#general-chat | adafruit | Page 185

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 12:38 AM

#

And actually this is the reason why more expensive systems use higher bit depth CPU's so the granularity of the calculation isn't the lynch pin, then use higher quality drivers using 64x microstepping and a few other nifty tricks to try and smooth the output to get better and better approximations of the linear function in real time

#

Like sure if you were willing to do whatever it took to make the best printer and money was no object, you can get a pretty dang good approximation but at its core it is still discretely calculated and controlled

#

Unless you have an analog computer and feedback loop with a 3 phase motor but let's please not go there that is black magic and hurts my brain...

umbral phoenix Sep 6, 2021, 12:53 AM

#

No extensions running, never got this one before, https://www.githubstatus.com says everything is "Normal" 😦

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:20 AM

#

mk. In math terms this would just be called a smooth function. Linear is more specific, and in control theory, linear systems (where the response signal of interest is linear in the control signal) play an important role

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:21 AM

#

Ah well like I said, not credentialed just enthusiastic haha

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:21 AM

#

my "credentials" are having seen glimpses of this stuff from the math side, but never having actually done them

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:21 AM

#

So I am probably wrong on several points

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:21 AM

#

I appreciate the cross-teaching

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:23 AM

#

What I am sure on is the fundamental granularity of digital systems, that is an area I'm pretty well versed in haha

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:23 AM

#

"Linear" there means it satisfies two properties:

Additive: if the response for input X1 is Y1, and the response for input X2 is Y2 (where X = {X(t)} and Y = {Y(t)} are time-varying signals), then the response for input X1 + X2 is Y1 + Y2
Homogeneous: if the response to input X is Y, then for any constant c, the response to input c * X is c * Y.

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:26 AM

#

Gotcha. So then where there should be a correction in my explanation is simply to say "smooth functions cannot be natively resolved in digital systems and are therefore approximated as best as possible"

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:27 AM

#

sounds reasonable to me 🙂

#

maybe a little more common terms would be something like, "digital systems have to approximate continuous signals with discrete ones" (if that's true - I don't know!)

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:28 AM

#

it is, even with digital to analog and analog to digital conversion

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:28 AM

#

I would imagine that a digital system could, like, choose the combining coefficients of a bunch of pre-packaged sine waves or something

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:28 AM

#

At its core, all things in a computer are represented by bits, a discrete system.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:29 AM

#

yeah, in the logic circuitry that makes sense. I would imagine though that some peripherals, which a computer could control, could be used to emit certain kinds of analog signals

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:30 AM

#

Yes, but even when you convert a digital signal to an analog one it is done in discrete voltage steps

#

With a fine enough granularity it isn't noticeable but it is still technically discretely controlled

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:31 AM

#

yep -- the set of possible continuous signals is itself a discrete set, you can't get all possible continuous signals 🙂

#

example of what I mean: the set of signals {sin(t), 2 * sin(t), 3 * sin(t), ...} is an (infinite) discrete set of signals, each of which is continuous with respect to time. But not all signals actually appear in this set

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:34 AM

#

This hurts my head a little

#

I love it

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:34 AM

#

thanks for teaching me a bit about actual motors

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 1:35 AM

#

Yeah the hardware implementation is kind of my passion

#

Speaking of which I have batteries to hopefully not accidentally hook up backward to a charge controller that has half the datasheet written in Chinese...

#

But it's from a cheap battery bank and handles 20650 cells so I'm using it for my laptop because I have it on hand haha

#

Then once I have the circuit built I can run a charge cycle or two to make sure it's working properly, then tap off the voltage through a 0.7v diode to bring the peak from ~4.0 to ~3.3 for analog input to a Pico and see what happens

#

Anyone know if it's a simple task to set up a Pico to show up as a USB serial device and dump data through it?

#

If so I can just graph the voltage using a serial terminal through a few charge cycles, maybe with a voltmeter attached to tune the offset in software...

#

I wonder if it's feasible to use the LCD output pads on my voltmeter that has issues displaying its output to channel it through a set of 7 segment LEDs with an arduino, and power it with that too...

#

Yeah I'm going to make a serial enabled volt meter out of my defunct one.

#

With a microcontroller just decoding the panel output into an actual value that can be sent over serial, redisplayed, or what have you...

#

Since I need to have a volt meter I can use and I don't have one that's fully functional... But I have the tools to make a better one from the one I have

#

😄

#

Might take a lot of trial and error to get anything usable but at the end of it I'll be able to set modes and read out data over serial, store some samples locally, display current, or sampled values on an output display... Etc.

#

So I'll be able to use that to log a graph of what the volt meter reads over time and what the analog input reads over time and compare the two for setting the curve

#

oh

#

wow

#

I'm silly

#

if I make this serial enabled volt meter

#

erm

#

multimeter actually

#

I can just read in the voltage coming out of the diode directly and measure the offset within the range of my meter's capability anyway since it's a subtractive offset

#

so give it a known voltage and characterise the exact offset of that particular diode

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:11 AM

#

Well great, my right eye is tender

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:11 AM

#

what currency?

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:11 AM

#

Lmao

#

I mean infected

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:11 AM

#

sorry I couldn't help it

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:11 AM

#

Good one though

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:12 AM

#

like pink eye?

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:12 AM

#

That's actually close to a hispanic saying we say

#

When something is very expensive

#

It'll cost you "an eye out your face"

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:12 AM

#

I believe the term we used was "an arm and a leg"

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

Yeah that's in English

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

right I just meant the equivalent english saying

#

as far as how it would translate

#

(non-directly)

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

I'm not sure what pink eye actually is

#

My right eye is just tender

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

you didn't accidentally explode a piece of glass into your eye did you?

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:14 AM

#

It doesn't feel irritated

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:14 AM

#

wouldn't know anyone who does that or anything...

#

<-

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 2:14 AM

#

It's just tender around it

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:14 AM

#

hmm...weird I actually had that same thing the other day right around my tear glands

#

like there was a piece of sand stuck there and I couldn't get it out, and attempting just made it hurt worse

#

and then it started feeling tender around the rim of my eye lids

#

very strange

#

it doesn't hurt today, but it was bothering me for a bit

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 2:36 AM

#

Okay.... Soooo controlling mode looks a little daunting so I'm just going to keep the original mode select for now and just read off the panel value into some kind of encoding that can be used either for direct output or sent back to my pc

#

Might even build the original knob and panel into a new enclosure...

#

I do have a 3D printer and CAD skills and I did promise myself it would be an R&R day

#

And I already have the charge controller on a breakout and put away so I'm not worried about losing it.

#

Yeah if I take the right measurements here and remake the knob receptacle part with places for the preloaded bearings and screw holes for the board, as well as space for an onboard mega and slots for the segment displays I choose

#

Then I can have a nifty looking data logging multimeter

#

Oh I know

#

I'll give it a 3D printer screen

#

Then I can use the SD card slot for actual data logging

#

And do graph displays on board

#

As well as readouts and scrollable logs

#

Yep yep this is definitely something I need

#

Sure update speed will be slow but it will have plenty of cycles for UI

#

And I actually have 2 multimeters that have issues with the screen, I could totally just integrate both and have it cycle between both to log data from 2 different modes or resolutions at the same time

#

Or same resolution but different signals

#

So I can log source and battery voltage at the same time or battery and output at the same time or source and output

#

To characterize the system in a few different ways and then characterize it again after voltage drop since hey I would have the facilities to automate it

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 4:19 AM

#

Who wants to see the cutest bodge wires ever?

#

#

(insulated with shellac, don't worry)

#

Trying to revive a selectable serial FRAM board I was building a while back to just relax and take my mind off things...

#

But I didn't realize that both the decoder and the FRAM chips were active low so I had it designed with inverters at play... Turns out I didn't need them so I'm bypassing them. I will check to make sure I didn't royally screw this board up and then I can actually test it

#

But I do remember there being some severe design flaws

#

So I'll likely need more bodges

#

And I have 11 select lines to use for other serial devices on the same address bus. Might use in combo with the serial port on a VIA for my laptop idk... Could be cool. There are RS64V's so 8k of non volatile RAM apiece which means this board holds 40k with the ability to select between up to 16 different chips each at 8k or a total of 128k of non volatile storage that is trivial to write to and read from if you have a serial port. And, if I use another address bit coming from the VIA, can use that to select between 2 different select chips. For a total of 256k of easily writable memory.

#

And yes, I'm pretty sure I have enough to do that let me count all the ones I have found so far from this project

#

Hmmm.... Well I definitely have enough to populate all of these select lines...

#

Not quite enough to fill another

#

I know I have enough around to do it I just have to find them.

#

So I'm thinking stacked SMD.

#

Do 3 high for 4 of them and 4 high on the 5th each with a bodged in select line

#

Pack all of them on this one board, why not...

#

No clue if that will cause issues but the project was dead in the water so worst case nothing lost best case new life

#

Might even just add the extras onto the stack but each with their own select coming straight from the VIA so that you can do triple redundant writes into an 8k space (or select them separately for extra space)

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 4:59 AM

#

I have found

#

That stacking SMD chips is an exercise in patience...

#

And that i need better lighting and a magnifying glass out here...

#

The gaps when a pin isn't quite there are soooo tiny

#

Really hard to see with the naked eye

#

Know what I'm only going to stack these 2 high. 80k of NVRAM should be enough

#

Larger than the normal system memory for a 6502 at least

#

Actually hmmm...

#

I have an idea

#

If I hook the FRAM up to the Pico so it has complete control I can have the Pico keep track of stack pointers and values to detect rollover as planned, but also to be able to store the previously latched value into FRAM so if you pop a value it's readily available and can pull the previous one from FRAM and back into that buffer

#

Then I can still extend the stack immensely without taking up much RAM on the Pico itself and have a simple interface

#

And

#

Persistent stack anyone?

#

You could store data on the stack, switch programs, and as long as you set the extended stack pointer and the standard one correctly you can then pull that data off the stack after system reset.

#

Even if power goes out system-wide between store and retrieve

#

I'll probably just have it so you send the entire stack pointer as part of setting the extended one so it knows what value to load up at the ready in the buffer

#

But yeah I'm going to definitely make an 80k persistent stack as part of my laptop

#

It just occurred to me...

