Author Archives: paulwallich

My office is too small for a mobile robot

Posted on February 24, 2015 by paulwallich

Why four-wheel drive is a bad idea for ostensibly simple bots Continue reading →

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Meetings go so much faster when fewer people attend

Posted on February 20, 2015 by paulwallich

Well, also when you have a basic consensus on what you want to do and most of what you need is fill in the implementation details. The Montpelier Makerspace meeting at the library this afternoon was like that. (Yeah, we’ll … Continue reading →

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First rule of holes

Posted on February 20, 2015 by paulwallich

I wanted to get something printed before this afternoon’s maker meeting, So when Repetier crashed (it does that on and off) I figured it would be no problem to just restart, reconnect and get the print going. Nerp. Apparently it … Continue reading →

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Less is more

Posted on February 14, 2015 by paulwallich

Yesterday I took off my cobbled-together insulation and installed the simple fix that Printrbot sent out — thank you! Since part of the installation process involved running the bed up to 100c to get the thermal expansion right for tightening … Continue reading →

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Printrbot Metal Plus thermal fixes

Posted on February 6, 2015 by paulwallich

(UPDATE: See the next post for the fix that’s been sent out by Printrbot, which works a treat.) A lot of people have been complaining about the heated bed on the Metal Plus. The original design didn’t heat the bed … Continue reading →

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An organized workplace is a sane workplace

Posted on February 5, 2015 by paulwallich

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to build a bunch of the kits that have accumulated in the basement over the years. Among them a cheap 4-wheel-drive robot chassis (well, actually the previous version, which will become significant in … Continue reading →

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Too clever is dumb

Posted on January 30, 2015 by paulwallich

My nice new printrbot Metal Plus (of which more some other time) has a bunch of holes in the kapton film on the build plate, and it’s my fault. I was trying to be smart, but I ended up stupid. … Continue reading →

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30 years ago seems like yesterday

Posted on January 28, 2015 by paulwallich

Okay, no, it seems like 30 years ago. 20 years ago seems like yesterday. My spouse has wanted a Macquarium for years, and maybe three or four years back she got an old mac on ebay. And finally the other … Continue reading →

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Artifacts inspire people

Posted on January 22, 2015 by paulwallich

Yesterday afternoon I was at Generator again. I had a not-really-useful breadboarded toy with me: My first Arduino, stuck down on a ding&dent Sparkfun protoboard holder, with an Adafruit quad alphanumeric backpack wired in by I2C. Those wires with the … Continue reading →

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Soldering under a microscope is weird

Posted on January 20, 2015 by paulwallich

But I think I could get used to it if I had to. I was at Generator this afternoon, and I forgot to bring my 4X magnifier clip-ons, so I had to use the binocular scopes at their soldering stations … Continue reading →

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