tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94305952024-03-08T09:54:07.099-08:00Engunneer's PerspectiveBranden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-79446218378084581402014-05-30T10:03:00.000-07:002014-05-30T10:04:33.052-07:00Re: Your new discussion list mentors@lists.robockets.org<div dir="ltr">FRCteam4761!<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div>Branden Gunn<br><br><a href="mailto:engunneer@gmail.com">engunneer@gmail.com</a><br><a href="mailto:branden.gunn@engunneer.com">branden.gunn@engunneer.com</a><br> </div> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 1:03 PM, DreamHost Mailman Service <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:support@dreamhost.com" target="_blank">support@dreamhost.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> The mailing list `<a href="mailto:mentors@lists.robockets.org">mentors@lists.robockets.org</a>' has been created!<br> Here is some basic information about your mailing list.<br> <br> Your mailing list password is:<br> <br> FRCteam4761!<br> <br> You need this password to configure your mailing list. You also need<br> it to handle administrative requests, such as approving mail if you<br> choose to run a moderated list.<br> <br> You can configure your mailing list at the following web page:<br> <br> <a href="http://lists.robockets.org/admin.cgi/mentors-robockets.org" target="_blank">http://lists.robockets.org/admin.cgi/mentors-robockets.org</a><br> <br> * If this is the first time you've created a list at <a href="http://lists.robockets.org" target="_blank">lists.robockets.org</a>,<br> however, it may take a day or two before DNS propagates for the new<br> sub-domain. The list will not function correctly during that time.<br> <br> <br> The web page for users of your mailing list is:<br> <br> <a href="http://lists.robockets.org/listinfo.cgi/mentors-robockets.org" target="_blank">http://lists.robockets.org/listinfo.cgi/mentors-robockets.org</a><br> <br> List archives can be found at<br> <br> <a href="http://lists.robockets.org/private.cgi/mentors-robockets.org" target="_blank">http://lists.robockets.org/private.cgi/mentors-robockets.org</a><br> <br> You can even customize these web pages from the list configuration<br> page. However, you do need to know HTML to be able to do this.<br> <br> There is also an email-based interface for users (not administrators)<br> of your list; you can get info about using it by sending a message<br> with just the word `help' as subject or in the body, to:<br> <br> <a href="mailto:mentors-request@lists.robockets.org">mentors-request@lists.robockets.org</a><br> <br> To unsubscribe a user: from the mailing list 'listinfo' web page,<br> click on or enter the user's email address as if you were that user.<br> Where that user would put in their password to unsubscribe, put in<br> your admin password. You can also use your password to change<br> member's options, including digestification, delivery disabling, etc.<br> <br> Have fun!<br> <br> Regards,<br> <br> Happy DreamHost Mailman Team<br> </blockquote></div><br></div> Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-19158644854928833512011-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:002011-02-22T21:24:08.413-08:00Died in a knitting accident, revisitedFinally, another reference to dying in a knitting accident - Who's line is it anyway had a do-wop song sketch where everyone but Colin had to sing about Cheryl dying in a tragic knitting accident. <div><br /></div><div>Now I just need to find out if this was a new episode, and perhaps find a youtube clip</div>Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-72949131642839252922009-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:002009-07-13T08:47:09.802-07:00Pano TestThis is one we took on our drive along Route 101 on the Oregon coast. (Low res version)<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,19,0" width="100%" height="50%" title="Hello, Panorama"><br /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><br /> <param name="movie" value="www.engunneer.com/panos/pan0.swf?panoSrc=http://www.engunneer.com/panos/ipod/DSC_1711-DSC_1737_ipod.jpg"><br /> <param name="quality" value="high"><br /> <param name="BGCOLOR" value="#AAAAAA"><br /> <embed src="http://www.engunneer.com/panos/pan0.swf?panoSrc=http://www.engunneer.com/panos/ipod/DSC_1711-DSC_1737_ipod.jpg" allowfullscreen="true" width="100%" height="50%" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"></embed><br /><br /></object>Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-314604761847285452008-08-09T22:54:00.000-07:002008-11-13T20:31:08.860-08:00Electric Bike project part 2In short, It works. I actually meant to post this in August, but forgot.<br /><br />Here's the pre-debug final assembly<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6704.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17077-2/DSC_6704.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The thumb lever is a touch far away, but still comfortable to use.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6705.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17082-2/DSC_6705.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The drive side. We never actually did anything to attach the small pulley to the motor sprocket. It's just a taper press fit. We'll pin it if it has trouble, but it works so far after a few trips.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6706.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17087-2/DSC_6706.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />a view of the fender washer mounting method<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6707.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17092-2/DSC_6707.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Brian taking it out for a spin. He had some trouble, and we ended up moving the motor assembly closer to the seat to gain a small amount of tension in the chain.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6719.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17152-2/DSC_6719.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The new motor position.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6720.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17157-2/DSC_6720.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I don't think ther've been many problems since the last adjustment<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6721.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17162-2/DSC_6721.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It was alot of fun to tool around.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6728.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/17182-2/DSC_6728.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All in all, a good finished project. Good thing too, since I promised to buy it if it didn't work.<br /><br />If I were to do this again, I might get a bigger battery pack, though range doesn't seem to be a problem. Also, Try not to have bolt heads intersecting with the chain. It doesn't work that way.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-20474053890491129142008-08-09T22:09:00.000-07:002008-08-09T23:07:13.533-07:00Electric Bike project part 1Brian and I decided to build him an electric bike conversion so he can ride his bike to work. The problem with the ride normally is a gigantic hill on the way home. Our goal was to boost him up the hills, while still allowing him to bike normally (except with a heavy bike).<br /><br />We based the design off of <a href="http://www.peltzer.net/ebike/">Eric Peltzer's Electric Bicycle</a>. We modified the design to take into account a few major differences. We didn't want to weld anything, we wanted it to be cheaper, and we have access to a waterjet cutter.<br /><br />Brian purchased a XYD-13 motor kit, which is a 600W motor that normally goes on a Currie Electric scooter. It came with a speed controller, and we had an option for a twist grip, or a thumb control. We also ordered a shaft, bearings, etc from McMaster Carr, and a small set of 10Ah batteries and charger. If he doesn't get enough range on the bike, the plan is to upgrade the batteries.