[chbot] next Meeting Wed 21st july 2010

Sun Jul 18 13:32:33 BST 2010

if this is is still on i should still be able to come around.
around what time on the day aproximatly should i come
i will probably bring along the toshiba laptop i use for my picaxe stuff 
might do some small tweaks to the display code while im there
i havnt got all the parts for my large display yet but i have finished the 
displays themselves
each digit is 60mm high and 40 wide using 172 green LEDs mounted on 
kiwipatch prototype boards
my second one is offically finished, having my picaxe clock and wireless 
internal, having an instrument case and having a wide range of attachments 
(eg i have a DB9 and backshell with a SMD 08M inside and a breadboard glued 
to the back for prototypes using the display on pin 0 for serial readouts)

i'll probably also bring along the fan heater with my digital thermostat and 
wireless transmitter which sends the temperature data and mode to the 
display i'll also bring along the 8 digit assembly for my large display and 
the prototyper setup i've made with the db9 backshell, plug, 08M and 
breadboard.

in short its gonna be one heck of a night with some of my projects

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jimmy allen" <jimmy1248 at gmail.com>
To: "Christchurch Robotics" <chchrobotics at lists.linuxnut.co.nz>
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:45 PM
Subject: Re: [chbot] next Meeting Wed 21st july 2010

>I have seen this project and it is very well done with the little
> resources used.
>
> On 6/16/10, william <fleetwil at gmail.com> wrote:
>> for the next meeting I would like to show everyone some projects I have
>> done.
>> if you don't know me, I am william47316 on bright sparks and I have done 
>> a
>> few interesting projects involving 08M picaxe-s and shift registers. by 
>> the
>> time the next meeting comes around I may have finished my second 
>> prototype
>> and my 60mm high large proto
>> currently my second prototype needs a replacement display and some 
>> finishing
>> touches and I need parts for my large one
>>
>> the displays use an 08M controlling nine 8 bit shift registers using a 
>> 595
>> for addressing the other 8 strobe lines with common data and clock rails
>> total of 4 outputs controlling 64. the picaxe receives 8 bytes of serial
>> data and processes them to the display eg the ASCII numbers and a few
>> letters get processed as display codes the rest can be for custom 
>> displays
>>
>> the driver shift registers are ucn5841's which can be used on inductive 
>> or
>> other power loads and have Darlington outputs
>> they work quite nicely on the 08M and will drive common anode loads also 
>> a
>> plus that they are extremely robust
>>
>>
>> I can bring along my initial version, and the other two when they are
>> completely finished, my first version has a picaxe based clock I made 
>> too.
>>
>> I may also bring along some other things I have eg a fan heater which I
>> replaced the mechanical thermostat with a Dallas temperature sensor and
>> picaxe controller which also displays temperature and function on my
>> display. and my old toshy which I have made some software which can 
>> control
>> the display via the serial port
>>
>> to control the display you can send it at least 8 bytes of ASCII numbers 
>> or
>> other codes at 4800baud
>> to plug in you will need a two wire cable with either a DB9 female 
>> connector
>> or 3 pin header with wiring on the outer pins (of the header) or ground 
>> on
>> pin 5 and data on pin 2 for the DB9 plug. and a plug which connects to 
>> the
>> serial port output on your project/device
>>
>> for other info check 
>> http://www.brightsparks.org.nz/#/forum/33/topic/8961/
>>> Meeting Report Wed 16 June 2010
>>>
>>> Sixteen people attended and the collection raised $17 for which
>>> Science Alive will be very gratefully received. Our next meeting will
>>> be on Wednesday 21st July 2010 in the Science Alive Seminar Room. I
>>> have a fancy screwdriver that was left in the room, and King has
>>> misplaced a laptop power lead. Please get in touch via the mailing
>>> list if you can help get these back to their owners.
>>>
>>> Mark suggested we move to monthly meetings and a majority thought this
>>> was a good idea. Science Alive have agreed and the room is available
>>> for the remainder of the year, so we now meet on the 3rd Wednesday of
>>> every month.
>>>
>>> Kay showed us incredible jointed moving models of dragon, cat,
>>> trebuchet, and a remote controlled model Roman Galley. Constructed
>>> from scratch many using his home made electric scroll saw, and
>>> intricate carving. Must be seen to be appreciated.
>>>
>>> Peter brought along the MKII lawn mower prototype electronics and a
>>> huge motor platform on which they run. Now based on ATMega328, state
>>> machines drawn in Dia and auto generated code, FET Motor control, with
>>> HM6532 compass module. The platform wiggled across the room nicely on
>>> a set bearing. Peter also mentioned that it is very good at turning
>>> towards large metal filing cabinets. I think it should be called Luke
>>> as it uses the force.
>>>
>>> Robin spoke about his 32 channel automatic watering system hosted on a
>>> Linksys WRT54G wireless router running openwrt. The system is web
>>> controlled using json objects delivered to a browser that overlays
>>> control rectangles over a satellite image of the property for the gui
>>> control interface. The web server uses open source
>>> http://code.google.com/p/mongoose/ which readily integrates the
>>> control function calls. The same json file delivered to the browser is
>>> also used in the server to associate the 1 wire IC addresses with the
>>> active areas on the gui. The water solenoid valves are controlled
>>> using 70c triacs, driven by 1 wire chips that interface to the wrt54
>>> via a serial to 1 wire converter avoiding the need to write kernel
>>> drivers. A current transformer protects the well pump by shutting down
>>> the system if the water solenoids are not drawing the appropriate
>>> power demanded by the system.
>>>
>>> Sachin presented his work using genetic algorithms. He showed a
>>> demonstration of a genetic algorithm approach to generating a
>>> photographic image using ascii art. Then a demo of using genetic
>>> algorithms to evolve a player for the  open source game Tenix. Each
>>> solution was iteratively refined using a fitness score, mutations were
>>> found to be counter productive above 0.5%. Eventually Sachin wants to
>>> teach his crab hexapod to learn how to move using the  genetic
>>> algorithm approach. Sachin has posted his open source projects on
>>> Google code here: http://code.google.com/p/neural-network-classes/ and
>>> here http://code.google.com/p/tennix/
>>>
>>> Charles brought along his half size Dalek to be used at a wedding in
>>> February. Charles spoke about the journey towards making the Dalek
>>> involving glues and PVA not setting when sandwiched between
>>> polystyrene, completing his CNC machine, a vacuum forming jig that we
>>> saw last time, and different paint and shape choices. The Dalek is
>>> looking very impressive.
>>>
>>> Thanks to all those who came and especially those who presented their
>>> work.
>>>
>>> Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 21st July at 6.30pm.
>>>
>>> Photos here :
>>> http://picasaweb.google.com/113134050398543502524/ChchRobotics16June2010?feat=directlink
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
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>>> Web site: http://kiwibots.org
>>> Meetings 3rd Wednesday of each month 6:30pm
>>>
>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line to reflect new content.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
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>> Meetings 3rd Wednesday of each month 6:30pm
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line to reflect new content.
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
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>
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