Small machines, built on the bench.
3D printing, electronics and common parts, turned into things that move, light up and draw. Every build, the dead ends included, is in my notebook.
More from my notebook
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Raccoon Soaker, part 4: the enclosure, version four
Result. I printed version 3 of the soaker's outdoor box and learned what was wrong with it by holding it. Version 4 answers each problem: the inside is now a sled you build at the bench and slide in, there's a…
Measuring a valve: four wrong models and one good drawing
Result. I drew the Raccoon Soaker's solenoid valve four times, and each time the model had something wrong. What finally fixed it wasn't better measuring. It was a measuring sheet: a draw.io drawing of the model with…
Bench learns to iterate: several models per project, print lists and saved views
Result. A project in Bench can now have several 3D models: the Raccoon Soaker has two test stands and a first draft of its outdoor enclosure, side by side. Bench can lay an old version over the new one as a faint…
Raccoon Soaker, part 3: the valve clicks
Result. The 12 V solenoid valve now opens and shuts on command. The ESP32-CAM drives the relay, the relay switches 12 V to the valve, and the valve clicks. No water through it yet. It's all mounted on the printed v2…
Raccoon Soaker, part 2: an app in my pocket and a camera that was upside down
Result. The Raccoon Soaker runs on the real ESP32-CAM now, on my Wi-Fi, with a phone app and its Nextion screen on the studio rig. When I wave a hand in front of it, the screen draws the hand as a block map, the app…
Making the canvas match the rig
Result. The Pen Plotter on Bench's canvas is now laid out the way it's really built on my studio rig, with every wire going through the same little "hub" breadboard as the real thing. The circuit came out provably…
Projects
All machines →
Experiments
Bring-ups and test rigs →
Asteroid Test
WorkingA tiny Spacecavator-style digger on a Nextion screen: steer through rock and collect gems with a joystick, zoom with a knob.
Servo Tester
WorkingFind a hobby servo's real end points and centre: a PCA9685 driver, three knobs and a display, all run by an ESP32.
Stepper Test
WorkingA 28BYJ-48 stepper driven through the PCA9685 and a ULN2003: milestone one of the pen plotter.
Bench
Every machine here starts in Bench, our own workbench app. One project file gives you the breadboard, schematic, perfboard, 3D model and the firmware sketch, with a live circuit solver and one-click flashing to a real ESP32.
