Look closely to see the largest horizontal branch across the middle of this picture is snapped near the tree trunk. This is the front area of the forest. Near as I can figure, some passerby grabbed it and snapped it off, but not completely. I swung it back into position as it serves to block what appears from the street to be a natural approach to the patio. There were no tire tracks or other evidence that it may have been an accident.
I tested something besides wiring over the previous week. Coffee. Who remembers instant coffee? I was raised on it but quickly learned to prefer drip coffee. I did some digging and found out the reason drip coffee is best is because all other brewing methods splash water of inconsistent temperature over the grounds which, I’m told, is not good.The most expedient way to make coffee without electricity is to brew it with a percolator. I compared the taste of several brands and guess what came out the winner? Maxwell House, although it is not really brewed. Nothing compares to drip coffee but Maxwell House instant is just as good as “camp coffee” and easier to make. You learn something every day. Well, at least we do, anyway.
Back to electronics. It proves itself to be a most economical way to spend the day (costs less than $3). The only thing cheaper to do is read and I already do a lot of that. I’m struggling with reading sensors, an absolute must-learn for any type of robotics. I’m so close and yet I can’t get it. I’ve exhausted my resources. In another revelation, I’m finding that certain components are not easy to find. My former assumption was that a particular piece (such as a ZN414) was rare because there was not enough demand for shops to carry it. Things may not be so clear-cut.
Anyway, I’m down to my last ten bucks and no word from Wallace. So I’m heading to the library for the day. Statistically I still have three of the eight average career changes to undergo in my lifetime. I’m permitted to make a certain amount each month, although I’ve never come near to making even half that. The fact is I cannot handle the stress. Sigh, I used to make that much on a good day. Way back when.
I can, however, go to school. I don’t like being a dependent at all. It just does not sit right. So far, robotics study has not affected my blood pressure, likely because it is something each individual can only do at one pace—their own. However, driving the scooter has necessitated that I again carry a vial of nitroglycerine. There is progress but every step is a trade-off. I say, “Half steam ahead!”
Talk about snags, I had a real obstacle course trying to learn more about the Arduino. Like the rest of the Internet, there is a ton of beginner’s material, nothing in between and the good stuff they want money for what used to be free. You don’t learn anything paying somebody to show you the easy way, although most colleges exist on that premise. This might be a good time remind all of my original mission.
I set out here to learn a few basics about robotics only to [to be able to] say I had done so. Skirting the details, here is what I believe I’ve learned about the big picture. Robotics is not based on any really a new realm of digital electrical signals. It is basically the use of analog (old-school) sensors interpreted by computer code which then issues digital signals that operate other ordinary analog devices by use of pulse width modulation (PWM). I’m not near that stage mechanically, but I want my thoughts on the subject clearly spelled out right here. If only all those people so much smarter than me would do the same, eh wot?
Not only that, but I must be moving too fast for a proper footing in this field. I’ve acquired a series of tutorials that I intend to work through first. Like computers, the MCU (microcontroller unit) requires you to slow down and step through the hardware until you grasp all the stuff they don’t seem to include in the lessons. Don’t expect much between now and then.
Meanwhile, I had the displeasure of dealing with the scumbag telemarketing outfit called Molina Health Care. They take your personal private information like it was their own, profile you, and begin to barrage you with robotic telephone calls. You tell them you want that to cease, the bastards get an uneducated woman on the line to shine you up. Those people, and yes, I do mean those people, do not have the mental capacity to understand plain English, but will hang up the instant they can aggravate you into using stronger terms. Molina are festering low-lifes and I will drop them like hot trash at the first opportunity. Once that happens, it is one of the rare cases where I will report current real names, such as I was able to get out of them. They value privacy: theirs, not yours.
Another fruitless late night with the Serial read obstacle. Even after the most careful wiring and triple-checking of every step, the serial monitor fails to display the values from the variable resistor. At one point, I created two detached circuits, the most complicated I’ve tried yet, to separate the input from the output, to no avail. The serial monitor just displays nonsense readings. However, it is the same nonsense for each configuration, so I’m on to something. It is 4:23 AM.
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