KayEllen @KayEllen@cybre.space

I’ve had to just make a choice, and go with the RPI, apparently my use case isn’t in the wheel house of anyone I know, since I got no real usable strategy comparison. With the delays I am going to have to come up with a placeholder solution till I have the time to dig into the details of how to make all the detectors and what not work with the RPI, but the basic concept is this:

I know more about the RPI, but its a full linux system, so there is admin stuff to do there (updates, backups) but I know very little about Arduino, is it a full OS, does it need admin attention or can it be just a data converter /collector for the PI, meaning I have no extra sysadmin duties? Also power consumption PI3 vs arduino? I also have no idea which draws more power, a PI3 or the appropriate Arduino for the project.

I’m a bit out of my depth on this one, and would like some input. I need to monitor basement water issues (ideally pump activity {current sensor}, pit water level, and 2 moisture sensors for pit overflow & stairway leak. my experience with sensors and embedded systems is limited to setting up a Raspbery PI nextcloud server, using GPIO pins & a simple python script to activate the case fan at a certain system load level. The goals of the project are reliability, energy efficiency, low & easy maintenance. Also this must be a WIRED solution, no wi-fi, bluetooth etc. The thoughts are: 1) buy a second RPI, locate it near the pump pit, all sensors connect to it, all processing and web interface run off it. 2) Buy a Arduino, mount at the pit and collect sensor data, some sort of data / network connection between it and my RPI server, which would do all the processing (web interface, pump activity logging & event alert emails)
#diy #arduino #rpi #sensor

So, my sump pump died. Lucky I found it, went to the shop annex and heard a faint hum, noticed water damage on a shelf (from condensation). Replacing a sump pump is a fairly simple job..... Unless you have 1/2 of your parts storage sitting on top of it :/ I'm tired, sore, and still have not replaced the pump (but I got everything off it, and pulled the old one out)

Choose:

I have to buy a new jack. I know it's silly, but being indecisive on the color.
Which should I buy:

Desperately needed emergency mower upgrade is now complete, the original frame (pic 1) was designed peace-meal, main objective was deck-motor alignment, wheels and tractor mount were patched in later. After I got injured it went from being an experimental mower to being experimental in the same sense as the space shuttle. After over a year of production use, its weaknesses as a prototype design showed (pic2) the frame extensions mount point was a critical weakness, as you can see it bending there. The upgrade (pic3) not only involved a new one piece frame, but also the 8" solid rubber wheels were replaced with 8" pneumatic wheels nearly twice as wide, less ground pressure, easier rolling and less dig-in.

I need to make my new sit/stand desk, which means I need to redo my bedroom, which means I need to get my grandparents furniture out of the basement, which means I need to clear out the computer shop, which means I need to make the mine cart system AAAAGGGGGGGGG! so many dependencies!

thinking maybe I should re-do my profile, maybe put some hashtags in it?

I've not really done updates on my most recent project, but It's done, here's a shot of test fitting things before final assembly, and a shot of it in place in use. Despite being made of badly warped and out of true wood, it turned out -ok- and works acceptably well.

That's it for me, night' Feddi. 🌛

Turns out if you try to use old out of square plywood to make your project w/o squaring it up first, your project turns out *$*& 🤦‍♀️

Currently working on:

Spent the bulk of the rest of the day hanging out with my wife while she went through her paperwork from 2021. We had some potatoes in the pantry that were about to become garbage, they had started to sprout a while ago, were getting soft-ish, so we planted them :) plus since I wasn't really physically doing anything most of the day, I did my nails for the first time in like 6 months while I was there for paperwork moral support :)

today was a pretty good day, started off by making up an expansion module for my storinator in CAD, then a bit of restoration of this bathroom fan:

surgery:

Blower is finally done! Initial testing went really well too, it actually worked exactly as I had envisioned!! I'm very happy. Now on to figuring out how to replace a smartphone battery that's glued in...

I mated the blower chassis to the frame, the hopes I had about strength are fulfilled, in attaching the two the resulting unit does not flex and is quite strong. I also finished the chassis wiring, with a junction box mounted on the back of the frame. If all goes well tomorrow will be handle and controls then I'm all done :)

Today went well, I got to work on the blower a bit, the frame is basically done, a few things like alignment pins for the front wheel are left. It has no real structural integrity of it’s own, but that’s by design, it doesn’t need it, as the blower chassis will provide all the strength needed. This also provides needed weight savings, as this thing is getting heavy.

Today has not been much of a success, kinda a downer actually. The shop was such a mess I had to spend a lot of time just putting things away etc before working. Also work went slow, yea I get it, prototyping with old twisted wood bits isn't going to be perfect, but it doesn't seem anything on this frame is going to be strait, accurate, or correct :/ Maybe I can just finish the frame tonight and move on to the next part.