January 30, 2010

Dear Liz,

Words cannot adequately express how grateful I am for your support of the Boys & Girls Club by being a member of the Designer Show House Steering Committee. I am not only thankful, but in awe of the creativity, cooperation, and effort you displayed in a most challenging project. Thank you so much, Lizzie, for the time, talent , and treasure you so willingy gave on behalf of the website. it was great! I hope you are as pleased as I am.

Kindest regards,
Crystal

Over the past two years, the kids have gotten old enough to appreciate horses. Liz, my wife, re-discovered her love for the equine, and immediately started her new hobby – horse trading. The horses were getting as wet inside as outside with the leaks, and the barn was starting to fall over just a bit too much.

It was time to fix it. In the Summer and Fall of 2006 we rebuilt the barn back to a functional state. This article documents some of the detail of that project.

There are many images of the barn at Flickr

The Foundation

Due to erosion along the south side of the barn (and rain leaking in from the roof), the poured foundation had be slowly falling over. further inspection showed that it was still stable in the ground, just leaning. It was good enough to build upon, if the erosion and roof leaks were taken care of.

I sank some 4×4 posts along the south foundation in a vain attempt to support it from any further shifting. It might help, but the posts only go down about 3-4 feet. Just a bit further than the foundation itself.

Much gravel and sand was brought in on the south end to shore the ground up to a good level to match the foundation. That, and proper drainage slopes were added to carry water away from the barn. This has proven to help greatly.

The Walls

Since the foundation was shifting, so was the south Wall, and as the south wall leaned, so to did it take the roof and the north long wall with it. It was starting to look really bad.

In order to gain access to the barn’s structure, I had to pull out an old fiberboard ceiling. This was about the most disgusting job I’ve ever done. Over many years, chickens had roosted up in the ceiling. There was a 1/2″ layer of dust and chicken droppings. That, and eggs! Ancient eggs, from chickens long gone by, would fall on my head as I pulled the old ceiling down, in pieces. I wore a mask as not to get some strange chicken dust disease. I removed the ceiling and stalls to give clear access to the barn’s walls and roof.

My Dad came up for a weekend to help me shore up the walls, and get the barn square once again. Through a series of jacks and come-alongs, we pushed and pulled the barn square once again. Once it was all propped up square, we built a new south wall inside the old south wall (that didn’t come quite back to the top of the old foundation, and built new stalls.

The Stalls

The core of the rebuilt barn are the stalls. They are made with heavy treated lumber that can withstand the the pummeling of horses, and hold up the roof. The key to the success of the new barn stability were these new stalls. The old stalls were attached to the ceiling, floor and walls. They didn’t contribute to the overall structure of the barn itself. The new stalls attach the the foundation and roof, adding support to the old barn.

The Ground

As mentioned before, there was a serious erosion problem on the south side of the barn. As the earth washed away, the barn was starting to as well. The doors to get into the stalls were cut out of the side of the barn, yet left the foundation in place. In the wet months, a mud hole would form in front of the stall entries, as horses worked to step over the foundation.

We used a bulldozer to create a slope away from the barn, and then added crushed concrete with sand on top. I also rented a concrete saw to cut away the foundation so we had a smooth transition into the stall.

This alone was a great improvement.

The chickens liked it too.

The Roof

The old roof was bad. Beyond bad. Much of the interior of the barn would get wet during the rain. The stalls were a mess due to the extra moisture being added to the waste on the floor. But it could not be fixed until the rest of the barn was. And now it was! Within just a couple days we installed the new roof, and the barn dried out. Great!

Problem ensued, however. The low eaves on the roof posed a challenge for the horses as it is. The addition of the sharp edge of the roof caused further problems! Two horses were injured navigating doorways and bumping their noses into the roof edge. OUCH! It’s amazing however, how well they heal up from these somewhat ghastly wounds. But it will never do!

To alleviate the problem, added a curved section of PVC to the eave above the door. This acts as a nice bumper. Since these were added, there’s been no more horse injuries.

