Jen Log
28 June 2018
Trying to get circular constraints to work again. takacsjd (takacslog) - Right, they are totally unpredictable. I don't know how you designate which is the master for a part move.
Vokoscreen isn't recording audio? Did I miss a permission on my new USB? No... It was recording audio before.
Smh. No clue.
The next USB is working. I used an older version of Rufus to burn it. Maybe that helped. takacsjd (takacslog) - VirtualBOX VM's are anouther way to run OSE linux across computers... although not as portable.
Working on getting rid of this thing when I'm done with it:
Oh. Now the "finish editing" button worked and did not close FreeCAD.
Now the circular constraints are working consistently but I can no longer get the planes to line up using that constraint.
Working off this forum right now, going through my trouble spots and finding the hiccups.
https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=15880
27 June 2018
Still wrangling the finding my vids on Ubuntu thing. After watching useless vids on inserting music I finally discovered, on my own, the overwrite tool on Kdenlive. Now I can't find my 15 seconds of pain points to splice onto this, but GOOOOAAAAALLLLL anyway.
Also, it wasn't until I started with making vids that I discovered the volume on my computer nearly is all the way down. I don't want to mess with the USB in the middle of FINALLY getting the test all spliced together (going back to wage-slavery tomorrow afternoon, who knows when it will end). Couldn't find where to adjust computer volume quickly enough to suit myself, so I've been uploading everything to YouTube to volume test. For me right now that is the simple solution. Don't laugh, lol. Former goat farmer.
How I feel:
What I did:
Test-In your Work Log - document: How many hours each part of the test took to complete: 1) Installing Linux; 2) Learning FreeCAD; and 3) Documenting your work--and which section was most difficult.
At first I downloaded the Linux to my USB. That obviously didn't work. I phoned a friend and got turned onto Rufus: See 2 May 2018
The actual process takes maybe 10 minutes. I spent about eight hours figuring it out and getting good help.
FreeCAD was about 6 weeks. I don't have free time, really, and I needed three hour chunks to get anywhere, not that progress was ever guaranteed. Documenting has a much nicer learning curve for me, but I think that's because I already have a YouTube channel and some minimal experience with vid editing.
FreeCAD was the hardest. Each thing is a trial- until it's not.
Remembering to document on the wiki is the most difficult for me, but I can do it from any device- at least there's that.
Add any other feedback you have on the FreeCAD Test or the Developer Test in general.
Score yourself 0-100 based on the percentage of the Test points that you have completed successfully - and include that score in your work log comments.
I give myself about - well- 100% on the test itself.
27 June 2018
The Rufus still works (refer to 2 May 2018 or so). I was able to overwrite my "faulty" USB, I think. Working off a different one right now. Waiting for my original cube to "render" on Kdenlive. Already rendered the 30 second version. Been on this two hours so far today, between burning the USBs and redoing the cube test. The circular constraints are still grumping about the math. Ah well. I'll have to ask - I think Abe was discussing that with me. I just don't get why they worked and worked and now they don't. Maybe I'm highlighting backwards? Oh, or maybe just one piece to one piece? That doesn't make sense. They're positionally fixed and somehow when I first was using them the pieces weren't? No. THAT doesn't make sense. The circular constraints are ON the Assembly workbench, so obviously that's where they're meant to be used. Hmmmmmmmm.
So much to think about and learn. At least I grok enough now to be able to benefit from shorter periods of study. Until the last couple of weeks, if I didn't have at least three hours I wasn't going to get anything new worked out or accomplished. And I almost never had three hours. Slow at work right now, so I've had a few days. This would definitely be less fun broken up into bits, but I could easily have set up and walked away from burns and renders. If I didn't have a bit of money to buy extra USBs and a few days off I might not be entertained but rather frustrated.
I rendered the full length cube build, but now I cannot find it? I found the 30 second one anyway. Dang. I thought I was doing things exactly the same each time.
Uggg. I have the music clip in my Kdenlive, but it's not recording when I render the project. It seems like all the tech support these days is in vids, too. Why learn to read and write?
26 June 2018
No.
Really.
Now my Part Design workbench isn't working. Seriously. I tried to video what it's doing, but vokoscreen isn't saving my vids.
