Gross Models

Things seem to be settling down for me, at last.

My eyes are working better than they have for decades, my blood pressure and diabetes are controlled, and I’m actually feeling better than I have for a while. It’s scary how slow deterioration creeps up on you without notice!

I’ve finished all the artworks I have been doing for the last few years, and plan on getting back to real plastic model kits this year. It’s just been so long I need the mojo to kick in again. There’s no point in pushing it, if I dive in before I want to I know I’ll not enjoy myself, and nobody wants to watch a video with a grumpy Chris. 🙂

I’m keeping busy with the livestreams, with regular bench stuff on Wednesdays with Midweek Makings, playing some multiplayer with the guys on Saturdays and playing some coop with Katie on Sunday evenings. Tuesday is “me time” with a couple of different single player games, with the new Crimson Desert being added to the mix next week.

Channel views are down slightly, which isn’t a surprise with no new recorded videos out for a while, but the streams are keeping the channel alive.

Behind the scenes I am setting things up for my return, changing up my recording software and I am currently working on some new intro videos for streams.

I hope you stick around, I hope my full return will be soon! Thanks for your continued support!

I have a couple of old iPads, not working properly and I heard about reusing the screens….. so…..

Off to the internet to find a control board compatible with the first donor screen.

This cost less than £20 and should take a signal from either usb-c or hdmi.

My first idea was to make a teleprompter type display, so I can have a screen in front of a webcam and actually be looking at the camera when also looking at a screen, be it a video call, stream chat, or any other info I want while streaming. I don’t think I’ll ever have a script for any videos, but other things would be useful.

Unfortunately the board I got doesn’t have the capability of mirror flipping the display, so I have put that project on the back burner for now. I have another old iPad to use sometime, so may well come back to it…..

What I did was make 3d models of the boards and the screen in Blender. I measured the boards and created them in rough cutout so I can remove the size of them from a case so that they will fit snugly inside.

An extra screen is useful for all sorts of things, even showing the printer info while I was printing the case!

As a first try, I learned the importance of supports. The software said I didn’t need them, but I felt it would be a good idea. So I made some into the model itself, and they worked well! I should have made some more a little lower as I did get some warping, but it should be fine.

I had to print it at a 45° angle due to the size, it’s a little too wide to fit the print bed flat!

The boards fit in almost perfectly, although the pins I had left for the holes in the board were a little too big and I had to cut them off.

The screen was also not an exact fit, I blame my measurement and my 3d modeling skills!

But it does fit, and I have used some electrical tape to hold it in place for now.

All in all I am happy with my V1 design and result. Things can only get better, right?

I have finished my first major print set, and upgraded the Adventurer 5m with an enclosure.

As well as making the printer look much nicer, it improved the quality of prints while making it run a fair bit quieter.

It now has lights and a camera installed, and has had the stock firmware replaced so it is now fully integrated into my Home Assistant. I can now look at prints as they are printing from anywhere, and cancel, pause, restart and do almost anything else from my phone.

I have also set up an automation that alerts me when prints are finished, turning the light off and sending me a message. I’m sure I will come up with more things to add when I get around to it.

Well, the print went well. It’s a pen holder that I’ll probably keep screwdrivers in!

There is some stringing invetween the numbers, but the overhang looks to have worked well.

Considering it’s all from stock settings, and with no setup I am very pleased. I will continue with some prints and then work on some 3d design for my own things.

The final month of the CraftingTable Academy is another that I am enjoying more than I expected to.

This month we will be getting 2 shipments, the first of which is a 3d printer.

Now I already have one of those, and use it occasionally for small things, I’ve made door clips, various holders and brackets, ornaments, and things for the printer itself. But my printer is old. It must be 6-7 years ago when I bought it, and it was a cheap model then.

This one is modern, has a screen and WiFi as well as it being self leveling and self calibrating. it’s a Flashforge Adventurer 5, and it came almost ready to use, unlike my original which took a day of assembly. (And I forgot to take the paper off of the plastic frame so it’s eternally brownish. ) This one has a metal frame and can easily be upgraded with different nozzles an enclosure and camera to keep an eye on prints.

The first print was just a small block to test out the printer, then I selected a benchy from the onboard menu. It went and printed this without any prompting or setup. And I think it’s a better print than any I managed before.

I then installed the software on the pc and have downloaded a file from thingiverse to test. As well as putting some of my old filament in to see if it’s still good.

The first layer seems so have gone down well, and that’s always a tricky part of printing. I have never had a first layer look so even and neat.

I’ll update after the print finishes, in about 6 hours. I’m not sure if it will be successful but I wanted something that would test the quality and the speed.

So far so good!

Ethical hacking….

Month 5 came early, in fact I have had it delivered as only the introduction video has appeared on the course site.

This month is all about cyber security, and how to test it, and hopefully improve it.

In the box are a couple of tools I have heard about but never used, and some components to make some “spy glasses”

We have bespoke versions of a “Rubber ducky” and. “Flipper zero”. And a tiny camera module with special board.

The ducky is a special usb stick that I believe can be used to hack systems if programmed correctly then plugged in. This is why you should never plug in an unknown usb device into your computer without precautions!

