The Ultimate Machine - part 4

Still feeling peeved at being sent the wrong components, I started soldering the circuit board for the machine. This was refreshing and pleasant work which, accompanied by a couple of glasses of red wine, was highly satisfying. The chance to wield my soldering iron again felt quite exhilarating.

The circuit consists of:

• 1 220k resistor
• 1 27k resistor
• 1 15k resistor
• 1 1N4148 diode
• 1 0.1uf capacitor
• 1 NE555P timer chip
• 1 4xAA battery holder
• 1 Futaba 4.2kg servo
• 1 DPDT on-on switch (current setup uses an on-off-on switch)
• 1 microswitch
• 8 three pin connectors (four he, four she)
• A few feet of wire - red, yellow, black and blue
• 1 project board

And after putting it all together, this is the result:

Now all that remains is mounting the board in the box, fitting the servo and the switches and fabricating and fitting the arm. With a little luck I just might get it finished this weekend, but as the arm will have to be stained the drying time might make this impossible. Also, as I am using an on-off-on switch instead of an on-on switch, the result might not be practical. I have registered an order for a couple of replacement on-on switches, and these will hopefully be delivered during next week. So, if my vain hope of making it work with an inappropriate switch fails, there are replacements coming. I aim to have it completed by next weekend.

Rage II - Ultimate Machine Part 3.5

Yesterday I finally received my order from my electronics supplier of choice, and excitedly I went about building the circuit board for my Ultimate Machine - relishing the chance of wielding my soldering iron once again.

I set up the board nice and tidy using three-pin connectors for the switches, power source and servo output, organizing all components logically and neatly across a small board - for practicality as well as for show.

The first thing I noticed was that the electronics suppliers had sent me the wrong diodes, but that was no biggie as I could use the ones they sent me, though it was annoying. Then, after soldering the whole thing together, measuring across the circuit and attempting to start it up for the first time, nothing happened. The circuit is powered, and all looks good, but for some reason the servo doesn't get signals.

Eventually I had to call it a night, and thus I promised myself to sort it out this weekend. Today, as I arrived at the office, I had a thought: yesterday the DPDT switches they had sent me made something in me twitch, but I did not quite react to it. Today however, I suddenly realised that the switches they had sent me are also wrong. I ordered DPDT on-on switches, but they sent me DPDT on-off-on switches - not nearly the same, and very aggravating.

However, I should be able to test the circuit with the wrong switches, but I immediately registered an order for two new DPDT on-on switches on their webshop, and then I sent a copy of the order confirmation to their sales office to make sure they get it sorted.

So let's sum it up:

1. Electronics supplier misplaces my order, making the components over 1 month delayed
2. Electronics supplier sends me the order, but asks for payment for the second time
3. Electronics supplier sends me wrong diodes and wrong switches

The problem is that if I want electronics over here, I will have to use this company as they are the ones most likely to stock what you need.

Rage!

So I contacted the company that I had ordered my precious NE555P timer chips (and various other bits and bobs such as highly important DPDT switches) from, and I asked them when I could expect my order to be delivered. I felt it had taken too long to get it shipped to me, and as such they should explain themselves. I'll let you know how this conversation went.

Me: "Hello, yes, I'm calling regarding order number xxxxxxx which I have been expecting for quite some time. The order was placed about a month ago, so now I'm wondering when I might expect to get it."

Person on the other end: "Hang on one second and I'll check it." *sounds of typing*

Person on the other end: "I can't seem to find an order by that number, are you sure you got it registered?"

Me: "Yes I'm sure. I've got the confirmation e-mail from your website right here."

Person on the other end: *sounds of typing* "Could you e-mail me a copy of your receipt?"

Me: "Sure. What address do I use?" *after being given address, mail is sent*

Person on the other end: *sounds of mouse clicks and typing* "I'm sorry. We seem to have misplaced your order, but I promise we'll get it shipped out to you today. How would you like to pay?"

Me: *getting annoyed* "I've already paid for it ... it says so right there on the receipt."

Person on the other end: "Oh so I see. Well then, we'll get it shipped today, and you should have it no later than tuesday of next week."

Me: "That's a little late as I needed my components in order to complete a project by tuesday next week. Can you not ship it to me by express?"

Person on the other end: "I'm sorry, but we don't do that."

Me: "No? But misplacing orders is okay?"

Person on the other end: "Of course not, but even so; there's no express delivery service from our company."

Sensing that the conversation could only deteriorate from there I bid him farewell, donned my coat and went downtown in search of a DPDT switch.