So I'm going to reinstall Ubuntu on my USB.
Really.
It's me not me.
Now to find out if my Ubuntu to USB log is helpful.
26 June 2018
Had fun with fasteners on the fastener workbench and circular constraints on Assembly 2- until FreeCAD quit doing the math for the constraints-
The cube build is down to an art- until I try to record it of course- so the test cube is constructed mundanely and a bit ham-fisted. I had so many elegant solutions in mind.
Why I'm here though is to kvetch briefly about the kdenlive. I'm not finding vids I've saved through kdenlive, but I can go to the vid on my desktop and open it in kdenlive.
I worked on fasteners, circular constraints, and recording the build at least a few hours yesterday, and today a few hours recording and editing, uploading, et c.
As soon as the test is in I'm updating all of this software.
Just saying.
And I have well over 15 seconds of commentary on pain points, so maybe I'll just smile and say "God bless".
https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Development_Spreadsheet_Template#Instructions
22 June 2018
I had a great time in Eugene. Dallin, the 3D Printer build participant, was really into it and completely unflappable. It was a beautiful thing.
I managed to capture a fair bit. The video is pretty intermittent. My phone kept getting full, so I had to pause to upload to YouTube so I could delete vids and have room to take more. Not that I am a videographer.
Here's the list, fwiw. Feel free to copy, edit, and use.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsLqRCoY7a_kDAamsgYgf2JohW_lWcKZG
So on the REALLY exciting side I have an easy fix for the 3D printer frame needing jimmied around to get a pseudo-fit.
In order to get the fit smooth, which is literally impossible with five matching squares, AND keep each piece the same, we need to add the thickness of the steel plate at a pair of opposite ends on each plate. Then we can fit the long edge of either side to the long edges of the bottom. Then back and front pieces' long edges will fit over the edges of the sides and bottom nicely.
This may require the extra step of labeling each piece. Hopefully there's enough room on the axis parts to make that extra bit of stretch.
And no, I had no FreeCAD time, but I did pack The Brick and Chromie to Eugene. The Chromebook was handy and I did get a bit done on it, mostly YouTube related.
Oh, lol.
I just spent how many not yet logged OSE hours?
I may just do a wiki page on how to assist Marcin at events.
He seems to enjoy meat-based fresh foods in pastries of one kind or another and prefers blonde cookies (white chocolate macadamia nut) and "chocolates" to actual chocolate cookies and chocolate.
Also, he is not a fan of ice water. Moderately temperatured water is better.
Keep feeding him.
He's probably deeply engaged in conversation, won't go get something to eat after, and may not have eaten before the event.
Keep feeding him.
Also, people stop him to talk to him, so if he has somewhere he needs to be go through the buffet line and meet him with a plate wherever he's headed.
19 June 2018
My logging is not so good. So last night I figured out how to import files and succeeded at doing it.
I spent easily four hours between tutorials, sites, et c wrangling FreeCAD, not that I could find a tutorial on what I actually needed.
Finally I decided to try what I had been doing- downloading the tubing library and using the Assembly 2 workbench. Mostly I couldn't find the file anywhere through FreeCAD, but it was on "my computer", the bit on my Ubuntu-loaded USB stick.
Grrr.
But it SAYS import parts on the Assembly 2 workbench. So what's up?
Thinking thinking thinking- I SAVED the download to a file and THEN I could find it and import the 8-hole tubing.
ERMAGAWD.
That easy, and it's really not the sort of thing a developer is going to think to ask me because it's so basic and so obvious. I'm pretty sure that was it. I can't tell from Lex's response when I asked if that was it whether he was being a little sarcastic when he said "Maybe". I think yes. Anyway, that's what I had done differently.
I had found a workaround by simply using the tubing file and duplicating the tubing and moving it around, but that wasn't going to work for the bolt!
So today I won't have much time. I have to pack to go to Eugene tomorrow to (hopefully) assist with the 3D Printer build there. So amazing. This stuff is so cool.
I'm still debating whether I want to pack my ungainly brick of a laptop with me. Will I REALLY have time to work on this there? Really?
