Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Pretty Quiet Around Here! — Parallax Forums

Pretty Quiet Around Here!

ercoerco Posts: 20,261
edited 2012-01-03 19:52 in General Discussion
Not much activity here since Christmas, hopefully that means people are busy doing wonderful things. I'm a bit under the weather, but I've been diligently working on a nifty BS1 "knock block". It's working well, now I'm adding a few new twists and bundling it all up for documentation. It will debut shortly (in the next day, hopefully) and will be my very first entry in the "finished project" forum. Hardly "Quadrover-Worthy", but fun, interactive, and a very quick & simple build. Good first project, and one where the BS1 really shines. If you're looking for a project that you can finish in just a few hours during the holiday break, start rounding up an empty Altoids tin, a BS1-IC, and stay tuned!
«1

Comments

  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2011-12-27 15:57
    I can't wait to see the finished project.

    Yeah I've noticed it is pretty quiet too. I have the week off and have been diligently at work on a project. I know I won't be able to complete it before the end of the week which means progress will slow substantially next week. But I am having fun and learning a ton along the way.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2011-12-27 16:28
    It may be quiet around here but I've been REALLY busy on the "Garage Cleaner's" Forum, "Home Plumber's" Forum, "Replacement PC" Forum, plus we got a new Lego Mindstorm set and my daughter got an S2 for Christmas....plus my new favorite, the "How in the Heck did I volunteer for That?" Forum. Vacations sure aren't what they used to be!!

    The "Knock Block" sounds like fun! I NEED a simple project!
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-12-27 17:10
    Gramps and I thought we'd have some youtube footage for you guys, but...

    We wired his "Gramps Arm" into my Wii Nunchuck controller, but had issues with getting the fingers to work correctly... (Mechanical issues)

    Project is now slated for finish Christmas 2012.. (or 2013..)

    OBC
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-12-27 17:37
    Jeff: Thanks for the update, I've often wondered about Gramps and his wonderful robot arm! He's been pretty quiet the past year. Looking forward to seeing some more "Shadow Bot" videos.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-12-27 18:33
    Is it time to get back to work yet? [Burp!]

    -Phil
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2011-12-27 18:34
    Just resting a bit. My wife did get me all four Forrest Mims Engineer's Mini Notebooks. One of them has me thinking about making a Shortwave radio. Merry Christmas to all!
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,246
    edited 2011-12-27 18:48
    Well we just arrived in Orlando. We have a big soccer tournament, but while we are here we're going to hit SeaWorld and LEGO Land!

    Oh, I did manage to pack my PPPD, Prop PEKit, and and Propeller Demo Board in case I get board! LOL

    Paul
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,936
    edited 2011-12-27 20:05
    mindrobots wrote: »
    It may be quiet around here but I've been REALLY busy on the "Garage Cleaner's" Forum, "Home Plumber's" Forum, "Replacement PC" Forum.............
    That is the best post I have seen all year, way too funny! I have also spent too much time on those forums as well as a record post holder in the "DIY Car Repair" forum. But, my 1986 Honda Accord LXi commuter car is barely broke in (332,300 miles and counting......) so I have to keep it running I guess. I have also been spending time in the "Liberty Forum" (my daughter) because I am off for 2 weeks and she has a million things in her head for us to do. I hope she still wants to hang out with me in 10 years when she is working on getting her driver's license......

    Back to the Parallax stuff..... I have been really busy in general, so all of my projects are behind. My Shackable GPS Scavenger Hunter is still awaiting assembly, I only have 3 months before I have to get my heart rate monitor added to my Plungelogger for the 2012 Polar Bear Plunge, and my Kansla project demo that was created in September has yet to be posted onto the forums. Santa didn't bring me a package of free time, so I am still working on finding some.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-12-27 21:08
    erco wrote: »
    Jeff: Thanks for the update, I've often wondered about Gramps and his wonderful robot arm! He's been pretty quiet the past year. Looking forward to seeing some more "Shadow Bot" videos.

    He's pretty disgusted with the way the fingers worked (didn't), His next trip up this direction we are going to build up my robot platform, something around the size of the heathkit bot. (It's been on my todo list for quite a while.) -- We did try those awesome parallax motor controllers on the arm this weekend. Positively worth every cent.

    OBC
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2011-12-27 21:41
    Have you seen this robotic hand?

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:14986
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-12-28 10:29
    It's ALIVE and lots of fun!
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2011-12-28 10:53
    Sweet! Almost makes you long for Disco......ok, that may be a bit over the top!

    Well done!
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-12-28 19:30
    Arrrg! song..stuck.. in.. head..

    Show us the inside of the project! Pretty Cool!

    OBC
    erco wrote: »
    It's ALIVE and lots of fun!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UtzpjeQmpc
  • Martin HodgeMartin Hodge Posts: 1,246
    edited 2011-12-28 20:53
    erco wrote: »
    ... hopefully that means people are busy doing wonderful things.

