Projects...

 Tänään oli sitten se suuri päivä kun herra rakennustarkastaja kävi tontilla toteamassa rakennushässäkän olevan valmis. Nyt on sitten "leima" papereissa ja voi alkaa sisustamaan "varastoa". Ensimmäisenä nousi seinälle miljoonalaatikosto josta näyttää puuttuvan muutama laatikko. Missähän lienee? Nyt on sitten vain mielikuvitus rajana eli voisi laittaa laminaatin lattiaan ja rakentaa baaritiskin grillikatoksesta ylijääneestä graniittitasosta. Mistähän saisi mancaveen sopivan oluthanan?

Tänään oli hyvä päivä. Paikallisen paloviranomaisen kanssa selvitin jotta minkälainen palo-osastointi pitää tallin ja autokatoksen väliin rakentaa, se kun oli rakennusluvan ehtona. Jos vaikka illalla saisi päivitettyä rakennepiirustuksiin osastoinnin ja lähetettyä kunnan rakennusvalvonnalle. Ei ollutkaan iso homma, tarttee kuulemma tehdä el30-tason palo-osastointi vesikattoon saakka ja palosuojalevystä läpi menevien rakenteiden molemmat puolet koteloida palamattomalla eristeellä. Kyllä se tallilta näyttää näin päältäpäin. Sisältä puuttuukin sitten oikeastaan kaikki. Saa nähdä saako kesällä 2020 valmiiksi. Tilaa kyllä on, koko rakennuksen koko on 90 neliötä jaettuna kolmeen osaan: autotalli, autokatos ja "varasto". Eikä tallissa tartte pimeässä tuhertaa. Facebookin Purkutavarakirppikseltä löytyi lahjoituksena 15kpl loisteputkivalaisimia. Nuo kun ruuvaa (sitten joskus) kattoon ja laittaa kirkkaat lediputket niin luulisi näkevän. Samassa rak...

Niin se aika rientää. Jäätiin toissa talvena vaimon kanssa kahdestaan kun nuoriso muutti omilleen. Syksyllä Löytyi aika kiva paikka soratien päästä keskeltä metsää, joten nyt sitten asutaan siellä. Syynä tähän päivitykseen on se kun tänään tuli myönteinen päätös rakennusluvalle, jolla on tarkoitus saattaa loppuun edellisen omistajan aloittamat autotalli ja pihasauna. Tuli mieleen että tännehän voisi päivitellä hommien etenemistä. Autotalli on semmoinen pieni 90 neliön talli/katos/varasto(harrastustila)-yhdistelmä. Kuvassa oikealla oleva likainen katto kuuluu tallille. Pientä laittoo vaatii se vaan... eli runko on pystyssä, vesikatto päällä ja ulkoseinät laudoitettu. Tarvii valaa lattiat, eristää seinät jne. Rakennuslupa tuli ehdollisena eli nyt tarttee toimittaa rakennusvalvonnalle tallin rakennepiirustukset joissa erityistä huomiota kiinnitetään tallin ja katoksen väliseen osastointiin. Ulkosauna on Honkarakenteen Ulpukka-malli. Puuttuu vielä mm. saunan lattia,...

Yeah. This year brings a change and then it took almost an year to type next post. This year has certainly not been a quiet one! Lots happening on job side of life and even more happening on private projects side. So what is going on, you may ask. Lets see... Since last post (january): Flight simulator: - Acquired some simulation hardware: yoke system  and pedals - Acquired a nice 40" LED TV (Samsung) for side view, still looking a good deal for another side view. - Acquired one PC for visuals (in addition to two existing PCs and one Mac) - Acquired enough X-Plane 10 licences to run three display system - Created proof of concept system for connecting avionics panel etc. to X-Plane 10 via Raspberry Pi Kitchen remodeling: - Connected range hood to home automation system via Electric Imp - One cabinet door still missing hinges. I think I need to build my own hinges... - Floor needs to be sanded and refinished. I think this will be outsourced. - Countertop lights ...

