▲ 460 r/chaoticgood
Eggman / Dr. Robotnik takes a stand in favor of data centers
Does satire of lawful evil count as chaotic good?
u/timtucker_com — 4 days ago
u/timtucker_com
r/hvacadvice r/garageporn r/chaoticgood r/homeautomation r/Wyze r/openscad r/openGrid r/smarthome r/functionalprint
▲ 13 r/Wyze
Day 1: Wyze Vacuum vs. kids
First attempt to let the vacuum run free didn't go so well.
Some of what it managed to collect in the 20 minutes it was running before it got too much caught in the wheels to continue:
- Zipper bracelets
- Cat toy
- Shoelace
- Drawstring bag
- Roll of tape
u/timtucker_com — 1 month ago
▲ 11 r/openGrid
Parametric minimalist 4 corner item holder for Multiconnect
Parametric 4 corner item holder I came up with as a more minimalist alternative to existing clamshell holders.
Item size, corner overlap, & support structure are all customizable. You can also adjust the spacing away from the grid in case it's something that generates heat & needs airflow behind.
Model:
https://makerworld.com/en/models/3266415-minimalist-4-corner-item-holder-for-multiconnect
Had hoped to post this last week, but I wanted to address some wonkiness in the calculations (increasing the amount of overlap was sometimes causing the corners to generate out of alignment with the grid). Also needed to make some tweaks to handle that the Makerworld generator doesn't support $preview.
Not 100% happy with the square edges on things, but figured that it's at a stage where it's "good enough" to make available (lots of other projects to get to).
As with some of my other models I've been working on for Multiconnect, I reused the slot generation code from BlackJackDuck's generators.
u/timtucker_com — 1 month ago
▲ 3 r/openGrid
Minimalist cable / tubing guide for Multiconnect
Parameterized model I came up with to keep wires (or tubing) organized in a thin space in between a cabinet and a shelf.
Upsides vs. other options (like Underware):
- It can be much thinner
- It can support more weight
- Doesn't rely on tension (won't come loose over time)
Downsides:
- Needs at least 3 spaces wide to mount
Base geometry is new, but reuses the Multiconnect slot code from https://github.com/AndyLevesque/QuackWorks/
u/timtucker_com — 2 months ago
Are the kids asleep yet? (ESP32 CYD + ESPHome + Home Assistant)
New smarthome device to answer the question that my wife asks almost every night: "Have the kids fallen asleep yet?"
Lights in their bedrooms are set to turn off after inactivity, which is a fairly reliable indicator that they've fallen asleep at night.
Now I'm using an ESP32 CYD (cheap yellow device) to track the status of light entities for their bedrooms in Home Assistant.
Lights up in yellow when the lights are on & shows how long it was since the light last changed status (just tracking the time since the last change via a global in ESPHome).
Also adds mmWave presence detection for the living room -- among other things I'm planning to use that to set up something to cut off the backlight when there's no one in the living room.
Designed / 3d printed a little mini monolith as a case so it fits in with other stuff on the AV rack. Case doesn't use any screws -- just friction fit sliding over hex pegs in the base to hold the front & back together.
u/timtucker_com — 2 months ago
▲ 1 r/hvacadvice
Fan positioning / alternate guards
Old mid 90s system original to the house.
Just replaced our condenser fan with a universal motor (was getting only 1.5 rotations when spinning the fan at idle).
Saw a lot of recommendations on blade height talking about the ideal position being slightly into the shroud section.
The original blade height (as high as it would go on the original motor) was a ways below that, but it does seem like it's throwing out a little more air if I put shims under the grill to raise things up. I'm currently trying a sandwich of thick 3d printed TPU washers as shims for positioning and to absorb vibrations.
Just cleaned the coils for the first time and that seemed to make even more difference in airflow than the blade position (it hasn't been cleaned in the 10 years we've been here and I have no idea when it was done last before that... lesson learned there).
I'm left with a few questions:
What's the best way to measure the effectiveness of blade height positions? I have a thermal camera I could use to look at the coils and wouldn't mind an excuse to pick up a cheap manometer. I'm also logging temperature data in Home Assistant and could probably come up with something to do analysis on how quickly temps drop when the AC kicks in.
Does anyone have suggestions for how to protect the gap if it does turn out that raising the blade via shimming the grill is indeed the best position? It's not a huge gap, but it's probably enough for a determined kid to slip a stick or fingers into.
u/timtucker_com — 3 months ago
▲ 4 r/openscad
Approach for objects with smooth curves in X, Y, and Z?
Trying to sort through different approaches in BOSL2 & the base modules and wondering if anyone could give some suggestions for modeling an object with smooth curves in all 3 dimensions.
Brief mockup thrown together in TinkerCAD:
- Blue sections show curves extended in X, Y, and Z directions
- Orange is the intersection of the 3, but winds up with a bunch of pointed edges
I've tried bezier curves, nurbs curves, surfaces, vnfs, sweeps, & extrusions but feel like I keep hitting a wall trying to get what I'm looking for.
With varying combinations I can get something that mostly works in 2 dimensions, but not a result that has curves in all 3 dimensions at once that's more than just rotating a shape around an axis.
Is there something I'm missing?
u/timtucker_com — 4 months ago
▲ 1 r/garageporn
Lighting vs. Car color
Perhaps an odd question, but has anyone else found themselves feeling like they needed more lighting after getting a darker colored car?
Have been noticing that our garage doesn't seem quite as bright and realized I can trace the difference back to when we switched from a light blue minivan to a dark grey one.
u/timtucker_com — 5 months ago
Adventures in prototyping bike saddles
Got a 3d printer last summer with the intent of using it to prototype noseless bike saddles.
Spent most of the summer "learning the ropes" for modeling & printing & wound up buying 2 more printers, but finally getting close to the point where I have something that doesn't feel like it would be painful to ride or in danger of falling apart.
One of the problems I'm struggled with is attachment:
- Traditional rail attachments don't really align well with 3d printing
- Pivotal seatposts are a possibility, but there aren't many options for dropper posts
- TPU wants to squish, so bolting it directly to something can lead to movement under pressure
Current approach is to use a cheap saddle spring, slide the saddle over the rails like a kabob, & then use the piece that would normally attach a railed saddle on top behind the saddle to lock things in place.
That leaves a lot more extra "stuff" around the saddle than I'd like, but it's letting me at least play around with ideas.
Most of the 3d printed designs that I've seen are based on attaching to the guts of a traditional saddle.
As some background, I've been riding with a noseless saddle for years.
The ability to move around in front of a saddle with nothing in the way is great for mountain biking (IMO even more revolutionary than using a dropper post)... but all the existing designs are far too wide to be practical for trail riding.
I'd sort of addressed that by using a Nexride saddle that I'd cut down narrower, but figure that there's still a lot of room for improvement.
Some more technical details of where I'm at:
- Geetech 95A TPU (cheapest option on Aliexpress)
- Gyroid infill
- 10% infill @ 1 wall for the main body
- Solid infill for ~2mm around the holes for the rails to thread through
Curious if anyone has any suggestions for improvement or alternate ideas for attachment.
I've debated trying something like a base made from PA-CF attached to the 2 bolt clamp at the top of the seatpost & then attaching the TPU to that, but wanted to get a little further before I start committing to more exotic filaments.
u/timtucker_com — 5 months ago