The vending machine now provides some more feedback after money is put in.
Source code associated with my contribution is here. I haven't documented
the other components of the vending machine.
https://thomaslevine.com/scm/sudo-vending
Based on the implementation details, it appears to me that
the bill acceptor is in fact plugged into one board (Arduino Leonardo)
that is connected by serial to another board (Raspberry Pi). Why is
the former board used at all? That is, why is the bill acceptor not
plugged directly into the latter board?
I've set up a jitsi terminal on the wall in Sudoroom!
It's a big TV made by Hitachi, and it has a feature where it can go into "power
saving" mode when the HDMI signal is lost. That means the screen can power
down when DPMS puts the monitor to "sleep". It has a webcam that's clearly
labeled, and on a hinge so it can easily be aimed down at the floor if people
are shy, and it has a Jabra USB speaker/microphone thing which should hopefully
provide good speakerphone functionality. I have the computer setup to start
firefox, and i have firefox set to open the jitsi page, where permissions are
already enabled for webcam/audio. The only remaining need is to automatically
wake the monitor from sleep (using "DISPLAY=:0 xset force dpms on") whenever
there is anyone else detected in the jitsi "room"
This feature is important so that people can see (on the screen) whenever
someone is in the screen/camera/microphone with them. For now the monitor is
either left on a lot, or blanks out due to a timeout.
I've determined that the most direct ways to make the monitor turn on when
anyone joins the jitsi channel are:
1. make an XMPP client in python or something, which connects to the server and
finds out how many people are in the room (and whether there's anyone other
than the telescreen in there) and sets the monitor on/off state accordingly
2. make a browser extension to find the element containing the number of
"Meeting participants" and copy the number to the window title, where it can be
observed from the shell with a command like wmctrl -l
<div class="jss52">Meeting participants (2)</div>
unfortunately the div class is not always jss52 but the innertext is always
Meeting Participans(#) so it should be able to be found.
The idea is that with this setup, people can go on jitsi and talk to whomever
is in sudoroom, as well as each other.
presently i'm using this link but that can change if we find something better:
https://meet.waag.org/turtlesturtlesturtles
note: the telescreen in sudoroom is not signed in right now, not sure why but
i'll fix it asap
Hey everyone,
How was last night's meeting? I wanted to declare my intent to join and
discuss ways I can get started volunteering on any ongoing projects, but I
didn't get on until after it ended. So I'll drop my info here so everyone
can look it over before next week's meeting.
First, here's my new sudohumans profile:
https://humans.sudoroom.org/~andrewrgross
*Declaration of Intent to Join*
*Who I am*
My name is Andrew R Gross ("R" is my full middle name) and I'm a
politically conscious hacker and maker who just moved to Oakland from Los
Angeles.
*Why I want to join*
I'm looking for many things that I've gotten from previous experiences with
makerspaces: companionship; a rich well of technical expertise from which
to learn and contribute; an organizing structure in which to effectively
execute complex projects; and access to tools.
*What I'm excited to do*
I'm excited to use the laser cutter and the 6-axis arm, as well as to be a
part of something I have the power to improve through my volunteership.
*What I'm excited to share*
What I'd like to share is my time and my energy, as well as my unique
perspective (unique in the sense that we're all unique: my perspective
isn't uniquely valuable relative to anyone else's). I like to clean and to
organize group projects. I like to pay forward to others the good vibes and
support I've been fortunate to receive.
*References*
Anyone interested in getting to know me should contact CRASHSpace
hackerspace in LA <https://blog.crashspace.org/>, where I've been an active
member in good standing for a while. You can send an email to the general
mailbox <https://blog.crashspace.org/contact/> or just drop into the email
discussion list <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/crashspace> to ask
for general impressions about me.
Additionally, check out my sosh-meeds:
reddit: u/andrew gross <https://www.reddit.com/user/andrewrgross>
Insta: @andrew_r_gross <https://www.instagram.com/andrew_r_gross/>
LinkedIn: andrew-r-gross <https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-r-gross>
github: andrew gross <https://github.com/andrewrgross>
Cheers,
*Andrew R Gross, (he/him)*
412.657.5332 - shrad.org <http://www.shrad.org>
Thoughts on SudoRoom lately -
- any way to link SudoRoom projects with the bike party? The sf bike party, San Jose bike party, critical mass and the east bay bike party?
Thinking on it through zines
- enjoyed hanging out and reading the Forrest mims books. Thinking of redrawing them for our own version in one sheeters!
- Rps collective reopened since I was last at SudoRoom. A collaboration would be nice with them and SudoRoom!!!
- since I was last at SudoRoom there’s a Bart extension to San Jose that hooks up directly to the san Jose flea market. San Jose is bikeable now!
Integrating nature
- since I was last at SudoRoom I got a lot more into surfing. Wondering how to link the beach and nature - there’s so much fun stuff about the Bay Area and nature and citizen science how yo bring it together ? I dislike hanging out sitting at desks more and more when I’m not working
Nice to be back!
