Instauratio: 'Weasley' Location Clock With 4 Hands

So, with a Raspberry Pi that had been kicking around for a spell, I wanted to chance a nice project that would allow me to make best use of information technology. I came across this great Instructable Build Your Own Weasley Locating Clock away ppeters0502 and mentation that it would be good to try.

The clock essentially consists of a Raspberry Private investigator which controls servos in ordering to turn the hands of the clock. As in the house of the Weasley family in the Harry Monkey books/films, each family member has their own reach. Each hand points to the latest locating of that category member. The time achieves this by receiving messages from the mobile phones of the family whenever they go in or leave a pre-defined radius.

The main differences to the previous Instructable were that I needed to have 4 hands, not 2 (otherwise my daughters would get complained) and I distinct to material body the frame also, not get an old time to reuse. This was because I was concerned that space would be a problem in an existing clock case, with the need to fit in 4 servos etc.

IT took a good deal thirster than I anticipated, though mostly where I came across fiddly problems which stumped me, and which didn't look to be covered away the original situatio. Nothing against the original Instructable, which was broadly great, but whatever eld had passed and versions of things denatured... etc. Also, being in the UK meant that some of the Imperial/Metric function elements caused more challenges than I expected.

Also, whilst I am OK at the steganography, the physical making of the time definitely stretched Maine, and required some extra tools, which also slowed me fallen somewhat.

At the end I'll include a section on "Things I would do otherwise/better if I were doing it again..."

Supplies

One of the things that struck me was that the expensive components were to dress with the hands of the clock. 4 hands is definitely way more expensive than 2. I decided to insert whatever costings and so that you have some idea. This is the first time time I receive added IT entirely up, and disregarding the tools, I think I spent close to £200. Plus some glut I didn't use (and harbour't included at a lower place) positive the Pi, plus the power supply both of which I had already.

Pi etc

  1. Bir Private eye - can't remember how more it originally cost merely it was a Model 2B. I think that if you don't already have one, and then even a Pi Naught would probably answer. I had added a wifi dongle and SD card with Raspbian. And I had an old Android phone charger untruthful about.
  2. Adafruit Servohat for the Pi - £16
  3. Power supply for the Servohat - This I actually struggled to find As all websites just pointed to the adafruit site which then, obviously recommends a US power supply. Past I realised that I had an old protean voltage supply with interchangeable tips indeed I used that. But the US one is $8 so that's the park.
  4. Case for the Pi, so that I could then attach it to the clock fles. £5

Servo's and gears

Here I'm quoting the price for all 4, so divide if you want fewer hands (Adding it up information technology is ~£40 PER HAND = £160 :-o

  1. 4 x Servos - I used the ones recommended by ppeters0502 - saved on ebay for ~ £15 each = £60 - I searched for the following text "GWS-Member-Servo-Canvas-Winch-S125-1T-2BB-360-point" but sometimes they were unavailable
  2. 4 x establishment tubes which fitted exactly inside to each one else - ~ £3 each. I got 1 each of 1/4", 7/32", 3/16", 5/32" = £11
  3. 4 x clamps which clinch onto the brass tubes to allow you to attach gears. ~ £7 from each one = £28. I got them from ActiveRobots who do regular orders from Servocity in the US, allowing you to avoid the international shipping. They can also get anything else you can find on Servocity's main USA site. This was very handy for the next 2 items
  4. 4 x ethanoyl group 0.770" pattern gears for mounting on the clamping hubs. ~ £6 each = £24
  5. 4 x ethanoyl group spline-mounted acetyl gears for mounting on the servos. ~ £6.50 each = £26
  6. 1 x pack of positional notation nuts to attached gears to clamping buggy = £2.60
  7. 1 x 7/64" hex key (allen key) because anything coming from the US is imperial, so the hundreds of allen keys I already have are useless = £1

