Machine Systems
The machines I build are full of circuits, firmwares, controllers, and mechanical designs that are spread out across gitlab, github, and the good old’ harddisk, in varying levels of completion… I wanted to roll up the useful stuff into one place, and this is that place.
Clank
A stable set of hardware designs for a low-cost, entirely FDM 3D-Printable machine platform.
The Hotplate
An FDM 3D-Printable toolchanger that can swap end effectors with ~ 6 micron (!) repeatability. It’s the heart of the Clank project, and the physical geometry is stable. WIP is the electrical connectors that wire modular controllers to modular end-effector circuits.
OSAP: Open Systems Assembly Protocol
A new approach for the generation and integration of modular, interoperable hardware systems, and a love letter to computer plumbing and hardware heterogeneity. Uses a graph / dataflow model that embeds computation in big, messy networks.
UCBus: Multi-Drop UART Link Layer
A protocol for realtime-focused communication across a bus, using UART hardware in the SAM-series microcontrollers, RS485 signaling, and providing flow control, realtime link status, deterministic bandwidth allocation, and a shared bus clock. It’s a workhorse for me, but documentation is bigtime WIP.
Fab-Step
A fab-lab-friendly (i.e. easy to circuit mill and easy to solder) stepper motor driver, using a SAMD21 microcontroller and two A4950 h-bridges.