I’ve been using open source software at work since the late 80s and have spent the past couple of years experimenting with Arduino, Reprap, Makerbot, and I’m getting involved with early lasersaur development.
It’s my strong opinion that over the next year open source hardware will really start making an impact in the local and small-scale fabrication space. While there are plenty of shops using EMC2 in large-scale fabrication, the learning curve is steep and EMC2 is focused on subtractive machining operations. There are no fundamental patents on things like mills or lathes to deal with, but a lot of the control circuits and interfaces used are proprietary or at least closed source.
With lasersaur using grbl, Makerbot using (and supporting) ReplicatorG, and the increase of quality tools like Inkscape and OpenSCAD I think we’re finally seeing small-scale manufacturing with a toolchain almost entirely made of open source hardware and software. (I’m not going to wade into the argument about whether or not it’s “real” open source if you’re still buying steppers or power supplies or other COTS items. :-)
In order to help move this process along, I’ve created a new mailing list, opensourcefab, and am working on a wiki/web forum as well.
My goal for this list (and for the forum that will soon go online) is to create a space for those of us who want to use these tools for serious fabrication. Maybe you make/sell model railroad components or build big skeery robots or work at an in-house shop making spares but we’re all interested in the same thing — using open source tools in a production environment.
–jet
Turns out my boards were dead, MakerBot RMA’d them and the new ones seem to be working just fine for manual controls and temp settings. Will do some test runs, get some end-stops made, and post a how to in the next week or so.
Well, that didn’t go so well. After a couple of weeks of fussing and fighting with Gen 4 electronics it appears I have a bad motherboard. Countless hours of diags down the drain because of a bad board.
Something we in the open source hardware need to adopt is the idea of standardized tests / QE. If I were at work, the first thing we’d have done was toss the mobo in the “to be re-tested” pile and grabbed a fresh one to see if we could replicate the problem.
On the up side, while researching the problems I was having, I stumbled across a great blog that every Makerbot owner should read.
My Gen 5 electronics and Stepstruder have arrived and I’m in the process of bolting them onto Makerbot Cupcake #235. I’ve got it mostly working and will document it fully once it’s done.
If you’re on a Mac and using Yaesu rigs, here are a few tools you might find useful:
MacMemoriesManager, a memory manager for the 897/817. It plays well with my microHAM USB Interface III.
MacLoggerDx, a contacts manager for contesting and whatnot. I’m not thrilled with its memory management — it can only tune frequencies from a list and can’t set options — but it’s very good for logging and looking up contacts. If you program your radio’s memories/settings then use MacLoggerDx in “read-only” mode, it’ll work quite nicely.
VX-7 Commander, which is a Windows program for managing VX-7 settings but if you tweak the comms settings it’ll work nicely under VMWare.
I’m on a bus, trying to circumvent the firewall on the free wireless so I can join a chat about open source documentation.
You can buy the 2M ground plane antenna mount at my shapeways store.
Currently I’m testing a cradle for the NookColor, expect to see it for sale in another week or two.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve come up with a simple mount for making portable/storable 2M ground plane antennas. They aren’t nearly as sturdy once they’re deployed, but they’re easy to fold up and store behind the seat of your truck, carry on your bicycle, etc.
If you have a MakerBot, RepRap, or other 3D printer, I’ve posted the STL over on Thingiverse. If you don’t have access to such a printer I’m in the process of setting up a store on Shapeways.
I’ll have more photos soon, including some ideas on how to store/transport the antenna.
Received another TGIMBOEJ last week, and while I forgot to take photos I can at least write down what I took out and put in.
But first, a warning out adding stuff to a TGIMBOEJ box: If you add electronic components, especially tiny ones like caps or resistors, make sure they are in a sturdy bag. Two of the DC motors in this box have a collection of tiny components stuck to the coils and will probably need some cleaning/debugging to get working again.
What I took out: peristaltic pump and some end stop sensors
What I put in: printer power supply, bunch of gears, a couple of motors, lots of machine screws, some cables, and some other random bits from a printer I tore down. I also reboxed it into a new box and bagged up as many of the components as possible.
enjoy!
I found a box of flyers and I’m not afraid to scan them. Posting a few a week in this flickr group.