Sequoia aka Taylor Alexander 🏳️⚧️
@TLAlexander
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transgender anarcho communist robotics engineer 🧑🏻🌾 poly t4t 🌺 plant based 🌱 abolish prisons ⛓️💥 decolonize 🌾 BIPOC freedom ✊🏿 trans rights 🌈 she/her
Unceded Ohlone Land (East Bay)
Joined October 2008
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Big release! I just published my most important video yet, explaining why we're running our solar farming robot project as a non profit, how 3D printers inspired this approach, and how we hope to empower farmers and communities worldwide with your support! Link in the next tweet.
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Oh you’re on estrogen? So when did you start using linux?
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@shaun_vids
I constantly hear people saying "soon AI will be able to make whole movies" and that was before yesterday's announcement... and it's like... that will not be good, will not be interesting, and just totally misunderstands art
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In 2021-22 I designed a robot arm that was high torque, high speed, low backlash, low cost, and easy to print and assemble. I may have invented a novel way to design a gearbox, and I want to popularize it.
Now I am designing a general knee/elbow actuator based on the concept.
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Long ago, my people traveled the stars. We believed in exploration, and knowledge. But those times are long past. These ruins loom over our fields as we work the land. But still I dream of those ancient times. Which is why I’ve partnered with Skillshare. Skillshare is an online
Story prompt, this is your opening scene. What are your first few lines?
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@kyleshevlin
I’ve had this schedule and it is every bit as good as it sounds. We could run the entire economy just fine (with the fat trimmed) with everyone working four six hour days a week. You get a lot done when your day is shorter and you’re less tired and more fulfilled.
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@TheRedHeadWrite
@GoodPoliticGuy
Bernie raised more money than any other democratic candidates IIRC. But he didn’t have mass media behind him.
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Initial layout of my RP2040 brushless motor controller is completed. It can control 2 motors w/encoders at 45A continuous for each motor up to 60 volts. It's exactly the same size as a credit card, 100% open source, & designed for JLCPCB assembly service.
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sometimes I hear people say "what ever happened to X technology I thought we'd have seen more of that" and the answer is the tech is patented and the one company allowed to do anything with it has been slowly failing for 20 years
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A year ago Burger King denied benefits to a trans worker’s family after she died of COVID while working for Burger King but sure play right in to their hands I guess.
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I2C is an ubiquitous serial bus first described in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later used by Philips Semiconductor.
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We need good stable open source parametric 3D CAD so bad. I have been using OnShape for 8 years and I like the workflow and UI but like... it is closed source and cloud based. We NEED open source hardware, and for that we need a de-facto standard program. Like Kicad is for PCBs.
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Wow finally got this far enough along to get the motor and encoder hooked up! I've enjoyed how tightly integrated this mechanical design has been.
This is an open source high performance robot joint that should be able to hammer nails when printed in steel or CNC machined.
In 2021-22 I designed a robot arm that was high torque, high speed, low backlash, low cost, and easy to print and assemble. I may have invented a novel way to design a gearbox, and I want to popularize it.
Now I am designing a general knee/elbow actuator based on the concept.
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Check out this graph I made for my latest video!
I am trying to show how open source and community development lowered the price of 3D printers, as I am trying to apply that principle to my open source farming robot.
Feel free to share or use for any purpose, CC0 license. 🦋
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Version 2 of our robot is now fully autonomous! This is our open source solar powered farming robot platform. Once the base vehicle design (shown) is stable we will sell them and work with the community on the design of suitable tools for low power automated farming! ✨🌱🐛
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I got the motor moving and position control working on my new robot joint design. This was just a quick test after initial bring up. It will be capable of moving much faster and more precisely once tuned. Also the ultimate plan is to 3D print this in stainless steel. ⚡️
Wow finally got this far enough along to get the motor and encoder hooked up! I've enjoyed how tightly integrated this mechanical design has been.
This is an open source high performance robot joint that should be able to hammer nails when printed in steel or CNC machined.