Lots have happened since last post. Just getting lazy to post new things here but perhaps this year brings a change. Status of ongoing projects: Flight Simulator Progressing slowly. Now when I have access to laser cutter/engraver, cnc mill and 3D printers I have started drawing plans for "general" gauge mechanics. "General" because it will be used as a basis for all gauges in future. Kitchen remodeling Almost done, two cabinet doors need some thinking because of hinge issues. Floor needs to be sanded and refinished. Replaced 30yrs old house fan with Vilpe 190p Eco . (It can be controlled with 0-10V DC signal so that will also be controlled by home automation system. Currently there is just a pontetiometer in kitchen for speed control.) Also replaced 30+yrs old Valmet range hood with Savo PK26 . Installation was quite difficult because I had to remove some unneeded parts first. I wonder if this voids the warranty... Now pulling the hood open contro...

Now when I have acquired some very nice hw from LowPowerLabs, how hard can it be to write a piece of code for it to control Nexa home automation modules? The recent kitchen renovating project in our house made me think if I could control house fans, lights, car block heater etc. remotely without paying arm and leg for the system. Long and exhaustive search in vast deeps of internet brought me to Lowpowerlabs website. They have a very nice system there: http://lowpowerlab.com/shop/moteino-r4 Arduino-compatible Moteino-board with builtin RF transceiver for a very reasonable price! And wait! That's not all! Those boards can even be programmed remotely over RF! what a piece of hardware. Could be useful in lots of projects. Now if I just could figure out a way how to control Nexa-modules (http://www.nexa.se/) with Moteino. Nexa controls remote devices through 433.92MHz frequency with a quite simple protocol.  People in internet have already managed to cont...

Cool, this works... Samsung S4 feels kinda plastic-y but it is quite remarkable piece of smartphone. Just writing this with it... From now on there will be more updates about new projects.

This post will be short but I thought just to tell everyone I am still alive and kickin' Current projects include: Mendelmax, Smoker V2, Mediaserver, SnowPlow(er). More to be announced shortly. 

While waiting for the last parts for Mendelmax-3D-printer (last parts, needed first!) I had too much free time... Back in Texas I had fully automated smoker (fish, meat) I had to leave behind when moving to Finland. Now I have electronics ready for new smoker (V2, to be exact.) See picture. More explanations later, if needed. :-) (Yes, there is a Pharos 500 GPS module involved in this build) Now when the wirelessly controlled control logic is figured out, I need to find two 30mm wood drill bits (augers?) and some other parts before I can put this thingamajig together. Stay tuned.

Todays status Acquired parts: M5 screws 608ZZ bearings M3,M5 washers M5 nuts Blind joint screws Lead screws Belts & pulleys Aluminium extrusions (profiles) Stepper drivers NEMA motors Printed parts Z shaft couplers T-nuts or square nuts (Bought, not received yet).. After getting these I can start putting this together! Arduino Mega2560 (Ordered from Chinese eBuyer... Need to pick up from PO) Still missing: 8mm thrust bearings (will take stress away from Z-axis motors) Idler stud RAMPS electronics Heat proof spacers Power supply (12V,30A) Aluminium sheet Heated platform Hobbed bolt Hot end

...and today mailman dropped note saying there is shipment from China waiting at local mail office. The only thing on the way currently is Arduino Mega2560 which I bought from eBay. eBay sent me message later stating the item I have bought has been unlisted and I do not have to pay or if I have already paid, I can open dispute case to get my money back if I have not received the item yet. After some investigation I found out that it was unlisted because some Chinese company was selling it with name Arduino (registered trade mark of Arduino Inc. or something). Couple minutes later I got email from China saying "Please do not open the case, we have already shipped the item to you". And now it is here, I think. I still need RAMPS 1.4 board and some end stops for electronics and some t-nuts for mechanics. Soon I can start putting it together.... Buahahaaaaa (evil laughter)

Edit: Update: Today mail and UPS grought some thin M5 nuts and 8mm steel rods & linear bearings! Looks like I can start putting the frame together today after all! YeeHaw! One would not think that one of the most difficult parts to find could be M5 screws. With help from local fastener store (Kärkikiinnike in Vantaa, go there if you need some not-so-usual fasteners) I finally got box full of hex-socket head M5-10mm screws. Just a small box, 500 of them. I will have something like 400 pieces left over after this thingamajig is ready. Even more difficult to find are the t-nuts (or square nuts, they work too). Looks like I have to order them from China or from USA (Made in China too). While waiting for the rest of the parts to arrive, I did some tapping. Tapping threads to aluminium profile is easy. All you need is battery operated drill (= more torque), some WD-40 or CRC 5-56 and some time. Profiles tapped. Now if I just could find those t-nu...

