#robotics Logs

Jul 26 2012

12:15 furrywolf I don't know what the exact rates they're paying are, but it's only like $10, and we get it there in four hours.
12:16 furrywolf about $4 of that trickles down to us drivers...
12:16 furrywolf per stop.
12:16 furrywolf unscheduled rush jobs are very pricey, but scheduled daily stops aren't.
12:16 katsmeow-afk $10 courier tween cities in 4 hours? costs more that $10 to drive to the pickup location in your jeep!
12:16 furrywolf correct. which is why you have a route with a bunch of stops on it.
12:17 furrywolf and we load it on a cargo plane that also has lots of other stuff on it.
12:17 furrywolf it's a little twin piston engine job, which while expensive, is split over a large number of users.
12:18 katsmeow-afk i understand, but it would cost me more than $10 to get someone out here for pickup, inclusing a USPS driver that comes out every day anyhow
12:18 furrywolf usps should do free pickups...
12:18 furrywolf at least they do here.
12:18 katsmeow-afk no, they do pickup to the end of the driveway for free, not to the door
12:18 furrywolf ah
12:18 katsmeow-afk they have not delivered to my door in over 10 years
12:19 furrywolf bbl, got to do other things.
12:19 katsmeow-afk me 2
12:32 Tom_itx me 3
12:43 GuShH furrywolf: is there a list of "safe" solvents one can use to clean up an engine? (that won't attack rubber, plastics, etc)
12:59 Skwint I knew a driver who used very strong vodka...
13:01 GuShH Skwint: huh?
13:01 Skwint they said it worked wonders cleaning the brakes on a big truck
13:02 Skwint I assume alcohol was the active ingredient - from memory there wasn't much else in the bottles ;)
15:22 cambazz hello anyone alive here?
15:27 ace4016 yes
15:28 ace4016 except for ones like tobbor...he doesn't fall under the possible type of object to be considered dead or alive
15:29 DagoRed hello
15:29 Skwint I'm fairly sure I'm alive - can I go make some tea and I'll get back to you on that?
15:53 cambazz ok, so i just built me a simple tracked vehicle, with arduino, a motor controller and a compass
15:54 cambazz and a servo/sharp ir sensor
15:54 cambazz well all of the bots i see on the net are mostly if then else programming
15:54 cambazz very simple behaivors
15:54 cambazz how can i go ahead more then simple behaivors
15:58 ace4016 how well do you know how to program?
15:58 ace4016 it's mainly just thinking of how would you tell something how to do something in precise instructions rather than letting them figure out the A to B
15:59 ace4016 what do you want it to do?
16:12 GuShH ace4016: he wants it to be sentient
16:12 GuShH the answer to which is, link the robot's core to a chinese slave in your basement.
16:12 Skwint now now, he hasn't been silly yet, give him a chance :)
16:13 ShH needs to get some non detergent oil for his air compre
16:13 Skwint but I suggest you google robot AI and ask a more specific question because I can't help with "make it cleverer" :/
16:13 GuShH Skwint: how about make it smarter?
16:14 Skwint I have a spare tie somewhere
16:14 GuShH that's a good start
16:14 GuShH although I'm not sure turning it into a corporate penguin would make it look any smarter.
16:14 Skwint well, smart has multiple meanings
16:15 GuShH hence -look-
16:15 Skwint clever, well dressed or painful :)
16:15 Skwint I can definitely make it painful - believe me, for something so soft, software can be incredibly painful!
16:15 GuShH so soft? what are you coding a fleshlight?
16:15 Skwint sssshhhh, I haven't filed the patent yet
16:16 Skwint I'm making a more realistic one - it works great in the shop but after you buy it is starts getting headaches
16:16 GuShH to-be-gin...pl-ease...in-put...na-me...us-ing... mor-se... co-de...
16:16 GuShH Skwint: that's because you copied god's design
16:16 GuShH it's flawed.
16:17 Skwint ah - that would explain why we keep cutting bits off it
16:17 GuShH it only needs one gpio
16:17 GuShH if you grinned you are such a nerd.
16:18 Skwint actually, my brain entered the "guess the acronym" function and it wasn't funny after it returned
16:18 GuShH it's fun if you are fast enough to get it...
16:19 tsmeow-afk wonders who Skwint is talkin
16:19 Skwint gushh - you have a lot of ignores, kats?
16:19 katsmeow-afk yes
16:20 Skwint I'm honoured, I suppose, that I'm not one!
16:21 GuShH Skwint: kat has issues, I found out. more than I do, as in... a bigger scale.
16:21 GuShH which led me to believe she likes to dig her own grave in real life too.
16:21 Skwint I think most people would feel "has issues" goes with out saying in a robotics channel
16:21 GuShH some people can't be helped.
