Yearly Archives: 2011

Reflow Oven Shield [PID Showcase]

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Brett

The reason I created the PID library was to make it easier for people to integrate PID control into their projects. Surprisingly, it’s actually happening! I’m starting to see a lot of really cool implementations out there. As a result, … Continue reading →

Posted in PID, Showcase | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Mighty Bottle Opener

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Brett

I’ve been wanting something printable that I could carry around with me, especially after this Colbert Report thing. I finally settled on designing a bottle opener: something I could show off. There’s already a bottle opener you can print, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mechanical | Tagged | Comments Off on Mighty Bottle Opener

SketchUp to STL Plugin with No Dialogs

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Brett

When designing parts for the Makerbot my tool of choice is Google SketchUp. I’m able to do this easily (and for free) due to the work of Nathan Bromham and Konrad Shroeder. Their skp_to_dxf plugin quickly exports my model into … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects | Tagged | 6 Comments

Laser-Cut Business Cards

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Brett

I’ve really been saturating the blog with ear-bud wrap posts lately. This should be the last one for a while. I decided to order some laser-cut copies of the earbud-wrap business card. They were a bit expensive, but I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Mechanical | Tagged | 5 Comments

Earbud-Wrap Business Card

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Brett

I made one last (for now) modification to my Credit Card Earbud Holder. The wrap now ends with an over-pass that really locks everything in place. As before, it’s insanely easy to remove the wrap. The other thing I realized … Continue reading →

Posted in Mechanical | Tagged | 2 Comments

My Take on the Credit Card Earbud Holder

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Brett

Yesterday on Lifehacker they posted a forehead-smack idea. Take a credit card, cut it up a bit. You’re left with a free, light, earbud holder. I’ve got a bunch of old cards lying around, so I made one. I Didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Mechanical | Tagged | Comments Off on My Take on the Credit Card Earbud Holder

Google is Keeping the Offset Header

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Brett

I have a one-track mind whenever I see a new Arduino variant. My eyes drift to one spot to see if the offset is still there. Naturally I did the same thing when I saw that Google is releasing its … Continue reading →

Posted in Mechanical, Projects | Tagged , | 1 Comment

PID Q&A Group

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Brett

Over the past week I’ve had several great conversations regarding the new PID Library, and regarding PID in general. Of course those are all in my email, so you can’t see them. This highlights another problem with the previous version … Continue reading →

Posted in PID | Tagged , | Comments Off on PID Q&A Group

How Fast is the Arduino PID Library?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Brett

A couple people have asked me about speed since v1 was released. Since I had no idea, I decided I should do a little benchmarking. (Tests were done on a Duemilanove with the ATMega168.) The Test The code above is … Continue reading →

Posted in PID | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Improving the Beginner’s PID: Direction

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Brett

(This is the last modification in a larger series on writing a solid PID algorithm) The Problem The processes the PID will be connected to fall into two groups: direct acting and reverse acting. All the examples I’ve shown so … Continue reading →

Posted in Coding, PID | Tagged , , | 92 Comments