So my wife wanted some Adirondack chairs for around the fire pit. No problem I thought, I can make them. Little did I know how much effort it would take!

I bought some plans from Rockler.com. The plans contained cardboard templates, lumber requirments, and cut & assembly instructions. All in all it was a pretty good set of plans.

My original intention was to make cedar chairs, but quickly found that cedar was out of my budget. Instead I settled for clear pine, with the plan to finish with a clear poly coat.

The hardest part was cutting out the pieces. I only had a jigsaw. For the first chair I really didn't have a long enough blade so my cuts required more sanding to even things out. I got a longer blade for the second chair and the cuts where more even. It would have been a breeze with a band saw.

For the round-over I used a Trim Router Table, also from Rocker.  I clamped it to a board between two saw horse, and it worked great with my Dewalt 611 trim router.

I finished the chairs with 3 coats of Minwax water-based Helmsman Spar Urethane.  I'll probably add another coat or two before the season is done.

They turned out nice!

It's been awhile since I've posted, so I thought I'd hightlight an oldie, but goodie.

We have to go back to Halloween 2016. My daughter came to me and said that she and a friend wanted to be a washing machine and dryer. Well, that got my brain spinning, and I had an idea of what I could do.

Here's what I ended up with.

Pretty cool, right? So how did I get there. I honestly can't remember if I started with a 3D model or a trip Sparkfun.com. Probably Sparkfun. Here is a wishlist with all the parts I used.

I had recently started using Autodesk Fusion 360 to do 3D modeling, so I used it to create a model of my washer/dryer idea.

Once I had the basic model and all the parts, it was a frantic weekend before Halloween to get these things built.  Prototyping electronics, 3D printing parts, cutting cardboard, soldering final electronics, and final assembly.  All 2x!

Here is the code used drive the costume.  An Arduino Pro is the brains behind it.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define LED1 2
#define LED2 3
#define LED3 4
#define LED4 5
#define SW1 6
#define SW2 7
#define SW3 8
#define SW4 9

#define LED_STRIP_PIN 10

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(60, LED_STRIP_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

const int startButton = 12;

int isRunning = LOW;
int buttonState;
int lastButtonState = HIGH;

unsigned long lastDebounceTime = 0;
unsigned long debounceDelay = 50;

unsigned long lastStepTime = 0;
unsigned long stepTime = 4;
int step = 0;

int rainbowStep = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(SW1, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(SW2, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(SW3, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(SW4, INPUT_PULLUP);

  pinMode(LED1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED4, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(startButton, INPUT_PULLUP);

  lastStepTime = millis();
    
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

void loop() {
  switchTopLeds();
  //readStartButton();
  setStripLeds();
}

void switchTopLeds() {
  // Read swtiches
  int sw1State = digitalRead(SW1);
  int sw2State = digitalRead(SW2);
  int sw3State = digitalRead(SW3);
  int sw4State = digitalRead(SW4);


  // Set LEDS
  digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(LED2, LOW);
  digitalWrite(LED3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(LED4, LOW);
  if(sw1State == LOW) {
    digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED2, LOW);
    digitalWrite(LED3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(LED4, LOW);
  } else if(sw2State == LOW) {
    digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED2, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(LED4, LOW);
  } else if(sw3State == LOW) {
    digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED2, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED3, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED4, LOW);
  } else if(sw4State == LOW) {
    digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED2, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED3, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(LED4, HIGH);
  }
  
}

void readStartButton() {
  int reading = digitalRead(startButton);
  //Serial.println(reading);
//
//  if(reading != lastButtonState) {
//    lastDebounceTime = millis();
//  }
//
//  if((millis() - lastDebounceTime) > debounceDelay) {
//    if(reading != buttonState) {
//      buttonState = reading;
//      Serial.println(buttonState);
//      if(buttonState == HIGH) {
//        isRunning = !buttonState;
//      }
//    }
//  }
  if(reading == LOW) {
    red();
  }
  lastButtonState = reading;
}

void setStripLeds() {
  unsigned long currentTime = millis();
  if((currentTime - lastStepTime) > stepTime) {
    if(step >= strip.numPixels()) {
      step = 0;
    }

    int sw1State = digitalRead(SW1);
    int sw2State = digitalRead(SW2);
    int sw3State = digitalRead(SW3);
    int sw4State = digitalRead(SW4);
    int bigButtonState = digitalRead(startButton);

