baltimore-node-discussion Google Group

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-19T19:22:07Z

This is not an answer to the question but it's interesting that lots of things look like this.
This is exactly what code to do this looks like in Dynamic C, a proprietary compiler for the Rabbit CPU, which
is a Z80 derivative. The compiler is ANSI C except for a few exceptions so that leads me to suspect it is doable

Re: People at the Node on Sunday and Strandbeest Kit

2013-05-19T16:42:26Z

I'm here now.

--
Jonathan Yoke
jony...@gmail.com
804-363-0064

Re: People at the Node on Sunday and Strandbeest Kit

2013-05-18T23:20:42Z

Noon would be good. If you have to leave, no problem, I can probably head
out after a few hours. If other people are there I might stay longer.

--
Jonathan Yoke
jony...@gmail.com
804-363-0064

Re: People at the Node on Sunday and Strandbeest Kit

2013-05-18T22:00:29Z

Jonathan had suggested noon. I can come in at about 4 pm but not too much
sooner.

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T21:37:28Z

Macro tricks might work, see below.

Taking a quick shot:

// LIBRARY //////////////////////////

/* Looked into ThreadKit and did something to replace
the THREADS definition.
*/
THREAD_FUNC thread_funcs[MAX_N_THREADS] = {0};
int num_threads=0;

//Looked into ThreadKit and found how THREADS is implemented.

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T20:18:35Z

It seemed unlikely that this pattern hadn't been addressed. I tried
searching, but I must admit my google-fu is weak.

Have you used this library?

Looking at thread kit:

It is pretty close to what I want.

The syntax/macros are, perhaps, a plus. It makes the pattern stand out.

It takes over setup() and loop(), which is not a good thing.

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T19:48:05Z

That's correct.

I'm trying to abstract the ad-hoc if/switch pattern.

--
Alan Grover
awgro...@mail.msen.com
+1.734.476.0969

(The "email signature" and/or digital-signature
are only for informational and integrity purposes
and does not constitute a legal signature)

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T19:43:32Z

Yea, I do that in my rough code. I use an array to step through the
functions.

My code-comments say you can't block. My rough code uses the protocol:
do one step, return true to move to next step, false to stay (repeat) in
the step. I don't believe that "yield" is supported in the arduino

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T17:12:41Z

Good find!

I think you could definitely wrap this up behind some macros and make it
more user friendly. In addition, if the users need thread interaction,
they have a robust system to fall back on.

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T16:55:06Z

I'm not sure if it 100% fits the bill for inexperienced programmers, but
the Threadkit library allows for cooperative multithreading on the arduino:
[link]

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T16:43:57Z

I was about to say something very similar myself. I have done some
multitasking programs for microcontrollers in the past and have found
that errors can get really weird with interrupts. While the arduino
has 3 times (2 8bit, 1 16bit) you would have to check what other
functions use those timers. Otherwise when you change the pre-scale

Re: Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T16:28:40Z

Sounds like fun! I can't help much myself, but...

1.) The library as maintained by arduino doesn't easily allow
multitasking. You'll have to do something like a switch statement
eventually. Something is going to have to store state somewhere.

2.) If you allow people to implement their own functions, you won't get

Need c++ template help for simple arduino pattern

2013-05-18T14:53:00Z

I need some help with c++/template code (and packaging as an arduino
library), to be open-sourced. Because I don't want to re-learn the
arcana of C++ templates, nor think like Bjarne.

Anyone interested in working on this? I'm imagining 8-20 hours of work
(my rough version took me about 4 hours).

Re: People at the Node on Sunday and Strandbeest Kit

2013-05-18T13:55:47Z

Give me a time and I'll come down to open up. I don't want to commit to
more than a couple of hours, so, we'll need someone to close up.

Anyone else?

--
Alan Grover
awgro...@mail.msen.com
+1.734.476.0969

(The "email signature" and/or digital-signature
are only for informational and integrity purposes

People at the Node on Sunday and Strandbeest Kit

2013-05-17T17:12:01Z

Hey guys (and gals),

I'd like to come hang out at the Node on Sunday, probably around noon.
I've got a few projects I'm working on, one of which is the
strandbeest kit<[link]>
I
talked about in a thread a week or two ago. Some people expressed interest

Re: Groogle Group for Hackathon Announcements

2013-05-16T08:33:52Z

Just collecting the emails posted on their websites
should do it, as that lessens the multiple emails
to multiple members of those groups,
sort of offical channels instead of the side door/
informal communications between geeky groups
in the area. Not just hardware / hackerspaces
but also some programming / software groups

Groogle Group for Hackathon Announcements

2013-05-16T03:43:55Z

Hey, trying to get everyone who's interested in Baltimore hackathons to
join a google group to have a central place to announce hackathons and
organize volunteers.

