When not coding...

I once worked in the video game business. Hopefully, with time a medication, I'll get over the nightmares :). Jokes aside, I was there as a software developer and I was secretly dreaming about introducing (in that studio) the use of sculpting during the character design phase. Finally, around 2009, the timing was right and during the design of a new game, I started working on the main character of a dinosaur game, a T-Rex!


My goal was to have the T-Rex stand in a dynamic pose without the tail touching the ground.


Sadly the game was cancelled during design. I never had time to go beyond the basic shape. My next step would have been to add the front legs and skin details. It was fun while it lasted.

Lego RC car

I've just stumbled on this picture from last year when I build a Lego RC car. It is motorized using the Lego Mindstorm 2.0 Brick and two motors. (one for steering and one for propulsion).



For the controller I simply used the Lego Mindstorm remote.



It only had one speed: darn slow. It didn't stopped the kid from playing with it for days.

Edit: you can also see my Mini RC car project here (Using Arduino, Bluetooth & Android)

Saving 40$

After having played with electronics for some time now, I start to see some nice benefits. So... Do you need a home-made-looking car charger to accessorize your 600$ smart phone? Well, today is your lucky day so fire up you soldering iron.

Ingredients:

• An old cellphone charger with a proprietary connector that won't fit into anything standard.
• A female USB connector (I took mine from a dead keyboard)
• A multimeter
• If you have a bad karma, you'll also need a 5v voltage regulator
• 15 minutes of pure fun

Phase 1: Rip open that cellphone charger connector's head and get to the two wires that will give you a 5v current (you can check that with your handy multimeter).

• If you're lucky: there will only be two wires giving exactly 5v.
• If you're not lucky: You have more than two wire and have to find the right two using your multimeter.
• If you're really not lucky: You have more than 5v and will have use that 5v current regulator.

Phase 2: Solder the two wires to the USB connector using this diagram...



...or this one.



Phase 3: Using hot glue and other methods you deem appropriate, hide your bad soldering job back into the connector's head.



Voila! 40$ saved. Now you can get McDo for your entire family and still have enough for a Starbucks tomorrow morning.

Leguino

WIP: testing the onboard LEDs

before soldering the PCB

Micro-controllers and electronics are taking over my spare time... did I say spare time? Robots and flashing lights being 'sooOOoo cool', my kids are always coming in to see the crazy things I'm working on and asking half a million questions while working at my side. There's nothing like the hands-on approach.

Some weeks ago, my 6 years old son came to me with his favorite Lego robot and started telling me is plan to put flashing lights in the chest and in the head. He proceeded to show me where the batteries would be and that the [Arduino] chip would be in the middle of robot's back with all the wires going to each parts. He finished by explaining that he wanted to use Mom's hot-glue gun to attach the parts.

The 'backpack': 9v battery (bottom),

5v regulation (right on PCB) and Arduino chip

Ah, the wave of geeky pride overwhelm my dad heart. He is one of us now!

Not only did he had a plan, it was a great plan. It was doable and all the necessary components were included.

Here's the result:

Feeling my way

During the Christmas vacation I built a mobile robot using the Boe-Bot structural base and adding the Arduino 'brain' on top. This permitted me to rapidly get to the collision avoidance systems. I wanted to build my own range sensors since I started using with Lego MindStorm RCX 2.0 in 2000. I was always impressed by those guys on the web who were building custom sensors and accessories for their MindStorm projects.

The plan was to build an infrared range sensor that would be contained in a 2x4 standard Lego brick. I started by gutting out the Lego brick and drilled two holes into it for the LED and the detector. When positioning the light, I made sure it was set further back than the IR detector to prevent the LED light to shine directly into the detector.


I used the same parts than the ones I used on the Boe-Bot but I modified the circuit to make it more compact. Then it was the origami process of fitting all the components inside the brick and welding everything (including two resistors).


Wire wise, both the light and the detector needed a ground (black), the detector needed a 5v feed (red) and both were connected to separate control pins on the Arduino (yellow for the LED and grey for the detector). I then glued a 2x4 Lego plate to close the sensor.

Here is the final product attached to a servo. In this configuration I was able to sweep left and right, covering a wider range with one sensor.