Coolest Work Area Photo Contest - CLOSED TO ENTRIES

Parallax Prize Fairy

This was really tough on our judges!
So many amazing spaces.
Results are in.

Our winner is: Mike Cook

And we awarded one honorable mention for "Best Small Space" for a BASIC Stamp 2 module to:
RDL2004

Congratulations to our winners.
And thanks for sharing your photos!
PPF

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Good Morning Forum Members!

Winner will receive a Propeller Starter Kit (#32300).

Have a workbench that's drool-worthy? Snap a picture of your space and post it here. Add a description too. Winner will be chosen by a panel of 3 Parallax employees. You have 24 hours to post. End time for submissions is: Wednesday, September 5, 2007, at 8:45 a.m. PDT.

Disclaimer: Winners will have their screen names announced on the Forums. Winners will be notified via Private Message. One prize per customer, no prize substitutions. All winners will be announced by 5:00 p.m. PDT, Thursday, September 6, 2007, at the latest. Prizes will ship via UPS Ground to winners living in the contiguous United States. All others are responsible for covering shipping costs and any applicable duties or taxes.

Much luck to you all!
Sincerely, PPF

Post Edited (Parallax Prize Fairy) : 9/5/2007 7:22:28 PM GMT

Mike Cook

Ok here's my office, don't make me get up and photograph the Garage!

000_0858.jpg - My current work bench, 3 different Propeller Projects.

000_0859.jpg - RF work station, Idle at the moment!

000_0860.jpg - Big Trak grave yard, one of them hopes to be Propeller Powered!

000_0861.jpg - Yup I sometimes work at home, my collection of GSM/GPRS modems.

000_0862.jpg - My collection of Parallax items in the top green bins.


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Mike

Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 9/4/2007 4:19:05 PM GMT

kb2hap

How About Messiest Work Area?

Here are a few pics of·my "work" work·area when I get home I take some pics of my "home" work area.

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DTQ

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

I wish there'd been more time to tidy up! I hope a black and white photo will do.



-Phil

Mike Cook

I just love vintage equipment!

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) said...
I wish there'd been more time to tidy up! I hope a black and white photo will do.



-Phil

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Mike

BJJohnson

Now this is a mess!

Professorwiz

OK, I HAVE to add this one, being the smart guy I am.·

Here's a picture of the coolest work area, not mine, but it's got to be the coolest area on earth.· Of course the Mars lander has to deal with even colder climates.

Whit

This is my first dedicated work space (added in behind my regular Computer work space). It is also where I do all my work.
Mild mannered priest by day. Robot building madman by night - late night.



Phil, My Robot is better looking than yours.....




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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

Post Edited (Whit) : 9/4/2007 6:48:21 PM GMT

Mike Cook

Whit, your space is too neat, are you really building anything?

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Mike

Bryan K.

Here are a few pictures of my workbench.

workbench_1 is of the whole working area.

workbench_4 is of the second half of my workbench. The yellow and black thing on the shelf is a SICK LASER sensor, it can map 180 degrees and up to 40 meters. Just below the SICK is the Robotis Humanoid robot, in which I am currently working on gait algorithms for bi-pedal walking and balancing. resting on the wall is a Segway, in which I am modeling it to build my own using the Propeller chip as the main CPU.

workbench_5 is the first half of the workbench, where my computer is (dual monitor for twice the desktop space), hooked up to a digital oscilloscope, function generator, and multimeter, along with a National Instruments USB data logger. There is also a regulated power supply. On the table in front of the laptop is a servo controlled walking robot that I am currently working on, before running the data on the Robotis Humanoid. For this project, I am also using the Propeller chip for the processing and generating the servo signals needed.

mill_lathe- This is where I do all the mechanical work for my robotics projects.

parts_selection_2- All of my circuitry for my projects are all custom. Shown in this picture is the stocked selection of parts I use for the circuit boards. It includes everything from resistors and capacitors, to accelerometers and encoders. A bunch of miscellaneous parts as well.

StampNut2

This is my robotic lab, Enjoy.



