Category Archives: Projects

Comments on an LDROBOT LD-Air Lidar

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Skye Sweeney

I purchased an LD-AIR LIDAR from LDROBOT as part of a Kickstarter campaign. I received it some time ago but did not have any time to play with it then. I just got some time this week and these are … Continue reading →

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Die Filer from Jigsaw

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Skye Sweeney

I have lots of projects that either need a lathe and mill or lots of hand work. Filing metal seems to be the only way I have to dimension and shape metal. Until such time as I can afford in … Continue reading →

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IR Beacon Update

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Skye Sweeney

I got the boards in and populated one with parts in waves testing in between. First problem is that I used the wrong foot print for the regulator. Luckily the part is big enough to dead bug without major issue. … Continue reading →

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IR Beacon

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Skye Sweeney

I have been working on numerous projects now that my house is mostly back together after a remodel. This post is to discuss an IR Beacon. This small circuit is to be used to generate a pulse train of IR … Continue reading →

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Status Update

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Skye Sweeney

It has been a while since I updated my website. Part of this was due to getting busy and part of it for not having much to report. The busy part involved having the house torn apart for some long … Continue reading →

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On watchdog timers

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Skye Sweeney

For many embedded software engineers, the watchdog timer is something that is designed in at the end. The thought is you just turn it on prior to shipping and “She’ll be right”. But this is a terrible travesty.

Posted in AVC, Processors | Comments Off on On watchdog timers

XBee radios

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Skye Sweeney

I had gotten a pair of 1 mW XBee radios a while ago. I had wanted to use them to communicate with my robot while it was running. Normally I use an RS-232 cable in the lab, but in the … Continue reading →

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IMU heater

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Skye Sweeney

I am using a Pololu 9-DOF module as the IMU for my robot. Its a very small device (1.0*0.8″) using MEMS bases gyro, accelerometer, and magnetometers. The trouble is these sensors have some drawbacks. The first is that MEMS sensors … Continue reading →

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It has been a while

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Skye Sweeney

Life got in the way. I hate it when it does that. Why can’t things like work, taxes, dishes, and doctors appointments just take care of themselves? Why must I be involved? But over the last few weeks I got … Continue reading →

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Sailboat start timer revisited

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Skye Sweeney

I have been stalled in my work on my robot. Current bug just seems insurmountable. I would come home and avoid the thing like the plague. So I decided to purposefully work on something else for a while.

Posted in PIC, Sailboat Race Timer | Comments Off on Sailboat start timer revisited