New instructable: Laser-cut butterfly pendant

I just published a new Instructable describing how I made a laser-cut necklace for Katie.

I heart Google charts

I just got a little server together to serve up the data that my sensor logger is collecting.  The Google chart API makes it very easy to create a fancy zoomable time-series chart (link goes to Google documentation as my server is not accessible to the outside world).  

The code is all on my github at https://github.com/fasaxc/WirelessSensorNodeServer.  It's not much good without a serial-connected Arduino piping it data, I'm afraid!  However, it does show how to put together a minimal tornado server in a virtualenv that can serve up static content and a RESTful JSON API.

First data

I just took the first dump of the data from my wireless sensor node, which logs temperature in our apartment.  It seems to be working pretty well, logging once every 4 minutes or so.  You can clearly see that last night was a few degrees colder than the night before and I think the uptick at the end is when we started cooking!

The electronics are based on a project by one of my colleagues.  It all fits in a laser cut enclosure that I designed.

New instructable: Building a laser cut box with living hinge

I just posted a new instructable detailing how I made the box in the picture.  It all started out as a flat piece of cedar plywood!

Todays sugru hacks

I often use a set of helping hands to grip a piece while I'm working on it but my set have always been a bit wobbly.  Not anymore, with their new Sugru feet!

I love my Blackrapid camera strap but the mount has one annoying flaw.  By mounting to the tripod socket it's impossible to put the camera down on a flat surface without scratching it.  Easily fixed with a little Sugru left over from the above hack.

I'm a big fan of Sugru.  Historically, silicone rubbers have been hard to work with and generally out of reach of makers.  Sugru changes all that.

ArduRoller back in business

ArduRoller is balancing again. Turned out to be a loose connection between my Arduino and Motor shield. Pushing it back together did the trick.

D'oh

So, I was trying to get my remote control working and ArduRoller crashed. Now it won't balance even with old code so something must've shorted or been damaged. Damn!