Github link Last updated Pro Con https://github.com/zauberzeug/feldfreund_devkit_ros 7 months Wide range of motor drivers supported on Microcontroller ESP-idf dependency makes it hard to port https://gitlab.com/charles.fox/r4pcb 3 months Attention paid to quality and documentation Limited motor driver support https://github.com/prithivkanth/SID 1 month Fairly complete (indoor) stack including Lidar Small team, no funding https://github.com/eccentricOrange/BotSpeak 2 months Good attention…Continue reading ROS2 Serial communications
Solar web server
Webstick code Captive portal code https://git.imuslab.com/TC/WebStick
Agroecology Lab 2023
Developing an R&D field robot A R&D platform based on the Twisted Fields Acorn rover. Using the existing electronics and software stack which features: CM4 CANBUS compute module carrier BLDC CANBUS steering/ motion drivers RTK integration Python software stack Optional ROS2 extension Proposed BOM for R&D field robot Project v1.0 – Mechanical weeding between crop…Continue reading Agroecology Lab 2023
Open hardware electronics
There are a good number of companies and enthusiasts who produce open hardware designs. These notably include Adafruit, Sparkfun, Olimex MLab Zio Plus a variety of individuals on Tindie , OSHWlab or Kitspace Using electronics typically involves connecting an MCU to various sensors, peripherals or actuators. There are a few standards that try to combine these…Continue reading Open hardware electronics
Open Source Robotic Processing Unit
Inspired by the ‘proper’ Robotic Processing Unit I was curious what a truly ‘Open’ version of that might look like. The CM4 footprint seems to enable modularity so over on the Twisted Fields forum I did a bit of CM4 module research In 2023 the ‘openness’ always going to be imperfect, RISC-V is going to be…Continue reading Open Source Robotic Processing Unit
Liquid solar energy
When he squints, he can see, maybe 30 years down the road, Africa’s coast dotted with supertankers, docked at offshore rigs. But they wouldn’t be filling up with oil. Seafloor powerlines would carry renewable electricity to the rigs from wind and solar farms on shore. On board, one device would use the electricity to desalinate…Continue reading Liquid solar energy
Offline communications in 2018
Disclaimer – this is just some notes to help organise my thoughts. It might be of interest to someone, but it’s not a ‘proper’ blog entry. I’m particularly interested in a peer-to-peer mesh as a network for SSB messages: a decent(ralised) secure gossip platform https://www.manyver.se https://github.com/staltz/manyverse https://www.scuttlebutt.nz https://github.com/ssbc https://github.com/ssbc/stack-diagram It works, with a sufficient density of…Continue reading Offline communications in 2018
The Thousand Trees Project
The thousand trees project – Fuel and carbon capture. Distributing a forest in the urban landscape of Bristol UK, then using the coppiced wood to create heat, power and biochar to capture and store carbon. This is essentially reverse coal mining, taking carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in the ground. Agroecology Lab is…Continue reading The Thousand Trees Project
A good life for all within planetary boundaries #OnePlanet
Humanity faces the challenge of how to achieve a high quality of life for over 7 billion people without destabilizing critical planetary processes. Physical needs such as nutrition, sanitation, access to electricity and the elimination of extreme poverty could likely be met for all people without transgressing planetary boundaries. More Ecological Footprinting analysis shows…Continue reading A good life for all within planetary boundaries #OnePlanet
Robotic harvesting for Vertical Aquaponics
Been thinking about what it is that makes robot harvesting difficult. Part of the problem is picking up the cut leaves. By growing vertically that harvesting could be easier, using a relatively cheap robot arm with scissors and a bucket (above from Micropede) You’d need to move the arm around, possibly using Tslot as rails…Continue reading Robotic harvesting for Vertical Aquaponics