Technology

Tool Review: NEMA 23 Stepper Motor Covers

Tool Review: NEMA 23 Stepper Motor Covers

Over the last year I have been finishing a project to convert my X2 manual mini mill into a fully enclosed 3-axis CNC milling machine. Once I had the stepper motors mounted and running, I worried that the wire connection at the base of the motors might be a potential weak point in the design. Eventually I want to use mist coolant when machining parts but I do not want to run the risk of shorting out the wiring due to spotty connections.

HeinyBot Delivers the Beer

HeinyBot Delivers the Beer

Daniel of Valencia, Spain, built this clever waiter bot to dispense (warm?) beer: This time, I show the operation of HeinyBot Waiter in static mode. In this mode, once activated the robot, it enters a loop oscillating movements, gestures and audio messages which only comes when we approach from the side or front to less […]

Second Generation IOIO on the Way

Second Generation IOIO on the Way

Fans of Ytai Ben-Tsvi’s IOIO board will be happy to know that there’s an update coming. Ytai recently announced that there’s an second generation IOIO in the works. The new version will feature the ability to connect to a PC over USB (OTG) or Bluetooth using the same high-level API and cost slightly less than the original.

Engineer Guy vs. The Smartphone Accelerometer

Engineer Guy vs. The Smartphone Accelerometer

Here, with great fanfare, is the second installment of Engineer Guy Series #4: theMEMSaccelerometer. With typical flair, Bill and his production team take us from the basic concept of an accelerometer (using the familiar ball-on-a-spring model), through the analogous silicon device that lets your smartphone tell up from down, all the way to the anisotropic etching techniques used to It’s wonders all the way down, with Bill, as usual.