A Quiet Path

One of my problems, which I think most programmers share, is that I tend to use my programs in the way I built them.  My assumptions drive the way the program is written, which works out, because that’s the way I tend to use the program.  But, it also hides issues that I don’t think of.  I try to work against how I design the program, but that only goes so far.

So, I’m offering to use the Diabolical Device for others.  That helps me see how they’d use it, which I hope will make its controller a better program in the long run.  So far, I’ve seen some features which would be really handy, and found a handful of bugs that need to be fixed.

Every little bit helps.  Brings the Device that much closer to world domination.  And I’m having a ton of fun along the way.

I just got my power bill for the past month – it would seem that my Diabolical Device might be costing a fair bit in electricity.  Either that, or running my heater so much may have been more expensive than I was expecting.  Either way wouldn’t surprise me, since it was awfully cold for most of last month, especially considering how used to California temperatures I am.

Time for an experiment, turning off my heat for most of February.  Hopefully that will bring costs down, as I’d hate to stop using my Diabolical Device as much.  Of course, at least knowing what to expect for power costs when operating  a Diabolical Device will be enough for me, so either way it will continue to be used.

As usual, I’m spending my weekend working with (and on) my Diabolical Device.  I was thinking about the movement code, and earlier today made a few small tweaks which increased the speed to almost double what it was before, simply by choosing more efficient moving patterns.  The new screw I bought also definitely helps, and I plan on getting another for one of its other movement directions next month, which (according to my calculations) should nearly double my movement speed yet again.

Now I need to equip it with a webcam… and a better computer, since just moving around is already taxing the one is uses at the moment.

Testing is more or less complete with the new Diabolical upgrade.  It didn’t give as much of a speed increase as I’d hoped, though there are many factors that play into that.  I believe I can still get some decent speed improvements with some simple code tweaks, and just by running the machine to settle in the new parts and let them work out some of the tightness they’re currently experiencing.

Worst case, I can always replace one of the motors with a higher torque version.  That’ll definitely do the trick!

As expected, the diabolical upgrade went smoothly, and the device is ready for testing/operation again.  The new movement screw forces faster movement, though at higher torque.  Since my motors can’t handle extremely high torque, I was forced to lower the rate I send commands to my motors.

Even so, this one new screw should nearly triple the overall speed of the device, which is excellent.  I may be able to improve that further by taking advantage of acceleration curves, or by upgrading the motor driving this screw, but we’ll see how things turn out in the days and weeks to come.