Matteo

School sucks

2006-10-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ya its almost been a month since I posted so here's an update. Schools a lot of work but I'm getting through ok. I'm going to build a spud launcher but its getting cold out so I might put that off until the spring. I am also getting a laptop for university which I might buy for myself at Christmas, I'm thinking of an IBM but there pretty expensive maybe a dell or Toshiba (I hear there good quality).
Here are some pictures of my newest Lego thing. It uses rack and pinion steering but that was too easy so I made an independent rear suspension. The thing circled in yellow is a disk with electrical tape on half of it so the robot can figure out when its zeroed. That's all for now until next time cheerio.

Turret

2006-09-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ok here are (fuzzy) Pictures of the auto gun turret I made. The turret itself is well made and the programming is good but the lego camera software is very bad (apparently shadows look green). I might try to program it using webcam software and I think the RCX can be programmed in C. Its not all bad, it will hit the target more often than not but the lego software doesn't allow me to run a real program, Only see and react type programs and getting distracted by almost everything is very frustrating.

Success!

2006-09-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ok here's my recreation of that giant wheeled thing with two motors (it can turn now). It is articulated at the middle as you can see so all wheels will be touching the ground no matter how rough it is. I thing I'll play with this one for a while before starting on the auto turret.

School

2006-09-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

School has started in full force. I have Advanced functions and intro calculus then chemistry and in the afternoon I have English then geometry and discrete mathematics. As you may have guessed it's a lot of work but I'm determined to stay ahead in all of them. Matt is really helping with the tests he scanned and uploaded last year which is giving me some really good practice tests to study from.
The first two pictures (top & bottom left) are of a new transmission I made...... Which again doesn't work. In theory it works but there is too much gear friction and the chain keeps snapping. The thing on the right is a lego version of the parallax (you know, Boe bot) walker which due to the length of its legs doesn't walk very well. Well I hope to bring you some working stuff next time, I'm thinking of recreating a giant wheeled off road vehicle and maybe a gun turret with my lego camera. We'll see...

LEGO update

2006-08-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Ok here's my lego transmission (top) ......Which doesn't work.....For now. See everything is there except a shifting arm which has been a pain to build and didn't really work out so I have to build a working arm. I also built a Lego CVT (continuously variable transmission) modeled after one I've seen on this site (not shown here) which I'm afraid to say didn't work either. But it's not all bad news, the vehicle on the bottom is a very big success. First off I'm very proud of myself for the incredibly compact drivetrain and chassis which (excluding the wheels) has the same dimensions as the RCX although it may not be as robust as it looks that's not to say it is at all weak. But even better are the two light sensors on top which are used to detect IR signals sent from the RCX so basically I've made a lego IR detector without any modified parts (and it works quite well). The tricky bit was the software which was inspired from someone else's but still the fine tuning took some time and patience. The program spines the robot around taking six readings from one of the light sensors then it finds the average light and adds a fixed amount (which controls the sensitivity of the light sensors) then uses that final variable as the trigger point for the light sensors. Once that is all established it drives around maneuvering away from walls.

LEGO!!!

2006-07-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Alright here's my newest Lego project. It is a two (supposedly three) automatic transmission. I got it from this site but I gave it my own modifications. It shifts very well but the difference between high and low gear is very small but the concept is cool. I'm working on another one with a big difference between all three gears (my own design this time). It works by using a differential to transmit power between the drive and the wheels (or in this case tracks) while detecting the stress on the axle and using that force to move a spring loaded arm which locks up one side or the other of another differential (one side has a higher gear ratio the other has a lower) then ratchets allow the driving side to engage to the first differential. I hope that explanation helps, if not follow the link.

Busted Car

2006-06-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Our car recently got hit so we are going to get a new one. This one was a subaru legasy but we're going to get an outback. While I was looking at our car I noticed the truck next to it.....(bottom)

There was a melted hole in the hood and the engine was a bit messed up. There where other cars but the camera died after i took the truck picture.

Oh by the way I got my G1 yesterday so watchout!

Exams

2006-06-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

well exams are almost done for me. I have one last one on Friday

I recently bought batteries for my RCX lego robot controller and built this awesome drivetrain that sort of walks and rolls.
Sam described it as a combine.
anyway each side of the robot has 4 beams that cycle around in a circle parallel to each other and offset so the whole robot never touches the ground. I put 1x2 bricks spaced out under the beams for mad traction. The things sticking out at the front are bumpers.

I am going to start to document all my creations so you can expect more.

New BBQ

2006-05-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well I'm too lazy to take a picture of our new BBQ but I got a picture of the same model.
It was a gift to my dad from the family for his birthday because we felt sorry whaching him trying to salvage the old rusted out (harvestable) BBQ which was beyond repair.

I took Sam's advice and cleaned up my workbench! I have so much space it's incredible.

Late this summer the venturers (Me Sam and Nick) are planning to do a real hardcore survival camp. Only eat what you can find (or kill). I really want to kill a rabbit or something and eat it!