Main work area and test equipment, Multimeter, Dual trace Ocs, 3mhz function gen, frequency counter, Power supply [noparse][[/noparse]left]



Ref book area, and component area.



Test bed area and manual ref.



Test equipment.



Guarding my equipment.

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Never give up when things go wrong.

Post Edited (StampNut2) : 9/5/2007 6:38:39 AM GMT

Whit

Mike Cook said...

Whit, your space is too neat, are you really building anything?

That picture was taken the night I finally had it finished - it is a pre-mess photo. My I please use you as a referrence when my wife says my space is looking a little too messy?

Stampnut2 - I love the labeled storage bags hanging neatly for easy access. Cool idea. Great lab.

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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

Post Edited (Whit) : 9/4/2007 6:51:28 PM GMT

Jon Keinath

I have two primary working benches. One is in the house where "Clean" projects are completed, and the other is out in the wood shop, where the "messy" projects are completed. I would probably complete most of the projects at the second location if the internet was accessible out there...





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-Jon
www.jonkeinath.com

StampNut2

Thanks Whit, It's my retreat, Half my life is spent there?????

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Never give up when things go wrong.

Harrison.

This is the only photo I have of my work area (I'm poor, so there's not much there). I am currently at college so I don't have access to my home work area.

Description - The photo is from when I was working on my ethernet driver / tcp stack for the Propeller. You can see all the ping windows I had open to load test the packet handler. I normally have a dual monitor desktop, but I had the Propeller connected to my second monitor in this pic. You can also see my stuffed pet turtle and hacky sack.

Harrison

Dgswaner

wow Bryan K. has a Segway! that's pretty cool! that's almost as cool as Mikes Big Track graveyard!

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A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer. - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

Duffer

Not mine! This is a friend's.·I've had this picture for years to remind me to keep my work bench clean.

Also, two of my favorite "work place" accessories.

Steve

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

This is one wall of my work area...
(This one contains some of my old computer collection)

Other "open' work areas exist for my Propeller and Electronics experiments.. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
(All designed from recycled materials)

Jeff

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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.

— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.

Lawson

Here's some pictures of my "work" area. This is one (large) corner of my apartment. My BS2 is off at work, It WAS running the weapon of the big battlebot you see the butt of in the first two pictures. I've also got an SX starter kit hiding somewhere, I got it before SX-B came out. I can't think programs in such small chunks!

The Mill is the one I use at work. I installed the DRO, made the way covers and the tool shelf. Last but not least the Propeller I'm using at work. This is as I was learning to program it. That board isn't nearly as clean now [noparse]:D[/noparse]

Marty

P.S. yes that IS a motorcycle in the third picture. It's getting a front suspension/AWD system I'm developing.
P.P.S. My currently active BattleBot "Micro Vice" is what's sitting between my keyboard and mouse in the fist picture. When I make the micro sumo version it'll use a Propeller for a brain.

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Lunch cures all problems! have you had lunch?

Whit

Lawson,

Nice space. Nice Trials (TY 350 say 1986?) bike too!

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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

neoteric

Absolutely no kidding, here is my workspace.· I use the island in the kitchen!· I'm not an electrical engineer, so I don't have all the big stuff you folks have.· So I have complete, semi organized·portability.· When its project time, I drag my boxes in and get started.· On the left is the enlcosed porch, where I do the soldering.

Portability is nice, since sometimes I load up my car, and drag the whole set into my office at work!



Side note:·The wife loves me very, very much.

Duffer

This is a portion of my work area. Certain provisions of the National Secrets Act prohibit me from showing the rest, but i can show you the Control Room. ;-)

Steve

steve_b

Believe it or not, but I still have to order parts even though I have that huge wall of OOOHHHH-SO-COOL-BINS! [noparse];)[/noparse]

The other shot is of our old radar console. Nothing in that thing weighs less than 50lbs...I SWEAR!!
Cool having that old PPI (Planned Position Indicator) there.

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<FONT>Steve



What's the best thing to do in a lightning storm? "take a one iron out the bag and hold it straight up above your head, even God cant hit a one iron!"
Lee Travino after the second time being hit by lightning!