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If you phrase it right people on hacker news actually like the idea of communism. The key is to not say communism. Like, for real that helps a lot. Just describe what you want.
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Do all 80’s kids blow on the connector for the Raspberry Pi CM4 when it isn’t working right or is that just me?
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@estrozeneca
I actually work four days a week about 20 hours and it’s dope! I mean I spend a crap ton of other time working on things for fun that support my career but I’m only on the clock 20-25 hours a week and it’s a blessing. I hope some day everyone can have this if they want.
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I am SO pleased to report that after more than a year of design and fabrication and multiple revs of the motor controller I have the Version 2 of Acorn finally fully operational!! I’m so excited to work with this new machine and refine it for production!! 😺⚡️🌈
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Hey question for trans folks: was it disruptive to your life to start taking HRT? Like the brain changes... did they come with a difficult period of adjustment? Or it worked or it was subtle or?
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I make robots. ✨🌈⚡️
[test videos of solar powered farming robot prototype driving over rough terrain in a field]
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Here’s a brief motion test showing a lot of strafing. It’s a bit awkward because I am filming with one hand and driving it with the other. But the robot is four wheel drive and four wheel steering, so quite nimble. For those just tuning in, this is an open source farming robot!
As of tonight the system is fully up and running with the new motor controllers and the new induction steering sensor system! I will be doing more full-system motor controller validation next week before we order another batch of them for more robot builds!
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I did some mechanical upgrades to Acorn V2 & it’s pretty solid now. The motor controllers are working well too. Now working on setting up a shop closer to home & producing 3-5 more.
Here it navigates in a circle using RTK GPS.
I am designing the first tool, a lawn trimmer, now.
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Brushless motor control driver module, 60 volts, 30-50 amps peak. Open source, designed in Kicad. Based on a design I have been refining for two years. Not quite complete but this new layout in module form is so much cleaner I am really happy with it. Github in next tweet.
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Spiciest cable came with this drone FPV monitor.
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Remember when you could go to the local shop and buy resistors and capacitors?
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It's funny when I say "we should design open source machinery that meets our core material needs and build collective ownership in those machines" and someone says "thats called communism and it was tried and failed" like omg I did NOT know stalin was a linux nerd!
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@causalinf
My dad worked at Lockheed and one time he brought home some old spacecraft parts! I got a nice high efficiency solar panel and I soldered on a motor and propeller from a broken electric plane and made a solar powered fan! I loved that so much.
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Guess who got her new robot working in fully autonomous mode??? 🌱✨✨
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Acorn is our completely open source solar powered farming robot.
We develop in the open on GitHub, and when the design is final anyone can make their own or buy a kit from us.
This vehicle is a tool development platform. We aim to make a fully autonomous farming system. ✨⚡️🌱
It’s real pretty out here.
[two videos of a farming robot driving off road at the farm]
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@haircutforboys
This sucks. You don’t have to be polyamorous but for me it’s clearly the way I’m wired. I love people deeply but I never want monogamy. Monogamy has left me so many scars. I wish people like you had never taught me I had to be monogamous when I was young. You’re hurting people.
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@LilySimpson1312
I’m one of them. Exploring my gender identity is not something I need or want to explain to every person I meet. I feel euphoria when my friends use they or she with me, but I don’t need it. Everyone’s pronouns are valid but I’m not trying to explain that to a clerk at checkout.
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Feels real good that I designed that. It's a real handsome machine. ⚡️
It’s real pretty out here.
[two videos of a farming robot driving off road at the farm]
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@chupqueen
@oncloud_b
I've wondered if very rich people just have compounding pharmacies mix all their drugs together
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Updating the RP2040 motor controller. Additional measures taken to protect the mosfets during power connection including staged power up of critical components and more pullups and pulldowns to control state. Also an optional enable line now controls the primary power converter.
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Updates to the open source Acorn robot motherboard almost completed.
