Revision as of 12:55, 16 July 2014

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July 2014

7/15

CEB Press Build
Fixed power cube 7. The throttle lever cable was not installed correctly so the choke was never engaging. Spraying ether into the air intake showed that the other systems were working. Many thanks to Wayne Toffelson of TNT Small Engine Repair in Savannah, MO for walking me through that process.
Oscilloscope arrived for the cap dac project but I have not yet started to use it because the CEB press controller code has well eclipsed it. CEB Press 6 Control Code GitHub Repository. This is mostly Gabriel's work but I have made significant contributions so I believe I can call myself a co-author. Here is a picture of the test jig I made for testing the code:

7/14

CEB Press

7/13

Working on implementing some test routines in the kliment CEB press code. Here is a gif of the timing sequence of the ceb press for reference:

7/11

Afternoon: Cap Sensor is now reading data. Random value in CAPDAC while I figure that out so it stays around 1pf but varies in the fF range. Here is some data from random movement of the cap sense jig. File:CAP SENSE DATA 7-11-2014.txt

Morning: File:Cap Sensor Email Chain 7-11-2014.pdf This is all of my emails to Paul Neelands regarding the ad7747 board he designed. It will be useful for anyone who wants to be brought up to speed with this project.
Capacitance Sensor Code as of 8:12 7/11/2014 The program seems to be executing properly. If you add a Serial.println command after the while loop in the void loop then it shows that the program does leave the while loop and there is no dead-end anywhere. At this point I think there are two possibilities:

There is parasitic capacitance of a higher order than the sense line.
The Chip has suffered from over-prototyping and needs to be retired.

7/10

Fiddled with my code for the height sensor in the morning but didn't really make any headway. Fixed the broken welders with Victor and Guillame. All 6 Millermatics are now provisionally operational. Got some dirt from the microhouse production site with lifetrac 6 and dropped it off by the old CEB press. Finished welding the patches on the slurry mixer and installed the drain pipe. Showed Yann how to use the oxy-fuel torch.

7/9

Sketchup:http://img.youtube.com/vi/hEUz68Y5aFM/default.jpg Real Life:http://img.youtube.com/vi/NZqa3A80I5Q/default.jpg
File:Capacitance Test Jig.stl
Capacitive Sensor Code 7/9/2014. This is printing serial data every second or so. The problem is that the data does not change. Sits right at 8.192pf no matter where my plates are. So there is something going wrong. I am confident that I have initialized all my registers properly. There must be a problem with the wiring or the way I am reading the data. The plates measure 2.45 V relative to each other. The shield lines are virtually driven to the same potential as the sense line (30mv maximum difference measured with Chinese DMM). I will wait for a scope to debug further. Perhaps i'll play with the i2c reading in the meantime. Saelig sold us a scope that was out of stock and failed to inform us for 4 days. I had to call them to figure it out and they didn't even offer to upgrade my shipping when I switched to a more expensive one. I left scathing reviews around...

7/8

Bought a winch at Menards and pulled the bobcat out of the mud with it. Took pretty much all day. hard work. Welded patches on large steel drum with Devin

7/7

Milled some parallel plate capacitors to 30mm x 30mm out of 6061 stock. In order to mill on the bridgeport I had to cut threads in the drawbar because it would not pull the collet all the way into the taper. I used a 7/16th 20 tpi die. In order to successfully do this I had to redrill, tap, and make a setscrew (1" 1/4 - 20 bolt with a weld bead on the end) for the die wrench. This is exemplative of the obstacles that might pop up when you try to do something seemingly simple here.

7/6

PowerCube Workshop.

7/5

Worked all day on the cap height sensor. It now reads data. I need to do testing with it. Working with Paul via email on that. Current code can be found here: Cap Height Sensor Firmware 7/5/2014

7/4

Power Cube Documentation: Hydraulic Reservoir Module in the morning with Michael
Power Cube Workshop: Found a suitable induction motor with Tom. Attempted to machine pulley for uPowerCube with Yann. The mini lathe is not a quality machine. The first attempt yielded poor results due to clunky collaboration between Yann and me - mostly due to the inability to communicate well during the noise of the PowerCube workshop. The first pulley will either be fixed or a new one will be machined properly.
Conducted MudHut Hunnies Orchestra

7/3

Worked in the morning on the capacitive sensor. Wrote the code for it which can be found here: pastebin. It's not working. Currently talking to Paul on why that might be. Need time to wrap my head around it.
In the afternoon I cleaned out Tristan's old room for use as an electronics bench so that I may find some environmental tranquility while I think about this sensor.
Tom_Griffing arrived with some power cubes. One is a micro cube which is driven by an induction motor. The drive pulley on it was machined without proper tools so we drilled a hole in a new one. This took a considerable amount of time - as all things do. At one point I thought I had to make a chuck wrench for the mini-lathe in order to mount the pulley. While searching for a drill chuck wrench to mount the stock for the mini lathe chuck wrench I found the chuck wrench for the mini lathe. Irony. Anyway, after that we spent about 2 hrs dancing around the mills and lathe in order to do something that should take 30 mins. It was a good time, though.

