Steve Cooley Fine Art

If you’re like me, you probably want to know what the modern device fluxamasynth arduino shield sounds like. I decided I would take a risk and pick one up without having … almost any idea of what it sounded like. It’s relatively affordable and runs right on top of an arduino… theoretically speaking, a lot to like about this kind of product. There are some issues that I’m waiting to hear back on (software serial) before I can really dig deeply into it as something I’d use in my live act, but… here’s what it sounds like:

so, do yourself a favor so you can follow along. Open this page up in a new tab:
http://wiki.moderndevice.com/pmwiki.php?n=MD.ListVoices

then hit the play button below to listen to 64 notes of the first bank of 128 different voices of the fluxamasynth shield. I just realized that I hit the record button while I was uploading a new firmware… so when you hear the “piano” start playing… that’s when you start reading down the list of voices on the other web page:
fluxamasynth_audio_samples_bank0.mp3

I got an arduino ethernet shield for xmas, so I wanted to check out if I could get it talking to quartz composer… and… I did! woot.

Welp, I decided on which CNC rig to go with. I wanted to keep my options open for the future, so I decided to go with a bigger rig than I had originally planned on committing to. I decided that I could commit several continuous days in a row to assembly, setting up a major section of my garage, and purchasing a couple-few extra things to accommodate the buildyourcnc.com Blacktoe 2×4.

Here’s the timelapse of the build:

Here’s the first run:

And here’s the first real job I ran with it:

Woohoo! Very happy!

After inquiring around about prices for lasers, I’m coming to the realization that maybe what I need isn’t a laser but a CNC rig.  I’m lucky to live near enough to Techshop that making the occasional drive up there is doable, but not a sustainable ongoing possibility with my family time needs.  So take a look at the research I’ve done into who the top contenders for desktop CNC could be for an almost total n00b to the sport.

Alright, so I know the G-code exists and that most every interesting machine that I want to work with understands how to work with that, so now it’s up to me to complete the equation. This list isn’t meant to be exhaustive, and by no means am I an expert on the topic, but based on what I could digest from their websites, this is what I took away from it all.   When I priced things to be as ready to run as possible starting with no previous equipment, here’s the ballpark figures:

These prices assume you already have a computer… duh. And they don’t really take the cost of software into consideration, which is probably ok because there are a lot of software packages out there so I’ve heard. They do different things and cost different amounts of money… so it’s hard to factor it in easily. The other thing I haven’t factored in here is speed. And because I’m inexperienced, I don’t really know how to gauge that, other than to see that the Blacktoe is fast as hell. Ok, so I get that these machines all have an “inch per minute” speed rating… I would suspect it would also depend on 1. your router, 2. your gcode, and 3. the material you’re milling… so given those parameters, what does “high speed traverse” mean? Just how fast the machine does what it needs to do when it’s not doing a cutting maneuver? That’s my best guess.

So, those are the current contenders. Did I miss anything substantial? Leave a comment and let’s get it on the chart.

There’s been an awful lot of hand wringing from some extraordinary minds about the “direction” of software because of the iPad. I’ve also been thinking a lot about the iPad, but in the other direction than most of the hand wringers.

1. They want all the highest technology, design elegance, thoughtful attention to detail, tried and true connectivity and sync ability of Apple designed hardware, but keep your filthy hands off their code! Hey, remember when Apple didn’t let you develop for the iPhone OS at all? Go try developing for the Playstation and see how cheap and easy that is for you. Developing for the iPhone OS is really inexpensive relative to other “nearly closed” platforms.

2. They want access to the largest possible audience, promotion, effortless infrastructure, simple credit card transactions, and user reviews. But not any kind of code review to make sure they’re not hiding functionality or exposing their users to risk. I believe Apple would call this “protecting the Brand” It’s probably good to remember that as a developer, you’re an invited guest piggy-backing onto their hard work. If you want to be associated with the Apple brand, you have to enhance the user’s experience, period.

3. They say absolutely nothing about what keeping the villains out costs. Or what the benefit is. Because apple’s done a good job of locking down the iphone to widespread hacking by black hats, they seem to view banishment of stupid apps as some kind of crime against humanity. Remember this fake banking android app? Yikes. Adhering to contractual obligations may not be something they’ll really take into consideration while complaining about developing for the iPhone OS, but Apple must take steps to ensure that some stupidhead (or malicious) 3rd party doesn’t screw everything up for everyone. Secondarily, keeping stupid apps out helps increase the discoverability of your app. Reducing the noise from the signal is *good*.

4. They complain about the app store being the only way to install software. Having an app store significantly reduces developer support time for installation and configuration to the end user. If you’ve never had to do that, you’re lucky. Having a zero-configuration installation process frees you up to spend your time building your next great app instead of having to help your mom get your app installed on her iPod Touch. No matter how simple a manual installation process would be, time spent helping your users install is time away from you making your next revenue stream.

5. They complain about all of these things like the rest of the world is going to instantly adopt this methodology of software development and deployment. That’s simply not the truth. Developing for the iPhone OS is *optional*, folks. Some people seem to give off the impression that Apple is forcing them to develop for the platform. It sounds silly to even have to point it out. We will never live in a world where you will be denied access to development tools for a tinkering platform. Honestly, it’s preposterous.

The end result is that Apple doesn’t have to justify the costs to join the developer program, or the procedures. You either grow up and realize that the marketplace revolves around rules — not trust, or you can go play in your own sand box. If you hate the rules, just wait a few years while the rest of the industry slowly does their inevitable imitation act, and then you can deploy your cool idea onto a platform for like minded people. I’m choosing the biggest market and the rules that come with it. It’s just not that hard to deal with.

So this “war against tinkerers” rings completely hollow for me. The iPhone OS is for when you’re *not* at your desktop or laptop. Not *instead* of your desktop or laptop. If you can use the iPad instead of a desktop/laptop, you probably don’t care about this debate anyway. You’re not a tinkerer. You’re a consumer. If you’re a self-identified-tinkerer, you’re going to use producer tools, not consumer access devices.

While making my Beatseqr project, I’ve been trying to find a reliable source for some faders / sliders / slide pots / slide action potentiometers, and I’ve been having a challenging time finding exactly what I want. So I thought I’d share what I’ve learned. Click on through to get a crazy large dose of science. Continue reading ‘HOWTO find and buy faders / sliders / slide pots / slide potentiometers’ »

Update: I’ve written a huge post on how to buy sliders/faders/slide potentiometers

As copiously stated, I have no formal training in electronics, and I’ve reached a mature enough age that I can no longer accept an electronic component as a black box, so when I come across a device and can figure out how to use it without being able to locate instructions, i feel like it’s only right to make a drawing of it and try to explain my hypothesis for how it works.

With that being said, here’s my best guess at how the 10k slide potentiometers (sliders / slide pot) works:

the 3 pin slide potentiometer (10k)

The obvious control at the top sets the resistance. The voltage in (V+) and ground (V-) pins run inline with each other, and the resistance value is read from the pin adjacent to the voltage in pin. I’m using an Arduino to read the value, and in my case, i actually needed an additional resistor in front of the voltage in pin to limit the incoming current. When i hooked the slider up directly to the arduino, it didn’t work very well, acting way more like it was a logarithmic curve potentiometer than the linear curve pot I thought it was. About 2 minutes later, it was blistering hot. Too hot to touch, actually! So, I quickly disconnected it from the arduino and added a 10k resistor in front of the voltage in, and then it started behaving much more reasonably. The values I was getting from the 10k slider were not what I was expecting, so I’ll have to dial back on the current resistor from 10k to maybe 1k and see if that helps get the values from the slide pot more inline with my expectations.