CM4 motherboard includes hardware serial expansion, two independent CAN bus circuits, a sophisticated emergency stop system, rugged connectors, Gigabit ethernet with PoE in and out, status lights, USB Serial...
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Okay folks, I have started a discussion space to organize around open source professional mechanical CAD. PLEASE retweet this and share on your other networks. Let's get some real discussion going. Link in next tweet.
We need good stable open source parametric 3D CAD so bad. I have been using OnShape for 8 years and I like the workflow and UI but like... it is closed source and cloud based. We NEED open source hardware, and for that we need a de-facto standard program. Like Kicad is for PCBs.
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The new motor controllers (rev 3) have been doing well at not setting themselves on fire. The design did need some small tweaks though, so I have made rev 3.1 and just ordered 10. If these work I would LOVE to finally do a group buy. Maybe after the new year!
Github link below.
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I’ve finished building the circular sock machine from Printables. Extremely easy to build! I’m a few needles short so I’m waiting for those to arrive, and I need to go pick up some yarn. Very excited to try this out!!
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Got some nice pictures of the most recent rev of the motor driver board! This was a major form factor change to fix issues with the driver bridge, and it worked! Things feel very solid now. I will make a single board RP2350 version in the next few months!
I will absolutely update my motor controller to use the new RP2350 CPU, and I will make a low cost single board single motor design and try to get those out in to the community! My driver design is finally solid, time to push these to end users.
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Well, both the new dual RP2040 dual brushless motor controller and the Raspberry Pi CM4 motherboard for the farming robot are now done and ordered, and I am very tired. These are all open source, and repos will be updated in a few days.
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Plenty of cleanup left but I got to 100% routing on the updated rev of the dual RP2040 motor controller for the farm robot! Huge list of upgrades on this one for reliability & usability. I'm excited! This one packed so much in I actually felt like I couldn't do it, but I did! ⚡️
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John Deere extensively uses open source software but doesn’t appear to actually comply with the open source software licenses! Not surprised at all but glad they have been caught.
Another revelation from Sickcodes: the company made extensive use of free/open source software but seems to be gravely out-of-compliance with the license terms (I'm told that organizations that do legal enforcement of free/open licenses are now aware of this). 25/
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This is cool and has so few views. Share this around! Kid is building a desktop satellite tracker. Link below.
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So actually if we liquidate the assets of the top 1% we could give all 330 million Americans one million dollar checks and that’s my new political platform.
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@GeekyFayeArt
People saying 3D printing wasn’t useful are a big reason I made my fully 3D printed RF road robot Rover. It’s even got 3D printed gears!
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@haircutforboys
Monogamy means once I break up with the person I love we can’t be friends anymore, because their new monogamous partner thinks I’m a threat. That has led to repeated heart break for me. With poly we just adjust our relationship and keep going. It works so much better for me.
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I'm sorry everything is shit. Here's some video I shot yesterday of hummingbirds eating out of a stream above a waterfall. 💜
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People say “Sequoia why don’t you put suspension on your robot.” and I just keep telling them “it’s really a beast at off roading and I will only add suspension when I encounter a reason for suspension.”
So far no reasons found. We can add suspension to the forks if needed.
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I just discovered this extremely clear YouTube channel on audio electronics design! I’m thinking of designing my own mixer for fun and I’m blown away by the clarity and quality of this video. Looks like there’s loads of stuff on this channel. Link in next tweet.
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lmao I got downvoted on hacker news for saying Cory Doctorow writes books about communism. Someone replied that they have read Walkaway and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and "they have nothing to do with communism" 🤣🤣🤣
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First time ever TIG welding and I think for a first time I did a great job???
My friend who is awesome lent me her TIG welder and I really like it!
This is 3/4” square 0.0625” wall aluminum tube.
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I've updated my induction encoder PCB design and have uploaded the Kicad files to github. The previous version used an RP2040 but this version is pure I2C. I think it should work properly - I ordered it!
