Rob Forney

Marcin,

I just read your Biographical section in the handbook. I think I have been looking for people like you all my life. I just retired from US Army after 21 years. I was a UH-60 Blackhawk test pilot. In my free time, over my career, I let my true passion blossom a bit. I blue printed an 8000 lb cnc router, had frame made in taiwan, and used mach3 to run it. I also own large manual milling machine, a decent sized lathe, and a laser engraver. I am about to design/build a large 3d printer, but I want to add reinforcing fiber (cotton, fiberglass, or carbon fiber yarns). Markforged sells this machine for 13,500, but lacks vision in what 3d printing can accomplish for humanity. User is not provided with manual settings for experimentation, and must use proprietary materials at all times. Problem is, the future requires acetal (delrin) gears, reinforced with carbon fibers, to make industrial agricultural pumps (10hp). Delrin/acetal is a dream to machine, it is tough, and has wonderful elastic memory. Because of this dilemma, and the 4k worth of linear bearings and rail I have from my CNC Service Tech job, I am going to design and build just that. I will review your plans for structural guidance before I commit to a design. I am also working on an arduino project, you may be interested in. Arduino's, solenoids, push-to-connect fittings and tube, and misting nozzles can obviously and cheaply automate a large garden for less than $150. But I want to do something else... I want to leverage the adiabatic cooling process (like sweating) to air condition the outside/roof of a building, using super short burst of fine mist (fog, using $1 fogging unit) onto building surface, apply time delay based on ambient temp/relative humidity to fully exploit this cooling phenomenon. With arduino and careful design, we can apply very tight process control for very little cost. I am talking about using about 2 gallons/day to cool a 1600 sq-ft metal building. This seems more sustainable, and the possibilities of running it on a 24v battery and solar cells is a real possibility. I am working on "air conditioning" a grove of trees on my property, so my dogs and I can enjoy 80 degrees in the shade of central texas, without a drop if water ever bothering us.

Also, your path is amazing. I read some excerpts from the Ponerology book, and found it to be a mind-bending read, in the best way. If you can think of a way to use my resources toward your end, i would love nothing more than to dedicate vast quantities of my free time toward that end. I, too, find it har to understand that with all of this technology at our fingertips, we kill each other over scraps, and leave nations in poverty, the slowest form of violence.

Cheers, Rob Forney 254-458-0985