#

That I'm making a stack from stacked chips...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 8:56 AM

#

okay, so I got the chip to drive the flashlight LED output from a lithium cell....now to simplify the circuit as much as possible when I only have most of the values and a quarter of the description...or I can see if I can find an english only copy of the datasheet haha

#

I found a lithium cell without any sort of circuitry attached floating around my lab that wasn't the original cells for the system, but it was only 0.1v difference on the label so I figured it'd be fine for testing

#

so I'm going to use that for initial circuit tests so I can have shorter charge cycles and not have to take nearly as much time on testing

#

but I appear to have misplaced the components I pulled from the original circuit that I don't really have replacements for (like the coils)

#

so right now I'm just kind of looking around my room super tired at 2AM and should probably get some rest o/

vagrant sonnet Sep 6, 2021, 11:58 AM

#

This is incredible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Bli4zCzZY

YouTube

Two Minute Papers

This AI Creates Virtual Fingers! 🤝

❤️ Check out Lambda here and sign up for their GPU Cloud: https://lambdalabs.com/papers

📝 The paper "ManipNet: Neural Manipulation Synthesis with a Hand-Object Spatial Representation" is available here:
https://github.com/cghezhang/ManipNet

❤️ Watch these videos in early access on our Patreon page or join us here on YouTube:

https://www.pat...

▶ Play video

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 1:42 PM

#

Is taylor series used to optimize problems to make them easier for computers?

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 1:45 PM

#

It tends to make them easier to program in a compact fashion using loops and tables.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:48 PM

#

late fulcrum It tends to make them easier to program in a compact fashion using loops and tab...

How do you mean?

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 1:53 PM

#

A Taylor series is generally in the form of a sum of repeated fractions. To express this in code, you can use a loop that looks up the coefficients in a table, and does the division and summation, for a fairly neat solution.

#

Code to solve something using another technique could be a more involved procedure

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:55 PM

#

What is the application you're describing? Approximating the value of a hard-to-compute function that has a known Taylor series?

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 1:56 PM

#

I'm just replying to Noe's general question.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 1:57 PM

#

I think I was mostly thinking "when would you want to use a table, aren't memory reads way more expensive than repeating the operation"

#

Though as you explained a few weeks ago, this ain't so for microcontrollers 🙂

#

I've never seen loop and table based code, but before this, I would have been pretty surprised to see it

#

I do remember over a decade ago the calculator GUI qalculate had an incorrect exact value of zeta(10)

#

The denominator is supposed to be 555, and in this program it was 55 (same numerator). I was... I had that ineffable emotion of "I don't know what I was expecting."

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 2:05 PM

#

Memory reads can be expensive, but in this case they represent precalculated values. Having the computer derive the coefficients on the fly would be much slower than just reading them out of a table.

delicate stream Sep 6, 2021, 2:05 PM

#

Exactly the point, and why you can't just build a robot that follows a list of human rules easily

#

Yeah, researchers are working on teaching abstract learning. It's gonna take a while.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 2:18 PM

#

late fulcrum Memory reads can be expensive, but in this case they represent precalculated val...

Oh, for computing the coefficients def – I didn't realize one would ever want to do that

#

https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.04474

arXiv.org

Learning to learn by gradient descent by gradient descent

The move from hand-designed features to learned features in machine learning
has been wildly successful. In spite of this, optimization algorithms are still
designed by hand. In this paper we show...

#

I hope that one won the title of the year award

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:32 PM

#

I just helped someone with their calculus homework. So now I feel I can genuinely begin to apply what I've been teaching myself

#

Pretty good feeling, really

#

Very simple, it was just deriving a position function of a ball falling from a building, and finding its velocity at some points. But the fact that I knew exactly what to do felt good

#

I had an old math teacher who once told me, when asked if calculus was scary, "No, no, don't think like that. Nothing is truly scary. You need to show it who's boss, and dive right into it, not let it come get you by surprise"

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:36 PM

#

Good morning

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:36 PM

#

Good morning

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:39 PM

#

hasty quarry I had an old math teacher who once told me, when asked if calculus was scary, "N...

Calculus is unnecessarily mythologized.

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:39 PM

#

I know right

#

It's very elusive. This big scary thing that I always assumed was so hard...without even knowing what it was

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:40 PM

#

You might be interested in this viewpoint from the high school math contest world https://artofproblemsolving.com/news/articles/avoid-the-calculus-trap

Don’t Fall into the Calculus Trap

For an avid student with great math skills, rushing through the standard curriculum is not the best answer. Take advantage of our online community and online classes to keep your student truly challenged.

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:40 PM

#

That's some Mandela Effect type stuff

#

I didn't even know what it was, yet I took the world's word for it, and was too scared to even check

#

I've learned not to trust that now

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:42 PM

#

Honestly I'm not sure why calculus is typically taught before linear algebra. There must be some kind of cultural or historical reason I guess

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

Oh, should I look into linear algebra?

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

Or more probably it's that math curricula are co-designed with engineering curricula

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

Yes

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

Alright, I'll check it out

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

Linear algebra is great

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

It's just vectors, isn't it

#

And matrices

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:43 PM

#

I took it, it’s not as much math as you think

#

It introduces a lot of important concepts that will help you in differential equations and vector calculus

#

And physics, my lanta it’ll help you so much in physics

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:44 PM

#

What's the official term for finding a function whose derivative is something

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:44 PM

#

I am a proponent of starting with vector spaces and abstract linear operators

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:44 PM

#

Say, the function whose derivative is -cos(x) is sin(x), but what's this operation called

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

hasty quarry What's the official term for finding a function whose derivative is something

I think you just put a government emoji in front of the word antiderivative

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

wooden schooner Calculus is unnecessarily mythologized.

I think calculus is pretty amazing.

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

Ah, antiderivative, alright

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

Sometimes it's unecessarry and out of the point.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

🏢 antiderivative 🏢

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

But, when this happens it's like painting an art.

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 3:45 PM

#

Yes

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:46 PM

#

but it's used in many fields

#

and it's usefull.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 3:47 PM

#

One reason linear algebra makes sense to do before calculus: derivatives are linear local approximations to functions. What does "linear" mean? → linear algebra

#

Though what I'm saying basically amounts to learning multivariable calculus at the same time as single variable, so I guess some people don't like that

#

Or it could be best saved for a second pass

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 3:48 PM

#

emag and diffeqs are both correctly mythologized. look to your left, your right, one of you will graduate...

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:49 PM

#

https://tenor.com/view/cute-bird-oiseau-parrot-perroquet-gif-13534341

Tenor

#

the Calculus bird.

delicate stream Sep 6, 2021, 3:50 PM

#

jovial path https://tenor.com/view/cute-bird-oiseau-parrot-perroquet-gif-13534341

https://tenor.com/view/cuteness-overload-so-cute-gif-14116092

Tenor

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:53 PM

#

timber goblet emag and diffeqs are both correctly mythologized. look to your left, your right...

Diff Eq had a high failure rate at my university

#

It can be a difficult subject to master

#

Especially if you did better at Calc 1 vs Calc 2

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 3:54 PM

#

those two were particularly brutal at gatech, curious where else

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:55 PM

#

I lazily got a B+ in diff eq

#

Probably could have got an A if I tried harder

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 3:55 PM

#

well, then, we've got a badass over here

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 3:55 PM

#

Nah, I got a C+ in Calc 3

#

Lol

#

I graduated with my Bachelors with only a 3.29

#

One of my friends graduated with like a 3.98

#

He was a downright genius

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 3:58 PM

#

#

Very weird when they put this in stadium.

#

It looks like TV terror series Goosebumps.

hasty quarry Sep 6, 2021, 4:00 PM

#

I bought this unpasteurized (I didn't know) lemonade from the store. The ingredients are literally water, sugar, and lemon juice

#

I drank it, and it had some gas in it. I thought it just came with some carbonation

#

But then...the next times I drank it, it felt a bit more gassy

#

And then it started tasting like alcohol

#

I checked the label and..."unpasteurized"

#

I should've drank it as quick as possible hahahaha

delicate stream Sep 6, 2021, 4:09 PM

#

I've thought about trying to build a smart juicer to make juice, but I don't know why, 'cuz I don't really drink juice

jovial path Sep 6, 2021, 4:40 PM

#

jovial path

Who would accept to allow putting their photos in these things. :O

#

It looks like an horror movie.

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:08 PM

#

wooden schooner https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.04474

I was being facetious. My point is even though they aren't going hand programmed people still aren't focusing enough on generality of input / correlation / memory to create a coherent whole view of the world at once.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:10 PM

#

who are "people"?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:10 PM

#

General AI researchers in general

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:10 PM

#

generalizability is an extremely active area of AI research these days

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:10 PM

#

Yes but it isn't being approached correctly

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:11 PM

#

how do you mean?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:11 PM

#

It's still generalizing on a specific way.

#

You need to generalize in a general way

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:11 PM

#

I'm not sure I can engage with that unless you go more specific

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:13 PM

#

I'm having trouble forming what I'm trying to say, just woke up. Give me a few minutes to get some coffee and formulate what it is I'm trying to say in a less abstract sense.

#

Okay so again take anything I say that doesn't relate to low level hardware with a huge grain of salt. General AI researchers from what I have seen seem to mostly be taking the same approach to generalizing learning that they took for the initial steps of the learning. That is they seem to be specifying which tasks each sub-system is suited for and then grouping those subsystems by another overarching one. This is sort of how the brain works but it is also capable of having each subsystem retrain to compensate for others and take over portions of their processes.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:27 PM

#

is "general AI research" a specific thing, or does it mean "AI researchers in general"?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:29 PM

#

Sort of a specific thing, but also sort of not... It has been a tabu subject to speak of general AI in AI research for quite a while and only recently have mainstream AI researchers started openly stating they are researching generalization.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:29 PM

#

are you talking about "singularity" and Ray Kurzweil stuff?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:30 PM

#

I'm talking about the hard problem of consciousness being something AI researchers wouldn't even touch for decades

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:30 PM

#

my understanding of what today's mainstream AI research community means by "generalization" is a heck of a lot less out there than singularity. They're talking about things like domain randomization, transfer learning, etc.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:30 PM

#

quartz wren I'm talking about the hard problem of consciousness being something AI researche...

do you think they're doing so now?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:32 PM

#

Some are. Lex Fridman for instance is fairly vocal about pursuing it, but in the field it is considered a "career ender" to look into unless you have some kind of fall back and do it as a hobby.

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 5:32 PM

#

why might that be, do you think.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:32 PM

#

yeah, sounds like we share an impression that that sort of thing is not currently taken seriously

#

but it was taken very seriously in the '60s!