MY TOP REASONS WHY I NEED I CELL PHONE!!!!
by katie hoffswell

Reason 1, After School Activities
Since I am now in 6th grade and have after school activities to go to,don’t
you think it would be nice if I actuly knew who was picking me up? I do.
Some activities my mom or dad can’t pick my up for. If i had a phone, i
could call some one to see who to look for. If who ever is picking me up
dosnt know where to go, they could call me and i could give them the exact
location. Also, since student council meetings randomly come up every week,
i dont know when I’m going to be staying late after school. It would relive
the worries from my mom if she actully knew where I was. Now you may be
thinking that i could just use the office phone or someone elses cell phone.
First of all, after school they lock up the office so no one can get in! I
couldnt use that phone. Second i have used other peoples phones before but
i feel very silly because i dont know them because all of my friends have
left. I dont want to waist any ones minutes and i once have had to call 5
times before i got ahold of someone!!!! I bet the person was thinking “why
dosnt she have her own phone??? she is waisting my minutes!!” I would hope
that you dont want me in that position ever agian.

Reason 2, Responsibility and Money…CHEAP!
I know that you are probably thinking “how is she going to keep a cell phone
with out loosing it or going over her plan minutes???” I can assure you that
i will be 1000000000000000000000000000000000000% responsible and since i
know that you trust me with this, i will definanlty be happyer!!! If i ever
lose it, you can ground me for as long as i can pay for it with alowence and
extra work around the house. I have found a plan on [...]com. With
an LG AX4270 phone (wich is really cool) i can get 300 minutes a month for
29.99. Now, with my alwoence coming to about 20 dollors a month, i will let
you lower it to help pay for the bill. Or you can have me doing more chores.
I can also use my babysitting money to help pay for it (when i start baby
sitting of coarse). I promise that you wont regret geting me a phone if you
do!

In Conclusion…..
I know that you will think that a cell phone was definantly a good idea for
me if you get me one. I really need it for after school activities!!!!!! Its
really cheap too with my ideas. I realy belive that i can handle this
responsablity now. Pleasssssssse get me a cell phone and ill be the happeyst
girl alive!!!!!!!!!! I really need one now!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you!!!!!!

Building Fiber to Control Your Future: A Panel Discussion on the Challenges and Opportunities
Jim Moran, Merit Network, moderator; Bob Eluskie, Grand Rapids Community College; Pete Hoffswell, Davenport University; Matt McMahon, Gratiot-Isabella RESD/MMNet

That’s me, on the Left. I actually speak at the following points in this round table. 12:30, 20:20, 28:00, 33:15, 42:42, 49:15 (Getting a laugh from the audience), and 54:00.

If you are interested in the state of building fiber optic networks across Michigan you might find this interesting.

Logged here for posterity. “See? I told you I had hair back in ‘aught six!”

Ok enough on that subject. It’s also FIRST robotics competition season across the country. This year 3 teams from the Holland area are heading to Atlanta for the national championship. Good luck!

My own challenge, to develop a TableBot from my VEX kit is progressing nicely.

TableBot version two features:

• Small Wheelbase
• Two forward sensors

In order to make the chasis so small, I offset the drive motors. This was done by driving the front left wheel and the rear right wheel. This is counter to common automotive engineering, but the use of two motors allows us to do this without sacrifice. I have no idea if this makes sense for driving mechanics, but it sure seems to work fine for this bot.

The wheels are so close together, that the bot can probably get by with one forward edge sensor once again. Perhaps one that has a large “thumb print”, allowing it to sense the edge left or right with a single sensor. further tuning of the program can improve performance as well.

NEXT –

I will continue with programming adjustments to see if we can make this bot just a little smoother.


10 move to edge of table
20 back up
30 turn around
40 go to 10


Here is a video of my first test, with Maggie, my assistant.

The programming and design have some obvious issues. The main problem is that the table edge sensor and programming do not account well for an angular approach to the table edge. But, for a first attempt, I call this a success!

I am going to redesign the bot, then the programming for TableBot Version 2. The design will include:

• Smaller chassis, for better turning radius
• Smaller wheels for smoother control
• Two edge sensors, positioned appropriate to the wheels

Another interesting design would be to use the tank treads instead. If the bot went over the edge a bit, then it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

Stay tuned for more bot experimentation!

