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Streetwise
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I thought it would be fun to have a thread for sharing interesting things that are not aquarium related, but don’t need a thread of their own.

Here is one. In Corvus Oscen’s livestream today, he was talking about some of the electrical work he was doing at the Co-Op, and there was some chat about other electrical topics.

I was reminded about something I saw on TV, when ESPN was doing their annual ESPN 8 ‘The Ocho’ day, where they showcase niche sports and competitions, like lawnmower racing, cornhole, dodgeball, etc. The highlight was the IDEAL Electrician’s National Championship.

The competitors work in identical framed structures with no walls, so you can see everything they are doing. It was really cool to watch.

 

Edited by Streetwise
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20201113_220115.jpg.f16654b2d239545b355bb0283dbe060a.jpg20201113_220042.jpg.ff986083473e42c2ebc1a329fc3253be.jpgSo many cool things that don't deserve a thread lol. I would like to share the...

Raspberry Pi Foundation  https://www.raspberrypi.org/

I love "making things" and have always felt limited by not knowing how to code. Many years ago I bought a Raspberry Pi 2 and played with it a bit but it wasn't unitl a few months ago that I decided to seriously learn to code and I am currently in the process of learning Python. So I purchased a few Raspberry Pi 4's which are awesome, it's a great learning/prototyping tool, affordable, and it is powerful enough to be used as a desktop computer. I'm using it right now 🙂

 

Edited by TheDukeAnumber1
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@TheDukeAnumber1 Apparently I can tap into the data streams from my 3 Seneyes if I hook them up to a Raspberry Pi.

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That looks like fun to me. I have got a couple Model 4's laying around (somewhere) and if I can ever tear myself away from the Forum for a few minutes I will try and set this up. Wouldn't it be cool to tap into this data? This is from my dirted tank project.

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@MickS77, thank for sharing that.

One of my other hobbies is electronic music. I was a DJ for a decade, and collected a lot of vinyl. I got into production, and volunteered for a pro audio forum for several years. I got to play with a lot of vintage synthesizers back in the '90s, and invested in a few virtual synths for my Ableton Live studio setup.

One of my favorite virtual synths is A.C.E. from u-he, and the tutorial videos provide an amazing introduction to modular synthesis. Here is part one of four:

 

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@ange, I feel like math, physics, biology, language, and music are all forms of programming. I see it everywhere.

My other major hobby is sailboat racing. I never understood the value of 360° video until I started watching this guy's stuff. He is winning regattas, and generously sharing his techniques. You can spin the camera around to see what is going on.

 

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I completed my very first project running my own python program.

My 4yr old son and I sometimes like to play Mario 64 together which uses this power meter for Mario.

Power Meter

Inspired by this I made a 'behavior' power meter for home use similar to how some schools use different visible signs to mark daily behavior.  We'll see if it's effective, either way it was a good exercise for me lol.

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Ugly... but functioning, better ways to code it, probably but it was cheap using the Pi zero.

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, Streetwise said:

Hey @Daniel, tell us more about your Haas Mini Mill!

I wish it I owned it! My friend Robin has it and uses it to make a product he a patent on that makes oboe reeds. The Haas is a 3 axis milling machine that mills everything from steel to aluminum, but it will mill plastics too. Robin and I are using it to develop an adapter that allows for the use of a mobile phone as a camera with any microscope.

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Here is a picture of Robin pulling one out of the Mini Mill.

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Here is what the adapter looks like on a microscope.

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Here is what video looks like shot using my iPhone with the adapter.

It is pretty cool to be able to make anything you can make a drawing of.

We just figured out how to use the Haas to make printed circuit boards, so that opens up a whole new world.

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That is awesome @Daniel! I love seeing niche high-tech product building. When I was consulting, one of my clients made carbon fiber mandolins.

I happened to start my day with a smile, so In the immortal words of Monty Python, "and now for something completely different!"

Time stamp for a specific run, but you can rewind for the whole event.

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These are a couple of sailboat rigging videos that I have been watching repeatedly to setup my RS Aero dinghy. Any mechanical engineers might enjoy these. The second video features some line splicing, which is an amazing crafting technique to create loops, or join lines.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Just now, TheDukeAnumber1
7 hours ago, Streetwise said:

Very clever @TheDukeAnumber1! What will your next Pi project be?

Thanks, I aspire to make a desktop humidor with automated humidity and temperature controls, and to also built an aquarium monitor that will log data, but atm I'm back to learing coding.

We had a project a while back that never made it to market so I ended up with about 60 beagle bone blacks. Ive used them for my christmas led light show and few other house projects. Keep us posted on the humidor project. Been thinking of doing this myself.

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  • 2 months later...

The 36th America's Cup is now underway in New Zealand. This is a test of engineering and sailing skill. These are the highest-technology sailboats, but all the power comes from humans, the wind, the water, and physics. Electronics are for data and control, but not automation. Any stored power is generated by humans creating hydraulic pressure.

 

Edited by Streetwise
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There have been a few recent threads that mention epoxy and fiberglass. I found an old video that I think might show part of my sailboat’s construction, showing the resin infusion process. They vacuum-bag the hull in the mold, and use negative pressure to evenly draw the resin into the foam-core and composites.

With spring here, I have sailing on the brain.

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  • 1 month later...

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