18 June 2018
My projects don't seem to be saving onto my USB. Not sure what I'm not doing. I'd saved several things on FreeCAD, projects from tutorials and such, and now nothing is in the files. Grrrr.
Also, when I talk to people about help with FreeCAD they tell me "Nobody uses FreeCAD. Try..." Or more politely, they share what they use and talk about why they like that software.
Be that as it may, I agreed to learn FreeCAD.
The problem is that I don't know ANY CAD maybe? A friend may hook me up with AutoCAD if I ask nicely. Maybe I should be using that?
ANyway.
Back into it today. Thinking about downloading the FreeCAD directly onto my computer. Idk.
Fml sometimes.
17 June 2018
Interesting...
Getting Linux onto the Chromebook, even using the USB, was a washout. I'd thought I had logged that. Been messing in FreeCAD a bit. I still run into issues with sketching not appearing on the surface when I go to draw on various faces.
I spent at least six hours today watching vids, especially on 3D printer builds and general principles of OSE.
14 June 2018
It looks like I may be able to get Linux onto my Chromebook?
Super-stoked to try, and I have tonight off. Will report.
If I can then I'll be able to work on the bus. My laptop, a medieval brick, is far too cumbersome to deal with on the fly.
13 June 2018
About 10 minutes doing dev log page admin then listened to the meeting on YouTube, so about an hour.
10 June 2018
Still working on figuring out how to get multiple hunks of tubing onto FreeCAD. It's interesting to say the least. Each version is just different enough, right?
Getting acquainted with GitHub in the meantime.
Success. I've been duplicating and manipulating the 8 hole tubing in the FreeCAD. It's all such a mystery, until it's not.
9 June 2018
Hmmm. Slacking on logging apparently.
So now I am trying to figure out how to add/access parts on FreeCAD. I found a few videos on importing parts. Some even started in English. But soon they were in German. Sigh.
I also found the FreeCAD 101 manual on the FreeCAD 101 page. https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Installing In attempting to follow these instructions the hang-up was this: Place the downloaded macro in your FreeCAD Macros folder. The FreeCAD Macros folder location is indicated in menu Macros -> Macros -> User macros location.
I found the location, but the addons macro wasn't there and there wasn't any way I could see to put it anywhere. It's in my Ubuntu download folder - or appears to be- not sure how to get it onto FreeCAD- but I need something like this to add the libraries?
Anyway. More adventures.
6 June 2018
So the YouTube embed for 5 June on the dev log page looks different than the others do. I have no idea what I did differently- I'm thinking nothing- nor how to fix it. Last night I did do the FreeCAD tutorial I was stuck on again. This time I clicked auto refine under I want to say the edit button/preferences/part design. After that all of my drawings appeared on the surfaces throughout the design, which made working much easier. Another hour and a half last night. It looks like constraints may vary somehow FreeCAD version to version.
THANK-YOU MARCIN for saying we'll stick with this FreeCAD version until it no longer serves our purpose. I certainly hope people will benefit from what I do document about learning it. Now I know why everybody in analog world looked at me funny when I said I was going to learn it on my own. But I am. :-D
5 June 2018
What I ran into last time with this tutorial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRFsW_FhyP4&index=4&list=PL6fZ68Cq3L8k0JhxnIVjZQN26cn9idJrj, was that after having successfully inserted I think three through pockets, when I entered the sketch mode to do a pocket on the next surface the axes nor the circle I drew showed on the surface. That makes it hard for me to work, when I cannot see what I am drawing. I was unable to find a way to refine the lines out of the item on which I was working. I had initially selected to not do it automatically because my computer is a bit long in the tooth.
When I do the tutorial again I'll just select automatic for now, though I am thinking I know the solution, now that it's gelled in my head a day. It's funny the details I'm remembering after-the-fact. Probably a good sign I remember them at all. I think I was looking in the wrong place for the manual refine. I think. Nuts, I'm not even positive it's called refining.
- Yes it is called refining. Yes I was looking in the wrong place. Yes setting preferences to autorefine did solve the problem.
And I am very sorry I'm not more accurate on recording my time. I need a one-man chess clock. BOOM- working on OSE. BOOM not. Lol. At this point I'm counting learning FreeCAD as OSE work. I really do only have about a dozen hours a week for this right now.
