Nick and Kevin have all the fun. . .
Ken Gracey
Posts: 7,400
Nick and Kevin work together, day in, day out, running our Technical Support while innovating around the clock. Needless to say, they get along really well. Lately they've been building some really fun, very powerful E-Boards with Propellers, XBees, huge brushless motors and LiPo batteries. And this is just one project of many they hope to share with you in the near future in more detail (their team is about to grow!).
Watch carefully when I ask them where they are going. Not only did they both answer the question "this way" but they also pointed in the same direction, in unison. I don't know where they were headed - maybe the bowling alley or out for dinner - this was caught at the end of the day. Shortly after they left the parking lot they were seen rolling high-speed along Lone Tree Boulevard. At the end of the video Mary Beth is asking about the lack of helmets (we just ordered them a few) and Daniel talks about the crash he had when he rode the skateboard under Nick's remote control. Guess they also stole Daniel's batteries and his his extra ESC after Kevin had a major skateboard fire last weekend.
Do we need to revise our insurance policy for these two?
Watch carefully when I ask them where they are going. Not only did they both answer the question "this way" but they also pointed in the same direction, in unison. I don't know where they were headed - maybe the bowling alley or out for dinner - this was caught at the end of the day. Shortly after they left the parking lot they were seen rolling high-speed along Lone Tree Boulevard. At the end of the video Mary Beth is asking about the lack of helmets (we just ordered them a few) and Daniel talks about the crash he had when he rode the skateboard under Nick's remote control. Guess they also stole Daniel's batteries and his his extra ESC after Kevin had a major skateboard fire last weekend.
Do we need to revise our insurance policy for these two?
Comments
OK, the truth - sometimes it carries that kind of stuff, but most of the time it carries tools and projects back and forth to Parallax, and sometimes it carries my whitewater rafting gear to the Pacific NW rivers. It's a 4x8 aluminum flatbed landscape trailer upon which I mig-welded a frame, then took it to a sheetmetal shop to cover it with diamond plate and to install some gas hydraulic pistons to hold the lid open (stays open with bikes on top). It has full LED lighting, 12V battery and solar panel for charging. It weighs about 300 lbs so it can be towed at high speed behind my Subaru (which recently got me pulled over by the CHP). Guess you're supposed to go 55 mph with a trailer in California, even though the flow of traffic is around 80 mph. I get a ton of use out of that trailer.
BTW, Parallax employees are always posting these awesome projects they built. Is this a part of the marketing, or is working for Parallax that awesome?
You'd have to ask other people at Parallax, ultimately. We try to provide an environment where work and personal interests can overlap. If this ever becomes anything less than totally enjoyable many of us would find something else to do.
As for the projects. . . you can have all the parts you need from inventory for any purpose - just check them out without approval. Additionally, if you have some kind of project in mind we'll cover the cost of the parts if Parallax can derive some kind of benefit out of it. That's a loose rule, but it means that the part connisseur must at least post some pictures, some code, or further develop the idea. Some projects might go nowhere and some might have product potential - it doesn't matter as long as somebody knows when to cut bait on the loser projects. We'll have both winners and losers, and each of these has a place.
BTW Micro, you are invited for an internship at Parallax. You'll need to be at least 18 but it can happen anytime throughout your college career. That offer still stands.
Thought about it, but really didn't need it. See post #8 here http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?131943-Solar-forums
Turns out that the battery will power the LED lights for several hours and it'll recharge within a day. The whole system has a well-balanced power generation and budget considering the current draw of the lights, power generated by the solar panel, and battery size.
But there's still the need for a Prop. I need a mobile anemometer for windspeed and a temperature sensor with display.
Sounds like they were on their way to Starbucks the other day but Kevin's wireless controller was giving him some trouble so they turned around and rode back for a more complete debugging session.
I'm sure there are other thing you could put on the helmet Go Pro has helmet mounts.
A small screen to view board data, battery voltage amp draw, mph and no better place than the top of the helmet to put the GPS sensor.
I know if I was just able to take stuff out of inventory to build things,
My gear would be the trickiest around.
And are the regenerating the power from the motors when they are coasting or going downhill?
Where's the new repurposed Quadrover offroad skateboard?
Each of them has their own QuadRover but I'm not really sure what they're doing with them, if anything.
Some photos I posted when I ran into the guys at MakerfaireNYC.
Jim
You may want to include a humidity sensor. Then you can have the heat index and wind chill for those outdoor activities. (attached is some sample prop code for that). While you at it, adding a couple non-contact temperature sensors could watch those wheel bearings to avoid typical trailer problems as well.