Idea: Hat Machine

Posted on July 24, 2010 by mahto

The hat machine is capable of placing a hat on your head as you walk out the door. A successful version would be able to detect and lock onto your head as a target, and use some sort of ceiling-mounted rig to deposit the hat in the correct orientation onto your head as you walk towards the door.

Alternatively, a machine that looks like a bottle capper could be affixed to a stationary point in your house, where you stand inside and it sticks a hat on you- this would be extra funny if the hat resembled a bottle cap.

Posted in Ideas | 4 Comments

Michigan friends: Come to Maker Faire Detroit!

Posted on July 21, 2010 by mahto

To everyone I know who lives in or near Detroit:
MAKE, the company that I’ve been writing for over the past year, is putting on a giant art/tech/craft event called Maker Faire at the Henry Ford at the end of July. Over 200 awesome groups from around the area will be there to showcase their hobby projects, inventions, business ideas, and dreams, so if you’re curious what else is going on in the city, I strongly suggest you come out to see whats up. It’s a family friendly event, so bring the kids and get ready for a great time!

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Bug dance

Posted on July 13, 2010 by mahto

.. this is when you know you have been in the lab for too long. Full size photo here.

Posted in Photo, Ridiculous | Leave a comment

Moving to a new host provider

Posted on July 3, 2010 by mahto


[image: My former neighbors, that I left behind during my move from Phoenix to Pittsburgh. My neighbors at 1&1 aren't as smelly, however I won't miss them as much as my cow friends]

After 5 years at 1&1, I’m moving cibomahto.com over to a shiny new account at pair Networks. I’ve put in for the domain to be transferred to my new domain host, and once that goes through I will make a final backup of the site here and switch the nameserver over to my new host. This should hopefully happen transparently within the next week.

I don’t anticipate any issues, but this will affect my email server as well. If something does happen and you need to contact me, I can be reached at matt.mets on gmail, or via twitter.

Posted in Journal | 2 Comments

Cicada flyover

Posted on July 1, 2010 by mahto

Bam! High-def version of the video is available here. The system looks like this:

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Motion test on the camera rig

Posted on June 29, 2010 by mahto

So this is what we’ve been working towards this past week. The above video is a nonsense trajectory with all four axis moving at the same time, just to show that they work. The system itself seems to be functional, there are just a few more tasks- repeatability testing, retrofitting some optical end-stops, and putting the electronics in a nice box.

I think I might build another one of the xy tables to do machining with :-).

Posted in Journal, Photo, tech | 5 Comments

ACME Spay & Neuter visits Anthrocon 2010

Posted on June 26, 2010 by mahto

We visited Anthrocon 2010 to help raise awareness of the need to be spayed or neutered, which prevents unwanted offspring and leads a healthy lifestyle. We had a lot of fun handing out fliers and talking to people, and performed many ‘procedures’ in our on-site operation theater. All in all, the event met with resounding success!

Full photo set is here

Update: If you’re in Pittsburgh and want to get in on the next event, join our group.

Posted in Journal, Ridiculous | 2 Comments