Uncategorized

The Wednesday Update: Goodbye Gwiz

Posted on by burf2000

So welcome to another Wednesday update, stuff is actually starting to move along again!

Gwiz Update

So due to having too many projects on the go and lack of time, the Gwiz has been sold. I really enjoyed getting the car up and running but I couldn’t warrant the monthly cost (insurance wasn’t that cheap) and I can still do a self-driving project, just at a smaller scale!

Electronics Course

This has stalled a bit which is always bad when doing a course as you start forgetting what you have learned. However once I complete the main printing of the Inmoov robot, this will continue.

Inmoov Robot

So my main focus has been the Inmoov Robot and trying to fix the main lower structure that partially cracked. If this had gone (turns out it was far off) the robot would of fallen off the stand and smashed. That would not be a good day! I have also done some work on the arm which until the servo bicep holder broke, would of been complete

Turned out one of the main base plate was also damaged but this would be a complete rebuild, so I glued it.
This was printed in PLA which over time has been brittle
The orange bicep servo holder that snapped

Exercise

So I have started mountain biking quite a bit and have now got a nice (but old) full suspension bike. Today I also ran 3 miles on the treadmill and nearly died lol. I would like to get some fitness back as it helps me mentally with these sorts of projects.

The Wednesday Update: The Missing Edition

Posted on by burf2000

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday update, I know it’s been nearly a month since I did an update, and even that update was a bit thin with content.

The Kitchen aka the excuse

So nothing to do with robotics but the main reason I have done very little in the way of tech. My entire kitchen, dining room, and downstairs bathroom have been replaced including removing a wall which resulted in a lot of work, a lot of mess, and a lot of noise. This basically stopped me from doing anything interesting as after I would finish work on a Wednesday I was cleaning, moving stuff, or helping the builders who were friends of mine. They did an epic job however I think I will be cleaning for a very long time. At the same time, I also had my windows replaced.

Inmoov Robot

So a month on and it’s hard to remember what I was doing, I have made some progress with the Inmoov Robot which is good. I have nearly finished the second arm however one of the main bottom supports (which connects the robot to the chair pole) is now damaged which is not good! This will be quite a lot of work to sort out however if I don’t, the robot is likely to fall over and smash.

Gwiz

Nothing really has happened with this, I still want to see if I can make it drive itself.

Electronics course

I have made a bit of progress on this and passed the second test (barely due to the gap between lessons). I hope to complete this by next week

Hosting for Burf.co

So after some social media feedback to HostPapa, a new member of staff has been trying to help me lower the concurrency issues with my site (Entry Points). I still find this a terrible way to do business (unlimited everything as long as it comes in single-file) as that’s not the way the internet works. I did actually check CPU and Memory usage and it was barely anything!

The Wednesday Update: Mission Accomplished

Posted on by burf2000

Welcome to another Wednesday update, again a rare edition that’s actually on Wednesday! A bit less on content this week due to it being my kid’s half term!

GWiz Update

The mission was always to make it to my Partner’s house in Sandhurst, and guess what it did it! No issues at all, max out about 45mph but I think it has more in it!

I have 1 small issue to sort with the GWiz, when breaking the re-gen system causes a burst of over 70v to the controller which causes the car to shut down. It’s a simple setting to change but needs a special cable.

Vex Tank

So on Tuesday, I wanted to start prototyping a simple tank to use as a platform for outside. It took about 2 hours to build and works pretty well until it got to the brick test. I think I am going to make a slightly larger more powerful one. At the same time, I want to test it again on a similar platform with different types of wheels (e.g Omni) which will hopefully give me some evidence on what works best out on the pavements.

ROS Lidar Robot

So I managed to get part of my old VEX ROS lidar robot working, I had missed out on some key bits of information in the readme but managed to get parts of it working. This was a great learning platform for ROS as it was purely built from the ground up by myself. The teleops control worked to control it, the Lidar also worked, the only issue was a lot of Errors were generated

Holiday

On a short holiday with my dad to Welles and Cheddar, I managed to get an Anki Overdrive set from a charity shop, this was awesome in its day and uses AI to drive the cars.

The Wednesday Update: Cleaning Edition

Posted on by burf2000

Welcome to another Wednesday update, this one is a little light on robotics content due to me spending most of the time organizing and cleaning my robotics areas. Due to the kindness of companies like LEGO, VEX Robotics Meccano, and MakeBlock, who in the past have supported my creations and sent me free products (Thank you), this has ended up with me having a lot of stuff. Knowing this and adding 3 epic kids to the mix, and the fact I buy a lot of random stuff means I am really struggling for useful space.

