#robotics Logs

Aug 17 2018

08:29 AM weyland|yutani: Tom_L, well i could give you guys a good update every day about my dabblings in verilog but you would find it rather mundane and depressing
08:36 AM weyland|yutani: well atm its postponed because i had to parameterize a HVAC system into a home automation system
08:36 AM weyland|yutani: because sometimes contractors are stupid
08:37 AM weyland|yutani: i also picked up a book about building simple neural networks in analog electronics
08:52 AM rue_: oo how are they trainign them
08:55 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, its ultra simple feed forward backpropagation fed with 0 and 1 or -5V and +5V
08:56 AM rue_: and its analog?
08:56 AM weyland|yutani: only a bunch of opamps
08:57 AM weyland|yutani: but i didnt read it yet
08:57 AM weyland|yutani: so its just skimmed knowledge
08:57 AM rue_: today I'm annoyed because google just increased the browser requirements for a captchya
08:58 AM rue_: I cant use my main browser with captchas anymore
08:58 AM weyland|yutani: isnt your main browser like a trillion years old
08:58 AM rue_: they want everyone with a 32bit machine to buy a new computer
08:59 AM rue_: I use a version of librecad that is holding back some upgrades
08:59 AM rue_: but all the new browsers suck,
09:00 AM rue_: to which I'm reffering to firefox and chromium
09:00 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, well yes it sucks but sometimes you have to move with time
09:01 AM rue_: I'm not throwing out 5 workstations casue their 32 bit
09:02 AM rue_: 64bit is just to deal with bloatware anyhow
09:02 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, what processors are they running
09:02 AM rue_: most are P4
09:02 AM rue_: I have about 12 machines running all togethor
09:03 AM rue_: but lots of them are utility machines
09:03 AM rue_: like phone system, home automation, and fileservers
09:04 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, home automation doesnt eed much porcessing power
09:04 AM weyland|yutani: so doesnt phone and fileserver
09:04 AM rue_: but I have 5 or 6 web-browser workstations
09:04 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, i have this too but its in a VM in a powerfull server
09:05 AM rue_: yes, the vm thing is a bad idea
09:05 AM weyland|yutani: why?
09:05 AM rue_: with this I have hardware failure protection
09:05 AM rue_: its not all gonna go down cause a drive controller or power supply fails
09:06 AM rue_: heh, home automation is using a P150
09:06 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, every VM is back up every day on a drive for every day in a week so even it fails the most i will loose is 24 hours
09:07 AM rue_: yup, if that hardware goes down, you lose everything till its back up again
09:07 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, that is true
09:07 AM rue_: I just lose one thing
09:07 AM weyland|yutani: thats why its HA
09:07 AM rue_: and some of them run specific hardware
09:07 AM rue_: in different locations
09:07 AM rue_: like the boiler controller
09:08 AM weyland|yutani: there are pro and con for everything
09:08 AM rue_: I didn't even know the P4 wasn't 64bit till I tried an 64bit install on one
09:08 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, what home automation are you using and for what purposes
09:09 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, yea well core quad i think was first in 64bit
09:09 AM weyland|yutani: but i am not sure
09:09 AM rue_: primarily the server is what I call an echoserver, its got a service running that will forward messages to everyone connected
09:10 AM rue_: I use it for things like turning the heat on and off on a complex schedule, wattering the garden, and operating the boiler
09:10 AM rue_: and maybe soon to be, managing my tea
09:10 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, but its your own makingnot some off the sheld parts
09:10 AM weyland|yutani: shelf
09:11 AM rue_: hmm.... nothing off shelf, oh and it does the doorbell too
09:11 AM rue_: and the message notification lights for the phone system
09:11 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, i do home automation for a living for very high end and commercial customers
09:12 AM rue_: yea, I'm _NOT_ into turning my lights on and off with my cellphone :)
09:13 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, thats not what i meant, its HVAC and access systems also lighting and stuff but then from a wall panel
09:13 AM rue_: question then, how long is a system typically good for, I expect every time a new phone comes out, you have to upgrade everything to match, change a bunch of hardware for things that have apps that support the new phone?
09:14 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, there are commercial systems which the protocol and inner workings dont change only how much stuff they can support less in the past more now some systems i worked with where 20+ years old
09:14 AM rue_: ah good stuff
09:15 AM weyland|yutani: rue_, the only thing is they are expensive
09:15 AM rue_: yup
09:15 AM weyland|yutani: some wall controllers are 500$+
09:15 AM rue_: mine started with the doorbell :)
09:16 AM rue_: custom chimes you know
09:16 AM rue_: a message bus is handy cause I can pickup events in my workshop
09:16 AM rue_: I'm also putting in a driveway breakbeam "soon"
09:17 AM rue_: know when I have visitors (some people leave not knowing I'm here)
09:17 AM weyland|yutani: camera?
