The Omni-directional Wheel - so cool!

I'm just starting this post now - i'll update it later.

But the Omni-directional Wheel, which i saw on PrimeTV  - "Prototype This" - Thursday 30dec2010 was So Cool i HAD to make an entry about it.. This was the AirTrax version used for the guys' straddle-&-park machine.

There's a blog entry about it here.


That said - Happy New Year!

Last Rites (for this year anyway)

Well, that's that for this year - bombed the course, but i hope i can get back next year; all depends on StudyLink - the Graduate Exporting Scheme (aka the Student Loan Scheme) is not, it seems, adequately discouraging people from educating themselves & staying here to spread it around a bit.

Just chatting to the bloke on the computer alongside of me.. explained the Graduate Exporting Scheme to him, along with aspects of our Electoral System - i don't know anyone with half a gram of intelligence/common sense who wants to get rid of MMP:  it's the only thing that stands between us & the old-style electoral dictatorship (effectively a one-party state, since the Opposition was absolutely powerless), of which the late (&, to my mind, unlamented) Robert Muldoon was a prime example: his Cabinet was for the most part frightened of him, he was afraid of no-one, & in those days, if you controlled Cabinet, you effectively ran the country; & he did, his way, & brooked no opposition, to the point where, when Marilyn Waring threatened his one-vote majority in the House by crossing the floor on the Anti-Nuclear issue, he spat the dummy & called a snap election - & lost!!


As it turned out, we got tossed out of the frying pan into the fire - we got Rogernomics, but that's another story..


This stuff really belongs in my blog 'JaneMareesFWIW' but it's in here anyway..


Toodle-oo for the year.  If i get back next year, i'll start another blog on Project Management, & re-enter this one in Semester Two, when i hope to repeat this paper.


Bye 4 Now
Jane-Maree

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Task: Lego Robot software

Well - i've got the Lego-bot assembly to the point where i can now do something with it.

Now that i have access to the software, i've been experimenting with motion, loops, sound, the little screen that's on the Lego-bot controller, & generally i think i've got a handle on it.


Now to make it do something interesting!

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Task: Start "Mr General" Assembly..

..which has turned out to be harder than i thought it'd be!

The following problems have emerged:
 1) we no longer have an electronics lab - the heavy-duty electrical engineering people
     now have that room for their stuff;
 2) i'm using a make-shift lab-spot, sharing with all the people
     in the 3rd-year project room;
 3) the lighting's bad in there & i can't see f**k-all;
 4) there's a trick to soldering components into those teeny-tiny holes in the PCBs,
     & it took me ages to work out how to do that & to fix my c**k-ups;
 5) i'm missing a little pack of 8 small nylon washers,
     which i normally wouldn't worry about except that they look as if they're for
     insulating metal spacers from the main PCB surface

Possible solutions (in no particular order):
 1) i have a $2 cyclist's 'headlight' to illuminate the work i'm doing;
 2) i have a $2 magnifying glass whose handle i can wedge into the 'headlight' strap,
     so i can see better;
 3) "Mr General" is no longer essential to my project - Peter says
      i can use the Lego-Bot for both project items;
 4) any number of hardware-y places must surely sell
      little nylon washers of some kind;
 5) I still think i can do this! 
     That must count for something (psychologically if not marks-wise)..




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Task: continue with Lego Robot Assembly_part 2

Aha!!  When all else fails (where have i heard that before..?),
read the instructions (so far, so OK)..

..from the beginning!!

As in Start at the first page (duh!)!
On the first & subsequent pages were instructions for connecting the Battery Pack.
And YES, there was a detachable lid covering the opening for the battery pack.
I plugged it in..
..didn't follow the instructions carefully enough..
..wondered why certain components wouldn't fit back together again..
..took it apart..
..seated the battery pack properly this time..
..reassembled it &..
..Bob's Yer Auntie!!

It didn't do anything  to begin with, then suddenly came right, took it into its tiny little brain to switch on, & now all i have to do is work out how to program it!!

YAY!!

Task: continue with Lego Robot Assembly

Well, I've assembled as much of the Lego robot as i can, but there's a snag:
---the battery pack doesn't fit on, & i don't know why {grrr!!}..
..it just won't.  I suspect that:
--(1) the programming panel is the wrong sort;
--(2) there's a panel on the bottom of the above which is stuck;
--(3) the battery pack is the wrong sort;
--(4) i'm making some unknown c**k-up in the assembly!


Given the fact that the previous user left bits assembled, 
& the parts all over the shop (which meant i had to do
an inventory before i even got started on assembly!),
& there seem to be 1 or 2 spare little bits (small part redundancy?),
maybe it's just an unsorted mess!!


I'm miles behind, & getting anxious :-(


I just need to get this sorted!


Tomorrow, in class maybe..


..meanwhile there are other things to do:
"Mr General" for one.  Due to my notorious inability to mentally 
attune myself to calendars (having spent a good part of my working life 
with irregular hours, irregular holidays, irregular jobs), i decided to 
stay home sick (snuffly) for what turned out to be the last day of the term.
Missed Ashley-the-Tech..
Came in on Monday - workmen, darkness, welding & painting..
..done it again!  I just don't get with holidays, as in i-never-know-until-it's-too-late!
(not the first time either).  So..


..no "Mr General" until tomorrow!


{si-i-i-igghhh}..  :-(  :-(

Problems, problems..

Task 5: 6-part Lego robot lesson