Lasersaur fixed

First of all great to have community like Lasersaur after lots of cutting over last 3 weeks we started to have some issues with our Lasersaur we thought we had broken the focus lense however it just needed a good clean.

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Even after this we where still not getting very far after suggestions from Fab Lab Limerick to make following extra long laser head and put cardboard at the end to focus.

Works a treat and made it much easier to focus, thanks FabLab and the community for getting our laser up and running again.

Lathe up and running

latheLast night we had our lathe up and running for the first time since we moved to Blackpitts. We were using it to centre-drill some rollers that are part of a 100 year old mangle. One of our members is restoring the mangle to use as a printing press. Keep an eye out here on our website for details of the project.

 

If you’d like to take a look at the lathe, drop in sometime. The other major piece of equipment that we are almost ready to restart is our laser cutter. We’ve already had the laser firing and are working on alignment. Watch this space.

Project: Fun with a GPS Tracker

GPS trackerCheckout some pics here of a GPS tracker we got to play with. This is nominally a vehicle tracker, but it could also be considered for other tracking applications. The unit is small and is powered from 12V. It draws up to 100mA. A regular SIM card is inserted. The unit has an external GPS antenna and a mobile phone antenna. It has a few other inputs and outputs too.

When power is applied, the unit is ready after about a 1 minute startup. When the number is called, the unit replies with a text message containing latitude and longitude as well as a Google maps link. Opening the link takes you to the location. If you would like to tinker with electronics or stuff like this, drop in to our regular Electronics, Microcontroller, IOT and CAD Evening  every other Monday. Check the events section of our website for details.

Duck Resistance is Futile

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I decided to paint a row of ducks. It’s a work of art in progress. It has a definite meaning. The order of the colours should be a clue. Anyone like to guess what it is?

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Line Following Robots

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We recently ran a Electronic “Build-It” Workshop. We have twelve build a line following robot. The little robot was an all analog device,  not an arduino insight. Check out the photos from the workshop in our gallery and the video below of them inaction.

Join our mailing list to keep upto date with our workshops over the summer.