Entries from BlaXwan's tagged with 'howto'

Multitouch Display: CD burner infrared laser short test

This is a very short post compared to the ones that I write normally.Anyway, I was looking around to find how I can achieve the great results that AlexP got in his laser multitouch. I really suggest you to read that link, Alex method is really cool!So, basically I was guessing where I could find a suitable infrared laser to use for generating a very thin flat plane of infrared light just in front of the multitouch screen.Googlin' around I found that the laser included in the DVD player/burner is not good as it is a visible red laser of...

Multitouch Display: CD burner infrared laser short test

This is a very short post compared to the ones that I write normally.Anyway, I was looking around to find how I can achieve the great results that AlexP got in his laser multitouch. I really suggest you to read that link, Alex method is really cool!So, basically I was guessing where I could find a suitable infrared laser to use for generating a very thin flat plane of infrared light just in front of the multitouch screen.Googlin' around I found that the laser included in the DVD player/burner is not good as it is a visible red laser of...

Multitouch Display: a plexiglas case for the LCD FTIR multitouch (part two)

Look at this, isn't it wonderful?!?! Yessss!!! It looks very very nice!Anyway, of course it is still to be completed, I need to prepare all the braces for the circuit boards, the bracket for the webcam and, of course the infrared setup and the front mask.So, let's start with this second part of the construction notes! After bending all the parts, I had to refine them because, as I said, I abounded with measures because I was not knowing how much material I would loose with the bend. In this phase I discovered how useful is the circular saw for...

Multitouch Display: a plexiglas case for the LCD FTIR multitouch (part two)

Look at this, isn't it wonderful?!?! Yessss!!! It looks very very nice!Anyway, of course it is still to be completed, I need to prepare all the braces for the circuit boards, the bracket for the webcam and, of course the infrared setup and the front mask.So, let's start with this second part of the construction notes! After bending all the parts, I had to refine them because, as I said, I abounded with measures because I was not knowing how much material I would loose with the bend. In this phase I discovered how useful is the circular saw for...

Multitouch Display: a plexiglas case for the LCD FTIR multitouch (part one)

As you surely remember, three weeks ago I posted about my first test with an LCD panel for multitouch applications. I saw that it had enough chances to work out but I was so scared about the fact that the bare LCD panel is extremely delicate. So, as I was saying at the end of the post, I started to think, then work, to a case for this multitouch display.Of course I thought about a case that should also look nicely, what's better than a plexiglas one? So, after some weekends of work, this is how the case is looking...

Multitouch Display: a plexiglas case for the LCD FTIR multitouch (part one)

As you surely remember, three weeks ago I posted about my first test with an LCD panel for multitouch applications. I saw that it had enough chances to work out but I was so scared about the fact that the bare LCD panel is extremely delicate. So, as I was saying at the end of the post, I started to think, then work, to a case for this multitouch display.Of course I thought about a case that should also look nicely, what's better than a plexiglas one? So, after some weekends of work, this is how the case is looking...

New high-torque servo for the robotic arm

As you probably already read about, I got performance problems with my robotic arm. The issue is the relatively high weight of the arm itself compared to the poor torque performance of the cheap servos that I used. So, last week I finally decided to buy new servos for my robotic arm....

New high-torque servo for the robotic arm

As you probably already read about, I got performance problems with my robotic arm. The issue is the relatively high weight of the arm itself compared to the poor torque performance of the cheap servos that I used. So, last week I finally decided to buy new servos for my robotic arm....

Multitouch Display: testing LCD screen panel for FTIR

Quite a long time has passed since I did something more for my multitouch display. My last post on this topic was on November!Unfortunately I did not any progress basically because I don't own a projector, so, everytime I should ask to someone to lend me a projector then I have limited time to do some tests with it. This is not exactly comfortable especially because I have very limited spare time and quite never in consecutive days.So, in the last months, I was thinking more often that it would be nice to achieve the goal to use an LCD...