The Ultimate Machine - part 3

The external staining is done, the lacquer has dried and the box is ready to be reassembled. I'm still a little peeved that I decided to take the box apart for staining, rather than doing it while assembled because I did not want to risk discolouring the screws. But regardless, the parts look gorgeous now, though a little distorted from the staining process - it's not much, but enough to set the edges off ever so slightly.

After the lacquer had dried I looked over the parts, and determined that they were ready for reassembly yesterday night. Gleefully I put the various parts back together, and watched as the box grew back into shape. I think (and hope) you all will agree that whilst it is not perfectly aligned, or perfectly even, it does look very good. Unfortunately I don't have the proper means to take photographs that do justice to the wonderful richness of the dark cherry combined with the high gloss lacquer, but at least you get an idea from these shots.

The box is reassembled, and you can just about make out the shine and reflections from the sides. I hope I can set up a proper (albeit temporary) photography "booth" somewhere in the house for when the machine is completed and take some final shots for you, but for now these will have to do.

Here you can see how the staining has thrown off the lid by just a mm or two, not a lot, but enough to leave something of a gap. It's really not a big deal, and we'll see when the electronics and mechanics are in place, if I may decide to put a brass strip over the gap - or something like that.

The insides has not yet been stained, but I am planning to do it for consistency, however, I will not lacquer the insides.

And here's a final shot of the finished box with the plaque nailed to the lid. Was I right or what? The brass looks gorgeous against the dark cherry stained and lacquered wood.

This was all I had for this update, but I'll see you again in part 4 quite soon. I'm just awaiting the delivery of the ever important timing chips, and hopefully it'll arrive today or tomorrow. Well, it'll have to arrive by saturday because this is intended to be a birthday present, and as such it must be completed by next tuesday.

The Ultimate Machine - part 2

The weather was good on sunday as well, so I was able to make the lid and complete the box. After planing the lid, and all edges once more with 180 grit followed by a quick planing with 240 grit, I took the box apart and stained it. In retrospect I learned that I shouldn't have taken it apart for this because the staining process distorted the wood just enough to throw it slightly off at the edges. This can't be helped though, and it doesn't really have to be perfect - this is the prototype after all, and I am planning to build at least one more.

I chose an aptly named oil-based colour, "dark cherry", and in my opinion it's a gorgeous stain that really brings the wood to a different level. I have not applied it evenly, but that was not my intention anyway as I was hoping for a sort of weathered antique look, and we shall see if I succeeded in this after applying the lacquer.

Additionally I was able to make the plaque for the lid. This was my first attempt at engraving, and I did it freehand using my trusty old Dremel. In my opinion it came out rather well, and again; it doesn't have to be perfect. The plaque was cut from a sheet of 0.5mm brass, and it looks gorgeous against the dark cherry wood.

As the stain had dried out sufficiently by yesterday evening, I was able to find the time to apply the lacquer. I chose an oil-based high-gloss lacquer for wood, and spread it out nice and even with a soft brush. Hopefully this will dry out evenly and leave a slick and shiny surface, however, I am prepared to polish the pieces if necessary. So as you can imagine, I am terribly excited to come home from work this afternoon to check it out. Expect sexy images of the freshly stained reassembled box with a high gloss surface coating.

See you in part 3.

The Ultimate Machine - Part 1

Work has finally begun on my take on the legacy of Claude Shannon and his Ultimate Machine.

Fortune favored us today with nice and warm weather allowing for work to be done outside, and the twins were at their best behaviour thus providing ample oportunity and time for me to begin this project. For the time being I'm having to do this kind of work outside because my workshop is not yet finished (that's yet another project begging to be begun and completed), and though I will be doing the electronics indoors, woodwork is inherently messy which necessitates doing it outside.

Anyway, I began by collecting a previously purchased plate of wood intented to be used as shelving, and started marking out the various pieces. The wood I'm using is 16mm solid pine, though initially I planned on making it out of oak. However, as I was planning to stain the wood anyway, I opted for something less flamboyant.

I love tools. Hence I use any and all chances and oportunities to acquire new ones. So, as I'm also a big fan of machines, I first opted for cutting the various pieces using my jigsaw. This didn't turn out too well. For some reason the blade kept bending, and as a result every cut I made got slanted. Therefore I've made the mental note of getting a circular saw as soon as oportunity allows for it. In the end I went for a more analogue approach and cut the parts manually using a regular hand-operated saw. This worked wonders. All edges needed planing afterwards, but that would be necessary regardless of how I got them cut.

Unfortunately I didn't remember to collect my camera for the process of cutting the pieces, but at this stage of the build I am drilling holes for the screws and the wood nut inserts.