Aww I have my English summative this week which is a 1500 word in class essay on The Great Gadsby which is a really boring book that has absolutely no point to it.

Pictures

2006-04-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Up top is my guetto battlebot. It has some strength issues so i think ill replace the gearbox, and the bottom two pictures are of my hovercraft which uses two 9 volt batteries (in both pictures it is hovering).
Don't forget to click my adds $$$ :)

Happy Easter

2006-04-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Just like Christs birth is to Santa Claus so is christs resurrection to an egg hiding giant rabbit.
But its all about the chocolate at Easter and I have no problem with that. I brought my bike to Tommy's for a tuneup and it'll be back Wednesday, I can't weight to hurt myself on the next big jump. Woot!

I think my laptop is deteriorating. Sometimes the hardrive makes repetitive clicking sounds and nothing gets done + I've noticed that I have too press harder on the keys as they are less sensitive than they used to be. Oh well at least its an old government laptop and so its not that big a loss.

I built a small hovercraft with a big computer fan which I power with my 16 volt 4.5 amp laptop power supply but holding the wires in it to test it is becoming a pain and I want to find a more permanent power supply, Ill get some pics of it soon!

The rest of the update

2006-04-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

After Cuba came the glebe robotics team trip
it was pretty fun but with only three people who weren't fags there (me, Matt, and Sam) it was very stressing and a lot of work and we only got into 71/74th place but we did a lot of damaging and smashing. But most of all we (or at least I) learned and got ideas about how to make a quick cheap and light robot for next year.

while I was in Cuba matt and Sam started on a little battlebot to impress the gangsters
then we decided to make 3 (one from each of us)

the pic above is just a little idea I had that might be cool to make!

Major update

2006-04-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Whew its been a while!

but ill get to that

anyway first ill start with my march break vacation. I went to Cuba. Nick and Ross were the two other people my age and some chick who was a family friend (a bunch of family's including mine go on a vacation every march break; all the parents are friends). Highlights of the trip where just relaxing on the white beach, I taught the boys to sail, snorkeling and the salsa dancing night

And that summed up my trip to cuba

When I came home the internet was disconnected and wasnt connected untill monday the 10th of april.

ill finish later

Semester 2

2006-02-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well its been a while so I've got lots to talk about

first off all my exams are done. I didn't do as well as I would have liked but at least they over and done with. This semester is my hard one, I have; 1st is introduction to physiology sociology and anthropology, 2nd is English, 3rd is advanced functions and relations (math), and finally physics. Four courses, four exams. I was thinking of dropping anthro but it looks really interesting and so does physics, while math will be the most difficult for me. I'll definitely work hard though or at least try too.

Next big thing is Ubuntu linux. What can I say, It's a whole new operating system for me, its a challenge. The file system is weird, the command line is a pane to learn, and its power is scary. Unlike windows which will stop you from doing something stupid there are no safe guard's , its easy to mess everything up . . . . . Permanently. But it starts and runs faster then windows which is a huge perk. Ill have to read up on those tutorials.

The Glebe robotics team doesn't have much time left and we only have a fraction of our robot done. The main problem is that our machine shop sponsor couldn't sponsor us this year so we are stuck. Algonquin collage is letting us use there machine shop but from what I've heard its nowhere near as good as our old one and its full. I hope we have somthing for the competition :(.

Election - Conservative Minority

2006-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well the conservatives won . . . . . . Couldn't see that coming!
But the conservatives were really prepared for this election and they will be a fresh change from the lazy ass liberals. Eventhough I am leftwing I think we all needed a change and since the government is a minority with the balance of power in the NDP's hands I'm ok with the results.

Winter camping

2006-01-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

I went winter camping for two nights during the holidays and even with two sleeping bags, three sleeping pads and fleecy pajamas minus forty is friging COLD. But I lived to tell the tail and the second night wasn't so cold (minus fifteen or so) so I got to catch up on some sleep. The persons land we camped on was nice enough to let us cut down trees and so I got to cut down about four and use them as firewood (also a good way to keep warm). I'm definitely going to go camping there next winter

Robotics season has hit kind of suddenly for me but the whole robotics team has just leapt on to it (except for the losers that don't do anything). We are debating, designing and prototyping like mad since 8th place last year didn't really cut it. We are competing in the FIRST robotics competition which includes people from all over the us, Canada and a bunch of other countries.
Check out there site and wish team 1053 good luck!

The season of giving.......And especially getting!

