Greetings and Salutations! Happy Gregorian New Year, 2023!
I hope your new year started on a positive note. Not so much here, but this is how it goes sometimes. I thought in order to both update the blog on what’s going on as well as help me get some things straight, I’d write an update/status on several of the front-burner projects.
The “Wearable”
It’s no secret I’m working on a wearable, even if I haven’t confirmed many of the specifics on here lately. One of the things I’m customizing for this device is the connection between the computer and the wearable device itself, which cleans up the wiring and allows greater features in the future.
However, I’ve never done pcb design before, so I’ve made a lot of mistakes, none of them particularly cheap. I think I’ve found all the bugs in the most recent version, I’ve taken out an unnecessary feature and it’s associated complexity, I just need to save up the $100+ to get them finished. With the first device-side board finished, that will also allow me to continue the software development.
To continue testing on the computer-side board I can use this last? failed board, so that’s a happy accident. It’s also going to be about $100+ per version, but hopefully I’ve done most of the necessary learning for this round and it’ll only be one or two attempts.
| Manufacturing Cost | $92USD |
| Customs | $32CAD |
| Saving Target | ~$150CAD+tax |
|---|
EbikeE
V1 of the EbikeE is working just fine, but it is showing it’s age. I know I just finished it, but it was started well over a decade ago from parts off the cheap shelf. One of which had to be replaced to get this far (the controller).
But the batteries don’t have the range or juice they used to. And they take up all my storage space, which also puts their massive mass in the wrong place. And their chargers are very old and weren’t the best when I bought them. One of them has broken down completely, the other seems to be OK now that it’s fan is fixed, so fingers crossed.
The motor has been upgraded, and the new version is better in every single way. It’s shaped properly for bicycles, so I can use all my gears! It’s got proper gear mounts, so I can make the gearing work smoothly again and not be the terrible old-school hack it is now. It can be filled with statorade so it will handle the heat better. It’s stronger and more efficient. It will also probably require an update to the derailleur and shifters.
And finally even the cycle-analyst (CA) computer brain has been upgraded. The new version not only has many features, it will make everything so much neater! It minimizes the necessary wiring to the controller, so I can move the controller near the motor and batteries, and connect it back to the CA with a single wire! Right now it is 2 bundles, one 2 thick wires for the batteries, one 3 thick and 5 thin wires for the motor.
OOPS! I had originally posted without mentioning a fairing, which I’m also looking for!
| Battery Upgrade | |
|---|---|
| 48V 19Ah Downtube Battery | $1470CAD |
| Satiator 8A Standard model Charger | $443CAD alone (included in price above, $372CAD when purchased with a battery) |
| Saving Target | $1470CAD+tax |
| Motor Upgrade | |
| Custom Motor Build Motor (RH212-FST)+Spokes+Labour+Torque Arms, bringing my own rim) |
$530CAD |
| New Drivetrain | ~$100CAD |
| Saving Target | ~$630CAD+tax |
| Cycle-Analyst Upgrade | |
| CA3-WP and MFSwitch | $189CAD |
| WP8 Cycle Analyst Extension Cable | $13CAD |
| Saving Target | $202CAD+tax |
| Fairing aka Windshield | |
| WRNS Long Wheelbase Fairing Kit | $401USD |
| Saving Target | $401USD+shipping |
LEGO Lack Tower
I decided a while ago to try and collect all my various LEGO and other building block stuff in a single place. I looked around on the interwebs for inspiration at how other folx have stored and presented their collections, and then decided what I wanted to try.
So for the last while I’ve been using 3 black Ikea Lack side-tables, stacked together, to store bags and boxes of blocks, as I saved for and worked on various parts. I’ve 3d printed some pieces that help to hold the tables together when they are stacked. I’ve got some castors and a bottom board ready to install to make it easily moveable. And I’ve got the first 6 of the base plates, green and blue, which I’ll be putting on the middle table to imitate ground and water. For the top plate, I’m thinking about grey for “space”, and the bottom I’m thinking about some of the various weird colours like the orange for lava and stuff like that.
I’ve also got a light mounted to one side to make building/playing easier, some hooks to hang various and sundry other “stuff”, and when I figure out how, I have a lot of various building-block tools that I’ll have mounted on the side somehow that are easy for folx to use while playing.
OOPS! I forgot that I need at least one Ikea Trofast storage container to hold the instructions! I’ve got 3d printed brackets printed and installed already even! I’ll probably need more than one give how many instructions I have, so I may just get 3 and hang one under every top.
| 6 32×32 Light Grey Building Block Plates | $34CAD |
| 3 32×32 Deep Yellow/Orange Building Block Plates | $17CAD |
| 3 32×32 Red Building Block Plates | $17CAD |
| 3 Ikea Trofast thin storage bins | $15CAD |
| Saving Target | $83CAD+tax |
|---|
Other Projects…
Those are probably the 3 projects that are on the front burners these days. The Lack LEGO Tower, when finished, will help keep the space clean as well as showcase some of the cool-ass builds. The Wearable has been a target for decades, as has the bike.
I’ve also been doing some maintenance on the various 3d printers. Our OG, the Flashforge Creator Pro 2016 version, is working very very well after it’s most recent tune-up and all-metal hot-end installation. We’re finialising next steps on that one, and planning for the next maintenance cycle on the other 2.
My workbench at home is going to undergo some upgrades and changes soon, but I think I have most of those parts (except for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module!), it’s just a question of shutting everything down and doing the work. There are several soldering projects building up, still getting over the anxiety for that. No idea why that still happens.
There are also plans to add some security cameras to the house, as well as fix and neaten up the wires. They’re mostly OK through the rest of the house, but down here in the basement they are rather a mess. We’ll need a new switch that provides POE for the cameras and existing infrastructure, but right now I think I’m the only one that cares so it’s probably gonna be a while.
Lots of other bits-and-pieces: The chiller vest (a vest with frozen water plates to both cool your body and provide drinking water through the day) just needs to have the sewing of the straps finished and possibly some buckles printed. The new-to-me PC needs a new 5.25-3.5 bay adapter designed and printed.
And I still haven’t found the parts to start fixing up and putting-back-together my RC Truck!
Just looking at the list all in one place and trying to prioritize.
The building blocks and LEGO stuff is all in one place already. I have the board that needs a little trim, and all the other pieces to finish the base tower itself, so I think I’ll do that and then put that one on pause. It’s the cheapest of the projects, but it’s also the lowest priority as that part of the project is more for display than it is for usefulness (at this point, I don’t have time right now to sit down and play with them anyway).
The Wearable, at least the device board, is I think first priority. It will open up a lot of possibilities in terms of things to do next which will give me a break on hardware stuff for a while. I’ll still be designing in the background, but I won’t worry about manufacturing and will probably cycle through several iterations and work through things in the design software.
For the EbikeE I’m really not sure what the next step to do is. The easiest and cheapest there is also the lowest priority as, while it does add some features, I can get along without them for now and I can keep the wiring ugly and extra as well. But OMG it will make it so much nicer to look at, I can’t even explain. And, I mean, happiness with it matters…
But between the motor+drivetrain or the batteries+charger, I’m not sure which will have the biggest effect. The upgrade to 48V will also change things with either motor, but I’m told by others into e-bikes that 48V is better to choose than 36, so I’ll give it a try. I’m losing some Ah in size though, my 2 batteries now are I think 14Ah each, or at least they were, so theoretically I’d be losing 9Ah… but only a drive would tell.
It’ll take me a while to save for any of them, but at least now I’ve got targets in mind and priorities sorted better.
Success! Lol