<br /><br />The motor came with an excellent one-way clutch built into the sprocket. We decided to keep this, which allows the motor pulley to freewheel while the bike is being pedaled.<br /><br />Last weekend, after we had waterjet out the motor assembly frame, we spent a few hours assembling:<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/">Full Gallery Link</a><br />The motor assembly<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6591.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/16552-2/DSC_6591.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Preparing the output scprocket<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6592.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/16557-2/DSC_6592.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Mounting the output sprocket<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6593.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/16562-2/DSC_6593.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The fruits of the days efforts<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Waterjet/ebike/DSC_6597.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/16582-2/DSC_6597.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Remaining items:<br /><ul><li>modify and mount the smaller pulley</li><li>get shorter bolts for the output sprocket</li><li>find and mount the bike rack to hold everything up</li><li>install the batteries, controller, and thumb control</li></ul>Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-24473520478094151092008-07-10T20:42:00.000-07:002008-07-10T20:48:32.071-07:00tgimboejor, <a href="http://tgimboej.org/">the Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk</a>. I've signed up in the box request section because you never know what you can find.<br /><br />Things I may be able to add to boxes (pictures and more updates to come later):<br />Blank Circuit Boards (up to 15" on a side)<br />ICs of all flavors<br />Character LCDs<br />Old graphic LCDs (10+ inch)<br />Ubicom (Scenix, Parallax) SX chips<br /><br /><br /><br />I probably have enough to start my own box.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-57514203795947368172008-06-27T22:07:00.000-07:002008-06-27T22:15:39.462-07:00Geohashing FAILSo, I've been wanting to do a <a href="http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Main_Page">Geohash </a>for a while now. Particularly a Saturday 4:00 meetup. So where is the meetup this Sat? only 0.5 miles from my house! Yay!<br /><br /><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=47.6581109588,-122.365634177&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&z=14&iwloc=addr&ll=47.665156,-122.361431&output=embed&s=AARTsJqOfSHImCYbPoTQvJ7Kessh8IdIsw" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" width="425"></iframe><br /><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=47.6581109588,-122.365634177&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&z=14&iwloc=addr&ll=47.665156,-122.361431&source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a><br /></small>However, I FAIL because I'm going to be in Renton by 3:00. I should find some way to leave a note or something.<br />ARG.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-11441916721169809472008-03-28T15:45:00.000-07:002008-03-28T15:51:23.031-07:00Seattle RegionalWe had a great time at the Microsoft Seattle Regional. We placed 2nd out of 31, and we made it to the semi-finals. We had quite a few excellent matches, and I was very happy to have my friend Mike Bastoni in town to see it. I'll write more about it later, but I wanted to share this banner made by the database of TheBlueAlliance.net, which looks like a great resource for watching match videos of the events.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/team.php?team=1318" style="border: 0pt none ;"><img src="http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/teambadge/gen/1318/660099/FFCC33/teambadge.png" alt="Team 1318" /></a><br /><br />No video yet from the seattle event, but they are posting videos from all the events that have webcasts, and are actually only a few matches behind at any given moment. Be sure the check out the events live on webcast where possible. The Boston regional has some very strong teams at the top of the list, and a few matches in Hawaii today made it clear that there were a number of teams that had won previous regionals present.<br /><br />Worlds are going to be exciting.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-55668264634409365532008-03-06T21:39:00.001-08:002008-03-06T21:39:31.656-08:00Gas Receipts <div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>I had a <i>really </i>bad habit of just keeping the gas receipts in the cupholder in our car. I finally brought them in and started recreating my old calculation spreadsheet. I even collected all the proper data on each receipt. Amazingly, I was only missing 3 receipts over the past year, and only one was damaged.<br/><br/><a href='http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pojlfbkPkc2AKPZjVAPbOBg'>Google Spreadsheet</a><br/><br/><br/>Yes, I had an entire year's worth of receipts in the cupholder. It was beginning to be difficult to shove more in.<br/><br/>Now I just need to find my old spreadsheet to recreate the first year or so of data. I think <br/>I am missing all the data in between, though.<br/><br/>Verdict:<br/>I am still averaging 47mpg in my 2005 Prius.<br/></div>Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-91993341786417325922008-02-26T21:12:00.000-08:002008-02-26T22:42:51.744-08:00FIRST RoboticsThis weekend is the Portland Regional for the 2008 FIRST competition. Every year, the FIRST Game Design Committee (GDC) designs a new game for the competition. Starting when the game is announced (First Sat in Jan, usually), teams of high school students have 6.5 weeks to design, build, and ship a robot that can compete. The aim of this whole thing is to introduce students to the wonders of Engineering, and all the associated fiddly bits like accounting, planning, organization, purchasing, CAD, finance, etc. Basically, they get to be an engineering company for 6 weeks. Good teams will do all the backend planning and finance (read: fundraising) before the 6 week "build season" starts. To help get them through this (somewhat difficult) task, teams are encouraged to build relationships with real engineering or technical companies. They are also encouraged to partner with their suppliers for help, discounts, machining, etc. This is where I come in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/12027-2/DSC01227.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/12027-2/DSC01227.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>I am working once again with the <a href="http://www.issaquahrobotics.org/">Issaquah</a><a href="http://www.issaquahrobotics.org/"> Robotics Societ</a><a href="http://www.issaquahrobotics.org/">y</a> on the 2008 robot. In 2006, I was asked to cut a few parts for the team since I work at a waterjet manufacturer. Team 1318 had 4 waterjet parts on the robot that year. In 2007, we had over 40 waterjet parts, and we were able to cut many of them during a tour. The students had a great time visiting the plant, and the demonstration lab let us use the machine to cut a series of parts that were ready to mount directly on the robot. You can see many of the parts in <a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/Robotics/FIRST/2007/">my gallery</a> (We are the robot with purple bumpers around the outside). Most of the waterjet parts were brackets, though the notable exceptions are all visible in this picture. All of the claw parts, the 1318 logo bracket at the apex of the arm, and the main arm drive sprocket are waterjet. Not visible are the custom shaft adapters and motor mounts in the shoulder mechanism.