Multitouch Display: testing LCD screen panel for FTIR

Quite a long time has passed since I did something more for my multitouch display. My last post on this topic was on November!Unfortunately I did not any progress basically because I don't own a projector, so, everytime I should ask to someone to lend me a projector then I have limited time to do some tests with it. This is not exactly comfortable especially because I have very limited spare time and quite never in consecutive days.So, in the last months, I was thinking more often that it would be nice to achieve the goal to use an LCD...

DIY: how to build a robotic arm gripper

Today I will talk about how I finally (after about 2 years of delay) built the gripper for my robotic arm! I know that probably the construction of just the gripper of a robot may be useless for everybody but, the method I used to build up the gripper may be really useful to build up the entire robotic arm itself.Basically I kept the same approach that I used to build the arm, so I used the same PVC material, servos and screws. As result, unfortunately, the arm is actually a little bit heavy and the servos are really under their...

DIY: how to build a robotic arm gripper

Today I will talk about how I finally (after about 2 years of delay) built the gripper for my robotic arm! I know that probably the construction of just the gripper of a robot may be useless for everybody but, the method I used to build up the gripper may be really useful to build up the entire robotic arm itself.Basically I kept the same approach that I used to build the arm, so I used the same PVC material, servos and screws. As result, unfortunately, the arm is actually a little bit heavy and the servos are really under their...

Homemade Multitouch Display: mini guide first release

..:.:: Click here to go to the guide ::.:..In the last month I was very busy with my work so I didn't find enough spare time to dedicate to my multitouch. That's why I didn't posted anything, because there were no news to post about.In this week finally I arranged to find a little bit of time at evening so, paragraph after paragraph I completed what I can say the "alpha" version of my multitouch display DIY guide!Compared to the "work in progress" version that hopefully you saw after my last post, I completed the section two and basically wrote...

Homemade Multitouch Display: mini guide first release

..:.:: Click here to go to the guide ::.:..In the last month I was very busy with my work so I didn't find enough spare time to dedicate to my multitouch. That's why I didn't posted anything, because there were no news to post about.In this week finally I arranged to find a little bit of time at evening so, paragraph after paragraph I completed what I can say the "alpha" version of my multitouch display DIY guide!Compared to the "work in progress" version that hopefully you saw after my last post, I completed the section two and basically wrote...

Homemade Multitouch Display: a mini guide is coming

I know that my Multitouch Display page has been left alone since I wrote it, with no updates even while I was anyway going on with my multitouch work and tests. In addition, when I write something on the multitouch matter, I'm assuming that everybody knows a lot of things, quite all I've learnt on it until now and I know that is not so useful. On the other side some of you rightly wrote me saying "why you don't give further and detailed informations on the construction, the components used etc.?".I know that there are already tons of informations...

Multitouch display, build your own: preparing a silicone rubber layer, video howto!

When I tested for the first time my homemade multitouch display setup, I was too excited at the beginning to complain about the lack of sensibility. I had to press hard on the rear projection film to let the webcam detects the "blobs" of the infrared light bounced out of the acrylic. Later I understood this and I decided that it was the time to get a compliant surface made of silicone rubber as I was reading on the NUI Group forums.I had a lot of doubts regarding the preparation because, of course, I never used this kind of material...

Bortolo - how to build a robotic arm

I was fascinated by robots since I was kid. I was always dreaming about to have one or, better, to buil one by myself. On the other side I was always conscious about what a hard work it could be especially for the mechanical part, the motors, the gears and the sensor that every jont needs to have to give positioning feedback.Two years ago I was surfing on the web and I saw the very nice robotic arm from Lynxmotion. I was very interested because it is a very compact arm with full 6 D.O.F (degree of freedom) capabilities. It...

Bortolo - how to build a robotic arm

I was fascinated by robots since I was kid. I was always dreaming about to have one or, better, to buil one by myself. On the other side I was always conscious about what a hard work it could be especially for the mechanical part, the motors, the gears and the sensor that every jont needs to have to give positioning feedback.Two years ago I was surfing on the web and I saw the very nice robotic arm from Lynxmotion. I was very interested because it is a very compact arm with full 6 D.O.F (degree of freedom) capabilities. It...