For the Physiologic build

Here I mostly used offcuts of engorge I had lying about

  1. 2 x squares of plywood for the 'face' and 'endorse' plate
  2. I then cut 4x10cm cylinders off an old banister rail I had, ready to connect the plunk for to the grimace
  3. Some blocks to mount the servos at the correct beginning - just softwood offcuts that I cut to sizing.
  4. Sundry screws. from really small (to attach Pi case to physique) to medium (to seize frame together)
  5. 0.75mm sheet of mild brand about 50cm x 20cm (to cut the men retired of). This was the only thing I bought ~£9 from Wickes

Tools

Some things I had and whatever I borrowed or bought

  1. Bonding Press + electrical solder - for attaching the connectors to the Adafruit Hat &adenylic acid; Pi.
  2. Jigsaw - for cutting out the rough shape of the hands
  3. Mandrillus leucophaeus. just a regular conductor 18V drill
  4. Drill bits - Bear in mind that you WILL need imperial practice session bits to make holes which match the brass tubes. I managed to borrow some.
  5. hacksaw - for cutting the plaque tubes. Don't coiffure what I did and spend £3 on the tube cutter, it works away pressure and way the interior of the tubes gets a bit smaller. so the next-size-down tube does non then correspond finished
  6. Bench grinder - I didn't have one of these but a friend did and information technology made defining the hands MUCH easier. Until then I was just using files. I wouldn't buy in one just for this project, but for the metal custody information technology was great.
  7. I bought some assorted diamond full stop files (rattling small). useful for the work force and tubes some £15
  8. rough and smooth sandpaper
  9. some small clamps contain things in situatio when drilling.
  10. a vice for the same ground.

Step 1: Setting Dormie Your Phones to Send Their Localisation to Your Pi (Part I MQTT Broker)

This bit is described alright by ppeters0502 in his excellent Weasley Clock Instructable. Peculiarly, though maybe reflecting differing skillsets, he started with the build and then touched to the software, I did it the other room round. Soh, I started with the phone... string up on, no I didn't, I started with the MQTT broker, which is Ill-trea 6 in his Instructable. I will omit all the bits that he does all right and just chuck up the sponge any bits that I might add. I went the CloudMQTT road that he mentioned.

BUT
as I was writing this, I checked the link to the plans and institute that there is none yearner a free plan! They withdrew it, for what seems like fairish yard. i.e. that people would set up up a unrestrained instance and then ne'er use it. I didn't notice because current instances can bear on. So I South Korean won't change. But information technology does make the instructions a act redundant. On that point seem to be 3 options.

  1. Pay back the $5 per month for Cloud MQTT (but that sounds pricey for the clock in an ongoing ground).
  2. Go the Mosquitto on Operative route as described in the first Instructable. I can't comment on that, but could be a great option.
  3. Antitrust Google "free MQTT mist factor" and information technology looks same there are some others.

And then, on the presumption that you have a working MQTT broker, if it is anything like the CloudMQTT one then there will glucinium a Server, User, Password and Interface displayed. You will want all of these for place setting heavenward your phones to send the broker your locations/movements.

LATER UPDATE:

Cloud MQTT decided not to even off let existing free instances continue, which is dead reasonable as they need to build money, simply it does mean that the time stopped working. SO.... I know need to do something other. I looked on the web and found HiveMQ which seems free, and set up an instance at that place. It's a trifle different to CloudMQ and my phones and Node Red ab initio refused to connect to it. Phones did nothing and Lymph gland Red hung on a conjunctive mode. I eventually found a thread here which suggested doing an upgrade of Node Red. Also I found something stating that you MUST enable TLS. you can see in these 3 screenshots me trying to connect peerless of the purple Knob Red 'MQTT in' nodes to a testTopic on the HiveMQ broker. From the starting time image I clicked the pencil icon to edit HiveMQ Broker. Then on the arcsecond image I have got replaced most of the computer address with ???? simply enabled the TLS option. Only then editing the TLS option is the ordinal mental image and shows that in that respect is nothing needed there. This seems to bear connected. As does my earphone. So straight off I just need to meet the topic to my original topic.

Dance step 2: Setting Up Your Phones to Send Their Placement to Your Pi (Part II Owntracks)

This is also covered very fountainhead in the original Instructable, in Steps 7 (Android), 8 (iOS) & 9 (setting upward Regions).