<br />At the Portland regional in 2007, we made it all the way to Semifinals without breaking a single thing once the competition started. we did have to tighten two set screws at some point. This inadvertently won us a "Cleanest Pit" award from a fellow team, since we never actually had to get tools out.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yViRWaSODIc&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yViRWaSODIc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://issaquahrobotics.org/assets/galleries/Photons/_resampled/PaddedResize500500-2-18-08-robot-at-Aviation-HS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://issaquahrobotics.org/assets/galleries/Photons/_resampled/PaddedResize500500-2-18-08-robot-at-Aviation-HS.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This year, we have a pretty revolutionary robot, I think. The 2008 competition (video above) has a few classes of robot that can compete; hurdler, herder, and what we call "rabbit". We are not expecting many rabbit class robots. A random survey of robots on youtube seems to agree. Our robot (with a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmu5sRIizdw">Monty Python killer rabbit</a> on top) is shown to the right. The entire chassis is one single waterjet plate, with all other things bolted to it. Th rabbit has over 60 waterjet parts, and most of them are <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> brackets, like last year. There are two of everything; custom sprockets, custom timing pulleys, motor mounting plates, copper slip rings, and a bunch of parts that I can give you our name for, but that won't mean anything (bridge plates, brush retainers, the sandwich (8 parts for each copy)).<br />I<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://issaquahrobotics.org/assets/galleries/Photons/_resampled/PaddedResize500500-2-16-08-Fernandez-and-robot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://issaquahrobotics.org/assets/galleries/Photons/_resampled/PaddedResize500500-2-16-08-Fernandez-and-robot.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>n this second view, you can see more of the wheel modules. Each wheel module has two wheels (basically just a wide wheel) and a 6:1 ratio belt/pulley combo attached to a 3500RPM (under load) torque-y motor. each wheel module is rotated by a smaller motor, and can rotate continuously 360 degrees. this allows us to translate sideways, pirouette, drive forward, or any combination of the three.<br /><br />I honestly can go on for hours about our robot and all the waterjet parts. (Reference this <a href="http://freewheel.autodesk.com/use.aspx?path=ADSKFW%3a%2f%2f8a%5c6c%5c6a%5ce1%5c97%5c98%5c08%5c38%5c19%5ca8%5c95%5c4f%5c8f%5c75%5c79%5c23%5cd1%5c7d%5c23%5c4e%5cRobot2.08.08.dwf">CAD model</a> for a better view). But the <span style="font-style: italic;">reason</span> I am so passionate about the FIRST robotics competition is actually really simple to explain. I graduated from high school after spending four (three technically) years on a FIRST team, went directly to engineering school, got a degree in Electromechanical Engineering, and got a decent engineering job pretty much directly out of college. (Not to mention the 2+ years I worked at iRobot while in college). The program really prepares students for the real world. FIRST isn't a perfect program, but the constraints it puts on a project are very realistic. We are just starting a new project at work that will be done in three months. It will be very fast paced, and many people have to work together to make it happen, while still managing everything else the normally do. This is exactly what I've been trained for, and this is exactly what I'm trying to impart to the students I work with. Even the equipment we make at work (the X-Y machine portion) is very similar to the robots they build. There is a central controller, some small motor controllers (amplifiers to the machining world), a few different types of motors and solenoids. Last year we had pneumatics, which our machines have. Many of the motors on the robots are even controlled with PID control algorithms, just like the equipment we make. A number of the students have learned embedded C, and all of our code is student written and maintained. All of our parts are designed first in CAD, prints are made and handed to other students to fabricate. Tolerances are discussed, changes are propagated back to the models, and the robot is assembled in a fairly controlled manner. If you didn't read the first part, then you may even think I am talking about a real engineering company.<br /><br />The students in this program will graduate college and move on to deal with some of the problems facing the world today. These students will design wind turbine, more efficient cars, new space capsules, and all kinds of things I can't even think of.<br /><br />That is the reason I support FIRST.<br /><br />NASA kindly hosts the competition live as a webcast. Check <a href="http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/2008_frcwebcasts.php#webcasts">this link</a> on any Friday or Saturday in the next month or so to see live robot action.<br /><br />You should also find and visit your local regional this year.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-32567489344113666532008-02-14T21:18:00.000-08:002008-02-14T21:41:09.998-08:00died in a blogging accidentor, what browsers do <a href="http://www.xkcd.com/">xkcd </a>readers use?<br /><br /><br />93% of my blog traffic comes from search engines. 89% of my search engine traffic comes from variations on "died in a knitting accident". It is safe to say that 100% of people who search for that either read xkcd, or are knitters who had someone force xkcd on them. I happen to have the browser data of the subset of people who read xkcd and needed to search to see what came up.<br /><br />Without further ado, the results:<br /><table id="f_table_graph" class="records pie_view"><tbody><tr class="rank_1 highlight"><td class="count">1.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox / Windows"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(0); return false;">Firefox / Windows</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_0">47.92%</td> <td id="f_graph_pie" class="pie_graph" rowspan="10"><div id="Table_pie_vis"><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-05555360691908398 visible ontop" href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf"></a><embed src="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf" salign="tl" scale="noScale" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="input=%7B%22Pie%22%3A%7B%22Compare%22%3Afalse%2C%22Id%22%3A%22Table_PieChart%22%2C%22Format%22%3A%22TABLE%22%2C%22PercentValues%22%3A%5B%5B%220.4792332351207733%22%2C%2247.92%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.23961661756038666%22%2C%2223.96%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.09265175461769104%22%2C%229.27%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.08626198023557663%22%2C%228.63%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.0638977661728859%22%2C%226.39%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.01916932873427868%22%2C%221.92%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.00958466436713934%22%2C%220.96%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.00319488812237978%22%2C%220.32%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.00319488812237978%22%2C%220.32%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.00319488812237978%22%2C%220.32%25%22%5D%5D%7D%7D" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" height="255" width="100%"></embed></div></td> </tr> <tr class="rank_2"> <td class="count">2.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Internet Explorer / Windows"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(1); return false;">Internet Explorer / Windows</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_1">23.96%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_3 highlight"> <td class="count">3.