Week 03 - Two devices off and running

So this week I worked on two small projects which were pretty much Hello Worlds for both. I built my own remote control with this cool device for the iPhone / iPad called LS Remote which is an app that comes with an IR device you can plug into your iPhone/iPad and have all your remotes controled from one source! I also purchased an Arduino starter kit ( arduino.cc ) this week, which is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. Basically it lets you make really cool interactive objects or environments with ease ( Like the 8x8x8 LED Cube ). My friend introduced me to it and I was totally intrigued so I went and ordered one.

The LS Remote was cool but has been sitting on the sidelines for sometime because it simply takes time to get everything setup and into the app. I was home this weekend for many reasons and found myself with time so I figured this would be an awesome mustang project so out came the iPad and the IR piece. After a few hours of playing around with the interface, I was able to design a nice simple remote that had all the buttons the family normally uses. The biggest nuisance is having to many remotes with too many channel and volume buttons and most not knowing which remote controls what. We have a receiver which adds to the input and volume control madness. With the design in place - it was time to program the buttons and OMG! That was so easy! It was awesome! Just point the remote at the iPad and click the button you want and it took the information instantly! No code look-ups at all! Still, a little adjusting here and there, but an hour later I had a complete remote control that works awesome! Only disappointment was it wouldn't take the Apple TV frequencies, but then again its on an iPad/iPhone so controlling that is a simple app switch, but I'm still going to look into that on their forums.

Next, the Arduino Hello World. So out of the box I needed to assemble some pieces together and wrap my head around the basics of electronics and breadboards. After downloading the software and running 3 basic tests (USB / 9-volt power up and a real basic hello world ), I was up and running. Once everything was confirmed to be working, I proceeded with wiring up the breadboard based on the instructions for my first experiment, which was making an LED blink on and off from the breadboard (My "Hello World").

The result: Everything worked awesome and I was able to control the LED! I also found what would technically be a mistake in the instructions as it said to run a 5 volt line from the Arduino to the breadboard, but from what I could see it wasn't connecting to anything to complete a circuit. Everything else made a complete circuit just not this wire. So I spent a lot of time squinting at he diagram and looking for the same project with more detail online, and in the end I just hooked it all up the way the instructions said I should.

When it worked, I took a chance and removed the suspicious power line and found that I was right! It wasn't being used in anyway. I think they made you put it there for practice and procedure, but with no detailed explanations in the instruction I was a bit frustrated. That said, I was extremely happy I was able to identify the situation as well.

In summary, I'm very happy with the results of these two project and look forward to seeing how the family works uses the remote. With the Arduino, I think I passed my major "Get your feet wet" phase and can see future experiments moving much faster. Overall I think I spent 3-5 hours on the remote ( most of the time was spent on laying out something not so complicated and getting to know how to work inside the interface. The Arduino project probably took about 2.5 to 3 hours.

Week 02 - Finish Matting Photos

Well I was a bit behind the gun this week and I was pretty much bed-ridden due to situations out of my control. So not being able to move around and being in a lot of pain for most of the weekend really threw me off. The week wasn't much better either as there was simply a lot of things that came up this week.

I have upcoming web work for family to finish, but I just wasn't in the frame of mind to work on it so I rummaged through some of my bins that needed a look through. I stumbled across a series of photos from Costa Rica I had in a show a long time ago. I remember that when I did the show, I ran out of time back then to finish matting them all. I found the pictures and the mattes in pretty good condition, but some of the photos were just starting to show ware around some edges. If they were all matted the way they were supposed to be, this wouldn't be happening - so finally a project found!

I had tons of mattes of different colors and patterns and most were already cut. I think in all I only had to cut 10 for special sized ones. Thank God because aligned the photos in the mattes can eat up a lot of time. I also found plastic sleeves in another bin, which will really help protect them in the future.

I remember the show itself really being a blast, and going through all these photos really took me down memory lane. I was able to finish off all remaining photos with only 2 mattes to spare and I had enough sleeves for every finished matte. I'm very happy I save these photos in time and glad I was able to distract myself this weekend and not think about the pain I was in.

Week 01 - Cribbage Board Complete!

Well it's done! For the record there was plenty of time put in on this project. From designing and messing around on the computer, to discovering what the art of staining can and cannot do for me (more time spent here than I can care to mention), to finally doing what it takes to get the job done.

As stated throughout this first project, the board I used to work on wasn't the best made cribbage board ever made. The worst thing about the it was that the holes drilled were completely off in areas in relationship to the lines drawn. Working with what I had, it made it easier to not worry so much and try more than a few ideas to see what does or doesn't work.

In the end I definitely have better ideas for painting other wood crafts I have in the future. I also plan to build my own cribbage board some other time this year, and apply some of my new ideas.

For now, I like the end results for what it is. The board itself is just drying right now from a polyurethane coat. Other than that, I can't wait to use it! The image on the left is the unpainted board, and the image on the right is the finished product.

Week 01 - Progress Update

Well so far so interesting. Definately learning some things and I discovered how messy staining can get. With purchasing a plain board with the lines drawn and the holes already drilled, I am starting to see where I would do things differently with staining.

For starters, I would start with a board with no holes punched at all. this way i can first control where those holes go as apparently some moronic machine or machinist can't drill in-between the lines. More importantly, when staining, the holes create build up of the stain causing unwanted saturation of color around the hole area. So staining before the holes are drilled would give a more even finish to everything.

The other real pain with staining it the specific areas I am trying to color in. Stain itself is very fluid and like to seep in and spread beyond the desired areas. I discovered fast that using Q-tips really help but it was a lot of work watching and maintaining the areas with little results in the end on the stain. I have an idea i plan to try tonight based on making spaghetti sauce of all things. That's right, I'm gonna add a little corn starch or flour to the mix to thicken it and hopefully control it.

That's all for now, and the picture now shows the original on the left and it's progress on the right. Not a mockup this time but the real thing.

Week 01 - Paint a Cribbage board

So I wanted to keep things simple enough for the first week so I decided to finally paint this cribbage board I got recently. I purposely bought it unpainted so that I can stylize it any way I want.

Most have extremely stark and/or overly loud colors. I wanted something a little bit simpler and natural looking. I get it that the colors help know what line is yours and all that, but seriously this isn't rocket science.

This project might not sound like a lot, but even the time involved designing it add up, as well as now knowing what direction I'm heading in I can see that time is one thing I'll actually need. After editing a photo of the board, it looks like I plan to paint the board by mostly adding layers of stain to it.


The board itself is not the most fanciest one in the world either. The outlines and the holes on the board are all off and that's OK with me. It seems more rustic that way and the stain idea also works well in making it seem less obvious.

That all said here's a picture with the actual cribbage board on the left and the final goal/concept is shown on the right. It doesn't have to be exactly like that but that's the general idea.

Project Mustang starts tomorrow!

Project Mustang is a challenge for the year where you need to make a thing a week for 51 weeks. Sounds pretty cool to me seeing as I like to keep busy but would like and have fun doing it.

Basically you project each week can be literally anything you want as long as its done in a week. Bigger projects are allowed at this point, but only up to no more than a month long. For starters, I'm going to keep it simple and paint my unpainted cribbage board I've been wanting to get to for some time now. It shouldn't take too long, but it will help me gauge putting time aside for future projects.

Anyone interested in more details on this, please check out http://www.reddit.com/r/projectmustang.