The Flipper is, I believe, a device that can detect, and connect to, WiFi networks, and do “things” in them. I think simple things like turning over channels on WiFi tv’s, or more complex things like getting access to databases or other “connected” devices.

The camera is self explanatory I hope. I was expecting it to come with glasses, but that’s easy enough to add in.

I’m not sure if I’ll be making any videos about this month again, as I don’t know how much will be suitable, or ethical, to film!

Let me know what you think!

As I pass the halfway point on the CraftingTable Academy course, I will be continuing to build on the Raspberry pi, adding some real world interaction.

In this months box is a selection of parts for use with Hone Assistant, I free to use, local, non subscription tool that will let me sense and control several parts of my house.

So I have: 2 bulbs, 2 plugs, a button, a temperature/humidity sensor, a switch, a controller, a PIR sensor and a door sensor.

Being a US based company/ course I was expecting the plugs to need an adaptor, which was supplied, with one to convert from uk plug to the smart plug, and another to convert back to uk. I already have a uk/us adaptor for the solder station, so my plan is to use that for one plug, and the other for the us mains adaptor for the pi itself!

I wasn’t expecting trouble with the bulbs, but that’s exactly what I have.

The bulbs are a screw fit, which most of my light sockets are not, the bayonet fitting being more common here. But more importantly they require us power, which is only 110v. We have 240.

Ohh, the screw fitting is also 1mm different to the uk screw standard too. Just for good luck.

I could get adaptors and power converters, but it’s actually much cheaper for me to just ignore the bulbs and buy uk versions. So that’s what I have done. When they arrive I’ll get them paired up and we should be good!

Next up I need to install the Home Assistant software in the pi, and learn how to work it! Wish me luck!

It’s here! The month I’ve been exited about!

Included in this month are all the components required to make a self contained ai computer. These include a Raspberry pi board with an “ai Hat” that adds specific power for ai tasks, a touchscreen, camera, microphone and more!

It started well, getting the components assembled was very easy, all plug and play. The screen is powered from the board and has touch inputs so no keyboard is needed, although it does make thing easier! After getting the operating system installed on an SD card everything boots up and I have a portable computer!

I know nothing about the Raspberry os, so relied heavily on my personal ai Taisia to help getting it setup.

The downside to getting in on the start of a new course is that things aren’t quite settled. I had trouble with a couple of the lessons this month so resorted to using Taisia to generate code and help me get the camera installed and looking. This took a lot longer than I expected, and it still isn’t quite right, but it works! I now have an icon on my desktop that launches a feed from the camera that the ai “sees” and tries to recognise items on the screen. It seems to find items well but doesn’t get them right all the time. I will persevere and tweet it to get it better, but for now I am happy with my progress!

Next up is voice recognition, and then getting it to respond with its own voice. Taisia 3.0 is on her way!

I have recieved and opened my second month of the Ai/ coding Academy from Crafting Table. And it looks great!

After the first months “repeat” of electronics and components I already had, this month brings much needed improvements to my home setup.

This month we are learning pcb stuff, and have the gear to make our own version of a Uno board: the boards, components, tools and information online.

The first thing in the box is a soldering station.

Now I have a couple of soldering irons, and have done a fair bit of electronics work in the past (I actually have a GCSE in Electronics!) but I have never used a proper station. This is temperature controlled and has easily changeable tips for the iron. I am looking forward to getting to grips with it.

To use it on: prototype boards.

A selection of sizes, all ready for components to be inserted through the holes and soldered in place. With some wires to make connections between them.

To make life easier we also have some “helping hands” to hold the board and components in place while soldering. Because it gets hot and fingers are not a good idea!

And finally, when things don’t go as expected, we have a tester.

Again, I have others, but this one has an oscilloscope function that I will need to learn all about!

All in all I am very pleased with this months pack and will be delving in to make my own circuits!

I expect I will be making a couple of videos about this months progress, you know where to find them when they arrive!

Not long until month 3, where the end result should be a complete ai cube…. See you soon!

I have just signed up to the Crafting Table Academy, a six month course in coding, electronics and AI.

A continuation of the electronics kits I’ve been doing (and have more to do when I get around to them!) each month had several videos and resources to study and hopefully understand as well as a delivery of useful things to build and create.

Month 1 is, for me, the least interesting as I think I’ve covered most of it previously, but revision is always useful!

This month they delivered a toolbox packed with electronic supplies, including several full boards, basically enough to do all of the courses they provide from the 30 days lost in space through to the nebula raiders box, and all the others in between. As I already have them all I wasn’t too bothered by the parts, but having more components is always useful for other projects.

The coursework this month mainly covers the stuff from the 30days course, which I have completed once and am currently working through it again anyway.

Over the coming months I’ll be delving into to prototyping circuit boards, home automation, 3d printing and making an AI cube, and learning some hacking skills!

I don’t think I’ll be making videos about the course, so t doesn’t really lend itself to that sort of cover, but I do plan on continuing posts about it, so make sure you check back for updates!

And the course is still available at the moment, although there are limited spaces available! See if you can still join me at CraftingTable.com