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox / Macintosh"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(2); return false;">Firefox / Macintosh</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_2">9.27%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_4"> <td class="count">4.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox / Linux"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(3); return false;">Firefox / Linux</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_3">8.63%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_5 highlight"> <td class="count">5.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Safari / Macintosh"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(4); return false;">Safari / Macintosh</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_4">6.39%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_6"> <td class="count">6.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Opera / Windows"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(5); return false;">Opera / Windows</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_5">1.92%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_7 highlight"> <td class="count">7.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Mozilla / Linux"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(6); return false;">Mozilla / Linux</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_6">0.96%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_8"> <td class="count">8.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox / (not set)"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(7); return false;">Firefox / (not set)</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_7">0.32%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_9 highlight"> <td class="count">9.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox / SunOS"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(8); return false;">Firefox / SunOS</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_8">0.32%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_10"> <td class="count">10.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Mozilla / Windows"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/os_browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(9); return false;">Mozilla / Windows</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_9">0.32%</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I am <span style="font-weight: bold;">thrilled</span> that some nut visited using SunOS. Keep it up.<br />If you look at browser only:<br /><table id="f_table_graph" class="records pie_view"><tbody><tr class="rank_1 highlight"><td class="count">1.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(0); return false;">Firefox</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_0">66.45%</td> <td id="f_graph_pie" class="pie_graph" rowspan="5"><div id="Table_pie_vis"><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-05555360691908398 visible ontop" href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf"></a><embed src="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf" salign="tl" scale="noScale" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="input=%7B%22Pie%22%3A%7B%22Compare%22%3Afalse%2C%22Id%22%3A%22Table_PieChart%22%2C%22Format%22%3A%22TABLE%22%2C%22PercentValues%22%3A%5B%5B%220.664536714553833%22%2C%2266.45%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.23961661756038666%22%2C%2223.96%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.0638977661728859%22%2C%226.39%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.01916932873427868%22%2C%221.92%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.01277955248951912%22%2C%221.28%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220%22%2C%220%25%22%5D%5D%7D%7D" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" height="255" width="100%"></embed></div></td> </tr> <tr class="rank_2"> <td class="count">2.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Internet Explorer"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(1); return false;">Internet Explorer</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_1">23.96%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_3 highlight"> <td class="count">3.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Safari"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(2); return false;">Safari</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_2">6.39%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_4"> <td class="count">4.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Opera"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(3); return false;">Opera</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_3">1.92%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_5 highlight"> <td class="count">5.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Mozilla"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(4); return false;">Mozilla</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_4">1.28%</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Compare with my wife's knitting blog:<br /><table id="f_table_graph" class="records pie_view"><tbody><tr class="rank_1 highlight"><td class="count">1.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Internet Explorer"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062736&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(0); return false;">Internet Explorer</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_0">58.46%</td> <td id="f_graph_pie" class="pie_graph" rowspan="4"><div id="Table_pie_vis"><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-05555360691908398 visible ontop" href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf"></a><embed src="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf" salign="tl" scale="noScale" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="input=%7B%22Pie%22%3A%7B%22Compare%22%3Afalse%2C%22Id%22%3A%22Table_PieChart%22%2C%22Format%22%3A%22TABLE%22%2C%22PercentValues%22%3A%5B%5B%220.5846154093742371%22%2C%2258.46%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.3692307770252228%22%2C%2236.92%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.03846153989434242%22%2C%223.85%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.007692307699471712%22%2C%220.77%25%22%5D%5D%7D%7D" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" height="255" width="100%"></embed></div></td> </tr> <tr class="rank_2"> <td class="count">2.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Firefox"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062736&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(1); return false;">Firefox</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_1">36.92%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_3 highlight"> <td class="count">3.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Safari"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062736&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(2); return false;">Safari</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_2">3.85%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_4"> <td class="count">4.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="Mozilla"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/browsers?id=6062736&pdr=20080114-20080213&cmp=average&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(3); return false;">Mozilla</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_3">0.77%</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />I'd also like to hear from the visitor who has a 3840 x 1200 desktop, though it may actually be my coworker with three screens at work.<br /><table id="f_table_graph" class="records pie_view"><tbody><tr class="rank_1 highlight"><td class="count">1.