We had 14 people at our show n tell on April 6, 2016 – a great turnout! There were a lot of great things to show as well:
James showed a $15 device that takes any electrical component you throw at it and it will tell you what that thing is and what each “leg” is connected to as well as its resistance or capacitance values. This is very handy for those that can’t see or understand the markings on the tiny things or for components that may have their markings scratched off.
James also showed a kickstarter project for the Apollo board. This lets you stick an arduino on to it and instantly gives you access to the onboard temperature and humidity sensor, light sensor, 3 axis gyro/accelerometer, magetometer/compass, and 64 multicolor LED lights. It’s never been easier to get started with sensors and lights all in one board with no wires to fumble with!
Jack bought a brand new motor to attach to the metal lathe in the new Metal Space. Soon we’ll be making our own metal gears and other round metal attachments and fasteners! We could even make our own screws with the exact thread pitch and length we need.
Steve showed the ultra precise deflection gauges that we can use with the new mill and lathe to make sure the metal parts we make are exactly the right size. The small one was pretty old but works just as well as ever!
There was also a old (almost vintage?) soldering kit including an original Craftsman soldering gun! It still works!
Josh showed his FPV (First Person View) drone and ground control software for flight planning. As soon as GPS hardware is added it can do fully autonomous flights from where ever you click on the map to place waypoints! For now it can be used as an FPV racer by viewing the live camera video in the video screen goggles that make you feel like you are sitting in the cockpit flying around like a bird! He also showed some videos from the Miami race the official Drone Racing League had at the Sun Life stadium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFHRcW6qnvo