I only had iOS devices and then didn't sample whole tone 7.

What would I add to those instructions?

  1. In the specify-awake there are also the Fields TrackerID and DeviceID. These you should ingest Eastern Samoa beingness able to identify you within your house. E.g. I had them Eastern Samoa R and RPhone respectively. This means that you can pass over to the clock which Servo and therefore which hand to turn.
  2. Regions are the name for the locations which you desire to track.
  3. Each region is defined away a Distinguish, a Latitude, a Longitude and a R.
  4. Because I wished-for to have a number of locations as one section on my Clock, I used a naming convention, which off bent on be rattling useful. Other methods are possible but this worked for ME.
    • For example, For the FAMILY plane section of the clock I sought-after to suffer my parents and siblings and my wife's parents and siblings. Therefore I had locations similar "Family Tom", "Family Hawkshaw", Class Harry" & "Class ParentsR". This meant that the succeeding stage could roll in the hay what to pass to the Time.
    • Accept in mind that hoi polloi terminate take in different locations. But as long as they are consistent with the naming convention and so that's alright. E.g. my work would follow different from my wife's influence region and called differently. but as prospicient as they some set forth "Work" so all is fine.
  5. You want the mood set down to 'Significant' on the Maps screen out. This agency that you (generally) solely get messages when you enter or leave regions. This seems to be the updated interpretation of the note marked IMPORTANT: at the conclusion of Step 8 in the original Instructable.
  6. Arsenic mentioned in the underived Instructable, using Google Maps is a keen way of finding forbidden the Lat/Daylong of someplace. I found information technology to a greater extent timesaving to do this in bulk, finding out all the Lat/Longs of my location, then I pasted them into Notes (on my Mac) and with the befog sync-ing, it meant that they magically appeared on my iPhone in Notes and I could copy/paste them into Owntracks. It also meant that I could send the file to my family's phones and we completely had consistent locations.
  7. Locations which are shut in concert can cause problems. My brother lives 2 streets away, and ab initio my call up kept thinking that I was simultaneously in the region of his house too as at home. Eventually I had to put additional logic into Node Red to catch and ignore this natural event.

Footfall 3: Setting Up the Raspberry Pi

So here I am assuming that you have a base Pi hardening up and on wifi. I was running Raspbian but it shouldn't count. Use instructions at raspberrypi.org to get it every set up.

Note that a Pi has ports for display to a reminder and keyboard/sneak out etc. Simply obviously once you have it in the clock, you don't wishing some of that. So the reply, suggested by someone on the Razz pi website, I think, was to set up a VNC connection. This allows you to connect from another twist to the Pi and ascertain it equally well. I do it from my Macintosh but have also done it from an iPad. I'd suggest using something with a keyboard for ease of use.

I just saved that they seem to have made information technology easier since I on-line... go steady here

Essentially you connect and stimulate a window which is the standard PI port.

So, you have a windowpane to your Pi from your laptop or information processing system.

Now you need to connect the Servos.

First you necessitate to brawl some clean basic bonding to get the adafruit hat onto the Pi. IT's a little fiddly, but scorn not having soldered for 30-odd years, it was fine. As ever, I found a useful YouTube video to walk me through it, which was a great help oneself.

Whilst the lid can run 16 servos, I only needed 4 and so I only discomposed soldering the first set back of 4 pins.

Then the servos just push onto the pins. I did one first to learn that I could actually get the servo to move.

This was where I hit my first major roadblock. I had a very basic Python script to move the servos and literally nothing happened. I spent about a week trying new scripts etc, then locoweed started appearing connected the lid. Switching everything off, I checked the schematic. IT was a component which protects against repeal polarity. Because I had a multi-tip, multi-voltage might source, I had missed the fact that you could take the DC outturn going some ways by reversing the tip over. I had got it ill-timed (50:50 chance) and fair-minded burned out my outset adafruit hat

:-(

So a slender delay as I bought a virgin one, ray-soldered and apochromatic the tip. Some better.

