While practicing the Quadrotor‘s motor mounts on a Shopbot gave me experience in how to register two sides for milling, I didn’t want to invest the time required for the arm mounts. So I decided to make use of the MakerBot Replicator 2 to print physical samples in PLA. Time per piece went from about an hour to about 15 minutes.
One of the most commonly used phrases when writing software is “reusable code.” From the Wikipedia article on “Code Reuse”. Reusable code is:
the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software.
Software coders have been sharing and re-using code since they first start programming. So why can’t this same idea be applied to hardware design? Doesn’t it seem silly to redraw the ATmega328 for an Arduino based project or even the really simple linear regulator circuit? Well, it can thanks to HackEDA you can start using reusable code to save time (and from creating mistakes).
Early on in planning the design for the Quadrotor, we knew that eventually some of the metal parts would need to be milled. Having very little milling experience, other than a couple of basic-use classes at TechShop, I had no milling experience. When it came time to start buying router bits for the ShopBot and Tormach CNC routers, I didn’t know what kind of bits were necessary.
Greg over at 100kGarages put together a primer titled CNC Router Bits Demystified, which does a great job of explaining the basics of an End Mill, Ball Nose, Downcut, Upcut etc.
After spending too much time waiting for effects to render on my new AddOhms Tutorialcast, I decided it was time to upgrade computers. When I went to capture a quick EAGLE video on my new MacBook Pro with Retina screen, I realized a problem with the Mac’s auto graphics chip switch. Quicktime recorded only a green Screen.
A couple of years ago I started looking at what it would take to make a quadcopter. At the time, I only had the limited tools at the Austin hackerspace available to me (which I don’t think even has a space anymore). So I shelved the idea since I didn’t see a time effective way to make any of the components. Fast forward to a few months ago when I joined the TechShop in Austin. Now I have no excuses to not make a custom Quadrotor.