Still needs some screws, nuts, washers, bolts etc. Here in this picture below you see a very nice tablecloth that obfuscates all the plastic parts from clear view. Those black plastic pieces will connect aluminium profiles together to form the frame of the printer. Let's see what we have already. Aluminium profiles from eBay, still waiting to get some more.  €55.70 +  €61.82 Printed plastic parts from Lulzbot  $133.85 (104.82€) Leadscrews and nuts, Belts and pulleys + bunch of bearings from Techpaladin  $111.09 (86.99€) Nema 17-motors from own warehouse. Arduino Mega 2650 from eBay (not received yet)  $24.88 (19.48€) Pololu A4988 motor controllers from eBay (not received yet)  £38.50 (47.61€) Linear bearings and rods. eBay, 83.94£. (104.25€) (Total 480.67€ with todays exchange rate. Not including customs fees etc 24.85€) So that leaves something to find before this thingamajig can be built: Screws. Lots of screw...

Long time no nothing here due to relocating (to other side of world...). But now I have again time to continue my wonderful hobbies. Next project: "Rintteri" (Picture shamelessly copied from mendelmax.com) Details:   Mendelmax (3D-printer) Reasoning: Will be handy when creating parts to other projects (Simulator etc.) Estimated completion: Q3/2012 Status: Sourcing ongoing, About 30% of parts acquired (as of 17.5.2012 ). For those interested, click here for full bill of materials. Parts acquired so far: - Alumimium profile (ebay.de) - Plastic parts (lulzbot.com, customs holding them as a hostage) - Nema-17 stepper motors (from previous projects) - Pulleys, belts, bearings, threaded rods+nuts (techpaladin.com) Parts needed: - Electronics     * Ramps     * Arduino Mega 2580     * 4 x Pololu stepper drivers     * 12V/10A power supply - Linear slides     * 10mm Rods     * Linear bearings - ...

Arduino UNO, uOLED-128-G1h,xBee Series 2, 18B20 temperature sensor, HIH-4030 humidity sensor, OMRON G3NA-220B SSR for heat element control. Still considering MAX6675 temperature sensor for foord temperature probe. Ah, and still missing some MOSFETs for motor control. That should do it. For new smoker electronics, that is. This development version will have two-way radio link and some other more advnced goodies. Old smoker decided to end its career by breaking wood feeder link when one woodchip puck got stuck and due to overpowered motor some parts broke. I wonder how could I detect the current motor is using? That way the system could shut down and alert the operator when pucks get stuck and cause system overload.

Koneistoa yksinkertaistettu kovasti: Tuohon viela jostain metallilevysta runko ja puukiekkojen syottoputki niin paasee kokeilemaan.

Simplified mechanics on the way, sw 90% ready, need to do PCB. Waiting to receive some parts from internet suppliers. Pictures after they arrive. Stay tuned.

First real test run done. Yesterday evening before going to bed I set up the system with temp setting 85C and full magazine of smoke pucks. Oh, and one brisket. Unfortunately last night was a bit cold. System could not get temperature higher than 70C and due to a software bug (what was I thinking? Probaply nothing, as usual) feeder spent five hours worth of pucks in about two hours before getting jammed due to too low stepper motor current limiter setting. Anyhow... Brisket turned out tender, moist and delicious: This morning I changed the setting to cold smoking, put piece of salmon there, loaded magazine, set the temperature to 7C, started the system and slipped and slided to work. Soon (relatively soon, in a day or two) to be cold smoked salmon: After about 2hrs, I got message from home saying there is no more smoke! Went home during lunchbreak and checked the system. Again I built something with too tight tolerances. Apparently about 2% of smoke pucks are 3mm thicker than "nor...

Well. Technically yes because it was next to pool. First 2hrs test run went perfectly (after minor tweaking of limit switch). Oh, and the smoking evidence: Yes. It is not image manipulation. It really smokes.

Yesterday I finally got the new flux capacitor working. Unfortunately the subspace resonance field distorted the reality field of my cameras image cell so no video of first test run. Sorry. Here is a picture of it powered up but not running in full power. Another milestone on my way to world dominance was achieved today when I finally got the infinite improbability drive working. Does not look much but took some time to get it running. Depleted trilithium waste port in action: First real life test nears. Yesterday evening I already converted some fresh fish to delicious dinner with my new flux capacitor.