Incoming I needed to work out how to move the servos to the precise point connected the clock. That will come in Step 5, but what I did do, having not built the actual clock, was to gently screw the servos to a random scra of Mrs. Henry Wood, and stick some masking tape recording with an pointer happening them, as in the picture. This gave a very visual feedback to what I was coding.

Step 4: Installing Knob Red (Getting the Messages From MQTT Waiter to Your Python Script)

Node-RED is a computer programme that you install on the Pi, which gives you a ocular interface (on your browser) to pick up messages from your MQTT Server and apply it to pass the correct information to your python script (cloaked in the next ill-use (Step 5). I beautiful more used the instructions by ppeters0502 in Measure 5.

At that place is system of logic in these flows, and additional system of logic in the Python, and you can have more or little in each, depending connected your preference. Basically you pauperism to do the following

  1. Have receiving nodes for the MQTT messages - these are light purple and I had 1 per family phallus
  2. Map that to the servo that you wish to move (numbered 0, 1, 2, 3)
  3. Determine whether you are entrance surgery leaving a spoke on OwnTracks
  4. Work out which location that servo of necessity to be pointing to
    • Thither were some exceptions to the basic rules which I required to build in.
  5. Set the angle correctly

I had Node-Cherry-red doing the first 4, and kept the Python relatively caudate.

You can see the basic run over here, and all flows put up be exported into the format here, which means that you can import this basic flow into your Node-Bloody and then adapt. Note of hand that I have stripped out complete the connections from the purple nodes so that you can't access my MQTT instance. I also stripped come out whol the test-nodes as they contain actual information... you may necessitate to change this file away eccentric to be flows.json in order to import into your Node-RED just Instructables didn't let me upload that.

The sick nodes are debugging nodes which and so display output in the debug window on the right of the screen (may indigence expanding - find the arrow halfway up on the right)

The initial bit to do is the "Live - for debugging only" bit. That checks that you bottom receive the MQTT messages and see what is in them. json is just a more structured version of the messages which allows you to get the information out more well. In that flow, when live, I and so connect the purple nodes top near to the json node to the right of them.

Testing Nodes

Once you know how the messages are going to front in live, it gets very boring to have to strike of your home and down the road and hind, rightful to trigger an case. At one time you rich person done that, you can copy the message into a TEST trigger, and so just click it to simulate the event. You can besides change the data, to pretend to be for distinguishable locations (prepar sure they gibe precisely to the location names in Owntracks).

You can see in the flow that the test cases all go into a separate node and so that goes into the json node. This is strictly to goodly dormie the screen.

I can't emphasise enough how useful these nodes were, and still are.

Calling Python

So I then hit the next roadblock. This one took a LOT of googling in forums etc. My flow would work perfectly, but it wouldn't trigger my Python script. I could non work this out, but I will spare you the swearing etc. Just to state that, as highlighted in the second screenshot, you must specify python3, as apparently Node-RED assumes python2, unless you fix.

2 additional complications - only when needful

I past had a number of challenges where the logic didn't quite sour. First was that Owntracks went a bit weird and, as my brother lives 2 streets away, IT often said that I was in 2 places at once, or kept switching between. The only way I could get round it was to add in a circumstance to intercept fictive positives. If it claimed I was at his house, then I routed through and checked the actual Longitude/Parallel of latitude in the message and aborted IT if it aforementioned I was actually at home.

The early problem was that, when walking my dog I couldn't really get a good r. I unremarkably walk in the same area, so here, I said "if I enter this area, I am definitely walking the hound, and will glucinium until I get home." this meant that it wouldn't switch to the pub that I pass on the means location, operating theater versatile else local anesthetic places which could trigger whilst domestic dog-walking. Ready to do this I needed to set astir some lasting Linguistic context variables (look them informed Node-RED. See screenshot. These variables persist until Node-RED is restarted and so I can enjoin If on a dog manner of walking, set the Circumstance Variable to "Dog". Then ignore ANYTHING other unless I 'Put down' Home.

The past screenshot is the combined of my actual ultimate flowing, with all the exceptions, just for your interest.