2005-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

I got a lot of good stuff for Christmas this year such as a snowboard, LED head lamp, good headphones with microphone, and that's everything off the top of my head but I remember getting more stuff. Oh yah I got Myst 4 which is a point and click game with lost of puzzles and mystery, very good game, and excellent graphics make every panoramic image look real especially the texture of things, it is incredible. And finally I got that old church fire extinguisher from Jeremy but I forgot to get anything for him (oops). Overall it was an awesome Christmas and now I cant wait for boxing day, tomorrow. I'm gone bye another controller for our Xbox and a game or two to play other than dance dance revolution 3 (which only plays gay Japanese techno that just drives you insane), and a flash drive to replace my broken and small (30 megs) old one. I'm sure ill find many more gagets and gizmos to play with. I hope you all had a grate Christmas On another note I figured out/was surprised to find how easy it is to get free software, like if people figured out how to do it then companies would have to spread viruses that mess up copied and/or hacked software in order for them to make money. But that's not my problem and if I can benefit form it, why not.

Snowboard

2005-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

I got a snowboard today. . . . . . . Its ugly and a bit chipped (got it used) but its mine and I don't have to wait for the long rental line. As I said the board itself is ugly but the boots and bindings are good quality and so I've decided to upgrade the board next year. My parents bought it, and beggars cant be choosers so I'm stuck with what I got. But I'm not disappointed and since I'm on the ski club ill have a lot of fun with it.

I also built a 16 wheeled vehicle thing out of lego. It uses 4 groups of 4 wheels, all with independent suspention, to drive over a whole bunch of stuff. Now the people reading this who think lego is for little kids. . . . . . . . . . is right at least for the past few years. Lego sold cool sets until they invented fucking bionicle and replaced all the cool technical shit with it. Ever since its sets have been stupid bionical characters and now coming out is dino attack and that doesn't even have a storyline, its just people with shitty tanks and helicopters shooting dinosaurs. If lego put money into technical R&D and advertised for an older or even adult age group as a way of developing and testing ideas it would make a lot of money. Especially from engineering and design companies as a way of prototyping their ideas. They could make a lot of cool stuff but for now their going the gay way.

FIXED!.....I Hope

2005-12-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

I think my laptop is finally OK after formatting it 3 times because of Matt's crack and A crazy Trojan virus (mrjj.exe) which crippled it to death by allowing every single program that wanted to get onto my computer and rape everything and that's why I didn't update in so long. But now its fixed.....and the viruses are Formatted into oblivion (YES!!!).

My Italian Grandmother is here for Christmas, she got here on the weekend, so I will be eating very well this Christmas as well as cooking a lot (she is going to teach me to cook like a chef) and since she owned a restaurantnt in Italy she is pretty good at it. Only my mother, who is Italian as well, can really talk with Flora (my grandmother) and only I can understand her out of my sister, dad, and me.

Finally Sam and I took apart and reassembled a lawn mower engine. It was fun and it started when we put it back together so we decided to make a GoCart. The only problem is that we need some kind of clutch which is the only difficult part to get so if you know of a cheap reliable one pleas tell me.

Hacks & Cracks

2005-11-19T18:46:00.000-08:00

I got a bunch of stuff done today... Except for making my bed (to my moms disappointment)
I installed windows XP home on my laptop (T22 IBM ThinkPad). I used a CD key off the internet and some random hack courtesy of Matt Taylor. Thanks Matt!
And spent the rest of the afternoon downloading installing and putting up with a windows website that refused to upload anything too me because I had an "illegal" copy. Also I got a count down window telling me I had 60 seconds to save my work and close any applications before it shutdown my computer, this happened twice and once more while I was writing this. Also Neither Internet explorer or firefox seems to block popups even though the block popups box is checked.
There is still a bunch of things I have to work out but it should get cleared up soon one way or another.

At 6:30 or so I went to my church auction where There is usually a lot of cheap crap that no one has a use for (that's how they get stuff to auction, they take peoples old shit). I was able to get my hands on a 2 ton cable hoist puller for $ 21.00. Its a bit old but its not broken and wear is minimal. I think ill make some kind of elevator with it.

Bullying

2005-11-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

This week is anitbullying week at GCI. We started off with an anti bullying assembly during period 4 (no computer engineering for me) and this is what pisses me off. Alright for starters making a few jolks, riding on a unicycle and telling stories of kids killing themselvs by bullying isnt going to inspire anyone to intervene it or stop doing it, the posters also piss me off like telling me to stop bullying if i see it happening and how sad of a life these people have and how nice i should be too them. Maybe people should look at the bullied and say "whats wrong with these people?" then they will really find the cause of bullying. I dont think that people are bullied because they are smaller but because they dont know how to make friends and/or are socially disabled or something in which case should get some school phycologist to teach them how to make frigging friends. The school board needs to help people in this way not by telling kids not to. Im not a bully or anything but if someone who i dont like starts talking too me i wont be nice too them and tell them how good they look and how great they are. Everyone has a place in society they just have to find it and the bullied are ones who havent found it yet but it is there. Thats my opinion, tell me what you think...

Banana Pop

2005-11-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

I volonteered at a sorting station on the weekend and some people are not generous at all ie: hotel shampoo bottles and little cracker packes but this must have been the funniest donation (this is a picture from the internet but the box that we got was just like this)
this will be an insider jolk for a while

suck my banana pop!!!

first blog

2005-11-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

i am up and running......... woopee!!!!