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1024x768"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(0); return false;">1024x768</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_0">29.07%</td> <td id="f_graph_pie" class="pie_graph" rowspan="17"><div id="Table_pie_vis"><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-05555360691908398 visible ontop" href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf"></a><embed src="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf" salign="tl" scale="noScale" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="input=%7B%22Pie%22%3A%7B%22Compare%22%3Afalse%2C%22Id%22%3A%22Table_PieChart%22%2C%22Format%22%3A%22TABLE%22%2C%22PercentValues%22%3A%5B%5B%220.29073482751846313%22%2C%2229.07%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.21405750513076782%22%2C%2221.41%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.14376996457576752%22%2C%2214.38%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.08626198023557663%22%2C%228.63%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.08306708931922913%22%2C%228.31%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.04792332276701927%22%2C%224.79%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.03514377027750015%22%2C%223.51%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.03194888308644295%22%2C%223.19%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.015974441543221474%22%2C%221.60%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.01277955248951912%22%2C%221.28%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.0383%22%2C%223.83%25%22%5D%5D%7D%7D" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" height="255" width="100%"></embed></div></td> </tr> <tr class="rank_2"> <td class="count">2.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1280x1024"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(1); return false;">1280x1024</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_1">21.41%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_3 highlight"> <td class="count">3.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1280x800"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(2); return false;">1280x800</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_2">14.38%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_4"> <td class="count">4.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1440x900"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(3); return false;">1440x900</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_3">8.63%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_5 highlight"> <td class="count">5.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1680x1050"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(4); return false;">1680x1050</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_4">8.31%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_6"> <td class="count">6.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1920x1200"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(5); return false;">1920x1200</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_5">4.79%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_7 highlight"> <td class="count">7.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1280x768"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(6); return false;">1280x768</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_6">3.51%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_8"> <td class="count">8.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1600x1200"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(7); return false;">1600x1200</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_7">3.19%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_9 highlight"> <td class="count">9.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1400x1050"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(8); return false;">1400x1050</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_8">1.60%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_10"> <td class="count">10.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1152x864"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(9); return false;">1152x864</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_9">1.28%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11 highlight"> <td class="count">11.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="800x600"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(10); return false;">800x600</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_10">0.96%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11"> <td class="count">12.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1024x1280"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(11); return false;">1024x1280</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_11">0.64%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11 highlight"> <td class="count">13.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1280x960"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(12); return false;">1280x960</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_12">0.64%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11"> <td class="count">14.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="2560x1024"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(13); return false;">2560x1024</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_13">0.64%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11 highlight"> <td class="count">15.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1280x854"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(14); return false;">1280x854</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_14">0.32%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11"> <td class="count">16.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="1440x960"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(15); return false;">1440x960</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_15">0.32%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_11 highlight"> <td class="count">17.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="3840x1200"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/resolutions?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(16); return false;">3840x1200</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_16">0.32%</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Some people may need to be notified that computers do 32 bit color now....<br /><table id="f_table_graph" class="records pie_view"><tbody><tr class="rank_1 highlight"><td class="count">1.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="32-bit"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/colors?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(0); return false;">32-bit</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_0">79.87%</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td id="f_graph_pie" class="pie_graph" rowspan="3"><div id="Table_pie_vis"><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-05555360691908398 visible ontop" href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf"></a><embed src="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/flash/pie.swf" salign="tl" scale="noScale" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="input=%7B%22Pie%22%3A%7B%22Compare%22%3Afalse%2C%22Id%22%3A%22Table_PieChart%22%2C%22Format%22%3A%22TABLE%22%2C%22PercentValues%22%3A%5B%5B%220.7987220287322998%22%2C%2279.87%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.15015974640846252%22%2C%2215.02%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220.05111820995807648%22%2C%225.11%25%22%5D%2C%5B%220%22%2C%220%25%22%5D%5D%7D%7D" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" height="255" width="100%"></embed></div></td> </tr> <tr class="rank_2"> <td class="count">2.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="24-bit"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/colors?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(1); return false;">24-bit</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_1">15.02%</td> </tr> <tr class="rank_3 highlight"> <td class="count">3.