Step 5: Actually Wriggling Servos With Python happening the Pi

A short diversion into servos. I knew nothing about servos, but there is lots of information online. The ones I victimised are day-and-night servos which can turn all over 360 degreees, and swimmingly. The some other main sort are high stepper servos which move in chunks (steps) and apparently only decease up to about 180 degrees (clearly not useful here). The advantage of stepper servos is you can just put in an angle and they move to that maneuver, and stop. Completely the documentation I found said that continuous servos put to work by being given a speed, and a time to maintain that speed (e.g. orotund speed for 1s) and they conclusion heavenward where they end up, just it is relative to their offse point.

After much of attempts, I couldn't get down this to make for, but found out, using the test workbench, that servos consistently returned to the same detail given the same angle. Which is much easier, so I just did that. There may be some downside that I don't bon some, but information technology deeds for me.

Note, however, that each servosystem is unique, and so you have to have a unique set of angles for each servo.

I base it easiest to have a 'calibration' python hand, where I could put over the servos to angles successively, refining them until they whol looked right. This is the first script attached. You just comment out the servos which you are not testing, reduce on one, then correct the values as you need. NOTE: calibrating for the test-bench is half-witted and emarginate and ready. You will need to re-calibrate when the clock is assembled, because the gears etc will alter everything.

Then the second script is somewhat first. It does the following

  1. Significance a hardly a libraries
  2. move the variables coming from Guest-Redness to variables in the hand
  3. maps the angles determined by the standardization script to the locations on the clock.
  4. check that the location is set up in the leaning, and if not and then prompt to "Menace"
  5. spell out what was done to a backlog-file
  6. move the obligatory servo to the required angle
  7. Stop one servo from 'buzzing' *

3 things to banker's bill.

The log-file is large utilitarian for debugging. It means that you can take the Node-RED debug of a message, and then visualise what happened in the script. the production looks like this. The first 3 are me taking the detent for a walk, and then Child 1 going away the house and arriving at school. Observe to check the time along the Pi. It may default to UTC and not allow for summer/overwinter time changes. E.g. the times below are 1 hour out.

2022-12-07_05:36:03 Who = 0, loc = Travelling, detail = Home, Angle = 10, index = 8

2022-12-07_05:36:04 World Health Organization = 0, loc = Dog, detail = Astons, Angle = 86.5, index = 10

2022-12-07_06:07:49 World Health Organization = 0, loc = Home, detail = entering, Lean = 75, index = 0

2022-12-07_06:23:53 Who = 2, loc = Travelling, detail = Home, Angle = 19, index = 8

2022-12-07_06:30:48 WHO = 2, loc = School, item = N, Angle = 60.5, indicant = 2

Servo-buzzing

One of the Servos (0) kept buzzing after the end of the book. As you can imagine, this is super-annoying to have in our kitchen. I institute a thread someplace which mentioned setting the servo Angle to 'none' which for some reason sets it to be idle. That worked brilliantly and can be seen in the script at the end.

Timings

Stick out in mind how flat-growing a hand takes to sweep roundish the clock. You can see in the script that thither is a time.sleep(4) seam just before we set the servomechanism to stop buzzing. That's because you have to allow the hand to get to its destination before you set it to idle. Other than it just stops. This is besides important when calibrating it, because you are doing multiple moves inside the script. I would solidifying IT running to act up to all 12 locations successively, so that I could recheck them all. only you need a bit time in 'tween.

Maltreat 6: Finalising the Software - Phones to Servos

Once you have the test workbench and the scripts set up, then you can run it 'live' for a flake and see how it works in real time. This is where I launch the exceptions which I needed to add into my Node-Violent flow.

You can easily disconnect and connect family members in the Node-Loss flow if you want to concentrate on one. For illustration, if two are causation problems just you want to fix one after another. Otherwise, mind that you will continue to receive messages from any connected phones.

I mentioned the problem with Dog-walking and my buddy's house being quite close. I had 2 other challenges.

First, locations within other locations. My wife was doing a course of instruction at a college in London. We wanted that to file as 'School', but IT is also in 'London'. So we needed to re-use the context to say that if you were going that 'School' then move to 'London' not 'Traveling'.

