electronics

PRL: Integrated Test Fire #1

The hardware and software have come together, off the bench, for the first time! Initial tests of the launcher were fully-manual, and then later tested with a 12V battery use to power opening the valve. This test was the culmination of a lot of other things coming together and proved

ESP8266

PRL: Circuit Design

As part of the Pneumatic Rocket Launcher project I needed to design a small circuit that would trigger the sprinkler solenoid which opens the valve for a launch.  This solenoid is labeled as 24V ( and apparently that rating is for an AC voltage ) but my internet research and careless experimenting

I'm not a game developer, but Unity is really easy to learn

Late last year, with all the talk of the metaverse in the air I started getting curious about 3D visualizations and whether my skill set was anywhere within striking distance of the subject.  I have intermediate 3D modeling skills and can otherwise hack together anything with open source software so

ESP32

ESP32-CAM ride-along crash course

I've read about these for a long time and finally picked up some to tinker with.  It's a next-gen 8266 with a camera, so how hard can this be? The first thing I notice is that I bought boards with no onboard UART, meaning that powering the board and setting

raspberry pi

The Best! Open-Source Development Environment for Raspberry Pi Projects

When getting started doing projects on small devices like Raspberry Pi's (and smaller), it can be hard to establish a comfortable workflow during development.  I mean comfortable literally - ergonomically, as a human - as well as being able to utilize familiar, modern development tools. Having to be physically tethered

2-Factor All The Things! (with node-2fa)

In addition to a strong password, using 2-factor authentication (2FA) should be considered mandatory when doing non-trivial things on the internet.  That means when personal data, privacy, storage, social networks, money, reputation, or home automation products come into play - basically all the time.   In the uphill battle to keep

ESP8266

Getting SPIFFS

Using the ESP8266 to host a micro-application is one of it's most appealing uses. In addition to the EEPROM ( electrically erasable programmable read-only memory ) where a very limited amount of data can be stored, there is another special allocation for "actual files" called SPIFFS ( I won't pretend to know the

3D printing

My First 3D Prints

When I first completed building my 3D printer I was ready to lean face-first into the learning curve.  I quickly jotted down this list for myself which I thought would represent incremental challenges in 3D printing. From the most basic to the point where I'm currently stuck, here is how

3D printing

3D Printing Workflow demystified!

The major steps of a basic 3D printing workflow, explained from conception to print.

mDNS is cool as hell

TLDR:  Setup mDNS on a wifi-connected device to establish a human-friendly hostname on your local network for convenience. IP addresses are great but they've never really had the warm and fuzzy feeling conveyed by an actual hostname when you connect to something. Especially in a browser ( for some reason ) using

ESP8266

Getting Started with the ESP8266-01

This is so far the smallest wifi-connected thing I've programmed. Looking back more than 2 years now, this post will document my 'first contact' with the ESP family of hardware. I have since come a long way, but these first few encounters were what got me started. By definition, the

docker

Run Docker on your Raspberry Pi

TLDR: You'll need to use ARM-compatible base images

IP Cameras

IP Camera Troubleshooting Hell

TLDR: Among the many variables in an IP Camera networking setup, the POE standard required by the cameras is critical. POE.  Three little letters.  A relatively simple concept.  What can go wrong? So many things! The Backstory I have a zoneminder-powered home security setup running that I am very proud

drones

My Top 5 FPV Tips

TLDR: Push the throttle stick up These are my consolidated tips for getting going with flying a drone FPV ( "First Person View", or using a live video feed ). After all the technical kinks are worked out and you're ready to lift off, the following is my advice for developing basic

development

The Streetlight Effect

A campfire skit from my childhood has been on my mind recently. It's a simple one and you may have seen or read a version of it yourself: A person is searching for something under a streetlight. A pedestrian approaches and asks, "What are you doing?" "Looking for my keys,

development

StackOverflow's 2018 Survey

Being such an important hub for developers, StackOverflow conducts an annual survey to identify trends in technologies, jobs and behaviors. They just recently announced the 2018 survey results, and there were a few findings that raised my eyebrows. Are Developers Full of $hit? Right out of the gate, some things

electronics

Multimeter Maintenance

Digital multimeters have an internal battey, and it turns out that it can affect the accuracy of your readings. If your DMM is more than a few years old, a fresh battery and quick calibration are easy maintenance tasks. How it Happened to Me I had some lipo cells that

docker

Put That Mess in a Container

Virtual machines are awesome, there is no debate about that. They have also become a lot easier to use - a fact that their increasing populariry reinforces. In this post I'll argue that the tools of virtualization have become so accessible to developers that they provide entirely new, more organized

drones

New 180 build

Once I started flying FPV with my newly build 180 quad I really never went back to flying my tricopters. As a result, I've started to break them down and recycle the components into a new quad. It wanted a backup quad because it can be a bummer to break

linux

Evernote Desktop Client in Ubuntu with WINE

As I've been using Ubuntu Desktop more and more, I've found good alternatives for almost all of my basic productivity applications. The one that has eluded me for a long time is the Evernote Desktop Client, but I think I've found a solution. ( The web app is just frustrating to

drones

San Felipe Drone Fun

I had been warned about sand, but probably should have been more careful. The problem was, everything in San Felipe is desert or beach.

Evernote: Especially Kick-Ass for Developers

People who know me well know that I'm an evangelist for Evernote. I try to be casual about it by asking, "Do you use a note-taking app?" but I make an effort to sound super-rhetorical. A lot of people will insist that they take notes, or they have some equivalent

drones

I Finally Built a Quad

This was my first legit build in several ways. Most notably, it was the first build where I used a pre-fab carbon fiber frame. The durability can't be beat, and that can be important when you're regularly nailing tree trunks. This is also the first quad ( 4 motor ) I've built.

The Obligatory 'New Blog' Post

Another blog by a developer

ESP8266

IoT Weather Station: Part I

Building a wifi-enabled weather station with a DHT11 temperature sensor has turned into a great learning experience about power consumption and battery powering IoT devices.