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 5:32 PM

#

inability to estimate complexity is no good for a career.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:33 PM

#

timber goblet inability to estimate complexity is no good for a career.

this was less true in academia in the '60s

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:33 PM

#

Yeah it' because you can't get grants for something that's a long shot...

#

(unless it's a rare instance of a grant for long shots)

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:33 PM

#

that's definitely part of it, but I think there were other aspects too

#

the symbolic / "expert systems" approach to AI had a lot of excitement around it, but was seen as something that didn't pan out

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:34 PM

#

I've got my own ideas but nobody is paying me for them so I'll develop them independently ;)

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 5:35 PM

#

these censors suck.

#

bullsqueeze is a term of art.

wooden schooner Sep 6, 2021, 5:35 PM

#

but Peter Norvig, who wrote such books as "Paradigms of AI Programming: Case Studies in Common Lisp," has (adapted to some extent and) remained an extremely respected name in AI

timber goblet Sep 6, 2021, 5:36 PM

#

especially when we're talking about AI grants, bullsqueeze needs to get through the censor.

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:36 PM

#

Also "AI" what a silly term...

#

It' no more artificial than your own, but it is manufactured

#

So Manufactured Intelligence seems to be the obvious better term.

#

And it comes with the same acronym as mission impossible

#

😉

#

In non ML news

#

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/879830312111181886/884495351321624626/20210906_104732.jpg

#

My brother is helping me get my lab further along :D

#

I'd help but I hurt my back yesterday in a fit of anger

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 5:50 PM

#

Nice!

#

Also boo on the back issue

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 5:51 PM

#

Yeah... Only have me to blame...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 7:20 PM

#

Yeaaaahhh... Anyone know where I can find an English version of the HT4901 datasheet?

#

This is getting annoying trying to guess what the pin acronyms mean from their use in-circuit

#

Got most of them figured out but dang if you don't know charge circuitry terms some of them are just... Cryptic...

#

Like what does FB even stand for? I'm guessing the B stands for "Battery" and it's fed from a divider off the battery so I'm guessing it's either a charge level read input or... Something. Need to do a proper analysis of the schematic with a bunch of number crunching to really understand what's going on here...

#

At least the component values are something I can read...

#

Except for some reason it just labels one coil in line with the battery "head" and I have no idea what that means...

#

And doesn't give a value on the zener but I'm guessing that's so you can select output voltage for boost conversion? No clue tbh...

#

Need halp

#

Wait I just got a clue! I can print the datasheet and use the camera-enabled Google translate thingy to read it

#

Then I can at least get some idea of what the stuff I can't read at all says

#

Then I can make a more accurate translation using the Google output and context

#

And make it available because that's annoying not to have

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 7:36 PM

#

FB is "feedback"

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 7:36 PM

#

Ohhhhh

#

Okay

#

Yeah that makes a lot of sense now with how the circuit is layed out

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 7:37 PM

#

I'm still trying to figure out what "FBS" is

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 7:37 PM

#

Depends on the venture

#

Not allowed to say what it is for my animation studio here

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 7:37 PM

#

That's fair

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 7:37 PM

#

But for my tech stuff it means "Full Bootstrapping Solutions"

#

Okay so there's a few pins that aren't connected in the schematic they provide that I'm curious about and can't quite figure out. There's "EXT_CHG" which I'm guessing is external charger or something but not quite sure what it does as they don't provide an example of use. There's also "TS" and that's just... I have no idea. Then there's "STB" which is just as mysterious

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 7:43 PM

#

STB appears to be "standby"

#

TS appears to be "test"

#

They do provide an example of using EXT_CH

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 7:45 PM

#

Oh I was only looking at the first example my bad

#

Thing is I knew the other existed but kept forgetting to look at it 🤣

#

#

Yeah I need more coffee

#

One cup of leftover was not enough

#

So I took apart that keyboard I had the soldering iron incident with...

#

Not much damage to the actual case, just the key caps.

#

But if I'm going to 3D print replacement caps I'm just going to use the interface board and make a custom array with actual buttons and integrate it into my laptop for the keyboard

#

Then print all the caps

#

And I'll probably have the num pad as a separate pluggable module so I don't have to make the keys too small

#

Because big hands...

#

Though to be fair to these hands... With a positive click action I can program an IRC bot on a keeb the size of a phone...

#

Yep I can integrate this

#

Now I need a hub so I can actually get more than one port hehe

#

But yeah tiny control board with USB header I can solder to. Ideal.

#

I can even design a custom board for the keeb that slots into the space perfectly, with an onboard connector for this to plug into with some kind of considerations for the status LEDs

#

Or better, since I literally never need to remove it I can just solder it straight on...

#

Like a surface mount module

#

I can literally just mirror the pads on the custom keeb panel, test pads and all, tin those, set the module on top, and set up my 3D printer heat plate I will never use for a printer because reasons that I know for a fact can melt solder and set the custom board on that to heat with the interface board sitting on the tinned pads until it flows into place

#

Then I have the test pads run to breakout headers in case I want to play with them and the other ones go to their respective known connections

#

Actually it looks like the test pads break out the status lights, 4 of the pins from the matrix header, power, ground, power again(?) and possibly the USB data signals so they seem redundant

#

Probably just pogo pin points literally for a qa test

#

Although the status light ones seem useful

#

Because that means I can reroute the relevant ones out to the external numpad without doing more SMD bodge

#

Which don't get me wrong is a wonderful exercise in patience

#

But uh... I'll save that for the memory module. I had a revelation last night while I was sleeping on how to do better SMD stacks

#

If I use the tiny needle nose pliers I have to flatten the very tips of the pins instead of just folding the commoned ones down, it should reach the top of the other pins below and bridge reliably in a stack. If not I can tin a length of the thin solid shellac coated wire I have from an old gummed up hair trimmer coil and then solder that up the length of each common bus.

#

And the flux from tinning the pins just in an attempt to get the IC's to stack once cooled should act as a glue long enough to tack at least one corner so the rest are easier

#

(if I fail to properly solder up the whole stack on the tack corner even)

#

So I'm going to max the thing out at 128k of FRAM which is nonvolatile

#

Because I can and why waste the chips and board I got for a project a while ago

#

And it's going to look amazing with 16 8-pin SMD chips stacked in 5 stacks with teeeeeeeny tiny bodge wires to each select line

#

In my foresight while designing the board for every pin I hadn't routed a connection to I made a breakout pad for.... Makes bodging much easier

#

(well, all the connections on the decoder chip)

#

And I have more of those chips so I see no reason (once I locate the rest of the FRAM I have) I couldn't stack two of those decoders, do 3 stacks of 6 SMD chips and 2 stacks of 7 and get 256k of NVRAM on one board.

#

Talk about stacks of stack space

#

And persistent across shut downs with full power loss before reboot if you know where to look 😉

#

So no need to use a static RAM battery to hold persistent memory capable of simple rewriting

#

And if I have them as separate banks I can use 128k for persistent stack and 128k for just general persistent addressable memory

#

(buffered through a microcontroller)

#

Oh also I don't even need to map the matrix if I just hook this control board up to a computer's USB port and just throw all combinations of high and low signals into the matrix header and record the output of keyboard + serial input from MCU setting those states and map it out using correlations

#

@late fulcrum any idea what "head" means as a label for the coil it says to put in line from the battery to ground?

#

(on battery controller)

#

Oh hold up this has 2 separate ground rails...

#

And 2 symbols for them. Looks like triangle is system ground for the chip and the bars is the battery ground

#

OH OH!

#

silly me

#

It says "BEAD"

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 8:46 PM

#

This one interesting conversation you are having lol

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 8:46 PM

#

It's just bad kearning

#

Erm

#

However the silly word is spelt

#

Point is, it's a coil with a filter bead for unifying battery ground to chip system ground

#

To reduce noise into the system I assume

tardy badger Sep 6, 2021, 8:48 PM

#

Yeah

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 8:48 PM

#

Then the coil with a specific value is probably for boost conversion

#

(from battery to USB voltage)

#

And that's the one that I pulled from the board and subsequently misplaced ;_;

#

And I have no idea how to tune an inductor

#

Filter bead? Sure, seems not to specify any value so just wrap the connection between battery ground and system ground around a ferrite bead I've got galore but for a specific inductance...yeah I'm at a loss.

#

Funny thing is I'm pretty sure I put it in a bag or container to keep it safe and then subsequently lost that...

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 8:58 PM

#

I did that with my British fuses, it took me rather a while to find them. However I'm pretty sure I know where my ferrite beads are.

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 8:59 PM

#

Ferrite beads show up whether you want them to or not after a while of tinkering...

#

"what is this weird cold thing under my blankets?" checks "how did that get there?"

#

I feel like I brought the parts I set aside into my room late at night and was super tired and now they are just gone...

#

Honestly would not be surprised if I accidentally kicked the bag or whatever it's in under the bed... Or it's in a pair of pants on my floor...

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:02 PM

#

Let me put it to the test then...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:04 PM

#

I tried to cage my ferrite in a container once and somehow they still manage to escape I swear either mine are haunted or ferrite has a mind of its own...

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:04 PM

#

Found 'em!

75pVsvs7-5N_XOR41Tox-F3-WaXBMrk1-5rixIgHJqOdlR--TbK3Up8r7H5fkAwnTSACOJjbFMQGs_kouf5Ds6-i554NNfCU0-pI.jpg

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:05 PM

#

Ayyyy you think you have them trapped now just wait until you turn out the lights...

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:05 PM

#

Aye, I know how it goes...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:06 PM

#

Just wish the same were true about whatever electronics components I need for a given project

#

I'd be like Thor

#

But useful

#

Just call the components I need right to my hands

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:07 PM

#

On the one hand...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:07 PM

#

jealouses

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:08 PM

#

On the other hand...

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:08 PM

#

I.... I think we would really get along in person...

#

That straight up looks like a playground lolol

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:09 PM

#

Yeah, to me too. Now if I could only find that sodium spectrum lamp I'm looking for. Is it stored with vacuum tubes or light bulbs?

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:10 PM

#

Do you have a category for halogen tubes specifically?

#

Might be time to start one

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:11 PM

#

Hmm, some of the light bulbs are halogen, but very few of the actual tubes (the only ones that come to mind are quenched Geiger-Müller tubes).

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:12 PM

#

My lab is coming together before my eyes 😄 I wish I could help with it...