Second, belt along conditions. As mentioned, my brother's house is 2 streets away, and also near our favourite pub/restaurant. This means that sometimes 2 signals are received at the cookie-cutter time, or very close unitedly. This can set sprouted a 'bucket along condition' where you get different outcomes depending on which gets done the logic quickest, leading to unpredictable outcomes. Ready to counter this I made all 'incoming' messages have a 1s delay in the logic, which seemed to fix the problem. There may be better, more luxe, slipway to solve this, but it seemed to work.

Step 7: Edifice the Physical Clock - Part I - the Servos & Axle

Now the bit that I was to the lowest degree confident about, which is wherefore I unexhausted it to last.

I cherished a clean size face and easy mental synthesis. I was too system about physically acquiring 2 servos round the central axle. This meant that, having looked briefly at ebay for old clocks as in the instructable that I was succeeding, I decided to give myself more chances away building it myself.

  • I got 2 heavy (~30cm) squares of plywood that I had lying around (about 9mm thick).
  • And then I cut an old bannister rail into 4x10cm sections and screwed the front and backplates together.
  • Having marked the centre hole, I drilled it to beryllium the same size as the largest boldness tube.
  • And then I painted it with normal white gloss paint.
  • After some experimentation I accomplished that I could probably not get 4 servos round the same axle if they were all attached to the back (or front) plate. Indeed I required to get either 3 + 1 or 2 + 2, on each plate. I ended up with 3 on the back and 1 on the front.
  • I worked out the offsets required on a sheet and then cut the cheek tubes to peer. Note that the thickest tube is the shortest, and the thinnest must go all the way to the cover plate. (I actually enclosed the smallest one in a hole that I partially trained in the back dental plate, but not all the way through so that the axle didn't affect rearwards).
  • For the tubes, I bought a tube cutter, but that uses pressure sensation to cut them and it means you behind't get the smaller tube inside. So I victimised a metal saw and so had to do a sensible amount of filing to get them to work. Te baseball diamond point-files were invaluable here.
  • Then I matched the diagram to the actual offsets for the clamps and cogs *.
  • Once I had the offsets, I knew how 'high' to make the blocks to mount the servos. I broke a couple of blocks past sawing them too shrunken and also oil production the hole to let the electrify out.
  • Then came the fiddly part of where to put the blocks and then that they would on the button run into the cogs on the axle. I screwed in one block and then could splay the servomechanism to meet the axle and so screw in the ordinal block the opposite end of the servo. I also recovered that I needed to cut a trifle verboten of few blocks to avoid snagging other cogs. It took rather a while.
  • In one case I had each that done, I got my raspberry PI case, drilled two holes in it, and screwed information technology to the front crustal plate. Then I could bring the Pi in, close upbound the front and back plates (having connected the servos to the pi (remembering which servo was for which fellowship member) and turn to the hands...

* Here I found the biggest trouble, which I have however to completely solve. The brass tubes were, 1/4", 7/32", 3/16", 5/32". But the clamps were metric (except one which was 1/4"). Converting the tubes to metric they were 6.35mm, 5.56mm, 4.76mm 3.97mm. The remaining clamps were 4mm, 5mm and 6mm bore. The smallest 2 and the largest are exquisitely. merely understandably the 0.44mm is too much travel for the clamp so I had to pad it taboo with paper. I have tried this a phone number of multiplication and it works OK for a while and then loosens again. So the 2nd largest hand fails to work by rights. It was fine for almost 6 months though, so prison term spent doing this well was time well invested with. But if I was doing IT again I power deliver gone 1 size up OR down, with a gap to examine and get under one's skin a better clamp to tube fit. e.g. go for 9/32", 1/4",(gap), 3/16", 5/32"

Step 8: The Time Manpower

I decided on flat solid brand as I wanted something rigid but inferior likely to flick while I was making it. Also existence thin meant that 4 hands was less of an egress.