16:21 Skwint I suspect so, but *shrug*
16:22 GuShH I don't see what's wrong with robotics
16:22 katsmeow-afk is GuShH deriding me?
16:22 GuShH I dislike those who build useless robots though
16:22 Skwint erm, he's being more general than that kats
16:22 ShH thinks a robot has to serve a real function and not just go around in circles chasing a l
16:22 katsmeow-afk o
16:22 Skwint he's deriding all sorts of people!
16:22 GuShH for that... get a friggin cat.
16:22 Skwint "hello world" doesn't serve a function, but it's very useful
16:22 GuShH It's not that useful.
16:23 GuShH It merely lets you know your compiler and linker are in order.
16:23 GuShH pseudo.
16:23 katsmeow-afk i had to drive into town to deal with humans irl, i have a sore throat
16:23 Skwint it's step 1. Just because step 1000 is the good one doesn't mean you can get there without doing step 1 first.
16:23 GuShH Hello C, I'll see you in the next 10 years!
16:24 GuShH Skwint: If furrywolf doesn't have me on ignore, I must not be that annoying.
16:24 GuShH And sharing the hatred for anything with "java" on it doesn't seem enough, since katsmeow-afk ignores you anyway.
16:28 GuShH Ya know... in the shrink world it is a known fact that disabled people are resentful and often come to hate everyone around them the moment they have anything to say about their actions; because by being disabled they believe they are entitled to all their rights and the rest of the world is under/behind them. Reality is they have the same rights anyone else does, which is why disputes arise and it only feeds their hatred, it's
16:28 GuShH a vicious cycle and hard to explain as well.
16:29 GuShH I for one got a massive bump on a door because some allegedly disabled person decided to shove their massive truck rear onto my car.
16:30 GuShH They friggin have their own parking spaces with massive margins and they still manage to wreck you. Why are they allowed to drive? because they have the same rights I do.
16:30 GuShH Which is why I wasn't any sweeter to them after the fact. Why should I be preferential.
16:31 GuShH What really bothers me is that they are extempt from the points system everyone has to obey when it comes to driving licenses, which is f*****-bullshit.
16:31 GuShH Say I go past a red light, I lose 10 points. They lose none, and they could've killed 30 people in the act same as I could of.
16:32 GuShH Same rights, bull. They have preferential rights and they still treat you like shit.
16:32 GuShH Rant over.
16:33 wint
16:34 GuShH It's just as bad as the under-age kids stealing, killing, raping and getting practically away with it because they are minors.
16:40 GuShH I guess it's not over until I mention how some are not even really disabled, but they use it to milk the system and live for free, off money that's taken from my friggin wallet.
16:40 GuShH Which is the same that happens with medical dope, let's not forget that.
17:03 katsmeow-afk Miller's most startling demo involved completely taking over an Android phone by merely brushing a tag with an embedded NFC chip against it.
17:03 katsmeow-afk A built-in content sharing feature called Android Beam allowed the tag to push a webpage to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. A browser bug then opened the gate for unlimited access to everything on the phone.
17:03 katsmeow-afk Miller found similar vulnerabilities in the second phone he tested, a Nokia N9 running MeeGo.
17:04 katsmeow-afk Miller picked the N9 and Nexus for his experiments, which began nine months ago, because they were the only major phones available with built-in NFC technology at the time.
17:04 katsmeow-afk The real explosion will come in the next year. Apple is rumored to be including NFC in its next iPhone, and Google, which made NFC the basis of its Google Wallet technology, is pushing it hard on Android devices.
17:05 katsmeow-afk In Europe, for example, some movie posters include NFC chips that launch video trailers. Slip a malicious tag behind one of those posters and you can mess with fans' phones, sending them ads and other unwanted spam. Or stick an NFC tag on a checkout terminal and start transmitting data to the devices customers willingly swipe past.
17:34 katsmeow-afk regarding epoxy floor sealants (called glue by this idiot reporter):
17:34 katsmeow-afk SALEM, OR (KPTV) -
17:34 katsmeow-afk A Salem kitten appears to have used one of its nine lives after becoming stuck in epoxy glue at a downtown Salem parking garage.
17:34 katsmeow-afk It took six people nearly three days to work on saving Ace the kitten, whose lower body and legs were stuck together by the industrial-strength glue.
17:39 katsmeow-afk Lawnmower related accidents are not rare. Last year more than 250,000 people were treated for mower-related injuries, and yearly 600 children receive amputations as a result of the accidents.
17:39 katsmeow-afk Because of these statistics the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons suggests that only children over age 16 be allowed to ride on a lawnmower and only children over age 12 be allowed to push one.
17:59 ace4016 wouldn't get hurt with a push reel mower
17:59 ace4016 :P
19:34 rue_mohr 5! 5 packages!