Here's the link: [link]

Does anyone have contacts at other hacker spaces to pass it on? Please let

Re: Do we want to participate in the "Innovation Expo: DIY in Maryland" June 1?

2013-05-14T14:24:11Z

It sounds really cool, but I guess we'll have to skip it.

Mike

Re: Just launched a Kickstarter!

2013-05-14T00:51:14Z

Awesome man!

Hey Folks,

As some of you may know, I recently spent a few weeks in Shenzhen, China,
to join some friends at Blinkiverse, an electronics startup in the HAXLR8R
hardware startup program out there.

We've just launched our Kickstarter, and I am really excited about it!

BlinkyTape - The LED Strip Reinvented: [link]

Re: Just launched a Kickstarter!

2013-05-13T18:47:42Z

Awesome, and a Node shoutout! Looks great.

On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 2:26 PM, Hasdai Westbrook <

Re: Just launched a Kickstarter!

2013-05-13T18:26:40Z

Wow. Cool!

--
Hasdai Westbrook
Partner, ChangingMedia
443-826-9516
[link]

See the latest updates from the
ChangeEngine<[link]>blog! Visit
[link] <[link]>

Just launched a Kickstarter!

2013-05-13T18:07:29Z

Hey Folks,

As some of you may know, I recently spent a few weeks in Shenzhen, China,
to join some friends at Blinkiverse, an electronics startup in the HAXLR8R
hardware startup program out there.

We've just launched our Kickstarter, and I am really excited about it!

BlinkyTape - The LED Strip Reinvented: [link]

Chinese DIY Inventions

2013-05-09T11:50:38Z

Wild
[link]
"I hope to sell my submarine as a civil product with the price of about 100,000 yuan ($15,670) after safety tests", Zhang said.

Thanks,
Kevin
[link]

Fwd: [HacDC:Blabber] Arduino-authenticated kegerator

2013-05-08T19:43:21Z

If anyone wants to make the kegerator work with the door lock that we do
not have for the new space, here is a project.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
To: "HacDC" <Blab...@hacdc.org>
Cc:

[link]

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-08T13:54:44Z

To make it float I would do the following:
Locate the riders under the main drive axle
Make legs out of bamboo to reduce weight (and bonus cost reduction)
Have main buoyancy provided by cockpit displacement and secondary
provided by foam placed between the legs for stability.

As for the fly wheel I think it is great in theory but difficult to pull

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T22:38:37Z

Can we put the Project Awesome grants back in place and vote on applying
one to this project when we are closer to the purchasing phase?

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T22:25:32Z

This is going to be

1) Big

2) Complicated

3) Expensive

4) AWESOME

Perhaps we could get some of the other Hackerspaces involved? (In
particular, the Foundery).

--
Jonathan Yoke
jony...@gmail.com
804-363-0064

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T22:17:29Z

WANT

Thanks,
Kevin
[link]
______________________________ __
From: Mike Graham <mikegra...@gmail.com>
To: baltimore-node-discussion@goog legroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 6:08 PM

[link] shows someone who turns merely by letting the legs slip. It works really well for them, but I am not convinced it would for something that can go across the terrain we need to.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T22:08:15Z

[link] shows someone who turns merely
by letting the legs slip. It works really well for them, but I am not
convinced it would for something that can go across the terrain we need to.

[link] looks like it might too, but you

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T21:53:42Z

I don't think two pairs of legs would work very well. Four might be
alright, but you'd still have the problem.