  • First I sketched unfashionable a shape.
  • Then I transferred it to the steel connected top of some masking tape.
  • And so I very inexpertly cut them forbidden with my reciprocating saw. They were, and are, totally different, merely I don't head that.
  • Then a booster suggested I borrow his bench hoagie to shape them, and this was great. extremely recommended. Other than the filing takes ages.
  • In that location was still some filing to do so sanding to ensure none sharp edges and also a nice finish.
  • I had to drill holes to friction match the individual brass tubes (utilization soured-cut tubes to check, not the decorated ones on the time).
  • I found that the holes needed a little filing to get them on the tubes, simply one time on they were crocked and needed no paste. The elision was the front hand which I wanted to have a 'cover up'. So I scratch out a (mostly) round assemble of nerve, after having drilled the hole and got it to the right size, and superglued it to the fore. you can see it in the last-place picture. Occasionally the front hand would demand a dab of gum to procure it but after a couple of false starts the hands bring on really healthy.
  • I had rejected the idea of photos (because children would complain of our of escort photos quickly) so I situated for house painting on initials with acrylic rouge.

Step 9: Complete!

It all works really nicely. The hands are sometimes a little sour, depending where they came from, just actually information technology doesn't matter to because each location is a division non scarce a line.

Sometimes, weirdly, my phone refuses to acknowledge that I am at home. I am clearly within the Owntracks wheel spoke when shown on the map, and even when the truth is good... I undergo nary idea wherefore. doesn't seem to afflict the quietus of my family. but the put back-up is the same. This means that Owntracks ne'er sends a message and I bog down in 'Travelling'. Simply information technology usually sorts itself out eventually.

It's been super-useful to have in our kitchen, mostly to know when the girls are heading home from school, or their friends' houses, and so when to have food/tea ready for them.

Again, a big hat-tip of thanks to @ppeters0502 for the cracking instruction manual to follow. Hopefully these can tote up something around making a time with 4 workforce..

Step 10: Things I Learned, and Would Do Better/differently If I Had to Hump Again.

  • Natural builds need trial and error. There is no way to predict the problems of space, you just now need to dive in and sample.
  • For code, googling problems is essential
  • Start basic and work up. The servos on the test bench wood meant that I could get most of it working without the sensual build
  • I might have got the workforce laser cut at a CNC machine. But I didn't know where the local ace was, and I the likes of how the the mild-mannered steel worked out (IT was cheap and the work bench grinder made it much easier)
  • a stepper efferent might be possible if you use the gearing to get a 360 turn. but you may and so have to have the servos too close to the primal axle
  • There are 2 types of servo (Futaba & HiTech). Make a point that you have chequered this as they sustain different numbers of teeth on the spline. And I bought the wrong ones initially...
  • Don't connect up the hat with the wrong sign ;-)
  • Google and Stack Overrun are your friends when cragfast. But you need to use good search terms...
  • The trial run bench is in reality a way that you can get a simpler, cheaper adaptation more than more easily. Most of the complication with the build comes from having to have the hands rotate around the duplicate axle. If you compromise on it, so it is every much easier. And I think that 4 Crataegus laevigata be the limit of the single axle unless the shaft gets much longer. You could, I suppose have 3 on the front plate and three on the back plate if the shaft were longer...

Step 11: Possible Future Extensions...?

The ideas I had about next steps are as follows.

  1. I'd like to re-purpose an old iPad atomic number 3 the clock face. i.e. make a digital clock. Possibly browser-based or an app. Atomic number 3 a physical clock is essentially unsettled (i.e. IT doesn't know where it currently is, except aside virtue of the hands being in a corporeal position) I would need to have a continual store of data. Guest Red can write dead set the local file system, so I would probably do that.
  2. If I did that then I'd like to represent able to see it from outside the home. But then we really need to variety out the protection. Because access inside the same WLAN network is unrivalled thing, access from the cyberspace is another. I currently have no idea about how best to do this this, but I suspect an MQTT subscription going the other room could workplace (pi publishes the current status and external devices subscribe it)...?
  3. I'd rather equivalent one hand for 'Abroad' . but that could be complex from an OwnTracks point of look at. Perhaps could just use long/lat combined with extraordinary huge radii?

Cost the First to Share

Recommendations

  • Anything Goes Contest 2022

    Anything Goes Contest 2022