User:Spacefelix

--Spacefelix 02:06, 4 July 2009 (CDT)

Projects

• DIY Green Building Retrofit For ML256 Shop
• LED Display
• Facilities Committee

Project Ideas

• ASL Translator - Webcam app that observes what is signed in ASL and is turned into text. Can be spoken using a text-to-speech app.
• Backpack Glider & Scope - A lightweight telescope and an RC glider that can fit into a backpack-sized case.
• ML256 Shop Webcam Face ID & Display - Have a simple face ID app that can identify and project a person's name over their head on the shop webcam display. That way, we can tell who we are looking at in the shop.
• ML256 Telephone & Video Conference Table - Set up a table with full VoIP and Video over IP capability. Develop a lightweight web-based applet that can let someone outside join the conference online (minimum dialup).
• ML256 Tour Bus - Buy an old bus and modify it into a shop on wheels with a places to eat, cook, sleep, bathe and live. We can take it to conventions and use it as a project display piece and a place to stay.
• Radioactive Barrel Podium - Have a full multimedia presentation system in a steel drum on wheels. The system would include a computer with peripherals, speakers, a microphone, a paper stand and a projector. The barrel can be painted to look like a radioactive barrel.
• Real Instrument Guitar Hero - Have a Guitar Hero-like program that instead of taking inputs from a controller, takes the direct sound input of a musical instrument (either by direct plugin or microphone) and determines a musician's performance against a score or soundtrack of music. Think like the vocals for Rock Band. Can start with Frets on Fire.
• RF Popcorn Popper - Pop popcorn using the power of RF!
• Wearable Shop Camera & Phone - A way for video and audio communication in the shop between a person working on the floor and another person at a computer. Mount a minicam and an earbud headphone & microphone on a set of safety glasses or headphones. Feed the data to a belt or pocket-mounted wireless transmitter that will relay video and audio data to the shop server. The server then transmits the video and audio over the internet using VoIP and Video over IP to the other person at a computer. This way, someone at the shop can show another over the net what they are working on and they can discuss it in real time.
• Wifi Flying Drone - Have a solar-powered UAV with a WiFi hub and GPS programmed to hover at or orbit a specific point. A quick way to have internet access anywhere you want it.

Shop Ideas

• ML256 Shop Bath and Kitchen - Install a shower and washing machine in the shop and a basic kitchen.
• Regular BBQs/Cookins/Cooking Classes - Once a month, hold a cookout/cookin potluck at the shop where everyone brings something to cook and we all get to learn how to cook something.
• Regular Company/Tech Presentations - Once a month, have someone from a local company come and talk about their company and present something techy. This would be a great opportunity for people to learn about local job/networking opportunities and see what technology is being worked on in Huntsville.
• Regular Safety/Make Classes - Once a month, have someone conduct a class on shop safety or simple make projects to get people into the groove of the shop.
• Saturday Afternoon Shop Talk - Every Saturday Afternoon, we freeze work for half an hour so everyone can present or talk about what projects they are working on.
• Social Events - ?

Projects Related to HALO Project

Information on the HALO Project from HAL5.

• Rocket Launch Control & Telemetry - Potential use of a Wii controller for rocket telemetry and control.

Interests

• Aerospace
  • Rocketry
  • Aviation
  • Aircraft Design, Construction & Flight
• Computers & Electronics
• Mechanical
  • DIY
  • Microfactory
  • CNC Machinery
• Green
  • Alternative Energy
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Micro & Permaculture
  • Bioremediation
  • Community Salvage & Recycling
• General
  • Creative Commons
  • Open-Source Software

Interested in Learning About

• Computer & Microcontroller Programming
• Linux-Windows Crossover Machines
• Electronics Design & Manufacture

Knowledge/Skills

• RC Aircraft Design, Construction & Flight - 5 years.
• RC Piloting - 5 years.
• Composite Manufacturing - CFRP, GFRP and Aramid composites manufactured with foamcore and hollow-molded methods, 5 years.
• Rocket Motor Manufacturing & Testing - 1 year.
• Project Administration - 3 years.
• Cooking - For some time now with the basics.

Lessons Learned

• General
  • You are never as smart as you think you are. There will always be something around the corner that will show you otherwise. You will always be constantly learning. Be ready for it!
  • Help the project along by having ready designs and plans, but be flexible and open enough for new ideas and unexpected occurrences.
  • Having a successful project takes teamwork and dedication as much as skill and resources.
  • Emergence can be a very powerful force in getting things done. Set the example and others will start to key in.
• Facilities Committee
  • To run a club, there needs to be a degree of dedication towards the place; e.g. manage the maintenance and buildup of your place carefully.
• DIY Power System
  • Solar cells are really fragile.
  • Soldering well takes practice and experience.

Links

• Microfactory MOW Process
• FLOSS Weekly