4 June 2018
Moved dev meeting YouTube to dev log page quickly on break at work. Will look at migrating older meetings hopefully this afternoon.
Migrating the meetings is super easy. You create the page to put them on by searching for it then creating the page.
To create an internal link you just put the page name between two brackets marked by an asterisk.
- [ [ page name ] ], but with no spaces
3 June 2018
FreeCAD tutorial, two hours. Ran into the problem again where the axes don't show on the surface on which I'm sketching, so also the drawings do not show on that surface. Will start from scratch again tomorrow.
"Talked" with Lex about moving the older meetings onto the list at the bottom of the page. He said to create a web page, name it the date, migrate the code, then link.
Derp. Starting to get the groove of this though. Moving out of hausfrau/goat farmer mindframe.
2 June 2018
Worked on FreeCAD tutorial.
1 June 2018
Archiving meeting on my Samsung on break at work. YouTube doesn't seem to have a special embed code on this device?
Got the slides moved anyway.
29 May 2018
I keep getting an error message when I attempt to access my log on my Chromebook.
The whiffle went well up to the last step, in which my second set of cuts left square bits. Hmmmm. I think I forgot to set "parallel to plane". I set up three cut out boxes to start, though, so I'm into the second one now.
When I hit "undo" on the first one the whole project disappeared. I've seen the disappearing project before on my undo's. Back in...
Uggg. Redrawing the triangles for the second set of corner cuts.
Irritating. Error message that 100mm is an invalid length for the line. What does that even mean? Undo undo etc, trying again. Plus I'm doing the log on my Samsung because my Chromebook and my log page refuse to cooperate.
Ohhhhhhh... one of my triangle lines does not have the vertical line marker- so it isn't vertical anymore? I think that was an undo result.
Into my third precut. Actually, since I closed without saving I'm still on the second precut. This is definitely an adventure.
Woot woot! Finally got it.
Nearly 2 hours. There are all the little details to remember, and yes, the problem had been the symmetric to plane bit for the pads on the second set of cuts. This keeps getting easier and going faster each time, though. Just be methodical and detail oriented.
The whiffle was starting to get intuitive, especially regarding the switching between the parts and the parts design workbenches, plus I'm remembering to set incremental controls each time and the axes and directions are more fluid for me, Thank-you Descartes. Thank-you algebra.
Now I'm doing the whiffle from memory and scratch.
This is weird- now I'm running into issues with how my inner cube is sitting when I enlarge it. Interesting. Starting over. I should have been named Pauli.
It froze up when I was adjusting the placement of the third cylinder, so I deleted that cylinder and went from there, no issues.
28 May 2018
Not sure what I did differently today, but each of my axes centered when I worked on the Turner's Cube from this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmrfB47xrFE&index=2&list=PL6fZ68Cq3L8k0JhxnIVjZQN26cn9idJrj, so now it is done. I ran into other issues, mainly from leaving out steps going through do-overs, but at this point the face/sketch/close-open/add pocket, etc. seems to be flowing smoothly and the Turner's Cube is complete. On to the next tutorial. That was about 2 hours. I can definitely do the Turner's Cube from scratch with no direction at this point.
I'm like the slow wheel of the Athenian state on this, except I won't grind over Socrates. It took a minute, but it is definitely hard set. It's nice to get things ingrained so I don't have to go back over instructions each time.
- I need to remind myself to look at the other logs and try to figure out how to track my hours automagically.
Something I figured out this morning was that I was forgetting to highlight faces before hitting the sketch button. Also had something to do with the pocket- I wasn't selecting the face.
Now on to the Whiffle Ball tutorial. This will hopefully go more quickly and smoothly. I really want to get this learned and the test done so that I can focus on the economics of Open Source. This meshes so perfectly with my goals. Again, thank-you Lex.
I'd also like more time to look at other logs.
Another hour plus into the next tutorial, a Whiffle Ball, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmrfB47xrFE&list=PL6fZ68Cq3L8k0JhxnIVjZQN26cn9idJrj&index=2, it occurs to me that if I save the project incrementally I won't have to start over from the beginning when I misstep. Derp. Headed to the gym and will start over, with regular project saving, when I get back.
