Robot Dialogs

Lately my projects have taken a back seat to some other higher priority stuff (including setting up the new web page for CCCKC (my local hackerspace) and various KC Maker Faire duties. On my own time I've been working to build a low power server. Something I can leave on all the time without burning holes in my wallet. Really that's just an excuse...any money I would have saved was dumped into good hardware and setup time, but whatever. I think the main point is that (when I've finished) I should have a server that I can leave on and have reliable file storage/access anywhere. And I will have learned something (supposedly). The Server: Mobo/Proc: SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SPE-HF-D525-O   OS HD: OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (This server is my first build with an SSD...Fast!) RAM: Crucial 2x2GB CT2KIT25664BC1339 Raid 5 HDs: WD Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB Currently RMA-ing 2 of these...SMART errors Power Supply: Antec NEO ECO 520C Case: Antec 300 Best cases I've ever used...this i...

21.2 FPS! I'm borrowing a ChipKIT Max32 from a friend. Hooked it up to the long running GameBoy Classic LCD project I've been working on and after some optimized code I hit 21.2 FPS! Best result yet. I'm used a simple java program to generate a version of my AVR C code in optimized Processing (Arduino-ese). I had to un-roll loops to the point of absurdity that's why I started using code generation... Java code is here . Up on my plate in the near future: IOIO Tinkering - I need to come up with a project worthy of android powers. 30 Days of Creativity - June 1-30 - I'll be doing this again for sure! Maple Tinkering - I think this board might be the next step for the GameBoy Project. I have to return the ChipKIT Max32...the thing can only toggle an I/O pin at 719 kHz (I can get something better at the same price point). And most importantly the KC Maker Faire: June 25-26 :

I finally dug the GameBoy back out of the project box and started making some more progress on it. I'm still working with an ATMega32, but now I've cranked it up to the full 16Mhz it can handle... I also took some new data from the GameBoy LCD control signals with the Logic Sniffer. This time I wasn't clocking the GameBoy with my micro-controller. Instead I used the GBs original crystal, so the data is from the actual signals with actual timing that the GameBoy uses. I was able to break down the timings of the signals and essentially emulate them with the ATMega32. The logic I use to determine what pixel data to push out was simply if(x = y) then the pixel was turned on. I figure a diagonal line is a good test that doesn't look like the crazy vertical and horizontal screen artifacts you sometimes get with the GB. This picture is very deceiving, the contrast is a lot better in the picture than on the actual screen. The ATMega32 can't quite outpu...

Time for another post not about robots... Most projects are on the back burner because I've been poking about with an Ubuntu Server, Drupal and CiviCRM for CCCKC . I decided to make some coasters as a gift a family member. I went to Michaels to pick up the wood circle blanks, and Hobby Lobby had 4 inch cork coasters. I used one coat of stain before using the method I've described here to do the knot designs. This coat keeps the Sharpie ink from bleeding too much. When the designs were done I used 2 more coats of the stain and glued the wood disks to the cork coasters. Pictures taken with my EVO and the Droid Tripod Mount (yes it works with the EVO too!). I'm still on the fence about the Gorilla Glue. Hopefully it holds...I'm not sure I used enough. I tested one of them overnight with a puddle of water on the stained surface and it seemed to be sufficiently water proof.

Another video made by an attendee. Better than the news spot if you ask me :)

The Maker Faire has come and gone and was a pretty big success. We had a news crew in the morning and then a whole slew of people showed up. I had the RC Nerf Turret and other robots on display. It was a long day with a lot of interested people and a ton of kids. The turret got most of the face time, even got on the news and a mention on the Make Magazine blog . There's a bunch of pictures here and here . I bought a LoL Sheild and Diavolino and got it up and running this week. I'm pausing progress on the Gameboy project so I can fix and upgrade the software in the turret before I take it into the office. Note to anyone reading: We are going to have another Maker Faire next year. We don't know if it will be mini or full sized. It all depends on how many exhibitors we get...but... WE NEED MORE ARTISTS . A Maker Faire shouldn't be confused with science fairs (which this one was...far too often for our liking). So carpenters, welders, sculptors, photographers, n...

First: The Open Logic Sniffer is the best thing since sliced bread. Second: I finally have reliable recorded data from the GB CPU to the GB LCD. Okay so before making sense of the data here's what you need to know. I clocked the GameBoy CPU with my own micro-controller the resulting GameBoy CPU Frequency was 812 kHz. That's 24.63 times slower than normal (20 MHz), so all of the data collected needs to be time scaled appropriately. The data was collected on Pins 12-19 of the ribbon cable between the CPU board and the LCD board (See previous post for pin numbering and pin names, some of which are guessed). These pins correspond to inputs 0-7 on the logic analyzer respectively (see labels on image above if you're confused). Two of the data sets were sampled at 10MHz and one at 1MHz. The 1MHz set was only taken for timing of the Vblank (it isn't a high enough sample rate to be considered accurate for data analysis). I won't be drawing conclusions about the...