#

Ill be doing the paneling probably and my brother did volunteer to do the framing

#

So I don't feel too bad

#

Still very exciting, roof is almost framed

#

And I have a solid plan for making a fully closed loop life support system including a fume hood and "fresh" air on tap in case I need to purge and re-press

#

I'm basically going to simulate a space ship / off wold base

#

Even want to try and make a functional space suit using an inflated pickle jar for the helmet

#

So I can maintain a positive pressure inside the lab relative to atmospheric (for leak detection) and an airlock system that can cycle between so I can do simulated missions including EVA

#

I'm basically thinking an inflatable vestibule that sits in the door frame and protrudes into and out of the lab, with a sealing zipper around the frame so that I can remove it entirely while not pressurising the lab

#

For the fill cycle I will need an air compressor and a bunch of air tanks with a removable desiccant chamber at the bottom. Not about to have a rusty tank explosion ruin my day

#

Or I guess... I could use a peltier module to condense any water in the compressed air input down into a filter system to fill the water tanks at the same time...

#

Waste not, eh?

#

Also means I don't have to have an added consumable

#

(the dessicant)

#

Though a combination of peltier modules with the output of that running to silica packs with electronically controlled valves on each side and heating elements to drive off collected water back through the peltier condenser system

#

That could be more effective at keeping out water while also collecting more of it

#

In fact, the heat output from the peltiers could be routed out into the evaporation side for recharging the dessicant packs

#

So that it's evaporating the water from the dessicant pack using latent heat from condensing the same water being pulled across the interface

#

(during a recharge cycle)

#

But that requires another coolant loop for being able to turn that heat transfer off during normal use (so it isn't evaporating off into the main system)

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 9:49 PM

#

This is starting to remind me of Apollo, where they had fuel cells producing water as a by-product, and the water would be vented to space to provide cooling, etc.

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 9:54 PM

#

Yeah except I don't have to worry too much about temperature... I have convective cooling available outside...

#

Just will have the actual air I'm breathing closed loop and charged from that atmosphere before a mission

#

And yes I will be building a heat pump specifically for keeping precise temperatures inside and will have more than adequate insulation

#

Might even hook the heat pump directly to an exchanger on the output from the scrubber so that the air that's coming out is at the temperature I want the room

#

Not quite sure how I want to do the scrubbing, but I'm thinking maybe cryo cooling of the air into a liquid O2/N2 with solid CO2 slush, filter it, then once the filter is packed warm and vent it for reuse. Problem is I need a cryo cooler and those are expensive...

#

But I will need to pull the water first so that water scrubber for input air can be dual purpose

#

(because water won't evaporate at the temperature I want to vent the CO2 at)

#

So scrub moisture, then chill to slush, filter until clogged, switch to second filter pack that has freshly vented and undergone prechill, closing the valves into the main system and opening one to the environment, then warm up the filter pack, wait for pressure equalization, close vent valve, and prechill for next use

#

(using the cryogenic local atmosphere input in a loop around the filter pack for rapid prechill, which then goes back into the cryo cooler)

#

Or I guess you could detect when it's getting close to clogging and prechill the one filter using the output of the other and vice versa

#

So you don't clog the prechill lines

#

(with unfiltered potentially CO2 contaminated cryogenic atmosphere)

#

Anyway point is once I have a cryo cooler I'm going to make a closed loop regenerative life support system integrated into my lab

#

4 teh lulz

#

And science!

#

No harsh chemicals just thermodynamics

#

Might me simplest to just have 2 cryo coolers directly connected to really long filter packs that get brought to temperature independent of one another for swapping and purging... Or could probably get away with just one since the purge and cool process should not take long enough for me to bring the CO2 to dangerous levels in the room by breathing

#

Then I can just have the condenser and filter be a single stage unit that runs through a purge cycle when it detects a low flow rate on its output

#

And yeah you lose a tiny bit of atmosphere on each purge with the CO2 but eventually it will be proper closed loop and I will store the CO2 for later use

#

And that's why the ample supply of extra air initially

#

Also probably need a carbon filter stage before the water condenser for the fume hood output but if I'm doing one I may as well have one on the main system's output just in case...

#

Actually if I'm going that far I might as well figure out how to make carbon filters out of the collected CO2 and have one on every input and output of the life support scrubber loop

#

I know.

#

I'll do selective breeding of algae to survive in higher and higher concentrations of CO2, eventually with the goal of warming up and supplying them with the pure filter purge, then use their biomass for making the carbon filters.

#

As well as food.

#

I could have indefinite missions

#

In the higher CO2 environment with plenty of energy input if I then select for fast breeding I can make it fully fully closed loop

#

And the goal is achievable piecewise, and does not require all of it in place at once

#

First step, air conditioning and storage. Next I can figure out how to scrub the CO2 using a more effective means but requiring a consumable toxic material. Then if enough people take interest and want to donate to the cause I can figure out full closed loop

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 10:28 PM

#

You could scrub CO2 by condensing it

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 10:31 PM

#

As in, pressure induced?

#

Or temperature?

late fulcrum Sep 6, 2021, 10:32 PM

#

Either would work but I was thinking temperature

dusty citrus Sep 6, 2021, 10:32 PM

#

https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/physics/ideal-gas-law.php

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 10:33 PM

#

That was the plan. Condense all of the air at a temperature that O2 and N2 are liquid but CO2 is solid, then filter that slurry and when the filter is clogged, open it for venting and let it warm up

dusty citrus Sep 6, 2021, 10:34 PM

#

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthalpy_of_vaporization

#

When you raise the temperature of fish tank water, it can hold less 'dissolved' gas.

#

So even though you've used a bubble stone to aerate it well, it won't hold it.

#

The fish will go up near the top. ;)

#

Lower the temperature (don't use the heater as often) and they start behaving normally again (and swim deeper).

#

In summer when the heater isn't in use in very warm weather (and no air conditioner in the room) it's sometimes not possible to operate the tank in a 'good' temperature for those fish. Too warm.

#

black widow tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi) fairly durable species.

#

I usually get those when I can't provide them a more nuanced environment, including temperature profile, I think.

#

This is a nicely paced article:

#

https://www.instructables.com/Simple-Algae-Home-CO2-Scrubber-Part-1/

quartz wren Sep 6, 2021, 11:21 PM

#

Sorry had to go for a birthday thing for my niece

#

Reading over now

#

(between bites of ice cream cake and brownies)

#

Oh my yes

#

Thank you very much for the links especially that last one

dusty citrus Sep 6, 2021, 11:54 PM

#

;)

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:20 AM

#

Good evening

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:23 AM

#

late fulcrum This is starting to remind me of Apollo, where they had fuel cells producing wat...

Nice

#

Besides that launch sound have you ever see any NASA launch?

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 12:24 AM

#

I have seen the space shuttle launch, Atlas, and a few others launch from Kennedy Space Center

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:28 AM

#

tardy badger I have seen the space shuttle launch, Atlas, and a few others launch from Kenned...

Nice.

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 12:28 AM

#

I have also heard the super Sonic re-entry boom of the shuttle entering the atmosphere

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:30 AM

#

tardy badger I have seen the space shuttle launch, Atlas, and a few others launch from Kenned...

What Atlas did you see?

#

What year?

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 12:31 AM

#

I saw Atlas launches from 1997-1998 and 2000-2004

#

So Atlas 2 & 3

#

A small handful of Atlas V

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:32 AM

#

So nice.

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:32 AM

#

tardy badger I saw Atlas launches from 1997-1998 and 2000-2004

Did you saw them there.

#

Like, actually there

#

Or in TV like my father?

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 12:33 AM

#

I saw them from my back yard

#

Where I lived, just a few miles from Kennedy Space Center

#

I was looking, I always saw a few Delta launches

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:36 AM

#

Nice.

#

People that lives in Florida see this always.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 12:38 AM

#

Best I saw was a falcon 9 second stage re-entry... That was pretty awesome

#

Er wait it might have been a failed starlink launch but I know it was awesome. Started as a bright streak and then broke up and became hundreds

#

First thought it was a large fairly loose meteor

#

But then I looked into it and it turned out to be spacex tech of some description

#

Oh and somehow I managed to catch the streak of some launch alllllll the way up in Orlando once

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:41 AM

#

I would like to know the calculus they make to calculate this distance.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 12:41 AM

#

Almost walked right off the sidewalk

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 12:41 AM

#

I know they consider the curvature

#

the far right perimeter is bigger than the perimeter of the far left.

#

I think thet compesate.

#

compare the distance

#

and the difference they increase in the right, but I wonder about the right part of line in behind with left part of the line ahead.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 12:43 AM

#

Really should have made more use of my Kennedy space center season pass when I was living in Florida but even the 4 times I used it made the price worth it

#

(I think it actually payed for itself after 2 visits in a single year as far as cost of entry)

#

Like you could pay the one time fee and go once, or if you knew you were coming back at least one more time it's worth it to get a pass for the whole year lol

#

Not sure if that's still the case this was back in 2015

#

Also had some extra perks I never used and have no idea what they are

late fulcrum Sep 7, 2021, 1:20 AM

#

jovial path Besides that launch sound have you ever see any NASA launch?

I saw a few Apollo launches, and a couple of space shuttle launches.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 2:10 AM

#

@late fulcrum hey, quick question...what's the worst that can happen if I use too large of an inductance by about a factor of 10 on the portion of the circuit that I'm assuming is the boost converter? just not work because out of resonance? or...could I damage something?

#

I found a drawer with labeled inductors but the closest one with a label that's unambiguous is 50 microhenry and I need 4.7

late fulcrum Sep 7, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

It depends somewhat on the control circuit, but in general, the inductor current will rise too slowly, and you won't get the boost you're expecting. Note that saturation current also needs to be sufficient, inductance isn't the only parameter that matters.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 2:13 AM

#

hmm

#

well dang wish I could just find the original 😦

#

I did find a good bead inductor though

#

just a chunky piece of tinned wire run several times through a ferrite bead

#

y brein suc sumteim

jovial path Sep 7, 2021, 2:24 AM

#

I spoke spanish with people that speak spanish as the first language for the first time in my life.

#

It went fluent naturally.

#

As I speak portuguese and I've read a lot of technical books in spanish.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 2:41 AM

#

@late fulcrum I found the original components!

#

Somehow they ended up in the same small container I was using for the tiny pieces of the multimeter I was repurposing

#

Now I can actually rebuild the circuit and test a charge / discharge cycle wooooo!

