If we can get the schematic for the connections (Andrew? Jae? if I recall?), I'll make an enclosure and wiring harness at the microcontroller meetup tuesday 3/26.  An enclosure for the doorman might be good too if that hasn't already been done.  Manifesting scrap plywood and sheet metal...

Cheers,
Hol

Mar 22, 2013 03:19:32 AM, georgio510@sbcglobal.net wrote:

>Re. the wires were "very loosely attached":  Ouchie!, sorry to hear it.
>
>This is a textbook case for why craft & trade skills are important: to
>build stuff that's robust and reliable, not fragile and easily broken.
>
>These skills can't be learned from a textbook, they have to be learned
>hands-on, by building stuff and seeing how it breaks and then fixing it
>so it won't break the next time.
>
>What do to about the broken door-contraption:  Take the broken stuff
>over to Al Lasher's Electronics on University Ave. in Berkeley and ask
>them how to make the splices & connections to be strong.  They'll
>happily tell you what's needed, teach you some useful information about
>how to do it, and sell you a small handful of inexpensive parts to do
>the job the right way.  Plastic electronics enclosures ("black boxes"),
>multi-pin connectors, cable strain-reliefs, etc. etc., all belong on
>every hacker's workbench.
>
>Whoever built the contraption in the first place should do this since
>they know where the wires are supposed to go, and will benefit most from
>learning how to fix it so it's robust.
>
>Over time we'll also end up with a generic parts bin full of misc. bits
>& bobs, from the obvious ones such as resistors & capacitors, wire
>connectors and toggle switches etc., to the obscure odd bits that nobody
>ever expects to need but save the day when building one thing or
>another.   One good way to store those kinds of doodads is with one of
>those "organizer" things that's basically a rectangular metal box full
>of little clear plastic drawers with movable dividers.
>
>There used to be some excellent electronics stores in Oakland,
>especially back in the day when the military bases were in operation.
>Those places are gone now, and the last remaining real electronics
>store, staffed with people who know how to build stuff and who can make
>recommendations, is Al Lasher's in Berkeley.
>
>If anyone in the Amateur (HAM) Radio scene still builds any of their
>equipment from scratch, they could also come in and teach some of the
>relevant skills.
>
>-G.
>
>
>=====
>
>
>On 13-03-21-Thu 11:32 PM, Yardena Cohen wrote:
>> Tamale is our door controller, as you probably know. It controls the
>> doorknob by a USB cable. The cable is spliced in two wires which were
>> apparently VERY LOOSELY attached to two pins on the raspi. In the
>> process of running ethernet cable from the crawlspace, we accidentally
>> knocked into tamale and both the wires came loose. We don't know how
>> they were attached! We'll try trial & error, but it would be very
>> helpful if someone could help us, who actually put it together in the
>> first place. How ironic that we finally get the outer door connected,
>> and then we break the inner door.
>>
>> tl;dr could tamale's makers please help us fix the USB pins?
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>>
>
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