This is a parent page for notes and progress reports on projects. Note that such progress among this many projects is destined to be slow.
Each project, whether current or potential[], should have the following parts, even if not all of them are filled in.
- Summary (or “What”): High-level description of the product/yield of this project, perhaps in one sentence.
- Reasoning (or “Why”): Describes the ways that the existence of the target demographic would be improved by the product.
- Specification: Low-level breakdown of specific features, especially those features that specifically apply to the argument in Reasoning and those features that differentiate the product from similar products already available.
- Progress: That which is already on hand.
- Tasks that have already been completed.
- Resources (tools, materials, intelligence) that have already been collected.
- Requisites: As exhaustively as possible, all pending tasks and resources necessary for the completion of the product.
- Each item in Requisites should list, again as exhaustively as possible, all other requisites necessary to complete the requisite.
- As a requisite, “the usual suspects” or “TUS” refers to ever-present difficulties not specific to the project, particularly lack of spare time and lack of funding. These are implicit in all pending items, but might be explicit in places.
Don’t be surprised if a project doesn’t match this setup, though. It’s a work in progress.
The Back Burner page in particular lists ideas for projects that have yet to be significantly initiated.
Summary An analog, potentiometer-based tweaking device that outputs a pulse train; two knobs allow adjustment of frequency and duty cycle. Reasoning It would be (mostly) a testing tool. It would have applications both as a test platform for inductors, for example, to experimentally determine the proper frequency of a buck/boost converter. Tuned appropriately, it or …
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These are ideas that I’ve come up with for projects which I have either not started or not finished. This page is a working log of things I need to remember to work on when and if the opportunity presents itself. If you manage to do any of these things, I’d like to see. Dance …
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Summary A CNC (computer numerical control) milling machine is a device that renders computer-created designs into solid material by precisely moving a drilling/routing tool according to digital instructions based on the designs. It could also be coerced to work like a plotter by replacing the drill with a pen, or possibly as a paper/vinyl cutter …
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Summary A breadboard-friendly breakout board with several common and normally bothersome devices and interfaces already taken care of. Reasoning The product would deal with two annoyances in breadboarding certain interfaces, each depending on the interface. Some interfaces have only a surface-mount package available; the breakout provides for presenting a breadboardable interface. Some interfaces simply involve …
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Summary A small device with a screen and some sort of input keypad, this thing would store a number of passwords/passphrases and other secret information encrypted with some sort of simple but proven cipher (such as a hardened form of RC4), and would need to be unlocked using the keypad before every use. Optionally, hardware …
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Initially described in a previous post. We Have The empty shell of a ruined DVD player An underused Acer Aspire One An old D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth adapter Specifications Connection to television Target hardware sports a VGA port and line-level audio connections; target television has VGA and line-level inputs Audio connections could be made through existing …
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