Miscellaneous

Quadcopter update

2013-11-15 Dan

I’ve been on Vacation in Puerto Vallarta the last week and now I’m working my way home. I’m kicking myself for not bringing a quadcopter and filming a few aerial shots of the beach, the zipline tour, or the turtles laying eggs outside our hotel. Not that I’m unhappy – while I was gone a total of EIGHTEEN people signed up for the quadcopter build night at the VHS, eight more than we expected. Fantastic! Now we’re working on getting all the parts. Apparently shipping one box with 18 copies of parts is a LOT more than 18x shipping one kit, even if we ship it as 18 separate boxes. Weird, huh? So we’re on the phone with them trying to sort this out and make is come in on budget.

I really just want to let you know I’m not dead and I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything lately.

Please don’t feel bad that you’re not on vacation. Take a break and watch this, instead.

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Update: GCodeCNCDemo 6 & StewartPlatformV2 11.1

2013-11-06 Dan

GCodeCNCDemo6 has a new sample, GCodeCNCDemo6AxisRumbaTimerInterrupt. Both programs now include timer interrupt logic so they can receive gcode commands while moving motors. Doing two jobs at once makes movement extra smooth. The source for both programs is available on github. Let me know what you think!

BTW, anyone who improves a project – even by asking a smart question – gets their name in the credits. You deserve to be recognized for your help.

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How to use the Arduino Timer Interrupt

2013-11-04 Dan

https://github.com/MarginallyClever/ArduinoTimerInterrupt has what you need on github. Call a single function to set the timer interrupt frequency, in hertz. The INO file also includes a test suite in the loop() method that will set many different frequencies. Each time the counter is called it will blink a light. Replace that with whatever non-blocking code you want. (That means calling Serial.print is a bad idea.)

Now that I’ve got this timer working correctly I’m going to reuse it in many places, starting with CNC machines – I can use the timer to move the motors while the main thread is still receiving instructions and queueing them into the system. That means no “hiccup” between steps. It also means the machine can “look ahead” several steps and plan speeds better.

Miscellaneous

Build a Quadcopter at the Vancouver Hack Space

2013-10-31 Dan

quadcopter

Give the gift of making this winter

Marginally Clever is underwriting a Build your own Quadcopter event at the Vancouver Hack Space this winter. With the help of the prodigious Jon Grieman we’ve designed a custom frame that’s easy to put together and built an list of tested parts. You have until November 13th to put $250 to get in on the group buy. This machine measures ~50cm across and is strong enough to carry a GoPro. It even comes with an extra battery and spare propellors.

Get all the details and sign up right here!

click for a detailed picture

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Marginally Clever is Switching to a New Twitter Feed

2013-10-30 Dan

I’ve been running Marginally Clever off my personal twitter handle since it was created. After careful thought I’ve decided the company needs it’s own feed. This post will be the last on the old feed. You can now keep track of everything Marginally Clever Robots, MC Laser cutting, and MC 3D printing are doing by following the brand new @MarginallyC.