    Pursuing capitalistic endeavors by making my online presence look far more important than the dog-and-pony show that reality would reveal. --> (new website)
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2011-12-28 21:10
    I've been testing to see if I can hibernate like a bear.
  • lanternfishlanternfish Posts: 366
    edited 2011-12-28 23:33
    mindrobots wrote: »
    It may be quiet around here but I've been REALLY busy on the "Garage Cleaner's" Forum, "Home Plumber's" Forum, "Replacement PC" Forum, plus we got a new Lego Mindstorm set and my daughter got an S2 for Christmas....plus my new favorite, the "How in the Heck did I volunteer for That?" Forum. Vacations sure aren't what they used to be!!

    The "Knock Block" sounds like fun! I NEED a simple project!

    Good to see other forumites can apply their talents to other activities. I've been on the "Painters, Decorators and Renovators" Forum. While still finding time to be at work. And I get a holiday in .... ??????
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,246
    edited 2011-12-29 13:09
    Martin Hodge wrote: »
    Pursuing capitalistic endeavors by making my online presence look far more important than the dog-and-pony show that reality would reveal. --> (new website)
    Very nice!
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2011-12-29 13:20
    Martin Hodge wrote: »
    Pursuing capitalistic endeavors by making my online presence look far more important than the dog-and-pony show that reality would reveal. --> (new website)

    I like it. Nice clean layout with all functions easily accessible, and no artsy-fartsy text or other items cluttering it up.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-12-29 15:20
    Very nice website, and a slick new forum avatar to boot!
  • blittledblittled Posts: 681
    edited 2011-12-30 20:37
    I'm finally getting back up to speed. I have been sick with a nasty bug. My wife has been sick with it too and my in-laws have been in the hospital with pnuemonia (Mom) and small heart attack (Dad). Everyone is doing much better and I'm finally getting back into testing propgcc!
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2011-12-31 07:58
    @erco - how long will you tease us with the rhythmic Altoid box - guts please...:innocent:

    @martin - nice website!

    @blittled - hope everyone is on the mend!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-12-31 09:32
    @Whitster: the best things are worth waiting for! I'm upgrading and making slow documentation progress, our whole house is sick with the flu bug. What a waste of a week off work! But the Knock Box is very cool and working well, with a few new tricks now. I'll post another video ASAP.

    Happy New Year!
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2011-12-31 16:02
    Sorry to hear you guys are sick - Get better soon!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-12-31 16:40
    Just for you, Bre'r Whit. Happy New Year!
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2011-12-31 17:33
    Whit says, Unbelievably cool! I love it! Nothing is cooler than a mysterious project in an Altoids tin.

    Scribbler Kart says, Maybe you could add a voice recorder, it would spice things up! Whistling and drumming!

    No matter what - we want to build one!

    Edit - News Flash! That is the first electronics project that ever made my wife smile!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2012-01-01 16:31
    Whit wrote: »

    Edit - News Flash! That is the first electronics project that ever made my wife smile!

    I'll take that as a compliment, Pal! Actually, this simple thingie does seem to have surprisingly wide appeal, judging from my limited holiday "research". Of course, everything seems more interesting after a few egg nogs. (Hic!) :)
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-01-01 17:16
    Erco, that's pretty neat.

    I can see how this could be done with an Arduino or Propeller chip because they both give you access to a time counter. But PBASIC abstracts time away and you only use it indirectly via commands like PULSIN, RCTIME, or PAUSE. So did you use instruction count as a rough estimate of knock spacing?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2012-01-01 18:06
    Elementary, my dear Martin_H!

    Simple loop counting for timing duration. That BS1 is still handy, even though I'm the only guy here that gives a flyin' fandango about it! :)
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2012-01-01 21:46
    erco wrote: »
    Just for you, Bre'r Whit. Happy New Year!

    Morse message in a bottl... nah, in a tin.... Where is Q when you need him????

    Cool device,

    Frank
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2012-01-02 08:49
    erco wrote: »
    That BS1 is still handy, even though I'm the only guy here that gives a flyin' fandango about it! :)

    Hey! I give a fandango about it!!!

    And for my reasons about "being quiet around here"...

    ...Seasons 2, 3, 4 of "NCIS"
    ...eating
    ...Seasons 1, 2 of "Bones"
    ...the movies "Taken", "Big Country". and "The Kid"
    ...more eating
    ...new Parallax toys PING))), PIR
    ...final bits of recovering from the "System Tools/System Fix" malware attack last month
    ...eating
    ...sick w/cold the whole week of vacation (errrrr!)
    ...a bit of "cheer" to stave off the effects of the cold
    ...eating (and cheer)
    ...playing w/passive filters
    ...eating
    ...playing w/FET switches
    ...a lot of "cheer" after that one!
    ...more debug of my flagship project
    ...more eating

    and now I think I'll go have some breakfast!

    Happy New Year everyone!
Sign In or Register to comment.