Good grief, the Kludginator is back!

[Kludge]

Yes, folks, it is I, da ol' KludgeMeister Hisself.  Frightening, isn't it.  The folks from the Home for the Terminally Weird haven't caught up with me though I think they've kind of given up trying.

When last we heard from ... well, me, I was in Waianae with a view of Pokai Bay second to none.  Third or fourth maybe but not second.  I'm now in a 13' square (including head, galley & lockers) closet at the long term vet's residence at the old Barber's Point NAS which, while significantly smaller, is a far better place for me simply because I'm with "my own kind," other vets.  (Vets know what questions not to ask and understand a lot better what it is to be a vet.)  The move here was a disaster that I've termed the Move from Hell and which resulted in all of my lathes etc being boxed up and jammed into a too small storage unit where they reside even now.   I've made several attempts at gathering a crew to move it all into a much larger unit so I can actually get to stuff but that hasn't happened yet.  Everyone's good about talking the talk but when it comes to the walking part they kind of become One with the walls. 

However, a second problem has cropped up which needs attention.  My hands shake too much now to be able to do a lot of stuff I could before which is a bit of an irritation.  Sooo ... being a Klever Kludge, I've been playing with the design for a set of remote arms - kinda but not quite Waldos - driven by microcontrollers using input from me which gets de-shaked and some math jiggery-pokery applied before actually moving the arms. Lots and lots of DC motors - and the old timers here probably remember I like DC motors - and drivers and stuff to play with.  The fact that I need to learn C and relearn BASIC (compiled BASIC this time) is, of course, a minor bump in the road.  Okay, with the meds and reasons for them not so minor but it's one I have to deal with.  

Let's see ... working on a 3D digital world so my daughter and I can be together there since we can't in the real world yet, still working on the book (which is now destined to be a website), maybe will turn some more wooden pens once I can get to my stuff bunches of things that either are going on or are planned in the World of Kludge.  Wheee!

[Fredbare]

Best of luck Kludge, i'll certainly be watching.

John

[dsquire]

Kludge

Man is it good to see you back on the forum. I remember you from the old HMEM where I am a member and used to be a moderator. I remember you well and often wondered how you were getting on. It sounds like you are getting some things straightened around. Let hope that things continue to improve for you. I look forward to seeing more posts from you as you get things straightened around in your storage unit and get them set up so that they are usable.

Cheers 

Don

[Raggle]

Great to see you here Kludge! Always enjoyed your posts and the projects you had.

You'll find this place even better therapy than HMEM was. I know it is for me.

Ray

[foozer]

Kludge always is a Numba 1

Foozer

[Kludge]

Thanks for the welcomes, folks.  It's good to be among people as crazy as I am. 

The Waldos are an interesting project that I can complete most of using what I have here although I do want to machine a few parts.  There were a few people here who said they'd help with the initial stages but when it came down to talking about what was actually needed, they suddenly had other plans. Isn't that always how it works?  Anyway, it's still in the sketch stage because the designs keep changing and I add & delete a gantry design that I basically swiped from a CNC router in the process.  At the moment, it's deleted but I see a way to add it back in again.

My total work surface is 16"x24" less whatever the remotes take up so I need to apply some cleverage (This is where ideas and stuff are cleverified or cleverized, as you all know. ) in how they're made to minimize the impact.  In looking over the site index, I see several places I need to invade related to this project and a few other things of mild to moderate interest.  Or, stated another way, nowhere is safe from the Kludge Effect. 

[krv3000]

jump in and have fun

[Kludge]

I'm known for that.  Sometimes I even know what I'm talking about.