    
    //Piper
//    if(bigButtonState == LOW) {
//      red();
//    } else if(sw1State == LOW) {
//      blueBlackSpin(step);
//    } else if(sw2State == LOW) {
//      blueGreenSpin(step);
//    } else if(sw3State == LOW) {
//      redBlackSpin(step);
//    } else if(sw4State == LOW) {
//      rainbow();
//    } else {
//      blue();
//    }

    //Lotus
    if(bigButtonState == LOW) {
      blue();
    } else if(sw1State == LOW) {
      yellowRedSpin(step);
    } else if(sw2State == LOW) {
      redPinkSpin(step);
    } else if(sw3State == LOW) {
      blueGreenSpin(step);
    } else if(sw4State == LOW) {
      rainbow();
    } else {
      red();
    }



    
    //rainbow();
    
    //blueBlackSpin(step);
    //redBlackSpin(step);
    //yellowRedSpin(step);
    //colorWhiteSpin(step);

    lastStepTime = currentTime;
    step++;
  }
    
}

void fullWhite() {
  
    for(uint16_t i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(0,0,0, 255 ) );
    }
      strip.show();
}

void blue() {
  uint16_t i;
  int b = -210;
  
  for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(0,0,abs(b)));
    b = b + 7;
  }
  strip.show();  
}

void red() {
  uint16_t i;
  int r = -210;
  
  for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(abs(r),0,0));
    r = r + 7;
  }  
  strip.show();
}

void blueBlackSpin(int step) {
  uint16_t i;
    int b = -210;
    
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(0,0,abs(b)));
      b = b + 7;
    }
    strip.show();
}

void redBlackSpin(int step) {
  uint16_t i;
    int r = -210;
    
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(abs(r),0,0));
      r = r + 7;
    }
    strip.show();
}

void yellowRedSpin(int step) {
  uint16_t i;
    int g = -210;
    
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(255,abs(g),0));
      g = g + 7;
    }
    strip.show();
}

void redPinkSpin(int step) {
  uint16_t i;
    int b = -210;
    
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(255,0,abs(b)));
      b = b + 7;
    }
    strip.show();
}

void colorWhiteSpin(int step) {
  uint16_t i;
    int r = -120;
    int g = -120;
    
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(abs(r),abs(g),255));
      r = r + 4;
      g = g + 4;
    }
    strip.show();
}

void blueGreenSpin(int) {
  uint16_t i;
  int g = 0;
  int b = 255;

  for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      if(g > 255) {
        g = 255;
      }
      if(b < 0) {
        b = 0;
      }
      strip.setPixelColor(computeOffset(i,step), strip.Color(0,g,b));
      g = g + 8;
      b = b - 8;
    }
 strip.show();
  
}

int computeOffset(int loc, int step) {
  int newLoc = loc + step;
  if(newLoc >= strip.numPixels()) {
    newLoc = newLoc - strip.numPixels();
  }
  return newLoc;
}

void rainbow() {
  uint16_t i, j;
  if(rainbowStep > 255) {
    rainbowStep = 0;
  }

  for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, Wheel((i+rainbowStep) & 255));
  }
  strip.show();

  rainbowStep++;

}

// Input a value 0 to 255 to get a color value.
// The colours are a transition r - g - b - back to r.
uint32_t Wheel(byte WheelPos) {
  WheelPos = 255 - WheelPos;
  if(WheelPos < 85) {
    return strip.Color(255 - WheelPos * 3, 0, WheelPos * 3);
  }
  if(WheelPos < 170) {
    WheelPos -= 85;
    return strip.Color(0, WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3);
  }
  WheelPos -= 170;
  return strip.Color(WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3, 0);
}

To follow up on Wolf Mask, I made a Dragon Mask for my other daughter. Sorry I only have a few pictures.

