Phew, thanks for the positive feedback, Kidz. This is another one-day slam for Maker Faire. As Phil experienced on his xylophone, I stripped a servo on the first pass. First failure of my beloved 9g HK HXT900 servo. I guess that bellows takes more force to drive than I assumed presumed. I swapped in a generic metal gear servo which is noisier but working, for now anyway. It uses the same program as my xylophone, and can play all those programmed tunes. A logical next step will be to get the two playing together in a duet. Not anytime soon, but well possible. A great Christmas turkey (more likely 2018) project.
@Phipi: Since the Faire is at the Central LA library, no flamethrowers are allowed. They had a big fire in 1986 (not me, several months before I moved to CA) and the organizer said it took a fire marshal approval and a dedicated fire extinguisher person just to plug in a soldering iron for a recent presentation.
Hardly a robot, but it does have a position sensor switch for input and a motorized actuator for output. Eye candy for Maker Faire. I like to have some things so simple that just about anyone could make it in a hour.
I want a tick tock robot! I may have to attend your Maker Faire.
Thanks. I'd say wait. My expectations of this MINI Maker Faire were lowered at a pre-meeting Wednesday. It's at the LA Central Library. Neat venue, but it's their first one. Doesn't seem terribly well organized, not a lot of room. Makers are not in a central location, but scattered throughout the library. Maybe it will be great, I will just have to see.
You and Gordon and I should have our own RoboFaire sometime after Christmas!
One more new one, something to make the kiddies laugh, since I can't do a flamethrower! This is the last new thing I have time to build. I hacked a dollar toy from Walmart. Need to make sure my old stuff is charged up and still works for tomorrow. I'll have my S3 on hand to draw flower patterns for the girls.
Wow, these $10 moving generic "star shower" red & green laser lights work great, if anybody needs to jump-start their project or Christmas decorations. Let's see how long they last.
Wow, these $10 moving generic "star shower" red & green laser lights work great, if anybody needs to jump-start their project or Christmas decorations. Let's see how long they last.
Christmas safety be darned. Laser plus flamethrower. Keep it right next to your dried-out Christmas tree for some holiday excitement.
A new record time for this scratch build: two hours start to finish, building the flame mechanism, servo linkage, hand-wiring perfboard PCB with micro and IR receiver, programming and testing. Triggered by IR remote.
Christmas safety be darned. Laser plus flamethrower. Keep it right next to your dried-out Christmas tree for some holiday excitement.
A new record time for this scratch build: two hours start to finish, building the flame mechanism, servo linkage, hand-wiring perfboard PCB with micro and IR receiver, programming and testing. Triggered by IR remote.
I slowed the rotation rate and added my Lego Christmas train but the train noise drowns out the Veho speaker.
there is a way to overcome that in video editing but I know nothing about it. Hope you enjoy my Christmas toy!
Wow, these $10 moving generic "star shower" red & green laser lights work great, if anybody needs to jump-start their project or Christmas decorations. Let's see how long they last.
Is there a way to hack these to control the patterns they display?
Not much there to hack. There are two lasers (R/G) which can be selected either or both, and a motor (on/off) which rotates a diffraction grating in front of each laser. The main unit is waterproof but looks disassemble-able, there are rubber plugs covering screws on the rear cover. The 5V, 2A power supply is beautiful, built right into the boxy plug. The long wire has a screw-on water resistant power coupler to the main unit. For my flamethrower, I was tempted to tap into that 5V supply but decided to go with 4xAA cells for those times when you gotta have fire without 120VAC.
Is there a way to hack these to control the patterns they display?
Not much there to hack. There are two lasers (R/G) which can be selected either or both, and a motor (on/off) which rotates a diffraction grating in front of each laser. The main unit is waterproof but looks disassemble-able, there are rubber plugs covering screws on the rear cover. The 5V, 2A power supply is beautiful, built right into the boxy plug. The long wire has a screw-on water resistant power coupler to the main unit. For my flamethrower, I was tempted to tap into that 5V supply but decided to go with 4xAA cells for those times when you gotta have fire without 120VAC.
I looked at the description closer and I guess this only displays a star pattern so it can't display arbitrary images. I thought I had seen other projectors that were more versatile.