Differentials might work... but I'm not at all sure. They might behave
quite unexpectedly when driving strandbeest legs. Also, the sync of the
legs is very important and differentials would mess that up.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T21:48:40Z

Yes, I was thinking turning will be hard. Some people have made rideable
strandbeesten that turn -- it looks like they just let the feet slip a
little. We could limit to two legs (where's the fun in that =( ?) or we
could build differentials (sounds heavy and error-prone) or we could make a
pivoting stand of some sort for the beest (where we lower it, lifting the

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T21:36:39Z

Yes! A large flywheel is exactly what I was imagining. I was also trying
to figure out how it would turn, and I'm thinking a clutch on each side of
the flywheel to engage each side of the beast. That would also make it so
that if you want to stop you can just disengage without stopping the
flywheel.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T21:25:33Z

I have the toy kit from Japan and I put it together last year. It doesn't really teach you the math behind the genius as it simply snaps together. The toy itself in terms of molding and tolerance is quite nice. Mine certainly worked fine. The instructions are not in English, so there was some trial and error in fitting all of the tiny pieces. But it wasn't that hard.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T17:57:46Z

Ok, so here is an analysis of how the strandbeest legs
work<[link]>
.

--
Jonathan Yoke
jony...@gmail.com
804-363-0064

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T17:41:58Z

I will definitely let you guys know when it comes in and when I'm planning
on putting it together.

I couldn't really find a good link for the details of the mechanism. I'm a
tactile learner, so I figured I'd just order the kit and learn the details
of the mechanism by building one!

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T17:40:18Z

I'd like see some details on how the mechanisms are built if there is a good link for that

Thanks,
Kevin
[link]
______________________________ __
From: Mike Graham <mikegra...@gmail.com>
To: baltimore-node-discussion@goog legroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 1:29 PM

Those strandbeests are amazing! We should totally go that route.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T17:29:56Z

Those strandbeests are amazing! We should totally go that route.

I'd love to see you build the model one to get a better idea how they work,
concretely. It looks like they can be very robust.

Mike

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T01:26:25Z

I'm down.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-07T00:56:23Z

I don't think there is a theme either except that each sculpture had to
have a stock puppet on it. I went too. It was a great day for the race!

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T21:50:36Z

The mad scientist was built next door at area 405. The neighbors would be a
great help in design decisions. It's also worth talking with velocipede to
get help with bike engineering and construction.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T21:16:02Z

[link]

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T21:15:10Z

Karl--I'm not sure they have themes.

Jonathan--Those look awesome!

Mike

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T21:15:05Z

Wow, those are neat. Do you think that the one with the hamster was made
on a 3D printer?

Some of the sculptors in the building across from the Node made a vehicle
for the kinetic sculpture race. It was a mad scientist.

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T21:02:02Z

You all may not care about strandbeests, but this stuff blows my mind. So
here are some more videos.

Human-driven, metal strandbeest from
Taiwan<[link]>

Bamboo toy strandbeest on
Kickstarter<[link]>

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T20:28:58Z

Yes.

Let's Make a Strandbeest <[link]>

I was at the race as well. I got so fired up by this idea I bought a
strandbeest kit from China to see how it
works.<[link]>

Re: Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T20:26:24Z

When is next years theme announced?

A robot would always be classy

Kinetic sculpture

2013-05-06T20:23:54Z

I was at the Kinetic Sculpture Race Saturday and it was awesome. There were
all kinds of amazing works of art racing, some with great craftsmanship and
some impressively (if not frighteningly) hacked together. Kudos to everyone
who competed!

We discussed a few times building a kinetic sculpture. If we're interested

Re: Do we want to participate in the "Innovation Expo: DIY in Maryland" June 1?

2013-05-06T14:56:17Z

I met and talked with Liz last month at Final Friday. She seemed really
excited about having us there. I have a wedding that day other wise I would
volunteer to help out.

-Mark

RE: EXT :Do we want to participate in the "Innovation Expo: DIY in Maryland" June 1?

2013-05-06T14:42:31Z

I could sure use some help with an Arduino workshop at this event. SparkFun is supplying the hardware, I just need some help running the workshop.

The plan is to build a SIMON kit and then explore some very simple Arduino programming.

The plan is for 5 to 10 participants (Library staff) per workshop for 2 hours. The number of participants will depend on the number of volunteers. The workshops would be from 1 to 5 pm. The target audience is the Library staff from around the state and not the general public. There will be around 40+ library managers & staff attending.

Do we want to participate in the "Innovation Expo: DIY in Maryland" June 1?

2013-05-06T14:26:15Z

It looks like an awesome event --
[link]

Should the Node put in for a spot? If so, who can volunteer to staff our
booth?

Mike