I made this mask last year for my daughters play. Basically all corrugated cardboard. I 3D printed the eyes and painted. Molding clay for the teeth.

The Mask in Action

My daughter needed some armor for her 6th grade Joan of Arc presentation. I got the idea from here, Knight Cardboard Costume. Here are a couple pics. I forgot to take one my daughter. Maybe when she gets it back from school.

My quadcopter has been collecting dust for about a year because of broken landing gear from a hard landing. I decide last weekend that it was time to fix that.

I'd been using some Lego to as landing gear to give room for my Tarot GoPro gimbal. See here:

I've broken a few of those Lego beams, so I decided I needed something different.

Since I have a Printrbot Simple 3D Printer, I figured I could design some new landing gear and print them out.

Design

Lately, my goto application for 3D design is OpenSCAD. OpenSCAD uses 3D objects to compose your 3D model. OpenSCAD also uses a scripting language to create objects rather then click and drag techniques. Being that I'm a software engineer, this method works nicely for me, but shouldn't scare off non-programmer's.

My design for landing gear would be composed of two distinct parts, which I'll call a strut and a cross. To make one leg I'd need 2 struts and 3 crosses. Here's what the pieces look like and the script to create them.

Strut

$fn=100;

module triangle(w, h) {
    linear_extrude(height=h) {
        polygon([[0,0],[w,0],[w/2,(w/2)*tan(45)]]);
    }
}

module grid(w,h) {
    translate([1,0,0]) triangle(w,h);
    translate([0,w+1,0]) rotate(-90) triangle(w,h);
    translate([w+1,w+2,0]) rotate(180) triangle(w,h);
    translate([w+2,1,0]) rotate(90) triangle(w,h);
}

difference() {
    cube([18,150,2]);
    translate([4.5,4,0]) cylinder(h=3,d=3);
    translate([13.5,4,0]) cylinder(h=3,d=3);
    
    translate([8,50,0]) cube([2,6,3]);
    translate([8,100,0]) cube([2,6,3]);
    translate([6,146,0]) cube([6,2,3]);
    
    translate([3,15,0]) grid(10,3);
    translate([3,32,0]) grid(10,3);
    
    translate([3,62,0]) grid(10,3);
    translate([3,82,0]) grid(10,3);
    
    translate([3,112,0]) grid(10,3);
    translate([3,129,0]) grid(10,3);
}

This code could be cleaned up a bit, but it did the job. Using Modules really simplified things.

Cross

module triangle(w, h) {
    linear_extrude(height=h) {
        polygon([[0,0],[w,0],[w/2,(w/2)*tan(45)]]);
    }
}

module grid(w,h) {
    translate([1,0,0]) triangle(w,h);
    translate([0,w+1,0]) rotate(-90) triangle(w,h);
    translate([w+1,w+2,0]) rotate(180) triangle(w,h);
    translate([w+2,1,0]) rotate(90) triangle(w,h);
}

difference() {
    cube([18,37,2]);
    cube([6,2,2]);
    translate([12,0,0]) cube([6,2,2]);
    translate([0,35,0]) cube([6,2,2]); 
    translate([12,35,0]) cube([6,2,2]);
  
    translate([3,5,0]) grid(10,3);
    translate([3,20,0]) grid(10,3);
}

There's probably a way to have common library for modules and import it, but I'll have to look into that.

With the design finished I was able export the model to STL format right form OpenSCAD.

Print

I loaded the STL file into Cura to do the slicing and then exported the GCode. My rough parameters where:

• Layer height: 0.2mm
• Shell thickness: 0.8mm
• Bottom/Top thickness: 0.6mm
• Fill Density: 50%
• Printing temperature: 200 C
• Bed temperature: 70 C

I loaded the GCode into my OctoPi version of Octoprint, and printed out the pieces.

While Printing

The Parts

Glued together

Attached to Quad

Close up

They didn't turn out bad. We'll see if they hold up.

Next up, folding gear!!