Over the last few weeks I've been playing around at Ape Index Leicester, it's like a ninja warrior training gym with a climbing wall. I'm mostly playing but I've certainly been getting fitter because of it, I was talking to the owner who discussed a big red button project like they have at the end of the ninja warrior course. Wiring one up is tricky because the place is so big so it sounded like a perfect match for some of my ESP8266 work.
It's a simple browser based stopwatch app written with javascript, this is served up from the ESP8266 as an access point. A websocket is opened to transfer data too and from the browser without refreshing the page. When you press start on the screen the light on the button becomes illuminated, when you push the big red button the timer stops counting, so you can start the system from one end of the course and see what time they get at the other end.
This is very much a fun project I threw together in an hour this evening while cutting useless machines. The internals definitely reflect this, thrown together with sticky tape and bits. I used a rechargeable battery for a power supply but some strain relief on the cables would be preferred. Ultimately this system should tie into a larger screen to show the current time but that's future work.
Big Red Button Simple Box
On/Off switch on the back of the box
Very messy impromptu internals including rechargeable battery
The RDC6442G controller from Ruida This is going to be quite an image heavy post describing the rewiring needed to convert between the Leetro controller and the Ruida controller. It is also pretty straight forward on the old Just Add Sharks laser cutters because all of the wires are clearly labelled. The controller was prepared in the previous step in order to make this conversion process as smooth as possible. The Leetro (Pad03) panel on the left and the Ruida panel on the right The view from inside the laser looking up at the control panel The control panel is an easy place to start, both panels have just a single cable that runs down to the controller, both panels are a very similar size, with the Ruida panel being slightly smaller underneath so it will fit in the hole left behind easily. The Pad03 panel clips into place so you'll need to reach up inside the machine to work the clips loose. The cable runs down the inside of the laser and is cable tied onto mounti...
Northants Board Game convention is right around the corner and I'm exhibiting this year so I decided I needed a better business card holder to dish out my little business tchotchke. I found a file for a mimic box that I liked and modified it to come up with this little cutie. He's a very happy chappy, just be careful of your fingers when you're taking a card.
The first step towards upgrading a leetro based machine is to acquire a replacement controller. I opted for the Ruida 6442G to make it the same as my other machine. I bought my controller through ali express from Cloudray , it's currently $266 USD for delivery to the UK it took 3 weeks to arrive and cost around £250 GBP once customs and duty had been paid on it. I would probably recommend buying it through cloudray ebay instead, it's £260 but it'll arrive within a few days. Cloudray is my current part supplier, they've been pretty good so far. A delay suited me nicely with the Christmas rush on fractal puzzles and other products. The kit of parts as it arrived was very complete. The controller and the screen were protected with bubble wrap and anti-static bags. Other parts include two USB cables to go from the controller to the edge of the laser, one for USB sticks, one for the laptop connection. An Ethernet extension to go the the edge of the laser and al...