Another hour plus in- This is actually fun and the missteps are no longer aggravating nor scary. I find the instructor for the tutorial has a very reassuring voice and manner, and moves at a slow enough pace to follow. I'm still stopping, rewinding (Is that still a word?), starting bits over. Lots of undo in the edit. And now I have martial arts lessons to go to. I'll have to work on the 3D3 BOM on the bus and during breaks at work. I can't see packing my laptop (It's a brick) and my Chromebook to work for the possibility of getting in a half-hour on FreeCAD.
Samsung runs on Linux. Shouldn't I be able to FreeCAD on my Sammy?
27 May 2018
Going through this FreeCAD tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HEvhclR4-o&list=PL6fZ68Cq3L8k0JhxnIVjZQN26cn9idJrj&index=1
It's working out well. I'm going a ways then stopping and redoing from memory. Ran into things like forgetting to create the pad before attempting to make a pocket. Also learned that if I put a circle in the square without closing then reopening the sketch it makes a hole through it.
I finally stalled out after getting the three pockets made then attempting to start on a new face, but the intersection for the axes was on the edge and not the center of the face of the cube.
I was in it a little over 2 hours today. Closed out and I'll start from the beginning tomorrow. I'm thinking the problem was a setting earlier on maybe. Idk. But I'm sure I'll figure it out or find someone to explain it to me if I don't.
On the plus side, I got the train tickets to Eugene and back and am making arrangements to stay at Campbell Club, a housing co-op adjacent to campus. Definitely looking forward to the workshop and happy to have some time to work on this FreeCAD for a couple more days.
26 May 2018
Relistening about kit.com from last dev meeting, working BOM.
Already on the first item-
m6x18 zinc plated socket screw
The only availability is in quantities of 400.
Hmmmm.
25 May 2018
Started updating BOM to Amazon sourced last night.
Maybe the kit site will have a workaround, but it occurred to me that sometimes suppliers are out. Not sure how this will affect the kit order- IE, do they send minus what's not yet available or do they hold the entire kit or do they sub?
We need a source on Amazon to 3D print parts on demand. *laughythingy*
23 May 2018
11P/Moving meeting notes around. Still not sure how to move the old meetings to archive. I'll see if can't figure that out in the next hour.
So... I don't understand why the current meeting embed on the log page is formatted like the edit page and not like a slide show. Diving in to figure that out.
Hopefully.
Yay... So there was a stray bit of "edit?usp=sharing" in the first bit where it was coding to embed. It made the embed format like the slide page layout instead of like the first slide. It's fixed now. Woot woot.
Thank-you Lex for your amazing instructions on how to do the notes pages.
I'm not sure what all to skin from the previous meeting when I'm setting up the current meeting.
And with about a half hour in tonight I'm going to bed/up for work 4:30A. Should have time for the BOM tomorrow afternoon.
Oh- I forgot to mention that Ruslan's words of encouragement regarding the FreeCAD, that it is not intuitive and that the best thing is to find a good tutorial and follow along, really helped. Thank-you Ruslan.
Putting on workshops sounds like heaven.
22 May 2018
Working too much. First chance I've had to really sit down with the FreeCAD again. Part of my trepidation is that the devs on the project seem to be using other CAD softwares then transferring to FreeCAD, which makes me think there's a sharp learning curve. Also, the comments that it's like a beta.
OTH, the flexibility and the open-source are important.
NOW it finally sinks in that the fact that I haven't done any development is actually helpful because there are Very Fresh eyes on the situation.
I'm very frustrated that so many things have come up the past few weeks and I've had unexpected encroachments on my time.
So this morning before the meeting I am going through FreeCAD tutorials on YouTube. What I ran into last week was the following-
I found the parts library and I (thought I had) downloaded it. I couldn't figure out how to import the part to the FreeCAD. Then I noticed that the parts have a FreeCAD version, so I opened that. When I tried to add the x-y axis to the part 4 huge tubes appeared intersecting at the axis.
It seems I remember this happening when Marcin did something on FreeCAD in the last meeting? But he was starting at a point well beyond where I'm at. At this point I'm just trying to get the part where I can work with it.
