My wife and I made a robot for our wedding to be the "flower girl" and "ring bearer". In the months leading up to the wedding, we realized we hadn't asked any of the nieces or nephews and that we wanted to add something unique to our wedding. She's a mechanical engineer and I'm a software engineer with electronics experience, so we threw something together. My only regret is that we didn't get the robot on camera during the wedding because it worked so great!
Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
641–650 of 694 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#642Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a near limitless number of things of this nature to be designed and built, running the gammut from little gizmos to electrical distribution boards like you've designed. I've had ideas for an in-vehicle weather station (internal/external temperature and humidity), a music system hand-off switch, and a variety of other little things that somebody building their own overland rig might want. Speaking as part of y…
Oh for sure, at least in the USA though FCC review gets pretty sticky so I'm actively avoiding selling anything for the moment that would require RF testing, etc. Unfortunately anything with a microcontroller or radio isn't going to be on my website for sale any time soon. I have to imagine most of the people in this space that are skipping testing/certification are just banking the FCC won't come after them. I suppo…
I've been through the process a couple of times with things that are supposed to radiate, and it was a frustrating and expensive process that I'm glad my employer paid for.
Its super annoying, and sets you up for an extra couple thousand dollar NRE per product, mandatory minimum cost to be 100% compliant. That cost is the other side of why I'm hesitant. I've got access to tens of thousands of dollars of test equipment at my employer; I don't really have those resources in my basement.
Its a shame that there doesn't appear to be much real testing to see if a device is operating on bluetooth/wifi responsibly, because it is possible to be completely compliant with relevant FCC standards, but then have such a shoddy bluetooth implementation that its still disruptive to everything around.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#643Earlier quoted context omitted.
I own 4.2 acres in the Sierras north of US-50 between Kyburz and South Lake Tahoe at 5,600ft elevation. It was not easy to find, but there is a seasonal creek that runs through it fed by snowmelt. I had to drill a well 600ft down to find water year round, there are no utilities so I had to dig out for septic, get propane storage for generator power, and I have a gravel path via an easement into an adjacent property t…
This is fascinating. Do you write about any of this stuff elsewhere?
I do not at the moment, but I agree that I need to start writing about my off-grid and battery-powered (mis-)adventures. Most of my battery management is bespoke hardware and I’d love to share it.
I also do not want to highlight the creepy side of remote living because that just attracts the wrong type of attention.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#644I build a house!
And by that I mean I buld it with my hands:
I layed every brick.
Did all the rebar & concrete.
Did the roofing.
Mounted the windows.
Installed the electrical.
calculated and build the heating
...
Besides of a few smaller crafts, I did most of it myself A and with some help of the family and friends.
But I'm still pretty proud of it. This was my corona project.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#645I am into boats, actually. I have built a plywood kayak-style boat, that I am not that proud of, but I am very proud of the 1965 Boston Whaler I restored. Looking for my next one!
Would also like to become better versed in the operation of outboards. I am looking at finding an old carbonated 2-stroke to rebuild.
Also built a sauna recently. Love it!
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#646Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, that's the spot I'm in right now... contract rates where I live went through the roof over the pandemic and never came back down. Aside: I wish I could smack whoever did the wiring in my home. They saved a few dollars on a breaker, but if I run my AVR/TV + Microwave (in adjacent kitchen) and the lights are on in the summer, it blows the breaker. And there's a dozen spaces on the box still available even.
That doesn't seem like a lot on a 20A circuit. I would replace the breaker.
Have, three times... once with a different 15A, and on the second 20A. There might be something else wrong in the wiring, and may have to rip up at least the cabinets and drywall on the one wall and the ceiling in the kitchen at the least to get to it. There was a remodel about 10 years ago (about 5 years before I bought it), and that may have been it, though could be original. Been wanting to replace the kitchen lighting anyway.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#647I spent a few years when I was younger learning to cook better... pretty much immersed myself in it when not working. Watched a LOT of cooking videos, the entire Good Eats series, and more. Never made anything especially cool, just got pretty good at sauce work, and understanding how some ingredients and techniques come together. I might have gone to cooking/culinary school in the evenings, but never did well in form…
Similar story, I used to be really into cooking and baking. I still have photos of sourdough bread, pizza, croissants, cakes, elaborate dishes... And then I started having weird health issues (auto immune crap, aka doctor speech for "we have no clue what we're talking about but you're screwed") and debilitating stomach pain. I was on a 95% vegan diet and I switched to paleo, which seemed to help a bit but still cause…
That's how I eat most of the time... eggs, meat and greens are pretty safe, but when I venture out of that box, I definitely pay for it. I like to say, "I like food, food's the one that declared war on me." When people question it.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#648A vacuum-tube driven Tesla Multiplier (like a Tesla coil but the traditional secondary is separated into resonant and coupling components).
I also built a betatron.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#649Dunno why nobody has said anything like this, but I make some awesome bread (baguettes, mainly) and pizza. What's great is not only that you get to eat the results, but whether it turns out well or badly, you get to repeat it all over again--and again, and again, and again.
I made some croissants and pains au chocolat in a class. I was expecting them to be just ok. They were not just ok. They one I had fresh out of the oven was not different by degree but different in kind from any I had had before, and I've had good viennoiserie! These were the platonic pastry all others had been reaching for and missing. I gotta try it again.
Now I'm jealous. I've been working on croissants off and on for a while--off, right now, because of the hot weather--but frankly was never happy with my results compared to a decent boulangerie. Whereas I do feel my baguettes and pizzas are both decently competitive.
Croissants are damn hard.
Re: Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?
#650Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry, I meant a kiln for the wood :)
Lol... I should have got that.... I do not have a wood drying kiln, but I have a small shelter where I stack boards over the winter. It ends up bone dry by the next year when I am ready to use it. I have thousands of board feet waiting to be milled, so I plan on building a larger lumber drying "shed" at some point with some of the resulting boards.
My fear with strictly air drying is bugs, but wood usage is primarily indoor furniture and fine woodworking. Have you had any issues with that?