Ordering a board with perfect spaced pads to use an SMD connector takes a few days of patience unless you live near a PCB prototyping facility. With striped prototyping boards, you can stick a MircoMaTch or similar connector into your breadboard in under five minutes. 😉 First cut a small piece from the prototype board….
Pet Feeder – Position Sensor Tests
I worked on testing the sensor board. The first tests I did were about the position sensor. Recap Let me recap the design of the position sensor in the device: The turntable has five position slots, marked red in the following illustration. Behind this slots, there is a small excavation, reflecting the light from the…
How to Assemble the MicroMaTch Connectors with a Hammer
I mentioned in one of my posts how to assemble the MicroMaTch connectors using a hammer, but never explained the rather simple method in detail. So I made a short video, explaining the exact technique I use. If you have any questions, missed information, or simply want to provide feedback, feel free to comment below…
Pet Feeder Update
A short update about the progress with the sensor panel and photos of the final input panel board. I assembled the new boards and are testing the sensors. As soon as all tests are done, and I am happy with the results and the board’s design, I will write the next part. These are 940nm…
19″ Rack Fan Controller [1/2]
When I migrated several servers into a new server rack, I put my Arduino Uno based fan controller into a new enclosure. Not a great solution, but good recycling of this existing project and way better than the built-in, on/off temperature controller. Now, when the rack’s space got low, I had to find a better…
Art Like Boards from OSHpark
For the pet feeding device, I ordered boards from OSHpark with the “After Dark” style. This colour combination of the black substrate with the copper and transparent solder mask is just beautiful. I made this post just in case you did not see the pictures on Twitter or like to see them with a better…
The MicroPython Bitmap Tool
I created a new tool to easily convert bitmaps into code for MicroPython. This first version is just a start, creating a framework where I can add additional converters. If you have any questions, missed information, or simply want to provide feedback, feel free to comment below or contact me on Twitter. 😄 More Posts
Decorative, Massive, Modular Box
This design is not for everyone. 😅 A decorative and modular, but quite massive box. Built from 3d-printed parts, 5mm plywood panels and plenty 3x10mm wood screws. The instructions in this post show a basic box with the inner dimensions 240×360×84mm, but in the download, you find all files required to build larger boxes in…
Let’s Print a Cat/Pet Feeding Device (Part 6)
The sixth part of this series is all about the input panel. We will talk about the layout of the front panel, the rotary encoder as the main component and I will explain my example circuit and board. As usual, you will find all required files as a free download from the GIT repository. If…
How to Create a Prototype Connector from a Pin Header
In order to test the input panel, I had to connect the 14 lines to the test setup on a breadboard. Just using a pin header was too flimsy for me, because I often reuse these test connectors on different breadboards. In this short article, I explain how I made it into a solid connector….