After that I had Devin help me gear the lathe in order to spool faster. Video should arrive soon. I ran into a problem with my tensioner where the wire would grab the tensioner and pull the entire table that the idler is mounted on. Very disconcerting when you are standing between the lathe and the table. I need to brace the table and make it safer and then we are in business with this welding wire recovery.

7/2

Showed the group how to use the LifeTrac 4. It went well but slow with only 1 powercube. The battery was dead and then the solenoid wasn't working (bypassed it with a fat wire) so it ended up taking a bit longer than expected.
Finished the coil spooler and started spooling. We need to gear the lathe (desperately) because I'm only getting 120RPM (i estimate) and at that rate it will take me over 6 hours to finish all the spools (it was a simple fermi problem). That ain't happening. So it's either we find a new drive mechanism other than the lathe or we gear the lathe to spool this rusty weldin' wire.

7/1

In the afternoon: Installed broken tractor chain on LT6, got new arrival Michael into some grinding and welding, started working on a simple coil re-winder which then turned into showing Guiamme (sic.), Emily, and Victor how to use the oxy-acetylene torch. Remembered how one thing can turn into a million other things very quickly here.
In the morning: Relevant Links for AD7747

3d printable clamp for attaching cap sensor ring to torch:
File:Cap ring clamp.skp
File:Cap ring clamp.stl
http://img.youtube.com/vi/9v0jF8Fyp3w/default.jpg

June 2014

6/30

Arrived at fef. Worked with Gabriel on soldering the capacitive height sensor module. The pcb was already tinned so it was just a matter of hot air and some touch-ups with the soldering iron.

With gabriel, created a very simple version of the capacitive ring found on Sensing Distance from Work Piece. Just a piece of steel from a 5 gallon bucket handle formed around a 1.25" socket and flattened in a vice. Will experiment with it tomorrow to see what kind of readings it gives. Pictures forthcoming.
Later on, cleaned the area around the torch table and started thinking about how the sensor will interface with the current electronics. Will test the cap. ring with a spare arduino just for testing. Started refreshing my memory of i2c with this tutorial: i2c tutorial part 1/7

May 2014

5/21

Note: open digikey carts one at a time or they might get combined

Ordered Parts For Fab Modules Stepper Motor Drivers (4 count)

Ordered Parts for Fab Modules Stepper Controller

I also ordered some copper clad PCB here: ebay I also had to have the board layouts printed with a laser printer on glossy paper at my local print shop. They charged me $8.50 which I feel is a bit expensive.

Total Cost (w/out shipping or tax) : $93.05

5/17

Ready to begin with the Fab Modules Triple Stepper method for controlling the TAZ for milling. I imagine the RAMBO and the triple stepper boards next to each other with a large jackknife switch to change between the two. Things i've noticed so far:

The A3982 Stepper Driver is a SOIC only package.
You will need to make two drivers which recieve the signal from the stepper controller
It's about $80 in parts to purchase everything for this upgrade.

March 2014

3/17

Install Fab Modules in Ubuntu 12.04 courtesy of mkeeter.

3/6

I emailed John. These were my questions:

1) In the BOM it lists the parts for a stepper driver. Is it possible to use the RAMBO stepper drivers or do I need to 
   create an entirely new driver board for milling use?
2) What software do you recommend using? I found the MTM Fab Modules software but have yet to experiment with it.

His Response:

my preferred way is to create an entirely new driver board for milling use that goes with the MTM Fab Modules software. 
http://kokompe.cba.mit.edu/index.html
http://mtm.cba.mit.edu/fabinabox/dev/triplestepper/overview.html

I'm awaiting further clarification in order to proceed in automating the toolpath.

3/1

Looks like I was using the 24V motor from the BOM at 12v from my PSU. I will need to buy the right motor or use a dc-dc converter to get the 24v i need.

February 2014

2/28

Hydrafabber CNC Spindle has been installed on the TAZ. Some media is below.

Hydrafabber Pics
http://img.youtube.com/vi/rJMkfLgo-N0/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/z9Z09NNhhtI/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/VfQxZMqks_A/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/stR6FzeeTsc/default.jpg

2/18

root cellar research

2/15

Working on a Product Development Cycle for Small Scale Farmers based on a thesis by Sam Shepherd, MEE and a collaboration with James Tangorra.

