Putting my money where my mouth is.

I have just ordered four Hub-ee powered wheels and matching cables from Cool Components. Well, I urged everybody else to do it so I thought I would get in on it too. My thoughts revolve around two scenarios, I can build a four wheel drive vehicle or two two wheel drive ones with a ball caster for balance. So I ordered the ball castor pack as well. I am also currently evaluating some free software, Draughtsight, to see how easy it is to design panels for laser cutting on. I know it will do the job but it also needs to be fairly easy to get accurate drawings as well. We shall see.

Worth a look

Is the latest from Cool Components. Amongst several new items is one that really rings a bell for me. The Seeeduino Stalker II is a very clever shield for the Arduino that has space for a wireless board, many different types, and also has both a battery socket and a solar panel socket. More investigation is needed but I would hope that the solar would not only power a board but also charge the battery. As the board has a charge management chip, I more than suspect this. At a cost of £24.99 this is very good value for money and a useful addition to a lot of projects.

On a more personal and immediate note, I have now moved the printer and workstation around in readiness for the rest of the work on the bench.

A clear working area!

For the first time since it was set up, my electronic working area on the bench is clear and all the components have gone into the racked bins, phew! The amount of space I have made is enough to enable me to begin the re-adjustment of all the areas on the bench and finally put computers and network kit in the various places originally assigned for them. The printer will be moving to the centre of the bench and my workstation to the right of it. The bench Raspberry Pi between the workstation and the electronics area and a space on the other side of the printer for working on the other PCs as and when. The network kit will go at the far end and take up as little space as possible.

At that point, I will sort out the things under the bench and, hopefully, make room for some more boxes to go under it. Then comes the main area of floor in the whole attic............................

A slight digression..............

I've been threatening this for months, I have now mounted my trays on the alcove and have just been busy doing some labels for the top half. I finally have a place for everything, now all I need to do is put everything in it's place! I've had a busy weekend, on Saturday I finished the new mains board for my soldering irons and on Friday, I replaced the 2 mm screws with the correct 4 mm screws on the hubs They are now very solidly fixed.

Woo hoo, again, woo hoo!

The test bed wireless remote control set arrived yesterday and, after setting it all up on a breadboard, it worked as hoped for first time. It's a digital, four channel system with a PCB receiver and a key fob transmitter. I was able to light four LEDs by pressing their respective buttons on the transmitter, that was very cool. Next is to set up the Arduino and interface the driver shield and the receiver to it.