I'm feeling the burn in the manufacturing department. Christmas candles (the mini version) are not exactly flying off the bench over here. Only a few days left before shipping deadlines. It's a good start for next year
At Christmas, some people have more dollars than sense. I give you Furbo, the IoT Wifi Webcam dog treat shooter!
Wow, no kidding. If I had a dog -- I don't: more of a cat person, actually -- but if I did, I would want to be seen as the Giver of Treats and unmistakable Master of the Universe, and not cede that recognition to some miserable, dweebish electromechanical kibble dribbler.
May the holders of the Furby trademark visit their wrath (and lawsuits) upon the shameless makers of Furbo!
One more new one, something to make the kiddies laugh, since I can't do a flamethrower! This is the last new thing I have time to build. I hacked a dollar toy from Walmart. Need to make sure my old stuff is charged up and still works for tomorrow. I'll have my S3 on hand to draw flower patterns for the girls.
I've been working on a DIY Bluetooth connected X-Mas ornament using the FLiP and the WS2812B. I had picked up a Velleman HC-05 Bluetooth module from Fry's a while back so I used this for the Bluetooth connection. Initially I was using a RedBear Labs BLE min, but switched to the HC-05.
I coded the FLiP using C with the SimpleIDE and am using BlueZ on a Raspberry Pi to connect remotely to the HC-05 and Python to send command line commands. I intend to use JSON and Javascript so the device can be controlled from a webpage, but I'll have to see where I get with it before the 25th.
The Ornament was created using a Clear Plastic bulb from Walmart along with some paint, glitter, floor cleaner and a mini X-mas tree. I created the fake snow using some styrofoam packaging I had sitting about.
Comments
@Phipi: Since the Faire is at the Central LA library, no flamethrowers are allowed.
Thanks. I'd say wait. My expectations of this MINI Maker Faire were lowered at a pre-meeting Wednesday. It's at the LA Central Library. Neat venue, but it's their first one. Doesn't seem terribly well organized, not a lot of room. Makers are not in a central location, but scattered throughout the library. Maybe it will be great, I will just have to see.
You and Gordon and I should have our own RoboFaire sometime after Christmas!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Christmas-Animated-Stars-Laser-Light-with-Timer-Memory-Red-Green/400179756
Price now $15! The erco effect AGAIN!
A new record time for this scratch build: two hours start to finish, building the flame mechanism, servo linkage, hand-wiring perfboard PCB with micro and IR receiver, programming and testing. Triggered by IR remote.
there is a way to overcome that in video editing but I know nothing about it. Hope you enjoy my Christmas toy!
I have built the Christmas lights using PL9823 and have it placed in a cheap $10 Christmas tree:
Aha, and also a small classic polyphonic square-wave music box, reminiscent of the older Japanese melody clocks:
Welcome to the forums!
Not much there to hack. There are two lasers (R/G) which can be selected either or both, and a motor (on/off) which rotates a diffraction grating in front of each laser. The main unit is waterproof but looks disassemble-able, there are rubber plugs covering screws on the rear cover. The 5V, 2A power supply is beautiful, built right into the boxy plug. The long wire has a screw-on water resistant power coupler to the main unit. For my flamethrower, I was tempted to tap into that 5V supply but decided to go with 4xAA cells for those times when you gotta have fire without 120VAC.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Christmas-Animated-Stars-Laser-Light-with-Timer-Memory-Red-Green/400179756
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gemmy-Lightshow-Projection-Whirl-A-Motion-Christmas-Lights/52027153
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Christmas-Lightshow-Projection-Whirl-a-Motion-Snowman/545310127
May the holders of the Furby trademark visit their wrath (and lawsuits) upon the shameless makers of Furbo!
-Phil
Made me blink. Good stuff
I coded the FLiP using C with the SimpleIDE and am using BlueZ on a Raspberry Pi to connect remotely to the HC-05 and Python to send command line commands. I intend to use JSON and Javascript so the device can be controlled from a webpage, but I'll have to see where I get with it before the 25th.
The Ornament was created using a Clear Plastic bulb from Walmart along with some paint, glitter, floor cleaner and a mini X-mas tree. I created the fake snow using some styrofoam packaging I had sitting about.
This is what I have thus far.