Author Topic: Geek Thrills  (Read 22648 times)

PonoBill

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Geek Thrills
« on: October 18, 2019, 09:34:10 PM »
After a frustrating day of chasing wind to no effect, I came home and got a whole bunch of previously recalcitrant geek toys working in concert. Lose a few, win a few.

This will be the main monitor/control panel for the dashboard of my 1978 GMC MoHo project. It's both a dinky HD monitor and a touchscreen. Of course, there will be lots of other gauges and switches, but most everything will also be monitored and controlled wirelessly here--and to any other device connected to the moho's router. So cute. The Raspberry Pi that acts as the MQQT broker for all the signals going everywhere screws onto the back





Of course the project has a way to go, but I have multiple slave boards (ESP8266's) talking to the server simultaneous and behaving. Any geek with less rusty UNIX and C++ skills would have had an easier time of it, but I'm getting there, and it's coming back, one pounding headache at a time. I'll have a fraction of the point-to-point wiring that was originally present. Does this make sense? Hell no. But it's fun and the end result will be very cool.

« Last Edit: October 18, 2019, 09:39:35 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

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Re: Geek Thrills
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2019, 01:59:17 AM »
That is one hell of an undertaking!

I assume this means that your (3000 Sq. ft?) shop is now entirely full and you have taken over the kitchen?  This won't end well :).

PonoBill

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Re: Geek Thrills
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2019, 09:10:05 AM »
The kitchen is warmer than my shop. I could heat the shop but that takes about a 20 bucks an hour worth of gas and it leaves my head hot and my feet cold. Bundling up to write code and fiddle with electronics is counterproductive though apparently, Russians do it. I've never seen a movie with Russian hackers where they weren't nearly freezing to death in bleak surroundings.  Diane is surprisingly tolerant of my spreading out, though I did find a certain number of less attractive components relocated to my office last night. But I think as long as I keep doing the cooking I'm okay with the sprawl. Of course, if she decides to go on a baking spree I might be evicted.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

surfcowboy

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Re: Geek Thrills
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2019, 01:39:55 PM »
Congrats man. I saw a buddy’s autonomous sailboat project yesterday. About 30” long and super cool. It’s got a drone brain and he’s going to start cutting it loose and seeing if it can go places. Pretty fun thing. If he gets the solar working there’s no telling what the range could be for that little thing.

PonoBill

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Re: Geek Thrills
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2019, 06:47:35 PM »
One of the guys I used to collaborate (or at least chatted with occasionally over GitHub) with to write multi-copter code before DJI bought all the smart ones turned up a few months ago working on oceanic drone swarms. Drone boats that use solar and swell propulsion to move around. You don't need to use a lot of power to use swell propulsion as long as you aren't in a hurry. Anyway, the idea is very cheap, very tough craft that can map ocean characteristics better and more flexibly than buoys can. It's cool idea. I expect he'll get serious funding.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2019, 06:49:45 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

PonoBill

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Re: Geek Thrills
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2019, 06:31:17 PM »
More geek thrills. No wind in Hood River, cold, rainy, basically another drink cocoa with a little schnapps in it and screw around with electronics. I made some good progress in both coding and on designing the hardware packages I plan to use. Little double circuit boards that will fit inside an outlet box with room to spare for switches and connections.

I took a first cut at the code for airbag level control, but it's so full of errors I decided to start over.

Here's a dopey little video demo of simultaneous LED dimmers and temperature/humidity measurement from separated boards. I'll have dozens of these scattered all over. Easier than running wire.

https://youtu.be/XQPAr-EpnP8
« Last Edit: October 20, 2019, 06:35:45 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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