#

But first I'm going to redraw the schematic a bit more readably

#

Without so many crossovers and whatnot

#

Okay now that's located and those are in their own container

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 3:10 AM

#

Looks like the divider described here takes and normalizes 4.1ish volts down to 1v across FB and AGND

#

After the zener stage

#

Wait I wonder what that brings 5v to

#

Right about 1.2v...does that sound like a standard analog to digital converter input for a battery controller?

#

Or am I just way misreading this

#

Also I'm assuming the absolute resistance of the sense divider only affects passive current draw and that for testing purposes so long as I get the ratio right and have a substantial enough resistance overall it should be fine

#

Because I have no idea where my 2M resistors are...

late fulcrum Sep 7, 2021, 3:24 AM

#

A lot of these controllers have an internal bandgap reference of 1.2V or so, so the feedback divider divides the output voltage to that, and then the chip compares them internally

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 3:25 AM

#

Ah okay then I'm actually making sense of the circuit.

#

I have a simplified drawing that removes the resistors for pulling into a particular USB mode and it is much easier to read

#

That is, I drew one...

#

#

See how much cleaner it could've been drawn?

late fulcrum Sep 7, 2021, 3:27 AM

#

Yup

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 3:28 AM

#

Like they already proved they were willing to use more than one of each of the ground symbols why not just separate the ones that make weird crosses...

#

Oops

#

Hehe

#

Forgot to draw a connection or two

#

Better

#

Just one connection and a label on an ambiguous component

#

(specifically USB in)

#

Anyway much easier to follow this better

#

Much more gudderer

#

Now to find the components that I need from scrap that I couldn't take from the original as easily like the SMD caps and resistors

#

Then I can build and test

#

😄

#

Will update with vids

#

Especially when I get the PLD thing done for it that I've been keeping secret

#

😉

#

Hint: it involves decoding all the digital IO from the battery controller and colorful lights

#

Okay I can't keep it a secret and that also kind of just blew the secret anyway

#

I'm doing an RGB status indicator for it that can do a bit more than just the 4 LED bar indication

#

Well I'm using a section of RGBW tape and using the RGB part for battery status and the white LED for the flashlight output from the controller chip

#

Activated on a double tap of the power button

#

(or in software from a double pulse on a NOR gate that is power button NOR software pulse to key input on the control chip)

#

(since it's active low)

#

Actually I can just go software control line -> reverse bias diode -> key input and then just have the button be a short to ground directly to the key input

#

No gate chip required

#

Should work since I'm pretty sure the key input is internally pulled high (doesn't ask for a pull up in schematic)

#

Or I guess I could just have a significant resistance between the software signal and the button so that if software brings it low, it's pulled low through the resistor, but if the button pulls it low, it also pulls the button's side of the resistor low even if the software has it high (drawing a small current through the button and resistor to ground)

#

Basically some resistor logic for preferential pull in favor of hardware

#

And the unused standby signal? Oh you bet I'm going to make use of that for controlled system power downs...

#

(save state, halt CPU using special control register inside Pico, have Pico detect what type of halt code and shut everything down accordingly, then send the standby signal)

#

And I'm not sure what that does so I'll pull it high and low manually with things attached drawing current and see what it do when I have the system all hooked up

#

Okay cell on breadboard and out of the way can now begin mapping out the circuit the rest of the way with what I have, leave spaces for the rest maybe with loose wires to denote a missing component

#

Then I can look through my scrap for the rest of the caps and resistors and finally hook it up

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 4:21 AM

#

AHHHHHHHH!

#

My roof is like 90% complete on my lab WOOOOOO!

#

Yeah I'm definitely going to start posting YouTube videos regularly when I get my lab set up 😄

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

Uhhhhhh

#

Am I reading this right? A 5 band resistor code of brown black white white gold is 109 gigohms at 5% tolerance?

#

Like

#

Wut

#

What is that even used for? High current sense resistor?

crystal ore Sep 7, 2021, 5:16 AM

#

Current-sense resistors are usually very low, like milliohms, to avoid interfering with the current flow.

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 5:27 AM

#

I thought the first three bands were the value, even for five banded resistors.

#

brown-black-red is 1 0 x 10^2 (100)

#

(10 x 100 = 'ten hundred' = 'one thousand')

#

black is 0
brown is 1
red is 2

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:30 AM

#

It's got 4 color bands and a tolerance band from the looks, unless it uses a 2 color tolerance code

#

Which is why I'm confused

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 5:31 AM

#

black - brown - red - orange - yellow
green - blue - violet - grey - white
for zero thru nine

#

I read the description of the five-banded system and came away with 'still three bands for value'.

#

(long time ago)

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:32 AM

#

Huh... I just plugged it into a calculator and got that ridiculous value

#

So figured I'd toss the question this way to see what's up

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 5:34 AM

#

okay 5 banders add a significant digit so the multiplier is offset one band to the right.

#

Six banders are same as 5 banders except the last band is 'tempco' (temperature coefficient?)

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:34 AM

#

I'm having no luck finding 2M or 634K resistors I'm probably just going to rework the divider using resistors I do have with the same ratio

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 5:34 AM

#

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/tools/resistor-color-code-calculator/

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:35 AM

#

I know I have some just no clue where the bag that contains them is haha

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 5:35 AM

#

I would 'ohm them out' as we used to say. Measure them until the system becomes intuitive.

#

(note to self)

#

(also I'm colorblind ;)

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 5:36 AM

#

Yeah I'm pretty familiar with the 3 value one tolerance system so that one ain't a big deal I just uh... Had an incident about a decade ago where I... Rapidly unsorted my electronics work space out of anger and I still haven't put in the mental energy to re sort everything

#

So for now I hunt through assorted resistors to find the values I need by color, that one with an extra band just threw me way off hahaha

#

I'll get it sorted properly when I have my own lab space set up (almost done sooooooo excited!) but until then I'm still stuck hunting

#

And by "rapidly unsorted out of anger" I mean I threw an angsty teenager fit (addendum: serious mental health note though I legit had a severe mental breakdown and it cost me probably years of productivity)

#

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#

Things happen

#

Luckily now when I get angry I just throw logs that needed to be moved anyway

#

End up getting hurt in the process but it helps me learn quicker 😉

#

Lucky me I heal quick so even though tomorrow is going to suck I'll probably be back in mostly working order by the next day

#

At which point the roof of my lab should be ready to install and I can actually help with it

#

Like things will be tight but it won't be really painful to lift my arm over my head or like... Stand for extended periods of time

#

I am a bit worried about my left bicep...feels like I pulled something pretty bad in there...

#

Don't do anger kids.

#

It's bad for your health 🤣

#

Or as Mr. Mackey would say "anger's bad.. Mm.. Mmkay?"

drowsy zephyr Sep 7, 2021, 6:22 AM

#

Alright guys, i got an interview with a tech company regarding a position called : Research and Development Hardware Engineer

Is the name of the position legit or is it doublespeak?

#

my current employer is Pegatron, according to Google, it's one of apple's providers
does anyone know about them?
are they good or bad? i've heard too many news about apple's tech providers that don't offer good working conditions. Im just scared that position is just doublespeak for "hardware assembly worker"

dusk oracle Sep 7, 2021, 8:32 AM

#

Very few provide a proper working condition

#

I'm living proof that once they are done with you they are done..

#

They can change your job into anything they like.

#

and the law means nothing.

#

They could spend a billion getting you to go away but they will never give you that billion.

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 9:17 AM

#

;)

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 12:19 PM

#

French press coffee is great

#

It really allows you to enjoy the silty sludge at the bottom of the cup that really picks a punch

drowsy zephyr Sep 7, 2021, 2:06 PM

#

dusk oracle and the law means nothing.

Oh shoot

#

Then again, it aint a big surprise now does it

#

Hmm, can R&D be doublespeak for assembly worker?

#

After looking at this offer the second time, i begin to have my suspicions. What do u guys think?

#

Is the job really r&d or am i more likely to be placed as a tester at an end of a line?

wooden schooner Sep 7, 2021, 2:28 PM

#

Can you talk to someone who has had the role and has no incentive to lie to you?

#

If they hated the role, then righteousness can be a pretty powerful incentive to tell you the truth

#

Can't speak to whether labor laws will help with anything, since I'm not familiar with Indonesia's

drowsy zephyr Sep 7, 2021, 2:31 PM

#

I could, if i know of one, my interview wont happen until the day after tomorrow, so im trying to get a heads up or some sort of insight before jumping in

wooden schooner Sep 7, 2021, 2:32 PM

#

Seems like there's no requirement to get that info before the interview, unless Indonesian labor laws allow them ask you for indentured servitude

#

In the US, there is absolutely no way to get rid of your right to quit the job at any time, even if that time is right after promising them you'll take the job

#

This has the nice side effect of making it pointless for them to ask you for ridiculous loyalty agreements up front

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 2:35 PM

#

A lot of companies in the UK have a "no competition" clause in their employment contracts, even though it's entirely unenforceable.

drowsy zephyr Sep 7, 2021, 2:38 PM

#

I see, then i guess i have to do the asking?

wooden schooner Sep 7, 2021, 2:43 PM

#

Which asking? Of past/current employees to see whether they liked the position?

#

That would be recommended

#

Finding them yourself is probably best if you're able, in case the company has a cherry picked cheerleader employee they'd set you up with to make them look good. But I'd guess most companies don't have that

#

There are also websites like glassdoor that show reviews, average comp per position, etc., which you can check before any of this

drowsy zephyr Sep 7, 2021, 3:58 PM

#

wooden schooner There are also websites like glassdoor that show reviews, average comp per posit...

Just looked pegatron up on glassdoors
It aint looking good

weary fiber Sep 7, 2021, 4:40 PM

#

housing market yoinked me outta finding a place near uni, so I'm stuck living with parents and a LONG commute

#

made a timelapse of the drive: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321807449105629195/884825304395292692/IMG_5944.mp4

▶ Play video

wooden schooner Sep 7, 2021, 6:02 PM

#

drowsy zephyr Just looked pegatron up on glassdoors It aint looking good

If this helps you dodge a bullet, I'm glad 🙂

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 6:10 PM

#

dusk oracle They could spend a billion getting you to go away but they will never give you t...

I completely understand this which is why I'm starting my own business.

#

and refuse to work for another again.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:21 PM

#

Haven't broken the lithium controller yet!

#

Now to finish the circuit and test a charge cycle or two

#

Got too tired to finish it last night

#

When you can't remember what you were doing 5 minutes ago every 5 minutes it's a good sign you need some sleep haha

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:25 PM

#

sleep always getting in the way of innovation, blasted sleep!