19:35 rue_mohr aaahahahahahaha
19:35 rue_mohr 5 packages!
19:35 GuShH rue_mohr: I told you they wouldn't come 1 by 1
19:36 ShH couldn't find non-detergent oil for his compre
19:36 GuShH they offered me regular motor oil instead
19:36 GuShH which should work fine, but why can't I choose!
19:43 rue_mohr hahha!
19:43 rue_mohr todays item is a pair of red/green glasses!
19:46 m_itx gives rue_mohr a 3d m
19:46 rue_mohr http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2117/2213177999_c22dd9381c.jpg
19:46 rue_mohr thats a really good one
19:47 Tom_itx that hurts
19:49 rue_mohr this is fun!
20:03 rue_mohr and the 2kg of plastic came
20:04 Tom_itx what sort of plastic?
20:04 rue_mohr pla
20:04 Tom_itx granules or something useable
20:04 rue_mohr 3mm filament
20:06 rue_mohr I'm gonna open second one cause I thnk its my atmega board
20:07 rue_mohr yup, arduino mega
20:07 rue_mohr ok
20:07 rue_mohr good
20:08 rue_mohr that means I have all the parts in for the reprap
20:09 Tom_itx good stuff
20:09 Tom_itx now it's just waiting on you
20:09 rue_mohr haha they use an 8U2 as a usb interface
20:10 rue_mohr dons't the 2560 have usb?
20:10 orlok only serial, and they moved to the 8u2 so it can be reprogrammed as something other than just a usb serial device
20:11 orlok iirc
20:11 rue_mohr halarious
20:14 katsmeow-afk http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2117/2213177999_c22dd9381c.jpg works witht he crossed eyes approach too, you cross till you see the 3rd person appear tween the red and green one
20:15 katsmeow-afk ouch
20:16 katsmeow-afk Because of these statistics the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons suggests that only children over age 16 be allowed to ride on a lawnmower and only children under age 12 get run over by them
20:17 Skwint older brothers of the world rejoice
20:17 katsmeow-afk brothers?
20:19 katsmeow-afk well, i managed to drive all 4 steel posts where i could have cut the dsl line, cut the water line, or cut the SE triplex
20:20 katsmeow-afk unless i did cut the trplex, got fried,a nd this is all a nitemare
20:30 rue_mohr are all your nightmares really this vivvid tho?
20:30 rue_mohr ok todays $1 purcase was a tri-bladed screwdriver
20:31 katsmeow-afk yeas, some moe so
20:31 e_mohr looks at the arduino mega and kinda hisses at
20:37 Skwint are you randomly buying $1 objects off ebay?
20:37 rue_mohr no semi-random
20:37 Skwint and was this inspired by the xkcd cartoon?
20:38 rue_mohr its xkcd's fault
20:38 wint
20:39 rue_mohr I may make the cloud viewer too
20:40 rue_mohr one day
20:41 Skwint I don't think I've actually followed one yet, not like that
20:41 rue_mohr its only $365/year!
20:41 Skwint there are one or two that apply to me already, but I didn't change for them ...
20:42 rue_mohr do you know the keyword to say when talking to tech support?
20:42 Skwint um ... oh gods I should do
20:42 rue_mohr :)
20:42 Skwint I'd be able to pick it out from a list of 5 :p
20:42 Skwint http://xkcd.com/308/
20:42 Skwint that one is for me ;)
20:43 rue_mohr hehe
21:01 rue_shop is the LB1845 a microstepping driver
21:03 Tom_itx http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/LB1846M-D.PDF
21:04 Tom_itx woops wrong one
21:04 theBear supervisor is a good one... woulnd't want to get you into trouble ... some places you say level 2 but a lot of places just get pissed off and make it harder then
21:04 Tom_itx http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/LB1845-D.PDF
21:05 rue_shop answer is kinda
21:05 rue_shop looks like it can do 2 bit microstepping
21:06 theBear hehe 20w with "an arbitrarily large heatsink" <grin>
21:09 rue_shop with the SLA7024 I can just play with the ref voltga
21:17 rue_shop http://www.dz863.com/datasheet-819242563-SLA7042M_Microstepping-Unipolar-Pwm-High-current-Motor-Controller-driver/
21:17 rue_shop cool
21:17 rue_shop oh thats the 42
21:17 rue_shop I have the 24
21:22 rue_shop ok how many microsteps did I say they were using
21:49 rue_shop OOO I have these A3977 from ... gigs
21:49 rue_shop they do 3 bit microstepping
21:50 Tom_itx microstepping is the shizzle
21:50 Tom_itx 3bit is how many steps?
