Derby Makers

By Brendan Stafford

I recently had air conditioning installed in my home extension. It is supplied with a hand controller that has a wide range of functions. I should have asked for the Wi-Fi option but I missed a trick.  I quite fancied the idea of controlling it via Alexa inside the house and via my phone when outside.

A discussion at one of our maker meetings set me thinking. It seems that an Arduino extension called SinRic Pro will implement Alexa commands in a ‘home…

The electronics box has been drawn in a 3D modelling package. The objective is to produce a 2D drawing of the panel outline together with the cutouts. It is difficult to position the panel in the correct place on the cutter bed so that the apertures are cut in the right place and are correctly aligned with the panel outline.

The cut file read in to the cutter has two layers. The first layer is the outline, and the second is the aperture that we want to cut. The first step is to place…

The USB specification includes details of how various standard devices should communicate so that they Just Work without needing a specific driver for your operating system (OS). The standards don’t include all devices and functionality though, so sometimes manufacturers define new ways to communicate with their device, and write a driver for one or more operating systems. Some manufacturers are open about what they’ve done so that others can write drivers for an OS the manufacturer doesn’t…

The launch attempt for Sunday 16th September has been cancelled. Due to a break in at the Drum Hill launch site we won’t have access to the site for the launch. We now need to make an application for a new range of launch dates, and hope the weather is kind. Watch this space for further developments.

Update

The project is moving into the flight phase, with two launches planned on the 25/26 August and 15/16 September: the first date on the weekend is the planned flight day and the second the backup in case of weather problems. Requests for permission to fly have been sent to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who control UK airspace for these dates.

The flight electronics have been tested and work on the ground! We are also just about to install a Tracker unit on a commercial radio mast in…

If you already know what a footprint is and why you might want one you can skip this section. A footprint is an extra groundsheet that provides extra protection on rough ground, especially for lightweight tents with delicate groundsheets. They’re also useful if your existing groundsheet is getting a bit leaky. For some tents that pitch inner first they can also give the option of pitching outer first (very handy in the rain!) or without the inner at all.

The…

In addition to the recently announced meetings on the first Tuesday of the month, we will now be meeting on the third Tuesday of the month. Note that this isn’t quite the same as every other Tuesday, so if in doubt keep an eye on the calendar.

Now we’re back after the May shutdown it’s time to get on with flying the balloons we’ve not yet built!

Dates

Meetings – June 7, 14?, 21, 28?

Meetings – July 5, 12, 19, 26

Launch Sunday 29 July (possibly Sunday 5th August if weather too rough)

Meetings – August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

Launch Saturday 25th August (or Sat 1st September)

Meetings – September 6, 13

Launch Sunday 16th September (or Sun 23rd September)

Meetings – September 20, 27

The launch dates are provisional, and depend on the CAA…

For those who can’t make Thursdays, or just want to meet more often, we’ll be trying Tuesday meetings. We’ll be starting with the first Tuesday of the month, but if it proves popular we may be able to make it more frequent so keep an eye on the calendar. Thanks go to Steve at the Radio Communications Museum for making this possible. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 5th June and subsequent meetings.

One of our Makers, Rob Wilkes, has recently won a Mainframe award for his Lightwave Interactive lighting products. You may have seen his table at the Mini Maker Faire, or some of the prototypes on a Thursday evening over the last couple of years. It’s been interesting to follow the ups and downs of the process from idea through to product, and we look forward to further developments.