</td> <td class="text"><div class="text_wrapper" title="16-bit"><div class="text_wrapper"><a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/colors?id=6062320&pdr=20080107-20080214&cmp=average&trows=50&view=1" onclick="table._drillDown(2); return false;">16-bit</a></div></div></td> <td id="f_pie_pct_2">5.11%</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Conclusion: Google knows too much about you.<br /><br />Corollary: I spend too much time looking at hit graphsBranden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-49950744778513545092008-02-07T22:52:00.000-08:002008-02-07T22:55:14.355-08:00LukeMy original engineering dream was to make robotic prosthetics. I still want to do this someday. Recently, Dean Kamen announced an Awesome robotic arm, called <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/feb08/5957">Luke</a>.<br /><br />Watch the <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=221">video</a>!Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-24147125123703644562008-02-07T22:30:00.000-08:002008-02-07T22:52:09.782-08:00Finished_Projects--;The microscale may be dead. I think the bearing is sticking (for the second time). There can only be one solution to a mechanical problem... software! I tried to work around it in some interesting ways.<br /><ul><li>Adjust the indicator flag to be more like the original article</li><li>Adjust the flag most of the way to normal</li><li>Attempt to calculate the mass as a function of both the current force and the current error</li><li>Adjust the gain so that it moves faster</li><li>Adjust the gain so it moves more slowly</li><li>Adjust the gain so it moves WAY more slowly</li><li>Put the gain back where it was</li><li>Add 2 to the gain instead of 1</li><li>Undo</li><li>Stop averaging the last two error readings</li><li>Undo</li><li>On Even seconds, reduce the force by 5mg to break the friction<br /></li><li>10mg?</li><li>15mg?</li><li>Undo back to 10mg</li><li>When seconds MOD 4 == 0, reduce the force, ==1 and ==2 go back to the regular force, ==3 actually try to balance</li><li>Same, but with MOD 5</li><li>Same, but break the 5 second cycle into 1,2,2 instead of 1,3,1 (Fake, recover, balance)</li><li>reduce the force by 20mg</li></ul>So, after all that (half of which is in the SVN), It is repeatable to within +/- 0.3 mg (when it stabilizes), or it will flail around wildly +/- 70mg. The only difference between the two states is <span style="font-style: italic;">when</span> you put the sample on the scale.<br /><br />Possible "improvements"/Next Steps(that don't involve the 2kW heaters from the last UW project, just to see if they <span style="font-style: italic;">still</span> can melt aluminum in 10 minutes)<br /><ul><li>replace the galvanometer</li><li>add springs to support the flag (stabilize)</li><li>make the moving parts lighter (reduces accuracy - HA!)</li><li>Realize that Erica can manually take the data faster than I can fix the scale</li><li>Offer to set up webcam and OCR the regular scale into data</li><li>Offer to write AHK script that will show pictures from the Nikon of the regular scale, so data entry is faster</li></ul>Sigh...<br /><br />(for those keeping track, Finished_Projects is now back to nil,m not counting FIRST)Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-32455407486738351342008-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:002008-02-02T20:24:54.326-08:00ReprapI've been working for a little while with a couple other folks on a <a href="http://www.reprap.org/bin/view/Main/RepRap">reprap</a>. One thing we didn't like about the basic (Darwin) reprap is the large number of parts needed to make it (<a href="http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome">example</a>). We started coming up with some ideas, and I was able to design a simple 3-axis gantry system that uses 11 copies of a simple printed block, <span style="font-style: italic;">and that's it.</span> all other parts are non-printable, but simple, like threaded rod and bar stock. In theory, the reprap will have interchangeable heads, allowing extrusion, cutting, and maybe even laser cutting. I even want to make a low pressure waterjet, though the added complexity is not fun.<br /><br />Current status:<br /><ul><li>I think one of the Johns is ordering parts.</li><li>The design needs to be adjusted to use less plastic per block.</li><li>Need to get the uBrain or some other motor controller working.</li><li>Someone needs to look at software to control this thing, but I guess building it comes first.</li></ul><br />Idea: Someone needs to interface a reprap to BugLabs.net hardware.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-13728870949681450362008-01-28T16:30:00.000-08:002008-01-28T16:35:55.364-08:00We shipped your package 10 days ago...DHL needs to unclutter their email server. I ordered some ipod parts from <a href="http://rapidrepair.com/">rapidrepair.com</a>, and have already received and installed them. I was somewhat surprised last week when Erica IM'd me to tell me a package had arrived. I was surprised, since I hadn't received a shipment notification... Until now<br /><br /><div class="gmail_quote"></div><blockquote><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br />From: <b class="gmail_sendername"></b> <<a href="mailto:DHL-Notify@dhl.com">DHL-Notify@dhl.com</a>><br />Date: Jan 28, 2008 4:20 PM<br />Subject: DHL Shipment Notification - Waybill #[redacted]<br />To: <a href="mailto:engunneer@gmail.com">engunneer@gmail.com</a><br /><br /><br /> DHL EXPRESS<br /> SHIPMENT NOTIFICATION<br /><br />The following 1 piece(s) have been sent by Repair Dept. of Rapid Repair via DHL Express on January 18, 2008 using Waybill [redacted].<br /><br />If you wish to track this (these) shipment(s) please contact your local DHL customer service office or visit the DHL Web Site at <a href="http://www.dhl-usa.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dhl-usa.com/</a><br /><br />If you have a Web-enabled mail reader, click or copy the link in the web browser below to view shipment tracking details:<br /><a href="http://track.dhl-usa.com/atrknav.asp?ShipmentNumber=11167735736" target="_blank">http://track.dhl-usa.com/atrknav.asp?ShipmentNumber=[redacted]</a><br />Sent To: Seattle, WA<br /> 98107<br /> United States Of America<br /><br />From: Rapid Repair<br /> Repair Dept.<br /> 1825 W. Main St.<br /> KALAMAZOO, MI<br /> 49006<br /> United States Of America<br /><br />Shipment Date: January 18, 2008<br />Delivery Date*: January 24, 2008<br />Weight: 1.0 LBS<br />Pieces: 1<br />Service: Ground<br />Note: Delivery times may vary, please visit <a href="http://www.dhl-usa.com/" target="_blank">www.dhl-usa.com</a> for details.<br />Reference: [redacted]<br />Contents:<br /> * Based on Shipment Date provided by sender<br /><br /> Thank you for requesting DHL Express<br /> for your delivery needs.<br /></div></blockquote><br />Good job letting me know, DHL. At least the package arrived quickly in perfect shape.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-49316211110880437122008-01-16T19:51:00.000-08:002008-01-16T20:24:18.101-08:00Died in a knititng accident part 2Wow, apparently blogging about this particular xkcd comic is good for your google PageRank. I found another "blog" ( http://utenti.lycos.it/itosunit/2811/died-in-a-knitting-accident-xkcd.html ) that is even backdating posts about dying in various types of accidents. I wonder if these blogs just use <a href="http://www.jwz.org">jwz</a>'s <a href="http://www.jwz.org/dadadodo/">DadaDodo </a>nonsense generator to come up with this stuff. It comes up with things that <span style="font-style: italic;">almost</span> make sense.<br /><br /><br />Other topics:<br />When will I learn that "a few more volts" can actually hurt something... For example, running a 12V scanner on 12VAC (a few years ago), or running a 12V scanner on 16V. Both appear to be bad ideas...Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-34575162369066708602008-01-11T08:54:00.001-08:002008-01-11T08:54:17.649-08:00Died in a Knitting Accidentxkcd is one of my favorite online comics. <a href="http://xkcd.com/369/">Today's comic</a> is highly amusing, but alas, no longer valid. Amusingly, "Died in a knitting accident" seems to be the most checked, as well as the most bogged about. Slightly more amusingly, there is actually a spam-blog posting about dying in a knitting accident. ( <a href="http://ktvbcom.blogspot.com/2008/01/died-in-knitting-accident.html">http://ktvbcom.blogspot.com/2008/01/died-in-knitting-accident.html</a> ). It even posted <i>yesterday.</i><br><br>I hope the knitting community catches on. <i><br></i> Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-57730264472821160912008-01-04T21:03:00.000-08:002008-01-04T21:52:16.119-08:00LibrettoWe've been doing some cleanup at work, and our IT department was throwing out some old laptops (and I mean OLD). I managed to get my hands on a tiny little laptop called the Toshiba Libretto 100CT. I have always had a place in my heart for (old) palmtops. I've always wanted one. This is by far the best find I have had digging in old Tech. Even better than the Tandy 102 I never should have sold.<br /><br />The laptop itself doesn't have many ports. The entire front panel is battery, the left side is blank (HDD and battery). The back has mini headphone and mic jacks (3/32"). The right side showed the most promise, having two cardslots and an IR port. That's it. No floppy, no serial, nothing. USB hadn't even been inventged yet. A bit of research online shows two different docking stations (connection on bottom), and an external floppy that uses a PCMCIA (People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms) card slot. They didn't have any accessories for it, so I took it as is.<br /><br />Anyway, the laptop was worth $2500 when it came out in the late 90s. It's worth about $100 today. The charging plug was similar enough to one I made years ago for an old Gateway Solo P120, and I was able to adapt it to the libretto easily enough. I charged it overnight and then brought it to work. Lo and behold, it booted! on battery! It came up in Window 95 (ick!), and I found out that it belonged to the CEO (2 CEOs ago). He apparently bought it back in the $2500 days. I also found out that the battery was still good for 6-8 hours of minimal use uptime! Not bad for a 9-year old OEM battery. Part of the deal was that I agreed to kill the old hard drive in it.<br /><br />I grabbed some other old hard drives I had, stuck them in various laptops that had CD drives, installed various OSes on them, and then tried them in the Libretto. WinXP was a joke. Win2K booted into a BSOD, and Linux looked like a nightmare based on what I'd read.<br /><br />I bought a floppy drive (same model) on Ebay, so at least I had SOME way to talk to it.<br /><br />Time passed...<br /><br />I asked IT if they found any of the other bits to the mini laptop. They showed me into the closet where they had squirelled away a few other bits of ancient hardware for me. They found the floppy drive, and a docking station that said Toshiba, but was the wrong kind (looked like a 2001/2002 model). Now I have two floppy drives, but they think they through out the docking station, based on my description of it.<br /><br />More time passes...<br /><br />Last week, I decided to give it another go (with FIRST season fast approaching), borrowed my USB floppy drive from work, and started hacking. I managed to hook a new 4.1GB hard drive to my P4 2.8GHz laptop, booted to a 98 floppy, and had to remember how to use fdisk. I managed to get the drive ready, and copy over my old Win98 CD to the drive.<br /><br />Yesterday morning, I booted to the hard drive in the libretto, ran windows setup, and had win98 booting by 8AM. A few hours later, I had the video driver fixed, the floppy going, a network card,n a serial port, firefox, autohotkey, and a few other programs all going.<br /><br />Last night consisted of some fruitless attempts at 802.11 (I had suspected the card was bad before I started), so tonight I blog via a wire, but it's all written on the Libretto!<br /><br />Firefox is slow, so I have to type in notepad for now. Pandora won't run (maybe it will with IE6 or IE5.5), and I can't play youtube videos (skipping). At least I should be able to program AVR and Stamps from it. That (in theory) is the reason I fixed it, so we'll see how it goes.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-87908569892792158562007-12-30T11:37:00.000-08:002007-12-30T16:30:22.560-08:00Build a photo studio - Collapsible Light Diffuser FramesI just published my first instructable, a collapsible light diffuser for photography.<br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/photography/lightdiffuser/DSC_2782.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10878-2/DSC_2782.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/photography/lightdiffuser/DSC_2796.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10945-2/DSC_2796.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Click <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-photo-studio---Collapsible-Light-Diffuser-/">here</a> to go to the Instructable.<br />Click <a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/photography/lightdiffuser/">here</a> to go to the photo gallery page.<br /><br />I'll be posting some photos later that we took using this. We cataloged all of the knitting Erica has completed so far, and we wanted to make this for the photos.<br /><br />Let me know what you think.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-4825607472897727402007-12-09T16:31:00.000-08:002007-12-09T16:38:07.002-08:00ah, mathLook at the great bit of math the computer gave us for total travel time.<br /><br /><blockquote>Flight to Boston<br />Flight: 2 Round-Trip Tickets<br />All flight times are local to each city.<br />______________________________<div id="1etg" class="ArwC7c ckChnd"><wbr><br /> Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, (SEA) to <span class="nfakPe">Boston</span> Logan International Airport, (BOS)<br /><br />Flight: Alaska Airlines Flight 12 (on Boeing 737-800)<br />Depart: 08:45 AM, Seattle/Tacoma, WA (SEA)<br />Arrive: 05:03 PM, <span class="nfakPe">Boston</span>, MA (BOS)<br /><br />Total Travel Time: 8 hrs 18 mins<br />______________________________<wbr>________________________<br /><br /> <span class="nfakPe">Boston</span> Logan International Airport, (BOS) to Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, (SEA)<br /><br />Flight: Alaska Airlines Flight 15 (on Boeing 737-800)<br />Depart: 06:05 PM, <span class="nfakPe">Boston</span>, MA (BOS)<br />Arrive: 09:23 PM, Seattle/Tacoma, WA (SEA)<br /><br />Total Travel Time: 3 hrs 18 mins</div><br /></blockquote><br /><br />So, we're averaging 300 mph on the way there and 750 mph on the way back. (Keep in mind that Mach 1 is 761 mph). Air travel really is amazing these days.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-15112775073177562492007-12-09T16:06:00.001-08:002007-12-09T16:40:27.993-08:00Stupid, or just Crazy?I've been thinking more an=bout my PID motor controllers based on the ATtiny13, and have determined that I must be crazy. I did some googling, and everyone else that is making a motor controller using an AVR is <a href="http://hubbard.engr.scu.edu/embedded/motorcontrol/motorctrl-avr/">using something like an ATmega168</a>, an <a href="http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=211&Itemid=57">ATmega32</a>, or other large controller (almost always a mega). The application note on <a href="http://atmel.com/dyn/products/app_notes.asp?family_id=607">Atmel's website</a> (look for AVR221) doesn't recommend a certain controller at all. So am I crazy to try to shove this all into an tiny13? We'll see how it goes.<br /><br />I went over to <a href="http://www.avrfreaks.net/">AVRfreaks.net</a> to see if there is anything larger than the tiny13 that has the same pinout. It looks like I can use the ATtiny25, ATtiny45, or ATtiny85 for 2, 4, or 8kb of Flash space. Too bad I already bought a dozen tiny13 chips.