The Plan (A different plan from the educational plan)

Based on all the stuff I have (and not wanting to buy more), the plan I came up with for building robotics (prototyping) was to use VEX Robotics EDR range which is a metal-based robotics platform that I have used a lot in the past. Because it is metal and the motors are generally very powerful it makes a great platform for building bigger stuff. The main goal of this Wednesday’s timeslot was to locate the EDR stuff and get it out of the garage! This turned quickly into a tidying up job (and a trip down memory lane) which now allows me to get into my work area in the garage!

This was the sorted VEX EDR stuff I had, in nice colorful draws. This is around 1/3 of the EDR stuff I have due to me usually building large projects.
This is my old robotic area in the garage, this used to be where I built a lot of things, I even have a mannequin to hold my cables lol. This was primarily set up for LEGO building.
These are some of the larger robots I have built, from the one of the first (George) all the way up to a prototype Vex V5 one.
Back in 2018, this was going to be my main test platform, running the latest Vex V5 stuff that wasn’t even out. However, due to work/family/divorce, I massively failed to deliver šŸ™

It’s an odd feeling to go over some of the cool things that I have built in the past. I look back and wonder if the 2010-2017 crazy LEGO/VEX years I had were my finest work (Except for my kids). I do miss the inspirational competitions and events that I got the chance to go to. Not to showcase my work but to meet the next generation of scientists and engineers. The kids I met blow my mind with what someone so young could do. I truly hope I get a chance to get involved in that space again!

Check out the film on Disney for an inside look šŸ™‚

Headache

This afternoon kicked started the old grey matter, the brain started going 4000 miles an hour. Which in turn gave me a rather horrible headache. At one point I realised I wasn’t driving to my partner’s house but had randomly followed a car off into Farnborough (don’t worry I was safe)

What do I do next? Burf.co, Gwiz, Inmoov robot, MakeBlock, wheelchair robot, Robot head, courses, Vex EDR, VEX IQ …..
To this, I really don’t have an answer. This is where I am right now. I want to learn about robots, I want to build robots, I am fortunate to have a lot of options but at the same point boy, it blows your mind.

At the moment I am going to try and stick to the plan unless there are any quick wins.

Misc

I turned 41 and feel old!

The Wednesday Update: The quiet edition

Posted on by burf2000

Devcon

Welcome to another Wednesday update, that’s not on a Wednesday! This time round I am live at a Compsoft Devcon. This is a small event where all the devs from Compsoft over the many years meet up after work to discuss and try out new technology. It’s a good laugh and always has free food and drink! There was a good turnout, lots of discussions, and knowledge shared! I took along my Inmoov robotic head.

The quiet Wednesday

Due to a family emergency with my mum going to the hospital, not much was done on the techie front. My mum is ok and in great hands.

Introducing RoboticsĀ 

This course has now been finished, well to the best of my ability, what I didn’t realise is that I started it in 2017 and it got archived in 2021. This meant I could go back over the course (which I did) however I could not submit the final quiz. I had already completed over 90% of the course which is classed as complete by Future Learn anyway. I did learn a lot from the maths and the Matlab stuff however it was still very hard work and I am not sure

Introduction to Robotics Diploma

So I am now on module 4 of this, again this started off super basic and then went full on mathematics within 1 page! I will give it a go and see where it takes me.

ROS Robot

ROS (Robotics Operating System) is the standard for Robots, a few years a go I built some cool robots with Lidar systems in them for a VEX Robotics show. I am resurrencting them as they are super useful to learn with.

The Wednesday Update: Reviewing the plan

Posted on by burf2000

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday update, after the Speed Edition last week, this one is a little more academic.

Introduction to Machine Learning

So this Wednesday I focused on trying to complete the 4-week course on Machine Learning. I have done ML courses in the past but fancied a refresher. What I was most impressed with is how far the tools have come along to lower the bar to entry for people to use them.
Machine Learning For Kids was a great way for kids to start thinking about ML and it was super easy to use, had templates to get you going and you could even see how the ML had built its model

I also enjoyed using Teachable Machines by Google. This allowed me to make a vision-based model really quickly to play the game Paper, Scissors Rock.

MakeBlock

As mentioned 2 weeks ago I had a great call with MakeBlock, this has resulted in me being sent 3 of their latest products to have a play with. It’s really interesting to see how far they have come since their original Kickstarter back in 2012.