2/8

Printed CNC Spindle Mount:
http://img.youtube.com/vi/2kKC2A5IXlM/default.jpg

2/5

If you are going to use a 12x12 inch bed on the Taz then you will need these bed corners

2/4

Had a snow day on Monday so Gabi and I were able to model most of the water wheel transplanter in sketchup. Automatically updating sketchup file found here

January 2014

1/21

In the wake of two days of failed prints, an update on the Taz:

PLA & The Budaschnozzle:

Do not let the Budaschnozzle idle at temperature unnecessarily
Make sure the extruder and the hot end are perfectly alligned
- Slide filament through both holes as you bolt them in. The filament should move without much resistance.
Install a fan pointed at the heatsinks but blocked from the heater block

I learned those things the hard way yesterday.

Bed adhesion
On my first print a glass bed at 70C was used with no problems. My second print would not stick until I used an elmers glue slurry. 4 Parts water to 1 part glue painted on when the bed is warm.

1/11

The last week was basically spent rethinking our decision on 1/3 to use 3 smaller barrels and designing a way to use 2 55gal barrels. This required cutting of the old saddle and building/mounting a new, much larger, heavier one. I have my doubts but am otimistic. I want to see some testing with the 1000lb payload on there. Gabi is almost finished the waterwheel lift mechanism. There is no video update because of technical difficulties.

Here is a video of my first print on my Taz!
http://img.youtube.com/vi/MW8Qi5iNOOc/default.jpg

CONGRATS - EPIC WORK on TAZ!!! -MJ

thanks!

1/8

Nice coverage in The New Yorker.

Completed my first print. Video is rendering at home. I will upload it another day. For now I have a video of stopping a leak in the Budaschnozzle.
http://img.youtube.com/vi/W7acDWe4hqU/default.jpg

We decided to use two 55gal drums. I cut off the saddle and will begin workign on the new one on Friday.
We are making three 25" wheels from laser cut 11ga mild steel. Here are the files we sent to the machine shop:

File:Water Wheel 25.dxf File:Water Wheel 25.skp

1/6

A fun way to navigate this wiki is to use the random page tool. You can put this link: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Special:Random in your bookmarks toolbar if you are in mozilla.
This is from the other day:
http://img.youtube.com/vi/G4G7GXfV9ns/default.jpg
I started to look at the budaschnozzle. It needs to be cleaned. I started that process but ran out of time. I will document it with a video when I finish.

1/3

We decided to add 3 15 gallon barrels to the sides of the 55 gal barrel to give a total capacity of 100gal. We also lengthened our shelves. I'm ready for a day off, which is coming.
http://img.youtube.com/vi/Gpx4PmBSZtg/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/dfrwYHx87ec/default.jpg

1/2

So Christmas happened and then other stuff and it's now apparently 2014 and I haven't finished the Taz or the Water Wheel...

Ordered a part for the nozzle and then it should be 100% operational after a cleaning. Haven't had any time at all to work on it other than to build a more permanent space for it in my room.
The water wheel is coming along. I will post some videos from youtube below. It is now day 9 but they haven't really been full work days. Nothing like a production run at FeF as we are using rusty material which is not square and we don't have a complete design going in to it. It does look pretty good, though.

Finished

Main Frame
Wheels
Barrel Mount
Seat arms
Seats

To Do:

Water Wheel Welds
Lots of Grinding
Plumbing
Water Wheel Axle
Water Wheel Lift Mechanism

We are also considering adding another barrel for 2x water capacity.
http://img.youtube.com/vi/pcfBlHZqhGI/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/2liSUr8ZTw8/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/yOSPMLqozg8/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/Colu1FynxQU/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/cS_mOMHhFD0/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/Y1YyX753Sfg/default.jpg http://img.youtube.com/vi/TTfgEkePOZU/default.jpg

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 =July 2014=
 ==7/15==
 CEB Press Build
 <br/>
 Fixed power cube 7. The throttle lever cable was not installed correctly so the choke was never engaging. Spraying ether into the air intake showed that the other systems were working. Many thanks to Wayne Toffelson of TNT Small Engine Repair in Savannah, MO for walking me through that process.
 <br/>
-Oscilloscope arrived for the cap dac project but I have not yet started to use it because the CEB press controller code has well eclipsed it. Speaking of which, here is a picture of the test jig I made for testing the code:<br/>
+Oscilloscope arrived for the cap dac project but I have not yet started to use it because the CEB press controller code has well eclipsed it. [https://github.com/LovingProfessional/Open-CEB-Press CEB Press 6 Control Code GitHub Repository]. This is mostly Gabriel's work but I have made significant contributions so I believe I can call myself a co-author. Here is a picture of the test jig I made for testing the code:<br/>
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    <img src="http://d1odebs29o9vbg.cloudfront.net/custom/201407/DSC01276-416cd9_800x800.jpg">

Aidan Williamson Log: Difference between revisions