Check it out!
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One of my big political ideas is that we can regain control and political power in our communities if we develop hyper-local manufacturing systems - small machines the size of maybe a refrigerator that make goods. We distribute production across a community and share output.
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Not sure if I shared these photos of the boards for the farming robot but I’m very happy with the designs so far! They’ve got the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 on the main board and two RP2040 processors on the motherboard!
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Here's a photo of the new dual-CPU rev of the motor controller next to the first rev. I made improvements to the current measurement section and added CAN bus and extra connectors for our robot. Once that is proven I will make a new single CPU version for those that want it.
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@lulumeservey
Hey I think this sucks. I know it’s only temporary but that is really not the issue. You know there’s cities that actually don’t allow billboards? I want to see fewer ads, not more. And you compared to fireworks, but this is not a celebration, this is an ad for a game.
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Today I worked on updates to the Acorn motherboard. It holds the Raspberry Pi CM4 which runs all robot systems. This communicates using CAN bus to control the the four motor controllers.
The back has Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot speech in the silk. It's as relevant today as ever.
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@KelgoreTrout
@dennisbhooper
first of all, I have seen this movie and this is a scam to find people for a billionaire's human hunting game, but also staying in a fancy cabin on a lake for a week with food and water and firewood is a damn vacation
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Everyone say “Thanks Joe” for fixing my circuit.
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Speaking of small boards I designed that handle a lot of current, I fried the power distribution board on Acorn with just 10 % of its theoretical current limit. Looks like I’ve underestimated the importance of heat sinking. 😅
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this is the building where they test bouncy balls
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Playin around with a flex PCB design and the most compact layout I have ever done to make some LED sparkling earrings with full battery management and an IMU. ✨⚡️💖
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New oscilloscope day! I bought my old one in 2011, which was a big purchase for me just starting electronics. 13 years later and it’s finally time for an upgrade. In this video I explain a bit about issues with the old scope and new features I’m excited about!
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Acorn is doin pretty well in the mud! My business partner Daniel tells me his tractor would just sink in the mud but Acorn is so light it goes right over it. ✨⚡️🌱
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Since I was a child I have dreamed of designing whole robots from scratch to serve specific needs as best as I can. It is such a wonderful feeling to look at this work and think "I did that, I made that". I hope soon many of you can make these too.
Here’s a brief motion test showing a lot of strafing. It’s a bit awkward because I am filming with one hand and driving it with the other. But the robot is four wheel drive and four wheel steering, so quite nimble. For those just tuning in, this is an open source farming robot!
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I finished and ordered the induction encoder test board. For fun I am also laying out a 100 volt high power single motor version of the motor controller, targeted at use for ebikes and bigger things.
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Here’s some of my thoughts on manufacturing in the USA. I wish we had the political will to really bring manufacturing back, but I don’t think we do. I don’t think we will really bring it back in a way that is truly competitive with the likes of Shenzhen etc.
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Small updates to the driver module, and I reconfigured my base PCB to support these modules. Initial component placement done there. Only a little smaller than the old design for now, but future form factor changes will be much easier.
Brushless motor control driver module, 60 volts, 30-50 amps peak. Open source, designed in Kicad. Based on a design I have been refining for two years. Not quite complete but this new layout in module form is so much cleaner I am really happy with it. Github in next tweet.
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OMG my robot made it to Toms Hardware!! 🛠️🌞⚡️
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@Potatopolitics
My theory is that we need “upside down economics” where everyone gets the basic necessities for free and they work if they want to. Then artists wouldn’t need to charge for their work & we could all enjoy a wealth of art. Digital duplication is free & we could benefit from that.
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The reason I care is that we need leftists who are good engineers. That means making sure leftists understand engineering and making sure good engineers who are not leftists listen to what we have to say.
Insinuating this is unsafe but the industry has been discussing and standardizing automotive Ethernet for years.
These dunks have a side effect of misinforming people about engineering.