09:17 AM rue_: no, IR beam across the driveway
09:18 AM rue_: I'll know if deer arrive too
09:18 AM rue_: :)
09:18 AM weyland|yutani: i meat just camera to see who is out there
09:18 AM rue_: no, I'm just a second away
09:18 AM rue_: peer over and see
09:18 AM weyland|yutani: ah ok
09:21 AM rue_: not sure if the new tea machine should be on the message bus or do its own time control
09:21 AM weyland|yutani: is a tea machine a coffemachine?
09:21 AM rue_: its a modified coffee machine
09:21 AM rue_: you put tea in instead.
09:22 AM rue_: :)
09:22 AM rue_: later
04:44 PM _unreal_: Just got a cool controller box I'm going to use as a PENDENT for my home cnc
04:45 PM _unreal_: was a controller for the cranes on a boat for putting jet skies and tenders on and off the main boat
07:06 PM rue_: ok
07:13 PM _unreal_: taking famly to homedepo back in a bit
10:38 PM rue_: _unreal_, well
10:38 PM rue_: I'm gonna go work on the driver more, I made a whole bunch of progress on the repair of my bandsaw
10:39 PM rue_: tommorow I'll go buy a drillpress, see what I find at a garage sale, and look at a bobcat...
10:43 PM rue_shop4: damnit
10:43 PM rue_shop4: and apparently a small excavator
10:44 PM Tom_L: you gonna buy a bobcat?
10:45 PM rue_shop4: id be set on the excavator if he'd listed it
10:45 PM rue_shop4: he mentioned in his reply
10:45 PM rue_shop4: they dont realy devalue much
10:45 PM rue_shop4: so...
10:45 PM Tom_L: what do you need one for?
10:47 PM rue_shop4: that is the main hangup regarding buying it
10:48 PM rue_shop4: the excavator would be nice for digging
10:48 PM rue_shop4: the bobcat for clearing snow
10:48 PM Tom_L: i didn't think you spent more than a dollar on anything
10:48 PM rue_shop4: a bobcat for $6500?
10:49 PM rue_shop4: thats like an emco cnc mill for $200
10:50 PM Tom_L: https://wichita.craigslist.org/spo/d/outstanding-taxidermy-mounted/6668607703.html
10:51 PM Tom_L: there's one for $200
10:51 PM Tom_L: one listed for 5500
10:51 PM Tom_L: 6000
10:51 PM Tom_L: 6500
10:52 PM rue_shop4: uh, you know what I mean by bobcat right?
10:52 PM Tom_L: https://wichita.craigslist.org/hvo/d/632-bobcat-gas/6667321016.html
10:54 PM rue_shop4: https://sunshine.craigslist.ca/hvo/d/case-1830-skid-steer/6637335573.html
10:54 PM rue_shop4: those are US dollars tho
10:54 PM rue_shop4: which are about $1.50 cad
10:54 PM rue_shop4: so that would really be 8250 to me
10:54 PM rue_shop4: + shipping
10:55 PM Tom_L: needs another 500-1k work to make it work
10:55 PM rue_shop4: this to me, is like you finding one for $4300
10:55 PM rue_shop4: I can change the drive chain, I need to know more about the leak
10:55 PM Tom_L: naw, i'd just have my neighbor bring one home from work for a bit
10:56 PM Tom_L: what's to know about hydraulic leaks?
10:56 PM Tom_L: they make a mess
10:56 PM Tom_L: probably worn hoses
10:56 PM rue_shop4: is it a pipe I can go to the corner store and get a new one or is it a $5000 pump
10:57 PM rue_shop4: (we have a corner store that does custom hoses)
11:18 PM zhanx_ is now known as zhanx
11:19 PM _unreal_: hum
11:21 PM rue_shop4: you didn't figure out code to sequence a stepper I suppose
11:21 PM rue_shop4: _unreal_, what avr do you have?
11:45 PM _unreal_: amazingly I'm awake kind of 12C508A
11:46 PM _unreal_: I just ordered a few of those
11:46 PM _unreal_: and a programmer. going to program them with code already designed to do step/dir to phase control
11:47 PM _unreal_: I can edit the script to change it from whole/half/2phase stepping
11:47 PM _unreal_: before programing
11:48 PM _unreal_: just changing the 1000, 0100, 0010, 0001, 1100, 0110, 0011, 1001 etc.....
11:48 PM _unreal_: 1am bed time
11:59 PM rue_: 12C508 is a stupid PIC