22:11 rue_mohr 8
22:12 rue_mohr I need to check the specs on the umpalumpa motor driver
22:12 rue_mohr see how many microsteps that was
22:13 rue_mohr theirs goes down to sixteenth steps
22:15 Tom_itx mine is set at 10
22:15 Tom_itx but it has other stuff in it besides that
22:15 rue_mohr 10 microsteps?
22:16 Tom_itx yes
22:16 Tom_itx gives me 40000 per inch
22:17 Tom_itx on a 20 tpi screw
22:18 Tom_itx it's got a dsp in it too though
22:33 Tom_itx rue_mohr also look for a current limit mode at idle
22:33 Tom_itx helps keep the stepper alot cooler
22:55 rue_shop grrr while on the phone the robot hit a pipe, it tripped the breaker, the cmos battery failed, and it corrupted its main program file on disk
22:55 rue_shop I restored one of the program backups, but its missing a lot of REALLY minor tweeks that drastically improve the behaviour
23:08 rue_shop ooo I think I might have just recovered enough of the file to get the tweeks back
23:21 rue_shop yup, I think its true, I think a person can kill themself trying to maintain a big life they have built
23:21 rue_shop I have the mowerbot close, its trying to hump the shrubs and wander off to the back field
23:21 rue_shop its just being a bit shy still
23:23 rue_shop I'm going to put some red/green side lights on the mowerbot
23:23 rue_shop its hard to see at night
23:24 rue_shop the T1 interface blew some caps, hell mess of noise on the line, cant hear squat
23:26 rue_shop I dont like being alone
23:32 rue_mohr your not alone, I'm here
23:32 rue_mohr I know, but its just not the same
23:32 rue_mohr how so?
23:32 rue_mohr you get stuck at the same time I do
23:32 rue_mohr oh
23:34 rrywolf flops next to katsmeow-afk and y
23:36 katsmeow-afk mou
23:37 furrywolf :)
23:37 tsmeow-afk climbs tot her oof and waves at rue and f
23:37 katsmeow-afk err
23:37 tsmeow-afk climbs to the roof and waves at rue and f
23:37 furrywolf working on your garden?
23:38 katsmeow-afk no, waving at you and rue
23:38 furrywolf that's a big climb just to wave!
23:38 katsmeow-afk nevermind, <climbs back down and wonder why she bothered>
23:38 e_mohr tries to look up, but after the day of work he had his neck just wont let
23:39 rue_mohr !assist cicits
23:39 tobbor Possibly http://eds.dyndns.org/~ircjunk/cicits
23:39 rue_mohr !assist circuits
23:39 tobbor Possibly http://eds.dyndns.org/~ircjunk/circuits
23:39 katsmeow-afk what's a cicit?
23:39 rrywolf curls back up next to katsmeow-afk now that she's back within r
23:39 rue_mohr I cane up with a current mirror a while ago
23:39 rue_mohr I need it now
23:40 katsmeow-afk well, for a moment, Jessica Beal is on tv, but if i go intot he other room, theyll goto a commercial
23:41 orlok hmm
23:42 orlok if i wanted to make a touch sensor for a "3d scanner"
23:42 orlok i'm wondering - simple button, or use the peizo flex sensor i have?"
23:43 rue_mohr so everything is breaking latley
23:43 furrywolf orlok: there's several publicly posted designs for homemade sensors that, without too much effort, approach professional accuracy levels.
23:43 furrywolf unless you don't need accuracy, a random button is not likely to work very well.
23:43 orlok yeah, thats what i thought
23:44 furrywolf the "standard" design seems to be a symmetrical Y-shape of drill rod sitting on six ball bearing balls, where lifting it slightly in any direction breaks the circuit.
23:45 katsmeow-afk Jessica Beal is one of those people who clean up real nice, but you'd never recongnise her walking downthe street, on tv promoting a movie, made up like a 19 yr old hooker, hot pink lipstick etc
23:45 furrywolf I don't know who that is.
23:46 orlok furrywolf: i'm thinking a pin/metal rod in a tube, with the head attached to a flex ssensor strip
23:47 katsmeow-afk furry, she played a navy officer in the Ai uav movie Stealth : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_(film)
23:47 furrywolf http://www.vinland.com/touch-probe.html
23:47 orlok http://www.indoor.flyer.co.uk/probe.htm
23:47 furrywolf the other version I saw soldered the balls to a pcb, which seemed even easier.
23:48 katsmeow-afk Tom made one, ask him
23:48 katsmeow-afk pics on his website
23:48 katsmeow-afk afk again
23:54 furrywolf "Stealth was panned by critics; Rotten Tomatoes gave it 13%, with an average score of 3.8/10 and only 18 out of 136 reviews being positive.[7] It holds a rating of just 7% when narrowed down to professional "top" critics, with an average score of 3.6/10 and only 2 out of 30 reviews being positive."