• Phase I: Build a robot that goes from one end of a table to the other and back.
• Phase II: Have the robot push a block off the ledge of the table.
• Phase III: Have the robot push the block into a shoebox mounted at the end of the table.

My first go focuses more on learning the programming of the VEX microcontroller. The VEX brain is made up of two PIC 18F8520 microcontrollers. The programming system is made up of EasyC by Intelitek, and MPlab. I found it quite handy for getting (re)started in C programming.

You can see a few features in this bot by clicking on the picture to the left.

Receiver

The receiver is not active on this bot. I’m programming it to be autonomous!

Light sensor

There is a light sensor at the front (left), mounted on a servo. I worked on code that would turn the sensor left and right, looking for the brightest light source. It wasn’t easy, as I didn’t have a good bright flashlight, and it was REALLY sunny outside. Also, my coding is quite rusty. I found myself doing things out of order, and getting weird results. I decided to stop messing around with it, and focus on the TableBot design goals.

Table Edge Switch

After tuning my programming skills on the light sensor, the table edge switch came together nicely. I wrote the first have of TableBot Phase 1: Move to edge of table. It does this nicely. The kids were amazed when I set it on the coffee table in front of the TV, activated it, and it buzzed up to, and stopped at the edge. “Wow, how’d it do that, Dad!?!”

Success!

Beeper

The digital outputs of a PIC microcontroller are readily available for use on the VEX controller. I popped a Piezzo speaker into an output, and set my program to beep on start and exit. If you look closely, you can see the black circle beeper hanging out of digital output 15.

To interface, I used a RadioShack Beeper I found in my junkpike, part number 273-065. It is rated to 12vdc, but works fine on the voltage supplied. Negative lead goes in the “far right” pin, ground and the positive lead on the far left.

Next

The next step is to program the second half of TableBot phase one. Return, or just turn away from the edge and continue on.

More elaborate sensors might be in order, with this current wheel configuration. I can forsee a wheel going off before the sensor does. Perhaps better if two sensors were outside and ahead of both front wheels, and logic to consider what to do based on the feedback of each sensor.

In the 90’s Lego came out with their Mindstorm set, that featured motors and a controller allowing for “the average kid” to get into robotics. I was fortunate enough to participate in the North American Beta Test for the product. I walked away with a free mindstorms set, and had good fun tinkering with it.

I have good fortune to receive a VEX Robotics Design System. The VEX system is a Erector-style construction system with the requisite wheels, motors, controllers and other acessories to make functional robots.

I got to know them by building the squarebot in the manual. “Starter Kit” is a good name for it. I believe this enough to get you started, and that will be about it. In building a basic rover, I managed to to use most of the beams and screws. Anything more advanced may require more of these components.

The controller is an impressive 6 channel fm transmitter and receiver that interfaces to the VEX controller module. Two dual-axis joysticks on the front take the first 4 channels, and two more channels in the form of buttons on the bottom. The transmitter has an lcd display, allowing you to adjust many paramaters. From the outset, the design looks excellent.

Ok. Maybe that’s enough for just now. I plan to blog my VEX adventures here. If amateur robotics is of interest to you, then I hope you subscribe to my blog… good stuff to follow.

What’s the verb? Computing? Hacking? Keyboard pounding? Well you know what I mean. My back hurts because my leg muscles are weak. My hands hurt from the button pushing. I’m irratable from all the thinking (and coffee).

I need release!

Enter kayakbay. Kayakbay is a blog, mainly podcast, about two things:

• Kayaking
• Relaxing

Take a minute to visit Kayakbay.com. We’ve posted our first podcast. Hope you like it!

I’ve upgraded the podcast station with some new gear. What do you think of the new sound? The new station includes the following gear:

• Alesis Multimix 8usb
• Marshall MXL990 Cardioid Mic
• ATW-T36HE

It was a little tricky to get the MultiMix to interface with my PC, and CastBlaster exactly the way I wanted it. But, with help of documents at alesis.com I was able to pull it off.

Music today by by:

• Love Spirals
• Brain Buckit

Courtesy of music.podshow.com

20060205Station.mp3