Burf.co

So at the weekend, I started working on making Burf.co a bit more useful. I have now added back the chatbot based on AIML which I hope to develop further. I have also cleaned up the code and added a Web Directory. I can now easily deploy it and have fixed a few proxy issues.

Reviewing the Plan

Below are the items I wanted to achieve, I am now 5-6 weeks in so it’s a good opportunity to see how I have done

  • Begin Robotics : Done
  • Math : Not really started
  • Python course : Done
  • Introducing Robotics : Awaiting Maths
  • Do some practical : Ongoing via Robot head and Gwiz project
  • Burf.co : Started

Redefining the plan

So I think I did alright, I think I have achieved more than is above but at the same point, that shows that I have maybe missed the point in having a plan and not sticking to it. I want to raise the bar a bit and set some harder goals to help me focus. These are part of the end-of-year goals.

I think that’s a rather challenging list but this is for the end of the year.

The Wednesday Update: Not the Wednesday I was looking for

Posted on by burf2000

So I must have jinxed this week’s Wednesday but having such a good one last week. Don’t get me wrong some good things did happen but it wasn’t the best day!

MakeBlock

MakeBlock is a similar STEM educational company to Vex Robotics and LEGO Education. They have a range of kids products from 4+ plus right up to full-on Arduino Robotics kits for Universities. I was invited to have a chat with them about what they are up to. All I can say is watch this space šŸ™‚

GWiz

So I have been testing the batteries and 1 was very ill (kicking out 8v instead of 12+) I have replaced this but it hasn’t actually made much difference. The next plan is to invest some money (well more than Ā£1) and upgrade it to 60v! (5 * 12v batteries) This should make it go rather fast!

Yamaha 535 Motorbike

This motorbike has been in the garage more than I have had hot dinners. I love the look of this bike but I have been very unlucky with it not running correctly/blowing up/breaking etc. Anyway this Wednesday afternoon I thought I would go and pick it up as it’s now “Fixed”.

Don’t ever deviate from your plan to pick up something that has a high chance of not actually working (yup, I got 1 mile up the road before having issues). By the time it was “fixed again” my afternoon was written off!!! (Update : It’s now broken again)

The END!

Other achievements this week.

Finished an introduction to Python course by Future Learn. I needed to re-introduce myself to Python for a self-driving course by Udacity that I want to do.

Made slight progress with my Robotics Diploma (module 1 done)

Listened to a great podcast by Lex Fridman interviewing Rodney Brooks (epic person in robotics)

Happy New Year!

Posted on by burf2000

So even though I ended 2021 with Covid and wasnā€™t allowed to see anyone for most of the Christmas period, I look back at the year and feel very thankful!

At the start of 2021 I was in a job I hated, I had a pending court case over the house (so I didnā€™t even know where I was going to live), I was fighting the ex for joint custody of the kids and my favorite past time (instead of robots) was drinking a beer and going to bed.

At the end of 2022, I am in a job I love, learning new stuff every day, I managed to keep the house and I have 50/50 custody of my kids. I now have a good relationship with my ex which is super important for the kids and I have reduced my hours at work so I can also start focusing on robotics and crazy projects. Beer consumption has also been reduced and replaced with Hot Chocolate.

I really am thankful to be where I am today and to all the people who helped me get here. Special thanks to my loving partner Jo!

So what does 2022 hold? Have I set 4096 New Years Resolutionsā€¦ hmm not really.

Reduce and focus!

As I have reduced my hours at work slightly, I need to make sure that time is used for useful things. My main goal is to get back into robotics. So building and programming robots. This is really the number one goal!

Side projects to this are of course a Burf.co search engine and the GWiz electric car. I see both of these kinda fitting in with robotics a little. Burf has a AI chatbot which now will become the focus. The GWiz would be perfect to make self-drive or at least model it.

Ok, now you’re thinking what crazy money or health goal have I got lined up? Over the years I have been able to do some amazing things, however this year, I want to keep it simple, just get a bit fitter and encourage the kids to get involved. Spend money on useful things (like the kitchen) not 15 3D printers!

The last but of course most important goal is to be a good father, a good person, and a good friend to the people around me. I think over the 2 years I have learned a lot about myself (good and bad) and really feel as a human we can constantly strive to be a better kinder person.