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:26 PM

#

Nah it isn't sleep getting in the way... It's physiology. If you didn't get tired you wouldn't sleep. getting tired gets in the way of innovation because if I didn't get tired I'd just keep going

#

Sleep actually helps innovation

#

I often find my answers while sleeping

#

So if I only needed to sleep when I got frustrated things would be much better...

#

Instead I get frustrated because I can't think because I'm getting tired so I sleep lol

#

So in the end I do sleep out of frustration I just wish it were the inherent trigger rather than simply being awake for too long

#

Would also prevent a lot of my blow ups about silly things that I'm trying to work through. I'd get frustrated and instead of getting worked up I'd be like ayyyyy ciesta time!

#

Maybe I should train that into my brain...

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:30 PM

#

lol i see what you mean

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:31 PM

#

Like for real though I should train my brain to think of sleep when I'm frustrated

#

Because it can only help in those moments

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:31 PM

#

meditation? it's sleeplike

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:31 PM

#

(and I'm not often in a position where I can't sleep when I want to)

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:31 PM

#

i close my eyes and visualize a candle in the dark

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:32 PM

#

I close my eyes and the wall of a thousand thoughts sweeps me off my feet into never land...

#

Sometimes making me sleep other times making me do.

#

Meditation is hard...

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:34 PM

#

for me it was in the beginning, i imagine it's similar for others. after a few months racing thoughts became more a trickle. like any practice i suppose doing it enough times makes it effective

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:35 PM

#

Was discussing techniques for mitigating my issues with a friend who's really deep into meditation and he has some really good advice I just have to actively practice it and right now in my life I've been so busy with trying to have a life that I can't really devote much mental energy to the practice. I know, self-defeatism. But mindset change is also hard.

#

And I'm well known to be stubborn 😉

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:36 PM

#

lol ditto! starting a business is a constant force cause we know there are others racing to meet customers needs just as much

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:37 PM

#

Stubborn but forgiving. Like a giant rubber sheet with infinite mass haha

#

Hard to move me but I probably won't hurt you in the attempt

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:38 PM

#

i'm like a ferret, i'll bite and act crazy but i love ya

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:38 PM

#

Hehehe

#

^actual sound of laugh I just made

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:38 PM

#

lawl!

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:41 PM

#

Okay so now my puzzle is figuring out what the heck I was thinking before slipping off to sleep and where I left off... And I really don't want to have to analyze every connection on this breadboard to find out so I'm going to get back into the mental state I was in just before I started having memory lapses last night

#

That is, lots of coffee and other

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:42 PM

#

i need to type notes to self for the next day to properly get back to a project else i'm floating aimlessly

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:43 PM

#

Lucky for me I made a hobby of debugging random college students' homework code in high school so I'm good at piecing together partial systems into functional ones

#

Sometimes just takes a bit more effort

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 7:46 PM

#

nice! it's great when one can take their code chunks and go modular with them, seeing their similarities and removing redundancy. not having to frequently reinvent stuff.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:47 PM

#

Basically my reason for doing that was because I really liked debugging code but didn't have a lot of original ideas that I knew how to implement at the time so I looked around for things that were mostly implemented that I could fix, point out silly mistakes with comments to feel good about myself and so the teacher would know they got help if they didn't read the edits I made to understand what I did to fix it

#

Like, it was a failsafe. If the student just turned in functional code and didn't even make an attempt to understand the things they did wrong, the teacher should know they got help because that's cheating plain and simple.

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 7:49 PM

#

I had a tech test for a job interview once.
I told them that I got some help with the bash syntax.

#

Got the job. 👍

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:49 PM

#

Noice

#

I mean, getting help is fine. Just having someone else fix things and expecting to be carried is not.

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 7:50 PM

#

I actually got it slightly wrong on the first try.

It was a script to count each instance of IDs in a log file and it was counting blank spaces.
Easily fixed.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 7:51 PM

#

Ah yeah that's just like a line or two fix

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 7:51 PM

#

Yarp

#

Setting up Apache on a specific port and adding server-side caching was the easy part. Lol

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 10:26 PM

#

Guess what I just found

#

It's a self contained buck / boost converter that brings battery voltage to 5v from a drone project I was working on a while back

#

Means I can just get the system charging, then bypass the built in boost and use this for my 5v directly off of battery

#

I love it when you find a module that does exactly what you want right when you need it 😄

#

Like if I simplify this to just be a charge controller and do the boost with a self contained module I barely have to do anything to build the battery system

#

Although the built in system appears to use the zener still for choosing between battery out and USB voltage in pass through

#

So I'll have to work that out if I want to enable charge while using

#

(and seamless swap)

#

Probably just a simple bjt controlled MOSFET system that switches the boost convert's input between battery and USB pass through seamlessly with a capacitor buffer

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 10:40 PM

#

Sounds like fun..

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 10:40 PM

#

nice find!

blissful roost Sep 7, 2021, 10:40 PM

#

I really should do some work on my 18650 powerbank.

quartz wren Sep 7, 2021, 10:41 PM

#

This also means in theory the system can draw some inordinate amounts of power so I need to be careful lol

#

(because the converter module is designed for up to 18v inputs at some substantial load)

#

(though you would use the battery pass through with a MOSFET for actually switching said loads)

dusty citrus Sep 7, 2021, 10:45 PM

#

and this was for a drone eh? what are you thinking of hooking it up to next?

#

box of goodies just came! i'll be back in, uh, not sure XD

hasty quarry Sep 7, 2021, 10:55 PM

#

Today as a joke I told my physics teacher he was wrong (after class). "You don't understand, sir, the battery has negative and positive energy, and the negative energy and positive energy enter the components and make them do stuff"

#

But the face he gave me before realizing I was joking

#

Hooooooooly

#

That man does NOT mess around. That was terrifying

tardy badger Sep 7, 2021, 10:59 PM

#

Lol

#

in tv commercial voice “Sarcasm sold separately!”

lapis bluff Sep 8, 2021, 1:29 AM

#

I have a T-Shirt: "Sarcasm provided at no extra charge."

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 1:37 AM

#

I have one too: "National Sarcastic Society. Like we need your support".

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:42 AM

#

I got 10 PowerBoost 1000s, yay! .... I ordered the wrong USB cable, boo!

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:49 AM

#

at least it was a presumably cheap usb cable and not a $40 3d printer gantry kit that don't fit 🙃

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:49 AM

#

Oof... Yeah, $4, but also one I can use at least... I just didn't read and thought it was a C to C, got an A to C

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:51 AM

#

should be useful sooner or later 😄

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:51 AM

#

Lol, yeah

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:51 AM

#

how are the powerboosts treating ya?

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:52 AM

#

They haven't exploded :P

#

I only bought 10 because they were on sale and I'll use them eventually XD And I only used one of the 2 I had before

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:54 AM

#

i had an explosion yesterday, biggest i've experienced sofar. mains didn't like going into the wrong pcb header 💩

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:55 AM

#

Oof

#

Just don't get electrocuted, -3/10 recommend'

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:57 AM

#

roflcopter!!!

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:57 AM

#

~~Seriously I know from experience~~

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:57 AM

#

some days i'm just not sure if i'm cut out for this stuff.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:58 AM

#

Things is hard

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 1:58 AM

#

not to be a bummer or anything, but yea learning electronics without a premium education has been a sorta school of hard knocks.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:59 AM

#

Plenty of people to learn from here :D

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:00 AM

#

i'm grateful though for all the freely available info and awesome community 😁

#

hey how's the keyboard coming?

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:01 AM

#

coughs and pushes untouched parts aside goooood.... real good... I didn't get distracted or anything....

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:03 AM

#

i took a break from the 3d printer to learn some kicad and ltspice. plus i'm broke

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:03 AM

#

I just bought 7 more spools of filament XD

#

Well, spoolless spools...

#

And one spool

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:05 AM

#

spoolless spool? but that doesn't... i don't even... researching

#

ah ok so like a bulk

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:05 AM

#

Lol. So in an attempt to reduce waste, Micro Center offers rolls without a spool. You can buy a spool that splits in half, stick it thru the roll, and print from there! And then you reuse the spool forever

#

Same 1kg as their regular spools, but $2 less. Spool is $6, so after 3 spools worth, you start saving $2 a spool

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:07 AM

#

i c i c, haven't thought what happens to the spools once one is out of filament

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:07 AM

#

I currently have a stack... There are some ways to repurpose, like making drawers that go into the spools

#

Actually brb, gonna go grab those rolls

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:09 AM

#

nice! repurposing is so much fun

#

what was once a monitor stand w/tilt and swivel is now a holder for a headset, keys, usb cable and a long rigged copper arm to hold and remind me to take my vitamin

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:28 AM

#

Nice

#

My dad, when I walked in with 7kg of filament: "What the ~~h e double hockysticks~~ have you got now?"

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:31 AM

#

gee, not much into maker stuff i guess? i'd take that reaction over nothing at all. parents couldn't care less about what i'm up to.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:32 AM

#

Lol, more just the fact that I seem to constantly be bringing things in XD

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:33 AM

#

oh ok lol emphasis on the quantity

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:34 AM

#

Yeah XD

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:40 AM

#

I'm dipping my toe into the mysterious world of magnetics. Ultimate goal is to build a power supply for hollow cathode lamps (300V, 30mA). Current thought is to build a forward converter out of an LT1170 chip. I have some ferrite cores and bobbins left over from another project, and I'll need a custom transformer with 3 windings. I think I'll need about 54µH of inductance on the primary, and I've calculated that would take 5 turns. I wound a tapped winding tonight, next I'll measure it with an inductance meter, then build a rig to pulse it while monitoring the current rise. If all that looks good, I'll try hooking it to the chip and see how it goes.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:41 AM

#

Magnets: How do they work?

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:44 AM

#

wow that's too complex for my noob brain 😁 sound fun and rewarding though

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:48 AM

#

The transformer so far

moHt58e9OwKlzVCuGbVTARpIzU3GUGFYp1vLIyTbuzzvEPC4-UzN4W1jnpq88VIytcP1pVCEvYFb-CK6R0Kitl-fUU5WBZilTo02.jpg

#

LCR meter says I got it pretty close

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 2:49 AM

#

an electric stonehenge, nice!

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 2:50 AM

#

late fulcrum LCR meter says I got it pretty close

Wow!