Whit

Steve,

It is like the Library of Congress for electronics parts! Holy smoke!

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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

Bryan K.

I've never seen THAT many drawers before, especially for electronics parts selection.

RDL2004

I live in an apartment and my electronics work area is actually in a closet [noparse]:)[/noparse]

It started with a cheap table from the office supply store and some shelves from Home Depot. I have my old computer in there, an Athlon XP1900, with an ethernet cable to the router for internet. I had to get a 20 foot 3 wire extension cord to get power in there. The closet is about 5 ft by 8 ft, so not too cramped. My scope is actually hanging from the wire shelf above.

I have a better computer that's in the living room hooked up to a 37" flat screen LCD and I do programming type stuff in there usually. I just plug my PDB or whatever into that computer and pull a table up in front of the TV. Works fine.

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- Rick

Post Edited (RDL2004) : 9/5/2007 2:33:36 AM GMT

parts-man73

When weather conditions permit, this is the work area that I prefer. I can watch my children play as I work with my various Propeller Development setups, Seen in this picture is my SpinStudio, and a Propeller education kit.

The only drawbacks are you have to pack light on technology, and everything must be battery powered, but sure beats a desk in the basement anyday!

(Picnic basket not shown but present )

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Brian

uController.com - home of SpinStudio

Max Wooden

As a college student, I do not have much space to work with. My "laboratory" (or as I called it when I was little "lavatory") is built into the corner of my room. The space used is extremely efficient and I absolutely love it! The entire work area is contained in a "flip-down" which makes it great for making my room look nice. My book shelf is easily accessible and I keep "The Art of Electronics" closest to the work area for quick reference. I keep a BOE with a BS2, and my SX Tech Board in a cigar box. The cigar box is for when I need to take a project into the other room, or to school to work on it. My area is nice and organized but still well used. As you can see I have several projects going on right now. You can see the corner of my desk, with a keyboard and records on it. The desk is "L" shaped and spans the entire length of my room. Behind the work area is one of my computers and all of my vintage stereo equipment. There are a series of drawers below the "flip-down" and I store various projects and large parts such as power supplies in them. In the large open area next to the "flip-down" are piles of magazines and mouser catalogues. I just added a ton of parts to my parts drawers and I am currently working on getting the labels printed up. In the flip-down area I have a BOE with the alpha "Spin Stamp" as well as a propeller protoboard (thanks Chris) and a bunch of circuit boards I just got manufactured (guitar effects pedal.) You can also see in the "cubby-holes" I have a meter, my beloved TI-89+ Titanium calculator, breadboards, solder, wire, and alcohol pads (the best christmas present I have ever received.) I hope you enjoy seeing my work area. I worked really hard getting it set up and I am very proud of it!

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Max Wooden

Kd7lax

Same as Max above... as a college student my space is limited. Unlike max above my work space isn't very efficient ... but cool none the less :P
Mine is located in a walk in closet in my room... This space doubles as my Ham Shack.

I have 2 shots, the first one is about from 3 years ago. Before I started piling up a bunch of junk :P the 2nd one has more toys but is more messy and it needs a new coat of paint.



Here is the newest one [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Stuff in the closet:
At the top of the stack on top of the desk is a Antenna matching system for my dipole mounted on the roof, the next one down is a variable voltage 30A cont. power supply and under that is a 5A cont. power supply for small projects. On the desk I have my ham radio (kenwood HF 570d) and to the right of that is my 35A cont. power supply for my radio and in front of that is where I solder stuff with a metal plate underneath so I don't catch any thing on fire [noparse]:)[/noparse] currently my home brewed mini-sumo bot sits there.
On the very upper-left of the picture is my drawers for all my components.



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Visit my website @ www.kd7lax.com- Devoted to ham radio

Whit

RDL2004,

I've seen your pics before. They acutally inspired me to build my own work space.

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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

QuattroRS4

Mid project chaos !

P.S - 'Throne Manual' is used during the initial 'download'·process and is returned to storage prior to any further handling operations. .... LOL

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Post Edited (QuattroRS4) : 9/5/2007 2:47:07 PM GMT