When I was last at SudoRoom I was more into skateboarding but now it’s surfing and snowboarding 😸 I broke my ankle skating and ended up trying to do a 3D Print-out of my ankle cat scan. It wasn’t successful but that’s once if my favorite attempts there
I hate being frozen a t a computer but it’s necessary for flow state . Is there a way to weave the outside with the inside or is that even desirable ? I was on some 6 hour bike rides the past few months and wanted to draw or reflect in nature not necessarily at a computer desk - no internet but it would be nice to do programming on top of a remote mountain away from noise and ads
The space is so well organized now !
Thinking about projectors and doing art projects with cartoonists I know. I guess I’ll chat with Jake because we have 3D projectors ? There’s old art projects with projected art featuring “mixed reality “
It’d be cool to do that in SudoRoom! Or noisebridge . There are a lot of cheesy Instagram friendly museum of ice cream type immersive environments itd be fun to do something more artsy or electronics focused
https://www.krzysztofwodiczko.com/public-projections
Sent from my iPhone
Lately I’ve been printing out larger art pieces on color laser printers. I just tape the stuff together.
I guess I’d like to make big cardboard figures eventually (will have to glue them to cardboard backing and stand up)
Saw stuff like this at the old Rps
Here’s something from a carhart store in Berlin many years ago
🥰
Sent from my iPhone
Hello Sudoers
I am happy to announce that I finally came full circle with my laser skills to be able to offer mentorship to Sudo Roomers.
I have been for several months taking my lasering from user on one machine to understanding multiple and some over-all skills, drilling down to what we have in our blessed upgraded "Chinese Red and Black" (!)(no really that is the open shared handle/keywords).
We have access to an amazing machine that just so happens to be one of the more common and reliable "off brand" (ie knock off of possibly "OmTech") machines), so sorta kinda open source (limited documentation). It has been upgraded I think to 100wso is actually more powerful that it was originally. It currently works fairly well.
After many hours and tears I discovered and rectified the Red and Black's cracked lense and mirror alignment issues that contributed to its past lack of power. (Always a work in progress)
I have been working with machine for about 2 months now wanting to share its baddass-ness, but needing to maintain and learn about the Queen.
I had been having trouble engraving to make it look better than a blasted out version or any pic. I am not able to generate a photographic quality engraving, but I am now finally able to make a metaphor of the original and also success with cutting 1/8 birchwood, 1/4 in MDF, acrylic, and 1/4 in plywood with many passes, I am now ready to share my findings with the community and give various versions of a "laser training" to Sudo.
For this training we will only be cutting 1/8 Birchwood or 1/4 MDF. In the future we can work with Acrylic or late if everyone else has gone home (stinky!).
We will focus on introduction to laser cutting safety, generating viable files, and specs to work with various materials.
I have worked for months and months now to get to this point so please understand coming into this how valuable this moment is to have access to such a powerful machine. Please try to come to at least 3 of these mentorships and expect to watch some videos and/or read some material before being confident lasering. There are so many ways to not do the appropriate thing for the cutter. It is important to know exactly why you are choosing what settings you do. It is imortant to maintain high awareness as you proceed from design to cutting. A wrong move could scorch the mirrors, the lense, ruin your art, or start a small fire (which could ruin the machine). Improper use can also cause undo air quality issues that also could be avoided (no vinyl ever!!!)
It is with all these things in mind and great respect for the tool and the community that training and constant awareness is needed by community members with every cut.
I am now able to teach a comprehensive beginner level training. I will do it in "Mentor style" at first, taking in the skill levels of whoever shows up, possibly culminating in a joint class with a professional.
Keep in mind even "simple cuts" can take much editing to be ready, and can take much time to cut. I can only teach from practical short example files to start, and report back from longer more ornate projects that I have finished.
With this in mind, if you expect to cut something on a non-acrylic focused Laser Lunes, please bring your own 1/8 in Birchwood slab from Blick for ~$6.00 for a 12/24 in sheet or 1/4 in MDF from McFee's lumber. I must prioritize these materials for the first few classes, as other materials take 2-5x more cut passes and may stink quite a bit more.
I will select simple SVG files from the community to cut in the mentorship, and can advise on improving your vector files (Inskape!)
I will continue to hold Laser Lunes mentorship Mondays, 6pm -10/late, and will also have an acrylic night soon. Please consider donating to Sudo Room on behalf of this class: https://sudoroom.org/donate/
(Also one could bring some extra 1/8 Birchwood from Blick to share with future Laser Lunes Mentorship Mondays/the Room.)
Multipass!
Lilu
I do think it would be great if we had a sudoroom-sponsored event in the
ballroom on National Organ Day (not that I believe in Nations) where people
come in and play the organs and pianos for each other in the ballroom.
It can be a practice / lead-up session for International Organ Day/Week in
April, when we can have a more formal event with rollerskates and inlines.
I can think of a few people who i'd like to hear play.
-jake
On Fri, 28 Jan 2022, Sarah Lockhart wrote:
> according to google, february 14th is National Organ Day ... but that is for
> organ donation, as in body parts, not the type of organ in question here.
>
> apparently late April there is historically an International Organ Day/Week
> that seems to center on pipe organs