Here are some of the things I worked on while I had Covid

Restarted on the Inmoov project
Robot Dog which can track objects etc
New CNC machine for Xmas šŸ™‚

Burf : The reboot!

Posted on by burf2000

Did you notice I didnā€™t say Burf.co? Well, there is a reason for that!

I hope (really hope) that this is the first article of many on the road to me returning to building stuff! Itā€™s been a long road filled with many personal issues (Divorce for example), redundancy, and COVID however I feel that journey is now at a end. I am rather excited about the future and have already started a few projects

Work

So I have returned to Compsoft Creative, briefly as a Senior Software Engineer (C# and Android) and then promoted to the Head of Software Engineering! Compsoft has always been a fantastic place to work and I hope to try and make it even better.

Motorbikes

Yep, I have a new hobby and I am really enjoying it! I have as much fun fixing/restoring them as I do riding them. I have owned about 6 bikes in the last year, plus an awesome Robin Reliant Trike. Itā€™s a great hobby with my father and takes me back to being a kid again.

GWiz of Death

One of my less popular purchases was a tiny electric car called a GWiz. New, they were a terrible car, mine being left to die for many years which made it just that little bit shitter. When it was delivered (as it didnā€™t work), it was a shed. I have had great fun trying to fix it and now it actually moves. The aim is to get it to do 60mph within a few minutes (or before I run out of road)

Burf.co

So due to a few reasons (electric bills of Ā£200pm) I shut down Burf.co and turned everything off, I killed Vibe Innovation and gave up on anything interesting until home life had settled down a bit. As I said, I think itā€™s time to start resuming the coding projects and I have turned Burf.co back on :). I hope to actually do some cool stuff with Burf.co in the coming months

Inmoov robot

I did start restoring it in 2019/2020 but had to take a break from it. I did lots of stuff to it but just didn’t make any videos. Like Burf.co, I hope to get this moving on soon šŸ™‚

Well that plan went Pete Tong!

Posted on by burf2000

So, in my last blog post, my servers had given me the middle finger and in the post before that, I had said that I was determined to do Robotics this year, stay focused and not take anything else on. Well, lets just put them crazy thoughts into the bin, we all knew I was going to epically fail them!

So in no particular order, here’s what’s been going on:

The Server
So, the new DL580 server is now working, I won’t mention I took a power drill to it, but let’s just say its playing ball. It’s now got a new raid card, HP Storage Works Array and 22TB of lovely storage ready for anything I may want to chuck at it. Its currently turned off at the moment but the reasons for that come up soon!

OpenFaas
Short version, its the t*ts, is epically cool! Go install it now!
So OpenFaas is an Open Source Function as a service framework (Think AWS Lambda, Azure Functions etc) which runs on top of Docker/Kubernetes and allows a developer to focus on creating call functions instead of infrastructure so much. It auto scales, supports tons of programming languages and has great analytics. It’s free and runs on practically any hardware including the Raspberry Pi. The Cloud addon to it (addon may not be the right word, maybe V2) makes things even easier by hooking into Github etc and then can automatically deploy after a commit. What really got me excited about this was that I could have a single package containing Python, Java and c# (for example) functions and not need to worry about any of the infrastructure needed to make them an API. I then could use a single command to deploy it all to my server!

There are other free FAAS solutions out there (FN, Azure Functions Runtime, Openwhisk, Serverless etc) but OpenFaas is extremely popular and only is getting stronger (13K stars on GitHub), has a great set of examples including a functions store and has a very helpful active Slack channel for support etc.

So, the reason the server has been off is partly that I have been waiting for some hard drives to turn up, and partly because of OpenFaas. Before I had discussed Faas, I was going to just build VM’s (Hyper-v) for all the servers I want. However, all that has changed now due to OpenFaas and I would really like all future stuff to work serverless. Because most Serverless frameworks seem to sit on top of Docker, there is some further research around Windows Server 2016 and containers needed to be done. The end result may be that I have to format my new server with Ubuntu, or create a Linux VM to host Docker on top of Windows. I still need to do some research as I believe WS2016 introduced mixed (Windows/Linux) containers for Docker.

Another Startup wants some Burf
Yup, I seem to be in demand, or it’s a way to stop me building Skynet (or some sort of killer robot). Another startup company, who is nearly ready to launch has asked me to help them out and get them across the line. It’s a fantastic opportunity which I am pretty excited about as I get to take ownership of the entire technology stack (which for once I don’t need to develop). My first challenge is around AWS and making sure their solution scale which should be fun! I will disclose more soon!