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:51 AM

#

I figured I would be lucky to get within 10%, this surprised me

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 2:52 AM

#

I’ve thought homemade transformers were cool. Maybe people have recommended many good books to me in transformer designs

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:53 AM

#

I've built transformers before... I recommend against it if you can buy one of the right spec unless you specifically want the experience XD

#

Especially ones that are more than just a plain enamel wire coating like that...

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:54 AM

#

I've read the Würth Elektronik "Trilogy of Magnetics" but don't claim to understand all of it.

#

Alas, I've had no luck finding the transformer I want. Custom units are cheap enough if you buy a thousand of them, but one-offs are brutal.

#

The datasheet for the core says the A-sub-L is 2250nH +30/-20%

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 2:55 AM

#

Last “transformer” math I did was estimating the inductance of an AM radio antenna from the Elenco am radio kit

#

The bigger part of the antenna was like 750uH or something like that

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:56 AM

#

So 5 turns would theoretically be 5*5*2250nH or 56250nH, which is 56µH.

#

That sounds really small for an AM inductor

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:57 AM

#

I never did maths for magnetic field strength, just voltage change

#

And that's just ratios

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 2:57 AM

#

May have been mH

#

It’s been.. 2 years since I wrote the write up 😂

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 2:58 AM

#

I haven't done all the math for the field strength, but I'm going to be pushing about 9 watts through it, and the core should be good for about 60 at this frequency

#

I'm leaning heavily on the nice description in this article (for which I originally bought the parts): https://www.elektormagazine.com/labs/12v-200v-dc-dc-converter-for-valve-amplifiers

Elektor

12V-200V DC-DC Converter for Valve amplifiers

Fairly easy to build DC-DC converter for valve amplifiers using through hole components (just one SO-8 IC). Galvanically isolated high voltage output. The transformer must be created by oneself and its turns ratio sets output voltage. Input voltage is a 5A/ 12VDC AC adapter, output power is 50 W max.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:00 AM

#

Zappy AC noise

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:00 AM

#

I’ll probably stick to LDO and small voltage DC-DC converters 🙂

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:01 AM

#

I made a transformer to go from 120VAC to 128kVAC once :D

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:01 AM

#

Nice!

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:02 AM

#

It popped a breaker and set a table on fire the first try XD Definitely something to take care with

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:03 AM

#

Lol

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:03 AM

#

I should sleep

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:03 AM

#

I should probably get ready for bed

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:04 AM

#

Actually I'mma clean these pipes first!

#

Ugh, I need a new knife, this $7 one from Amazon can't hold an edge...

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:09 AM

#

won't say how much he despises amazon

#

if they didn't push inferior products effectively ripping off many of its customers, and didn't analyze their staff to the bone... i dunno

#

seen their delivery trucks lately? they've got spinny cams on the top like google does to gather map data. me no likey

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:13 AM

#

Wait, what? Where have you seen that?

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:18 AM

#

new jersey usa

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:19 AM

#

Haven't seen such in PA

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:19 AM

#

next time i see one maybe i'll snap a pic

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 AM

#

They're probably trying to map out the world so their drones can make better deliveries in the future

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 AM

#

ugh you're likely right!

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:21 AM

#

At least if they can get drones to do deliveries they can stop forcing bottle potty time on workers....

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:21 AM

#

Plus Google already won the “catch people with their pants not in the right place” award

#

Plus solved many cold crimes

#

We need a movie: Detective Google

#

An animated movie about a little algorithm that travels through the digital world of Google solving cold cases

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:22 AM

#

lol

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:22 AM

#

Selling the rights to that for $1m

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:23 AM

#

I'll give you 3 credits

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:23 AM

#

i have some pocket lint 🙄

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:23 AM

#

~~probs worth more than 3 imperial credits~~

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:25 AM

#

time to fall asleep to eevblog or somethin. g'night yall!

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:25 AM

#

I’ll take Beskar

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:26 AM

#

tardy badger I’ll take Beskar

Sorry, can't part with that

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:26 AM

#

So I can make mando armor

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:26 AM

#

I need more Beskar

#

And Duranium

#

And sleep

#

Gonna go work on that last one... Night night

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:28 AM

#

Night

quartz wren Sep 8, 2021, 3:39 AM

#

dusty citrus and this was for a drone eh? what are you thinking of hooking it up to next?

A laptop

#

Running at 5v

#

Well, 5v regulated to 3. 3 onboard some modules.

#

5v for the 6507 I'm using for... Research purposes

#

And its associated memory hardware

#

And the buffering circuitry that will be able to take either the Pico's 3.3v signal or the 6507's 5v signal and output either to 5v since iirc the Pico can do 5v input on digital IO (please correct me if I'm wrong I don't want to Yolo it too hard)

#

Because if I am wrong I'll need another set of bidirectional buffers for doing ghetto level conversion

#

(set one to 5v rails and one to 3.3v rails and have both capable of using both levels to set state on the other)

#

Since I'm not sure I can run the 6507 at 3.3v

#

checks datasheet

#

Hmmmmm

#

Oh! Okay

#

Looks like it can't be powered by 3.3v

#

But!

#

It can take logic levels at 3.3v

#

Actually logical high is Vss+2.4v

#

So 3.3 is well in the high range

#

So I can do everything at 3.3v except the CPU if I want.

#

Which means straight regulation for everything except the 6507 and USB power. Those will use boost conversion.

#

(since battery is considered "discharged" above voltage that is required to drive a 3.3v regulator even without regulation all the way down to 3.3v from input )

#

And since it's only ever at most about a 0.7v drop it should have no issue thermally

#

Though when directly USB connected for charging it will be getting 5v to that regulator so would have a 1.7v drop... Still not terrible

#

But since everything can take 5v as power input no reason to add an extra system if I already need the boost in play for the 6507 and the USB ports

#

If it didn't require boost for something I would just feed the regulated 3.3v into things and simplify the battery circuit

#

But instead I'll just have a 5v output, some control lines, a power input line, and a ground signal

#

Then run the 5v rail to 3.3v through regulation by Pico

#

For like the ESP8266 module and stuff

#

Oh also I found a GPS unit from that same drone project that I'm integrating too for both positioning and RTC functionaly with an auto set up

#

Will break out its dinky onboard button cell that's probably dead to either a 2032 socket or a dedicated onboard lithium cell just for RTC control that has its own charge controller and whatnot so it can recharge when powered

#

Not sure yet

#

Probably just a socket so it can be replaced

#

Then I'll have wifi through ESP8266, Pico as a system controller / graphics driver, a 6507 with its own private RAM and sharing some memory that's on Pico, and an FPGA board just for shiggles eventually capable of writing shaders for that set up an entirely new hardware map for graphics co-coprocessing

#

Or whatever other custom processing you need.

#

All programmable from within a programs code via a shader-like system

#

But that's later, for now I'll just be using it for things like it's extended RAM and a few other ideas that could be useful

#

Iirc it has either 256 or 512m of RAM onboard so if I can just get access to that the Pico will be far superior and can give the 6507 literal megabytes of stack space.

#

Like... We're talking hundreds to thousands of times the size of the rest of the 6507's native memory map accessible using normal stack calls.

#

I just had a thought.

#

What if

#

When the USB input is active, it charges the cells in parallel and sends its 5v on to be regulated directly but when it's disconnected the charge circuitry also disconnects from the battery array and it goes into a series parallel array for just regulating down to 5v?

#

I have 2 separate identical parallel arrays of 3 cells that would be pretty easy to set up for mode switch using MOSFETs and maybe a PLD for detecting charger input and selecting all of the correct outputs

#

Then I don't even need to worry about boost conversion I can just do charge monitoring and voltage regulation

#

With battery bank switching on charger input voltage from a series parallel system into a full parallel one for charge and passive balancing

#

Can a MOSFET switch current bidirectionally?

#

If not I'll need 2 on each positive and negative for one mode and two on each positive and negative for the other I think, so a total of 8 MOSFETs but capable of driving up to ~8v directly off of the battery bank when charged up if needed for something.

#

And when discharged, the battery's voltage is still above the 5v regulator input requirements

#

But hey no RF coming from the power system

#

Hmm

#

I do have solid state relays...

#

I could use those for selecting / deselecting parallel setup, then diodes between the the power in and the parallel setup, and the opposite type of MOSFET used for deselecting battery series mode when 5v in and select when not, as well as pass that 5v on to system

#

That may be the simplest way

#

Looks like 6 MOSFETs and one solid state relay with a smattering of diodes ought to do it

#

Wait 5 MOSFETs

#

But I already have the self contained smaller boost converter...

#

Screw it I'll just shield it for RF

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:04 AM

#

What's the best RAM optimizer for Windows?

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:04 AM

#

I can't say I've ever seen the need for such a thing myself.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:06 AM

#

blissful roost I can't say I've ever seen the need for such a thing myself.

I know, but I mean like clearing the RAM from the last used app to free up space - ||I have a really bad computer RAM-wise||

crystal ore Sep 8, 2021, 5:07 AM

#

Man, I remember RAM Doubler back in the day...

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:07 AM

#

This laptop only has 8GB RAM.. which is more than sufficient.

#

But them, I don't play any games on it.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:08 AM

#

blissful roost This laptop only has 8GB RAM.. which is more than sufficient.

Mine doesn't have 8GB - only 2 or 4

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:08 AM

#

Most sensible apps should clear themselves from RAM in a fairly efficient manner, but that's not always the case.

#

Oh lawd.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:08 AM

#

🙂

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:09 AM

#

My old (2004) laptops only do 2GB max... which is fine for what I do on them.

crystal ore Sep 8, 2021, 5:09 AM

#

RAM Doubler was before the days of reasonable virtual memory OS support. It was a system add-on that let multiple applications share memory more efficiently, giving the illusion of extra RAM.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:09 AM

#

crystal ore RAM Doubler was before the days of reasonable virtual memory OS support. It was ...

I see

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:09 AM

#

blissful roost My *old* (2004) laptops only do 2GB max... which is fine for what I do on them.

This laptop is from 2011...

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

I'm sure my ThinkPad is around the same age.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

I even use SuperBoost for extra RAM, but I'm still only at 6GB then

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

blissful roost I'm sure my ThinkPad is around the same age.

That's funny - this is a ThinkPad - I think

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

Internet tells me it will do 16GB.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:10 AM

#

No, a Yoga

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:11 AM

#

X220 Tablet. 🙂

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:11 AM

#

blissful roost Internet tells me it will do 16GB.

Really? How

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:11 AM

#

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:12 AM

#

wary herald Really? How

Mine, not yours.. don't know your machine's spec.