Automotive Ethernet is not inherently bad and can reduce mfg/maintenance costs.
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inventing a new programming language where you write everything down with a pen and paper in plain language and then hand it to friends and everyone helps make it happen and there are no computers
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This motor from aliexpress has an interesting provision on the back, which looks like it could aid in mounting an encoder magnet. The motor feels sturdy too.
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Hi would you like to lick the 3000 Farad 16 volt capacitor stack?
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It’s real pretty out here.
[two videos of a farming robot driving off road at the farm]
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@lulumeservey
I’m a robotics engineer. There’s so much good we can be doing with robotics. We can feed more people, build more homes, and give everyone more free time. Instead this project pollutes our sky, degrades public space, and pushes advertising to more eyeballs, misusing engineer time.
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Lots of updates to the motor controller base PCB. Moved power to an internal layer, added dual 12v fan control, input power Pi filter, soft fuse, beefier TVS protection, and probably more but I'm sleepy I forget.
Also made a user interface PCB!
Git is updated, see link below.
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They’re here!!! Did a quick check and the bootloader properly loads when I hook up USB while holding down the boot switch. So the CPU works! Won’t do a full check out till Wednesday but so happy to have them in hand!
I made an error on the input capacitance for the buck driver, which I have now fixed. I also added some MLCC capacitors to the gate drive section for high frequency noise reduction. Awaiting approval from a team member and then I will order 10 boards hopefully soon!
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People say "Wow your motor controller board is so dense!"
No friends, I am just learning the beginning of high density layout. My earring project has taught me that I can push density farther. See the Apple Vision Pro (img from
@iFixit
) for a lesson on what is possible.
Updating the RP2040 motor controller. Additional measures taken to protect the mosfets during power connection including staged power up of critical components and more pullups and pulldowns to control state. Also an optional enable line now controls the primary power converter.
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@PDufray
@lackingsaint
Lol I did this too! I was in Mauritius and my friend was in San Francisco and we made an Earth sandwich! Having an excited video call with your friend at 10pm as you place bread on the ground definitely raises suspicions from those around you hah.
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Hey it’s my birthday!! Everyone say “happy birthday Taylor!!” ☺️☺️☺️
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My motor controller works!! Got a test stand together and I’m running a simple test program that spins a motor! This test stand will go to a SimpleFOC dev for initial FOC bring up!
Video: I show simple motor rotation and describe a little bit about my motor controller board.
They’re here!!! Did a quick check and the bootloader properly loads when I hook up USB while holding down the boot switch. So the CPU works! Won’t do a full check out till Wednesday but so happy to have them in hand!
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I will absolutely update my motor controller to use the new RP2350 CPU, and I will make a low cost single board single motor design and try to get those out in to the community! My driver design is finally solid, time to push these to end users.
🚨 Meet Raspberry Pi Pico 2, our new $5 microcontroller board 🚨
The next big tiny thing, built using RP2350: a high-performance, secure microcontroller designed here at Raspberry Pi.
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@_Henn_Dawg1
@TheRedHeadWrite
@GoodPoliticGuy
His loss was complex and I don't really care to argue how or why it happened. Just wanted to respond to that one point which was clearly false.
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With my new motor controller module I have a very compact double sided layout. I wanted to see what an ultra minimal fully integrated version would look like. This is not laid out, but as a ballpark size this is pretty small! Might make this at some point.
Latest version of the driver and the base PCB have been pushed to github, link in the next tweet. I have begun routing the base PCB and I also made the driver a lil smaller.
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@haircutforboys
With poly I’m able to keep living with someone I love even after we break up and they get a new partner. I care about them so much I’m willing to keep them in my life. I know lots of people want monogamy. But saying monogamy is superior hurts young people wired like I am.
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Rover and I getting ready to do Robots On Ice!
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Getting things roughed out, but I like this layout so far for MT60 connectors on the motor controller. Also on the last rev the diodes were way too small so now I have super beefy diodes.
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