicle is taken for that all-important printout that gives you bragging rights (or not) when it comes to its ability to lay down rubber. A dynamometer is essentially a variable load for a rotating shaft, something that converts the kinetic energy from the shaft into heat while measuring the power being transferred.
Most of us will never have the chance to peer inside our local dyno, so a term project from a group of Cornell …read more