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:12 AM

#

I have a 16GB USB drive for SuperBoost

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:12 AM

#

blissful roost Mine, not yours.. don't know your machine's spec.

I see - I thought you meant SuperBoost

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:12 AM

#

Never even looked at "SuperBoost".

#

Ahh.. Windows thing. That's why I've never looked at it. 😛

wary herald Sep 8, 2021, 5:13 AM

#

Right click a USB drive, hit Properties, and SuperBoost will make your USB drive look like extra RAM

#

Gotta go, bye

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:13 AM

#

Not for me.

dusk oracle Sep 8, 2021, 6:23 AM

#

You know what disgusts me?
hardware developers all know you need 4GB ram for win 10 not to kill your hard drive.

#

Yet they keep selling 2GB variants with win 10 on

quartz wren Sep 8, 2021, 6:28 AM

#

I have the charge circuit working with just a feedback divider :D

#

Now to figure out switching between USB and battery on plugging USB in for charge

#

(to boost converter)

#

And now I can actually design the PLD for doing charge indicator LED code to RGB color codes :D

#

And I think I'll just do a direct decode to different colors based on number of LEDs lit so during charge it will just constantly flash between the 2 color codes, then during discharge it will send a single pulse to the key input every x amount of time and latch the LED values

#

Just waiting for it to charge up the battery to full so I can try and charge my phone off of it using the boost converter and do a full cycle

#

OH HECK YEAH!

#

I just remembered

#

This buck/boost module gives outputs for amperage and voltage of connected cells

#

😄

#

I can absolutely use that if I make sure to normalize it properly

quartz wren Sep 8, 2021, 7:14 AM

#

😦

#

Never mind

#

It's just a buck not boost

#

;_;

drowsy zephyr Sep 8, 2021, 7:55 AM

#

guys, i wanna ask

#

how powerful is a TED or TEDx volunteering experience?

#

in terms of your CV or Resume

quartz wren Sep 8, 2021, 9:13 AM

#

So it looks like I can't seem to get things implemented properly... I think the reason for such high resistances is because the divider was part of the boost circuit... Might just try and do the switching between parallel and series parallel while charging / discharging

#

Because when I tried it with a lower overall resistance, the chip gets very hot when the inductor is in place.

#

But it does charge the battery just fine when you remove the inductor

#

And lights an LED even with no USB input

#

Just no clue what voltage it has coming out and the inductor actually causes the light to go out

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 10:46 AM

#

That's a great idea!

#

I wanted a scrolling dot matrix sign (rear facing) when I had a car, that could 'greet' other drivers.

dusk oracle Sep 8, 2021, 10:51 AM

#

A friend sent me 6x 30T INR 21700 3000mAh 3.7V Unprotected High-Drain 35A Lithium Ion Batteries.
These batteries pack a huge power punch.
But think step one is adding a protection circuits to my projects that may use these.
Some one suggested a efuse with short protection.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 11:51 AM

#

crystal ore Man, I remember RAM Doubler back in the day...

https://tenor.com/view/culture-man-of-culture-cultured-gif-10903367

Tenor

i see you're a man of culture as well

▶ Play video

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 11:59 AM

#

Ah… Wednesday

#

My nemesis

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 12:11 PM

#

Just some other day to me.

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 12:12 PM

#

Wednesday’s for some reason are slow work wise

#

Idk, no matter how busy or not busy I am, they usually drag out.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 12:28 PM

#

Wednesdays can be all over for me... Today, currently, it's fairly low traffic, but everything may catch fire at any moment

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 12:33 PM

#

Indeed

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 12:40 PM

#

Today I'm like

#

https://tenor.com/view/jaiden-jaiden-animations-collapse-distressed-stressed-gif-20883070

Tenor

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 1:29 PM

#

delicate stream https://tenor.com/view/jaiden-jaiden-animations-collapse-distressed-stressed-gif...

Same

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 1:31 PM

#

Need more hours in a day

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 1:50 PM

#

Need more jobs that meet expectations

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:21 PM

#

Need less hour jobs that pay more

wooden schooner Sep 8, 2021, 2:24 PM

#

Need universal basic income and also everyone to get their s together

#

(disclaimer: I am not an economist. Please consult with your local social good–focused economist before attempting to take effective action towards lasting economic reform.)

#

I can unequivocally advise that last part about getting our s together, though

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 2:33 PM

#

UBI would be nice, the hard thing is how, and even the professionals can't agree

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 2:41 PM

#

UBI definitely would be nice

stuck moth Sep 8, 2021, 3:03 PM

#

I found it funny that even Monopoly has a UBI (someone on Twitter pointed it out.)

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:06 PM

#

I need a job that's less freakin' tedious.

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:14 PM

#

blissful roost I need a job that's less freakin' tedious.

The job I want doesn’t exist in corporate America, more so in startup culture. But most hardware startups already have hardware people lol. But for the most part, the job I want doesn’t exist in normal companies

#

After I finish grad school I plan to start my company back up but probably more focused on a more mass marketable product than hobby electronics. Lots of great small makers doing good for the hobbyist already

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:16 PM

#

The job I want requires having had a different job and saving up so you can work without pay for a while

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:16 PM

#

Yeah

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:16 PM

#

I'd love to get back to hardware work.

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:17 PM

#

I had a friend who wanted free time so worked in some dangerous industry to pick up a lot of cash fast.

#

I don't remember what industry it was.

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:17 PM

#

I just wanna be a professional content creator/YouTuber/podcaster

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:17 PM

#

dusty citrus I had a friend who wanted free time so worked in some dangerous industry to pick...

1st line IT support, probably... /s

#

😂

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:18 PM

#

Maybe an oil rigger or something. They make a lot of money

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:18 PM

#

"Lion Act cleanup crew, circus"

#

I just don't remember.

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:19 PM

#

I had a job where I worked 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Great for building a startup. But the work was very tiresome

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

Eastern Mountain Sports was said to have a very aggressive ON schedule, interleaved with a very generous OFF schedule.

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

Working 12hr days for 2 weeks straight was exhausting

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

(for their retail stores)

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

tardy badger I had a job where I worked 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Great for building a startup...

I'll stick with 4/4, thanks. Lol

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

Lol

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

Days, that is....

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:20 PM

#

I work 4 10s

#

Off Fri-Sun

#

I set my own schedule basically

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:21 PM

#

I'm on 4-days at 11.5hrs each

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:21 PM

#

I temped for a labor pool, an had a semi-permanent position with a furniture moving company that specialized in whole-office moves, and those refrigerator sized computers (mainframes probably).

#

we would move out an entire floor (or more) of a building on a very long shift, back to back with another one, for I think three shifts. I don't remember how long the shifts were, but I seem to remember making money for the entire week in 3, maybe 4 days on.

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:21 PM

#

I can work from 6:30am til 4:30pm, or whatever combo gets me 4 10s

#

I usually work 6:30-4:30

#

From home.. making software

#

Not particularly interesting software though

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:23 PM

#

Sounds like you know it well enough it's basically transcribing what's in your head. ;)

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 3:23 PM

#

Indeed

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 3:24 PM

#

I work 0700-1600 Monday thru Friday

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:24 PM

#

It's weird how knowledge works like that. Becomes utterly mechanical on some level.

#

(if you used it recently enough it's recitation)

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 3:29 PM

#

I'd be happy with getting back to Linux SysAdmin right now... Something that isn't wasting my skills.

dusty citrus Sep 8, 2021, 3:30 PM

#

I think Twain said work is a thing a body is obliged to do, whereas play is a thing a body is not obliged to do.

#

If they're going to pay you to do it, it's because you would not do it if they didn't pay you. ;)

wooden schooner Sep 8, 2021, 3:34 PM

#

stuck moth I found it funny that even Monopoly has a UBI (someone on Twitter pointed it out...

But they have unjust policing and you lose your ubi while you're in jail. Still better than the US (1/2 vs 2/2) but not without its social ills

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:00 PM

#

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 5:36 PM

#

I wanna see both

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 5:37 PM

#

Already seen Shang-Chi..
Going to see Free Guy on Friday.😁

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 6:02 PM

#

I miss theaters

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 6:13 PM

#

I miss not having kids where going to the movies was something that could happen. (I love my kids, though child care is expensive and date night just doesn’t happen because of that)

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 6:31 PM

#

Oof

#

I'm currently not going because of plague, got bad here again

late fulcrum Sep 8, 2021, 6:39 PM

#

Samesies. There are some movies I'd like to go see, but I'm not going to risk spreading contagions in order to do so.

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 6:40 PM

#

tardy badger I miss not having kids where going to the movies was something that could happen...

See... Bunnies are way better. 😁

#

Sell the kids, buy rabbits. 🐰👍

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 6:52 PM

#

blissful roost Sell the kids, buy rabbits. 🐰👍

https://tenor.com/view/lost-john-locke-orchidee-dharma-benjamin-linus-gif-14007734

Tenor

blissful roost Sep 8, 2021, 6:55 PM

#

😈

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 6:57 PM

#

I have a dog and a cat, all the pets I can have in my apartment

wooden schooner Sep 8, 2021, 7:00 PM

#

tardy badger I have a dog and a cat, all the pets I can have in my apartment

What kind of pets does your landlord disallow?

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:04 PM

#

tardy badger I have a dog and a cat, all the pets I can have in my apartment

Alligator?

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:04 PM

#

Rabbits, rodents, reptiles, birds

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:05 PM

#

Oh

#

Horse?

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:05 PM

#

Farm animals

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:05 PM

#

Oh...

#

Tardigrades?

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:06 PM

#

Basically you can have 2 dogs, 2 cats, a dog and a cat, a dog and a 20gal+ fish tank, a cat and a 20gal+ fish tank, or two 20+ gal fish tanks lol

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:06 PM

#

Hmmm

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:06 PM

#

Tardigrades probably live by the millions here

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:06 PM

#

So a 1000 gallon fish tank is acceptable

#

Gotcha

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:07 PM

#

Probably a max size of 100gal

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:07 PM

#

Lol

#

Imagine having a 1000 gallon tank to care for

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:07 PM

#

You can have a lot of little fish tanks but anything smaller than like 5gal is cruel containment for pet fish

tardy badger Sep 8, 2021, 7:08 PM

#

delicate stream Imagine having a 1000 gallon tank to care for

Scuba gear?

#

Lol

delicate stream Sep 8, 2021, 7:08 PM

#

tardy badger Scuba gear?

Probs XD Lots of water filtration and care