Merry Christmas from BW Science Labs

Merry Christmas everyone. It sounds like a lot of people have gotten the Vivus the Robot kit for Christmas and are enjoying it.

I'm working on redoing the BW Science Labs website, and will be moving from Blogger to the Wordpress platform to integrate the store and blog. Unfortunately this also involves the less fun search for a good web host, artist, and so on. However, once the site is done it'll be really cool.

Thinking in Multiple Dimensions

I've survived the first day of final exams, 2 down and 4 more to go!

Here's an interesting project called The Lumen, a 3D display that adds depth to 2D images. The neatest part is how they get each little pixel up and down; they use a wires made of "shape memory allow" that expand when heated and shrink when cooled.


[or watch this video here]


Good look to everyone taking final exams!

I have a dream...

As a young, somewhat lost, soon-to-be-engineer I loved watching Bre Petis's weekend project video series on MAKE, where a DIY project would be made into a simple video tutorial so even the most lost engineers could follow. As you might imagine, the day Bre's videos stopped was a sad one.

Bre Petis later had his own show on the history channel called History Hackers, and he is now one of the founders of a company called MakerBot. What does MakerBot do? They make my dream machine.


[or watch this video here]

One day I'd like to get one of these awesome little tabletop factories. I could print out parts for robots, housings for kits, little action figures of me (wait, what?), and just about anything else I can imagine, which is a lot. Unfortunately (or fortunately compared to other rapid prototyping machines) the MakerBot's price range is between $750 and $950 which if I run my numbers in 3 seconds correctly means that it may not pay for its self for a long while. While the BW Science Labs Store is finally pulling its weight (and quite a bit more if I do say so myself) I simply can't invest $1000 in a RPM, least for now.

Ah, the bitter smell of exams

This weekend I began development of the next BW Science Labs kit, a robot that would have far greater functionality and awareness than Vivus. I can't say I've ever had a single flawless prototyping experience. I always seems to destroy one invaluable component or another. This was no exception.

I wound up over applying 1/2 too many volts to the microcontroller, causing it to fry almost instantly. Of course, there was no way for me to know this at the time, I'd used a 6v power supply of other chips that are nearly identical with no issue. So when I couldn't get the chip to interface with my PC to run a test program, I assumed the chip may have been a dud and hooked up my back-up, and wound up frying that one too. I have replacements coming, and should be in by the end of the week. Sadly however, I may have little time to work on BW Science Labs for a few weeks. Rest assured there will still be some posts, but I have exam-prep this week, exams next week (counting up to 1/2 my grade depending on the class), and then break.

Have a good week, now go fry a robot brain.

How to get funding for projects

Here's the situation: You have the most massive idea ever. You just drank 3 red bulls and you're convinced that your laser sunglasses will sell like one of Apple's computers that come out every other day. The problem: you have $3 in your Paypal account after buying some nun chucks and X-Ray vision goggles. So, how do you get funding for prototyping?

1) Get an investor!

Easier said than done, the investor's security blanket is a fat packet of Excel spreadsheets, so you will be expected to have every cost calculated and scrutinized.


What do you mean you're not funding my Star Trek PEZ collection?! They're crucial to marketing. Duh.

Or if you're a student, you could always make a family member an "investor".

Hey dad, I have a really cool EDUCATIONAL idea that is crucial to my future success...

2) Ebay.

It may sound dumb, but ebay is my favorite way to pay for projects. I get to trade that really ugly messenger bag I have for a prototype. I'm serious, I'm actually selling a really ugly messenger bag on ebay, and someone is bidding on it!

I'm not a fan of long get-rich-quick ideas that litter the web like old socks, so I'll stop here. Get an investor, sell some stuff on ebay, and that's all you should need to build your laser sunglasses.

Coming soon: T-Shirts to be Envied

Writing after a break is always tough, I take the "slowly get back into the swing" method.

For the last few weeks I've been exchanging emails with an out of country graphic design firm. I had hired them to make the new BW Science Labs logo. It's been a frustrating last few weeks.

That's what I get for outsourcing, I guess. In the end I gave up trying to get the designer to do what I had asked, after about 5 or so attempts. I'm still happy with the final product, though I was shooting for something more like MIT's logo.

Once I get the high-res image sent to me I'll begin ordering T-Shirts, its about time we are able to wear our pride.

Happy Thanksgiving from BW Science Labs

Ah, Thanksgiving, the time when families are thankful for one another and turkeys are wishing they had opposable thumbs to escape their cages. For those of you outside of the US, Thanksgiving is when Americans celebrate obesity each other and what we are thankful for.

Come to think of it I should have made a roboturkey or something to celebrate, maybe next year.