User:Eric

How I Came Across OSE

I first came across open source ecology by the ted talk and my own research. I always have been interested in Various Mechanisms, DIY/Making, Gardening/Aquaponics, and modern self sufficiency. I kind of watched from a distance for a while getting to know the movement. I thought I might as well join and contribute some.

My main skills are photography + videography, photo + video editing, audio + music editing, and graphic design. I also love to tinker, but am probably less strong with my skills there than others (Although i would love to learn). The softwares I am familiar with are: Gimp, Krita, Blender, and Audacity, as well as Adobe Creative Cloud and Autodesk Software. I am in the process of learning Freecad, Basic Coding, and Sweet Home 3D as well. I am also a technology enthusiast; I am quite knowledgable in PC Building + Related Tech Standards, Live Audio Mixing, Photography, Videography, Audio Production, as well as VR/MR/AR. Granted I do not have degrees in these things (YET), but I have read up on them, and physically dealt with them quite a bit.

In terms of more "formal" qualifications:

• • Plenty of "Hands On" work as a Kid Volunteering / Going Camping with Scouts etc, short of Heavy Equipment Use
  • A Few Months of Volunteering at a Food Rescue place
  • A Few Months of Volunteering at a local Animal Shelter
  • A Few Months at Walmart doing Loading Dock (unloading the shipping container trucks), and Restocking work)
  • 1 Year of a Welding School Program at FSCJ
    • Went through it and did fine...short of the Bend Tests ; Learned a lot, but my Essential Tremor made my Arc Length change by enough millimeters for the Weld Bead to vary in diameter / for Weld Slag Inclusions or Sticking a Tungsten to occur etc
    • Have record of time there and fine grades short of the bend tests, which were the main "goal" (Certifications for all the Welding Processes in all the Weld Positions )
    • I did learn a TON though, so am in the process of adding this to the on-wiki information
    • Also if i ever get into Robotic Welding ...
  • 1 year of an Electrician Pre-Apprenticeship Program
    • Learned a bunch from this as well
  • 1 Year Working as an Electrician Helper
  • Now 1.5 Years at my Current Job as an Environmental Services Technician / Non-CDL Driver
    • Mainly a mix of:
      • Non-Regulated/Non-Hazmat Materials Pickup+Transport
        • Typically grabbing 55 Gallon Drums / IBC Totes of stuff (preferably in a Truck with a Lift Gate ) and moving it from the site back to our shop
        • Spill Response + Spill Cleanup
          • Mainly Fuel, Transformer Oil (or the occasional something “spicy” like 99% Sulfuric Acid 💀)
      • Confined Space Entry (Mainly for cleaning, but also the occasional Confined Space Rescue Contract
      • The OCCASIONAL Pipeline Pigging Pig-Deconning
      • Also if work is slow, just Groundskeeper / Custodian stuff around the shop
      • Also some Boom Deployment exercises / GIUA stuff
• ’’’ALSO’’’ Tied to this is frequent use of:
  • Pickup Trucks (An old “standard” F150 (no Backuo Camera etc), a newer “tool body” F250 truck with toolboxes + a small Lift Gate , and an F250/F350 Stake Side Truck with a Large Lift Gate and flatbed
  • Use of Forklifts
    • Old Partially Broken Down Toyota Gasoline One
    • Old Partially Broken Down CAT Propane One
    • Occasional use of an Old Broken Down Diesel CAT Beast
  • Use of a Pallet Jack / Drum Dolly
  • Use of Side by Sides
    • 2 Newer EFI Gasoline Polaris Models and one OLD Caurberated One
  • Use of Pressure Washers (Including Diesel Heated Hot Water Pressure Washers and Surface Cleaner attachments
  • Use of Gasoline String Trimmer/Brush Cutters + Landscaping Hand Tools
  • Use of a Vacuum Truck / Air Mover Truck ‘s Attachments/Hose (Not the driving/engaging the PTO / RPM Management Aspect
  • Things i HAVE used, but am not TOO comfortable with yet:
    • Driving with Trailers / ESPECIALLY backing up trailers
    • Motorboat Operations (Fine Maneuvering Aspects + Using a Boat Ramp + Trailer especially, setup/maintenance+basic operations i can do)
    • ADVANCED forklift operations (High Speed/DAMN HEAVY loads/Up Steep Ramps etc
      • Getting better with this, plus much can be avoided with Engineering Controls and Administrative Controls

Currently Working On

• My Current Job + Rest/Recovery From It (Although as always it could be worse!)
• Bio-Petrochemistry and other Biomass / Biofuels work
• Fleming Island Makerspace Plotting
  • Making a viable precious plastic workflow (ie not a cash sink, and being able to handle all plastics)
    • PET Workflow
    • OS Quadracycle (as a fuel price free somewhat capable cargo vehicle)
    • Plastic Recycling Sorting
  • CNC Router / CNC Mill investigation
  • Metal Casting workflows, especially Greensand Metal Casting Molds from 3D Prints etc
  • Also trying to find what products could be made and sold from a makerspace
• Misc wiki interlinking/cleaning up/link necromancy
• Some Social Media Management/Networking

Outstanding Projects

• ie projects I actively have the gear for, just need to actually herd the cats and work on!
  • Recreator3D PET Plastic Pulltrusion setup
    • I already got an old used Ender 3 , just need to print the parts+assemble it
      • May also need to get a pre-drilled nozzle and some bolts
  • Open Source Cat Tower
    • Saved the (thick) cardboard tubes from Pallet Wrap , Intend to wrap them in Sisal Rope and make them into Scratching Posts/“Cat Tree” Style Towers
  • UCO Candle Lantern / Firestarters / Candle Making stuff
    • Have all the gear+3d prints except MAYBE specialized Candle Wicks
    • Also for the firestarters i don’t have too much materials other than wax+shredded paper etc
  • Heavy Equipment Simulator
    • Have everything except an Emergency Brake / Sequential Shifter
      • I am considering the latter as a COTS option for simulating a Forklift Lever
    • As of now it can run Car/Truck Simulators
      • May buy a used desktop to be able to more comfortably run a large screen or vr setup + all that gear (as well as the more mundane port availability and storage concerns)
  • OS Data Archiving Workflow
    • I have the Optical Disc Printer , Disc Storage Cases+Boxes, Don’t gave any sort of M-Disc / Blu-Ray discs yet, but i do have Optical Disc Drives for them
    • Figuring out an Open Source NAS + “Hot” Data Storage Workflow AS WELL AS how to migrate PILES of Photos/Videos off of Google Photos etc is a whole other ordeal

The Templates I Use

• Granted these are more so guidelines
• Full OSE Product Page Template
  • Used originally early on in development, then is replaced with just the basic info/links and a link to the geneology page (also add in the dev template)
  • Also have a DIY vs Open Source Distinction?
  • Replace the non basic sections with an in page section for the dev template (the code thing used by marcin for the dev only pages) so the two are merged?
  • Was just thinking i kind of overuse bullets maybe? May be worth a look for me to see where not having them, and just having the text would look nice
• Basic Placeholder Page Template
• Construction Set Page Template may update this to a more condensed format, but the spacing can be useful for reading the long lists inherent in this, perhaps "*" with enter lines in between each?
  • Could use some improvement, perhaps do away with "Uses" and "allows for" and add a basic description section
  • Also perhaps add a seperate description/goal/philosophy page, and make the page a more simplistic geneology like page?

Contact Info

• Gmail: ericlotze@gmail.com

Internal Links

• Eric Lotze Log
• Eric's Post Meeting Comments
• Eric's Data Buffer Page
• Eric's To-Fix List

External Links

• My Open Circuit Institute Account Page