Collaborate Disseminate
The oft-quoted saying “all models are wrong, but some are useful” is a tounge-in-cheek way of saying that at some level, tools we use to predict how the world behaves …read more Continue reading Misleading GPS, Philosophy of Maps, And You
Calibration cubes have long been a staple for testing and adjusting 3D printers, but according to [Stefan] of CNC Kitchen, they’re not just ineffective—they could be leading us astray. In …read more Continue reading The Case Against Calibration Cubes
Every once in a while we get wind of a project that we’re reluctant to write up for the simple reason that it looks too good to be true. Not …read more Continue reading Over-the-Top Programmable Resistor Looks the Part and Performs
Most of us have seen those demonstrations of metal parts that mate together so finely that, once together, they have no visible seam at all. But how, exactly, is this …read more Continue reading Learn How Impossibly Close-fitting Parts Are Actually Made
When you’re a machinist, your stock in trade is precision, with measurements in the thousandths of your preferred unit being common. But when you’re a diemaker, your precision game needs …read more Continue reading Metric and Inch Threads Fight it Out for Ultra-Precise Positioning
Arduinos have been the microcontroller platform of choice for nearly two decades now, essentially abstracting away a lot of the setup and lower-level functions of small microcontrollers in favor of …read more Continue reading The Inner Machinations of the Arduino are an Enigma
We often take our “SoftwareSerial” libraries for granted, and don’t investigate what goes on under the hood — until they fail us, at least. Would you like to learn how …read more Continue reading Animate Arcane Protocols With Interrupt-Backed Bitbanging
Do you ever have to ensure that an exact amount of time passes between two tasks in your microcontroller code? Do you know what’s the difference between precision and accuracy? …read more Continue reading Time And Accuracy in Las ATMegas
After pulling late hours in my school machine shop for a few years, I couldn’t help but wonder, who measures the measurement tools? How did they come to be? I’d …read more Continue reading Books You Should Read: The Perfectionists
Perhaps you’ve seen them, demonstrations of a machined piece of metal that upon further inspection is actually two pieces machined so perfectly that they appear as one. With extremely tight …read more Continue reading Tricky Screw Heads Have Disappearing Slots