I'm starting here today:
https://youtu.be/_HEvhclR4-o (Copied "embed" link from YouTube. Did not magically embed. NOT getting sidetracked.)
The "file edit view tools macro windows help" prompt line is not in the same place on my version as in the vid, which had me stymied for several minutes. I even closed and reloaded the FreeCAD, as it was already up when I had started the vid.
I accidentally discovered that the "file edit view tools macro windows help" prompt line appears when I move the cursor above what appears to be the window in which the FreeCAD program is contained. (Newbie issues, right?)
10 minutes into vid- talking about scroll wheel properties. When I press and hold my scroll wheel I do not get the rotational properties, but strictly movement on the plane with no rotation. I had noticed earlier in the vid that I was not set on the same navigation style, so I am backtracking and resetting to see if that makes a difference. AND it does. So if I want to be able to rotate my object with the scroll button on the mouse I need to be in blender navigation not CAD navigation. To adjust navigation I need to go to preferences, under edit, and click on the the view icon. Then my navigation options will appear.
3 hours roughly. Feeling much much better about it. When I have devices set up side by side so that I can follow along with the video actually doing what the instructor is doing as he is doing it, things go much more smoothly and the processes make sense- like when I'd made a note that my navigation choice was different than the instructor's. I am almost over my fear of changing settings.
I am not sure how to log time spent?
Perusing OSE Wiki.
1 hour/OSE dev meeting.
3P looking at How to build a proper BOM.
18 May 2018
Called a plumber suggested by a friend- said the question was too big, to call a plumbing supply. I'm not sure the plumbing supply co's possible motivation/didn't call/ "Hey, tell me what you sell most of so we can put you out of business"? Found the local plumbers' union and sent them an email requesting the info.
15 May 2018
Correspondence with Ruslan re: finding standard pipe fittings dimensions.
http://epubs.iapmo.org/2018/UPC/mobile/index.html The Uniform Plumbing Code/ US/ 2018 may be helpful to someone.
(Log to date has been analog/paper copy. Will insert later.)
Reading dev logs, adapting to the process, reframing understanding.
I just realized that other people are having the same questions. NOW I'm having some fun.
~ 6:30 am to 10:30 am, research and perusing logs. noon to 2 pm/ meeting notes. So six hours.
16 May 2018
About 1:30 to 2 am moved notes from meeting around ("archived").
2 May 2018
Keeping in mind that I am not coming from a developer background, please...
So I was SO excited about "downloading" the Linux software to my USB... But it tuns out it needs to be burned to the USB.
So I won't include all the excited feelings I had in my written journal.
Because 5 May 2018
12:30P I'm looking at the Linux on the thumb drive. Since I am not familiar with Linux and still a bit of a Luddite, at least in ability, I am reading a good amount about this on the Wiki pp. So far every question has been answered by reading and rereading the generally excellent instructions.
See how I still think I did part 3?
Ish.
I'd thought, following the prompts on the Linux download page, that I had downloaded the OSELinux to my google drive, then burned it to the thumb drive. But I'm not finding it in my google drive. It had downloaded to my Windows.
"Plug in USB, reboot into BIOS, and then select USB as the boot device."
THIS is where I discover I did not burn the OSELinux to my USB.
IT MAY BE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS AND I MAY HAVE MISSED IT.
My son sent me this link: https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows?_ga=2.252848266.2041634624.1525554540-2068399448.1525554540#
I followed the instructions here and got the OSELinux burned to my thumb drive.
1 May 2018
Started 8A filling out application.
8:38A, have a vid recorder on Chromebook ready to go.
9:30A, have vid uploaded, cover letter submitted.
1 hour 20 minutes.
Downloading the Linux-
(27 June, edited to add: See right here? I still say that sometimes by mistake. I'm killing me- NOT download. BURN or INSTALL.)
11:30, requested Wiki account. Michael upgraded the recaptcha. Hadn't been working, hadn't allowed me to submit an account request. Welcome to my Pauli effect.
- -)
Noon first dev meeting I was able to attend in full. Followed Lex's instructions, and when I had questions I went back over the instructions and found my answers. Lex taught me well.