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-59022716934412006922007-12-05T21:45:00.000-08:002007-12-05T22:41:16.315-08:00Project LullI am officially in a project lull. The microscale is pretty much done (I do need to send it with Erica for final testing), and Robotics season is starting up in the first week of Jan. I theoretically have a week and a half that I could accomplish something with, but I don't have any good ideas.<br /><br />My micromouse board is at a difficult point. I managed to set some of the fuses wrong, and now I can't talk to two of the three boards. I have one spare processor, so I could replace one, but TQFP-64 is no fun to remove from a board with no soldermask. The alternative is to guess what I set the fuses to, and try to generate the required clock long enough to make them normal again.<br /><br />I could always work on the program for the micromouse motor controllers, since I have a few of those built up. I can always use an oragutan to test those. After the fun I had implementing PID, UART, and LCD code in an ATMEGA48 (4k codespace, 512B SRAM), it should be quite a bit of fun to put PID and UART into an ATTINY13 (1k codespace, 64B SRAM). at least most of the problem was LCD code. I also need to work in PWM for the speed control, but an interrupt should be able to handle that.<br /><br />Possible control algorithm notes (while I'm thinking about it):<br />position registers are basis of PID<br /><ul><li>Current position</li><li>Final Target position</li><li>Moving Target position</li></ul>"moving target" is how I can do speed control. It is the point that the PID errors are calculated against. It moves at a (likely) steady rate towards the Final Target. This is a place where I could put in some acceleration control, but codespace already seems at a premium. The rate at which it moves would be the speed command (counts per small unit of time). This might be the part where I find out why moving slowly is apparently difficult. We'll have to wait and see.<br /><br />PID normally has just those three gains (P, I, D). I think I might want to try to implement some of the more complex gain types like velocity feed-forward.<br /><br />This might be a good point to bring up the fact that I plan on using avr-gcc, and not learning assembly for AVR. (One of the best things Atmel has done is to build avr-gcc into AVR studio, IMHO.)<br /><br />Perhaps I can find some time this week to work on the motor controllers. Remind me to post later about the design of the board itself, and some of the good and not-so-good things I learned while doing it. (Preview of not-so-good: For some reason, Atmel decided to make the SPI programming pins on an ATMEGA128 <span style="font-style: italic;">NOT</span> the same as the normal SPI pins, which caused hours of frustration while debugging the first time I turned it on. Of course I used the SPI programming pins for some completely different function on the board.)Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-8881340623618691392007-12-01T13:09:00.000-08:002007-12-01T14:06:33.007-08:00microscale parts listI saw a link on the <a href="http://blog.makezine.com">MAKE:blog</a> for <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/11/octoparts_new_partlist.html">Octopart</a>, and though it might be a good way to publish a list of the parts I used in the microscale. The only thing I couldn't find was a simple cheap analog meter, like the <a href="http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103534&cp=2032058.2032235.2032305&parentPage=family">one from Radio Shack</a>.<br /><br /><script type='text/javascript' src='http://octopart.com/partlist/embed?id=NjkyMjIy'></script><a href='http://octopart.com' style='font-size:8pt;font-family:arial;'>powered by octopart</a>Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-38420102407484114122007-12-01T13:07:00.000-08:002007-12-01T15:08:14.835-08:00Blog FodderErica sent me an email titled Blog Fodder with some pictures of the microscale in action.<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/microscale/DSC_0002.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10588-2/DSC_0002.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/microscale/DSC_0001.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10598-2/DSC_0001.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/microscale/DSC_0003.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10593-2/DSC_0003.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And she also gave me a nice graph of a few sample runs<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Projects/microscale/data.jpg.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/10603-2/data.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's clear that the scale can be improved, but is pretty close to working now. Erica brought it home for me to work on. I think I have enough code space left to add the Derivative and Integral terms back into the PID loop, which should make it less noisy. <br /><br />I also want to compensate for flag position in the final readout formula, so it can predict what the mass would be if it were perfectly balanced. This part is harder, and I'm not sure if it's needed.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430595.post-615470637939423892007-11-26T21:48:00.001-08:002007-11-26T22:30:34.031-08:00AlaskaOk, so the pictures are a year old, but I haven't done a photography post yet. These were all taken before we got the Nikon D80 (which I will post about later). These are taken with a Sony DSC-F828. We got the camera used on craigslist for $650, including some memory, the bag, a macro lens, and a wide angle.<br />I feel like this camera gets you as close to a DSLR as you can without having the ability to change lenses. the 28-135mm that is built in is pretty nice. It also can take our 2.2x teleconverter, though not without severe vignetting (See example below).<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC01762.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1101-3/DSC01762.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC01893.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1164-3/DSC01893.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC01911.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1173-3/DSC01911.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC02030.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1218-3/DSC02030.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Yes, I do like sun flares. Why do you ask?<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC02447.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1395-3/DSC02447.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />These photos are not color corrected.<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC09848.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1563-3/DSC09848.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/DSC09912.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1584-3/DSC09912.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Overall, we took over 2500 photos over two weeks. We tossed about 20% out of the box due to being blurry, having no interest, or being otherwise BAD. Of the remaining 2000, we deemed 273 to be worth showing off. Full galleries: <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/engunneer/Alaska">Picasaweb</a>, or <a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/">Gallery</a>. Only Gallery has the panoramas.<br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/AlaskaPano/denali1_2000.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1747-2/denali1_2000.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/v/Trips/Alaska/AlaskaPano/19.JPG.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://duolith.chem.washington.edu/gallery/d/1755-3/19.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The D80 with our 70-300mm lens can take the 2.2x teleconvertion lens without vignetting.<br /><br />I welcome comments on any of my photos. It's a hobby, and I can put a certain image under Creative Commons, but please request first.Branden Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17819103799296916189noreply@blogger.com0