Paul Bupe, Jr

Adding Swap Memory to the Beaglebone Black

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I recently needed to build Python 3.6 from source on the BeagleBone Black for a robotics project and discovered that the build would always fail after running out of memory. Who could have figured that 512MB of RAM wasn’t enough to build Python from source?! While I could have set up cross-compilation and performed the heavy lifting on my computer with more resources, I figured this was a perfect problem to solve by adding swap memory to the BeagleBone Black.

Change the Default Cloud9 Workspace on the BeagleBone Black

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe BeagleBone Black ships with a really great browser-based IDE called Cloud9, which is accessed by going to your BBB IP address at port 3000. While I don’t use Cloud9 for heavy development, it’s handy for debugging and quick changes to scripts. It also has a built-in terminal which means I can do everything in the browser.

By default Cloud9 launches a workspace at /usr/lib/cloud9, which has useful examples and scripts for all sorts of applications. I want it to point, instead, to my personal projects folder so I’ll change the default Cloud9 workspace on the BeagleBone Black to /home/debian/projects.

Continue reading Change the Default Cloud9 Workspace on the BeagleBone Black

Connecting a BeagleBone Black to the Internet over USB

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Connecting a BeagleBone Black (BBB) to the internet over USB is a simple process thanks to the internet sharing capabilities of Windows. This is extremely convenient when developing because it allows your BeagleBone Black to have an internet connection as long as your computer or laptop has one, no matter the network, and SSH access over a single USB cable.

Wood Clock Gears with Motor Drive – Part 3 of 3

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Picking up from Part 2, the third and final part of the wood click gears with motor drive build covers the stepper motor drive. The gears ended up driving this really beautiful clock. Note that I did not build the clock, just the gears driving the hands.

Wood Clock Gears with Motor Drive – Part 2 of 3

Reading Time: 2 minutesPicking up from Part 1 of the wood clock gears project where I designed the gears, Part 2 will cover the physical assembly of the gear build. This was the simplest part of the build since it only involved cutting the gears using a laser cutter and gluing everything together.

Continue reading Wood Clock Gears with Motor Drive – Part 2 of 3

Wood Clock Gears with Motor Drive – Part 1 of 3

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I was asked to design and build the gear and drive mechanism for a 6 foot clock. The clock had an hour and a minute hand and needed to move in both the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. This was not a “realtime clock” and needed to move visibly fast.

I decided to use wood clock gears with a motor drive for the sake of simplicity. This build was definitely more out of my comfort zone than usual but proved to be a fun and educational experience. Part 1 goes over the design of the gears. Part 2 will cover the physical build and Part 3 the electrical design and final build.

Continue reading Wood Clock Gears with Motor Drive – Part 1 of 3

ModBot: A Modular Robotics Test Platform

Reading Time: 4 minutes

ModBot is a simple robotics platform created for testing sensors, algorithms, vision systems, and everything else in between. I designed this platform with modularity in mind (thus the name) which requires the compartmentalization of behaviors and functions into discrete and, ideally, interchangeable modules. Since this is an experimental platform I opted not tie it to ROS (even though it still uses a Linux environment so ROS can be used) and created a very simple ASCII protocol for communication between modules. Lastly, I added teleoperation capabilities using a PlayStation DualShock 4 controller.

DIY Housing for 100W Audio Amplifier Module

Reading Time: 3 minutesThis was a fun build around the Sure 2×100 Watt Amplifier Module. I spent most of the time on this project designing the chassis in SolidWorks and chasing around the cause of a fairly high noise floor. The final chassis which was very beautifully built by my friend Rodney.

Desktop Audio Amplifier Chassis

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Project Summary

This was a quick build of a 50W desktop audio amplifier based around the SainSmart 12V 50Wx2+100W TPA3116D2 board. The amplifier performed well into a 6 Ohm load and was able to hit “uncomfortable” levels (at a 4 foot listening distance) without distortion.

Parts List

SainSmart 12V 50W x 2+100W TPA3116D2 2.1 Amplifier Board
Self-Stick 1/2″ Noise-Dampening Bumpers
Kmise Z2807H3 14 x 17 mm Mini Aluminum Knob
Black and Red Plastic Shell Speaker Terminal Binding Posts
BOX3-1455N-BK Black Aluminum Box (6.30 x 4.06 x 2.10 in)
2.1mm Metal Panel Mount DC Power Jack
3.5mm Stereo Panel Mount Input Jack

Continue reading Desktop Audio Amplifier Chassis