During this process a couple of other bits went onto my mental shopping list as well. I currently own no countersinking drill bits, so I had to make countersunk screw holes using a slightly large drillbit to countersink the screw heads, and then a narrower drill bit for the actual screw. It worked out beautifully, but it was an arduous process in which I had to drill at very small increments constantly checking the depth of the countersink hole, before changing bits to do the screw holes. I also broke one of my vice grips, so new ones are needed.

After having drilled the holes through the walls of the box and into the bottom plate, I screwed in some wood nut inserts for M4 machine screws. I have selected some very attractive M4 hex-head stainless steel screws. My design would work even better with brass screws, but I have so far been unable to find M4 hex-head brass screws, so stainless will have to do.

And here is the finished wall screwed to the bottom plate. The screw heads are nicely flush with the wood, and they are very solidly locked together. I think the screws, even though they are not brass, will stand out quite nicely against the wood after it has been stained.

A couple of hours of doing this to all the sides, and the result is a wodden box, though still missing the all-important lid. Unfortunately I did not have time to finish the lid as well today, so I hope to be able to do it tomorrow. The lid is the most important part, and will have to fit precisely - It will also need to be split along the middle.

The box was still a little rough though, so I rummaged around in my would-be workshop to dig out my electric planer and some 180 grit sandpaper. Here is the final result after planing. All sides are now nicely flush, and their surfaces are very smooth. Maybe I will make another couple of passes with the planer using a finer grit paper, or maybe I will simply polish it after staining and the mandatory couple of coats of lacquer. We'll see.

This is as far as I got today, but quite soon the box will be finished and ready for staining. Soon I am ready to start work on the electronics, but as I am still awaiting delivery of the all-important NE555P timer chip, I am, until it arrives, focusing my attention on the box. Tomorrow I plan, and hope, to do the lid and hopefully the staining.

Until next time I hope I have piqued your interest. See you in part 2.

A stroke of genius

I thought I had finished writing mini reviews of flash games for the time being, but that was until I stumbled across one that is truly brilliant, and truly different. It requires logical thinking on a different level than all other puzzle flash games I've come across so far, and the puzzle complexity has nice incremental steps to them.

The game is called "The Codex of Alchemical Engineering" and it's a work of art.

You play as an alchemist having to distill, synthesize and blend various compounds by the aid of robotic arms and various alchemical glyphs. The game screen makes out your alchemical workbench, and this is where all the action takes place. There's no tutorial, and no real aid of any kind, but reading the "help" pages tells you all you need to know.

As always, the first compound (or puzzle if you like) is the easiest one. You've just got to move five atoms (the game is so good that you just don't care that water is not made up of a single atom, but rather a molecule of Hydrogen and Oxygen) of water from the water source, to the large recepticle glyph in the upper area of the screen. To do this, we must select a "manipulator arm", place it on the screen and program it to move water units from one place to the other.

Programming the robotic manipulator arm is simply done by dragging and dropping the symbols on the left into the dark grey "rod" also on the left. Hovering your cursor over each symbol gives you a short text describing what each symbol (or command) does, and from there it's up to you to put these in the correct order. Trust me when I say that when you get to the stage where you have four or more manipulator arms on the screen at the same time, choreographing their movements become tricky. However, that's not to say you necessarily need four arms to do the job - setting the whole thing up for efficiency, and streamlining your production lines for as few cycles as possible is part of the fun. After setting up your program, or whenever you're happy with your program, and feel ready to give it a go, simply click "run" to see how it behaves.

I know this setup of five robotic arms and two glyphs of binding is not the most efficient, however, I am a person who relish in the chance of making something unnecessarily complex and getting it to work that way. Tweaking the programs for the setup shown above took some time and a a little effort, but in the end all the components worked together in a beautifully choreographed dance of mechanical splendour. And as a person who comes just short of being brought to tears by watching the automated production lines at car factories dance their carefully choreographed mechanical ballet, I find this highly satisfying, and this is only level 4.

Anyone with the patience and the resolve necessary to figure out the first two levels will then undoubtedly get hooked. That's a promise. And while I paint a somewhat glum picture of complexity, programming and mechanical dance numbers, the game isn't all that hard. You just have to see the logic in the various components, how they all work together, and then find a way of devicing a sequence of events to distill the required end product in order to make it to the next level. Besides, since when has challenging one's mental faculties been a bad thing?

It's a truly great game, a masterpiece of online flash games.

And this is not just because it appeals to me because I personally love constructing machines in the most difficult and complex way possible, but also because it is different. It stands out from a crowd of what has become a a plethora of available online flash games, most of which are of questionable quality. This one, however, is a stroke of genius.