I started working on the third version of the claw this week. In this version I have added a motor, extended the length of the prongs, and started on the electronics. At first I tried using a direct drive electric motor that I found at VHS. I constructed my own shaft coupler out of sheet metal and hotglue. It [...]
Now that I got my controller working and the stepper motors moving with a RAMPs board, I decided to get started on The Claw. I knew that I would have to go thought a bunch of iterations of the claw before getting one that I liked so I wanted to start early. I knew I wanted a [...]
Goals and Resolutions for 2013 (In no particular order) Create a new post for ABlueStar.com (This blog) each week. – Last year I only missed a few weeks and created a total of a ~47 post. Learn Ruby on Rails using Heroku. Currently all my web projects are created with JavaScript and PHP. While there is nothing [...]
I tested a few different versions of the VHS Lighting Talk Challenge coins that I designed last wee. With the help of a fellow VHS member Richard (Nutters) we arrived at this design. I cut 30 of them, hopefully that’s enough for the entire night.
Update: Updated versions of VHS Lighting Talk Challenge coins The Vancouver Hackspace (VHS) runs a social night called Super Happy Hacker House (SHHH) once every six weeks or so. One of the actives that we do at SHH is lighting talks. A lighting talk is a small 2 mins or less talk on any subject that you like. During this talk the audience can heckle [...]
I have been trying to think of a simple programming competition that we can run at the next SHHH (Super Happy Hacker House) at the Vancouver Hackspace. ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest seems like an obvious choice. I have run though these contest back in collage and they where very challenging. Too challenging for a SHHH where would probably consuming some beers and having [...]
This is the first Geo Caches that I have ever made. Created after the Geo Cache info session at the Vancouver Hackspace. I put it in an alley in the downtown east side near the entrance to the Vancouver Hackspace. It got approved on Saturday and has already been found by 4 people! This cache can be found [...]
I recently went on a trip to New York for the World Maker Faire. My plan was to make a bunch of wooden nickles that resembled Geo Coins and put them in several different Geo Caches across New York and Toronto. The problem was that ALL of the caches that I tried to find in New [...]
I made a Acrylic chess set at Vancouver Hackspace (VHS) on their new laser cuter. The design files came from thingiverse. This is the first thing that I have ever made with a Laser cuter. It was a great learning experience and I hope to move on to stencils next. Normally a stencil would take me upwards of two [...]
I build the first version of my giant spin art back in may after reading build instructions in Make magazine Volume 25. It work okay but had a few problems. It was direct drive driven and I was worried about burning out the motor. It was scary fast and got unstable as it speeds up. Three days before Maker Faire I decide to [...]
I have been busy the last few weeks as projects ramp up and we get closer to Maker Faire and the weather gets nicer around Vancouver. Its getting harder to makes these status updates as I would rather be making something or going outside and enjoying the sunshine and now Appa (A black kitty) won’t let [...]
I spent most of the last week doing research and ordering parts samples and testing equipment, trying to get everything set up for this project. Things I have ordered. $75 USD – 100x Superflux “Piranha” RGB LEDs common-anode ($50 for the LEDs + 25 for shipping). From evilmadscience.com. Definitely not the cheapest place for RGB LEDs but they had the “Piranha” style [...]
I started searching for a LED to use in this project. Normally I would go to my local electronics supply story, but this project requires lots (~64) of LEDs and my local electronics store charges a premium for the LEDs, (@1.50 each) and I know I can get them for cheaper then that. What type [...]
Ray Gun Revival has been launched. We sent out 8k unsolicited email newsletter to anyone that had anything to do with the old site and only ~50 people followed the link and signed up for the newsletter. Showing me that spam just doesn’t work. Ray Gun Revival teaser trailer was released a week later then the launch but more [...]
I hate writing this type of post, the review of all your failures and accomplishments over the last year. But review is important its stops you from repeating the same mistakes and give you a direction to go next year. This year I have traveled to Atlanta, GA, USA (BACnet Plugfest) , Montreal, QC Canada, Harrison Hot Springs, BC, Canada, Calgary, AB, Canada, Black rock [...]
Hello this is a test posting from my android phone This is a picture of the current book i am reading.