A crash course in sewing
I’ve been meaning to learn to sew for a long time. I knew the basics, of course, sewing on a button, fixing a tear, and making a (crude) hem. It was clear that learning to use a sewing machine would make things much easier and provide a useful option for projects. I love engineering, and [...]
A visit to Maker Faire
Last weekend we went to Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science. This was a repeat visit for us, and I wondered if we would see anything new or just a repeat of last year. Good news: lots of new things and we all had a great time.
The Faire has gotten a lot [...]
LED stair video and how-to
For everyone who has contacted me regarding the automatic LED stair project, good news: the official instructions page is now available.
Here is the video of me using the stairs. Movie making is not my greatest strength, but I think this gives an idea of what the stairs can do. They are beautiful. I am [...]
LED stair lights installed and working!
Just a quick post here, I want to let everyone know that the automated LED stair lights are in the stair wall and running successfully. Video to follow. As promised, I will be publishing the full schematic, code, and list of materials. Everything I used was off the shelf parts and chips, no PCB required. [...]
How to hack the bodybugg to work without a subscription fee
In my previous post I talked about the bodybugg and how I used it for body recomposition. Many people that look at the bodybugg hesitate due to the cost: first for the hardware itself, and second for the website subscription fee. The website displays those pretty graphs and totals that I showed earlier. More importantly, [...]
A princess canopy for Laurel
On Thursday, Laurel had a day off of school. It is rare for her to get a holiday while her sister has to go to school, so I offered to spend the day with her. I gave her a lot of options, and her favorite was to simply stay home and do crafts with [...]
How to add a power strip to perfboard
Things are moving along well with the automated LED stair light project. All the software is completed and sensors tested. I’ve begun moving the components from breadboard to perfboard, the permanent construction. Along the way I ran into a puzzle that I haven’t seen posted anywhere so I thought I would write about it here.
I [...]
LED stair sensors and other progress
I’ve received a few comments and e-mails about the LED stairs lately, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to contact me. Although I haven’t posted in a while, I have been moving forward with the project. When it is complete I plan to publish a full list of materials and schematics [...]
LED stairs: the chips are talking
In my last post on the LED stairs, I discussed using the Arduino and an M5451 driver chip to control the lighting sequence. Today, I completed my first breadboard version:
The Arduino Mini Pro is on the left and the M5451 is on the right, positions I will reverse in the final design. I used LEDs [...]
Robotics Open House at the University of Maryland
Last Friday the University of Maryland had an open house for their robotics department. This was a free event, including lunch, and very well organized. I had not been able to go to any previous robot competitions at the university so I was eager to see what they had.
The university has 18 robotics labs, 16 [...]