Non-Robotic Related Hobbies

[jwallace15]

One thing that I love to do in my spare time is buy and assemble electrical kits, such as the picture displayed below. This particular kit is a 4-way stoplight. There is a swich in the lower left-hand corner, and an adjustable time delay is located to the right of the switch (separated by 3 resistors).
I have to ask - Do you have a fun hobby that you do in your spare time?

[rsisk]

How is this topic possible? It would imply the existance of a life outside of robotics.

All kidding aside, I like to do volunteer work as technical director for a local community theater. Build sets, lights, sound, and special effects, especially when I can work a robot or two into the set. I used pneumatics for the first time on the set of Something's Afoot and now I am itching to use more of them on a set,molts of possibilities. I volunteer at an arena style theater, so having all three dimensions to work in is especially challenging and well
suited For remote controlled robotics.

[jwallace15]

Way to go! Including robotics into the theatrical world is great!

In fact, I recently purchased a green screen for video editing. I understand that video editing and theatrics are two different things, but they are related in the entertainment aspect of people's lives. When I had a big project in school, I tried to take video of the showcase of said projects. Then I would create a video highlighting the memories of both the project, and the fun that went into working on it.

If I were to have the honor of volunteering as you do, I would be more interested in lighting. I feel that the two things that influence the audience during a show the most are lighting and special effects.

I am curious about one thing though; what did you use the pneumatics for? Also, what do the remote-controlled robots do on the set/during a show?

[Foster]

Originally Posted by rsisk

How is this topic possible? It would imply the existence of a life outside of robotics.

I've gotten so used to working 40 hours, doing robots for 90 hours, commuting, sleeping and eating the rest that I keep the pace up all year. So I

• Make and fly big kites (I have a 8'*8'*20' double box about ready to fly)
• Build electronic kits
• Ham radio (I'm K3FXS, working on moon bounce)
• Boating in the summer
• Software development on some open source projects

which leaves me 15 minutes a day to pet the cat.

[Garrett.d.w]

I too like filling up my time. It has gotten to the point where I typically get less sleep during the summer

To fill all of that valuable time I enjoy:
Swimming
Working as a Lifeguard
Working on cars (66 Mustang and a 63 Datsun Fairlady)
Arduinos
Martial Arts (recently replaced by the gym, the TKD studio isn't open late enough )
Edit: Forgot to add photography

Oh... I almost forgot CD and Reddit, I still somehow find time to browse both of them.

Edit: Also adding pics because... yeah.

The Cars




The back half only, the front doesn't exist... yet

Martial Arts (Karate from a long time ago)


And photography. Not my best, but my favorite



Hopefully this post isn't too big.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Foster

I've gotten so used to working 40 hours, doing robots for 90 hours, commuting, sleeping and eating the rest that I keep the pace up all year. So I

• Make and fly big kites (I have a 8'*8'*20' double box about ready to fly)

Alright, you are not going to get away with posting in this thread saying you have an enormous kite and not at least post a picture of it.

This thread needs more pictures. If you do cool stuff, you should post pictures so we can look at it!

I have spent entirely too much money on R/C airplanes. I don't own all the planes pictured in this closet, but I own other ones that aren't in that closet. The best kinds of hobbies are the ones where you can watch your dollar bills burn, aren't they?

Before I moved out to Washington to work with commercial jets, I spent a lot of time restoring vintage airplanes. There are a ton of airplanes here too, but recently I've been spending time on the water with old sailboats. (Dock on the left is filled with boats when people aren't renting them)

Also used to spend a lot of time messing around with CNC routers & tools, but I don't think I could hoist this up into my third story apartment. (Probably the only picture of a lobster trap and CNC machine together on the internet)

I've taken a couple of flights and am on a waitlist to fly gliders at a local club here. Definitely the most fun I've had in airplane.

And you can't live out here without riding an old bike... still working on the skinny jeans and thick rimmed glasses though.

I need to find a garage, my lathe is sitting in a box and probably getting pretty lonely.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

Alright, you are not going to get away with posting in this thread saying you have an enormous kite and not at least post a picture of it.

This thread needs more pictures. If you do cool stuff, you should post pictures so we can look at it!

Well, sure!

The truck after I broke the main chassis (remember kids, they design in screws for a reason!)
And after (ran great until I broke a rear A-arm and killed a bearing!)

The best kinds of hobbies are the ones where you can watch your dollar bills burn, aren't they?

Apparently!

[Adam Freeman]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Well, sure!

The truck after I broke the main chassis (remember kids, they design in screws for a reason!)
And after (ran great until I broke a rear A-arm and killed a bearing!)

Apparently!

You pay all that money for a Traxxas, so that they don't break. Must be driving it really hard....or really bad.

I just recently bought a Redcat Lightning XTG for me and my 5 year old son to play with. We got it last Friday. Two battery packs later, he smashed it into a pole and broke the lower control arm at the hinge pin. Hopefully the epoxy holds and we will be back up and running tonight.

Heading to the r/c track this weekend. Good thing I ordered some spare parts.

[JamesCH95]

My main hobby outside of robotics is playing race car and race car driver in various forms.

[jwallace15]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

My main hobby outside of robotics is playing race car and race car driver in various forms.

Have you ever played NR2003?

Also...

Originally Posted by Madison

Cool! I grew up with model trains and even worked at a hobby shop for awhile selling them. In addition to my dad's HO trains from when he was a kid and my brother's Lionel trains, I have my own collection of N scale equipment -- probably about 20-30 locomotives of varied sorts (N&W J, D&H PA1 A-A set, NKP GP35, UP E8 A-B-B-A, among others) and a few dozen freight and passenger cars. Before I moved to Seattle, I was working on a 12' x 12' two-level N scale set that focused on switching operations.

Sounds like your collection exceeds mine. I'd like to have a collection your size, but O-Gauge is too expensive. I looked up the price of an N-Scale Big Boy- About $25. In O-Gauge the Big Boy fetches about $1,800... Although I'm fine with just my DASH-9. I focus on cars... you said you have a few dozen? I envy that... I have 4 O-Gauge cars and approximately 7 O-27 cars. O-27 has the same sized trucks as O-Gauge, but O-Gauge is larger, and more detailed. I try to stick with BNSF and Burlington Northern cars now, although I don't mind my few Santa-Fe cars. I try to stick with the common rail line. I don't like my Conrail tank car... It looks ugly with the DASH-9! baby blue + orange =

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by jwallace15

Have you ever played NR2003?

No, I like turning right sometimes (I'm just teasing, I know there are road courses).

Seriously though, I am working through Forza4 right now. The customization and tuning options are good enough to the point that I notice the same behavior between my Forza cars and their real-life counterparts.

[jwallace15]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

Seriously though, I am working through Forza4 right now. The customization and tuning options are good enough to the point that I notice the same behavior between my Forza cars and their real-life counterparts.

From what I can see, Forza 4 looks good. Unfortunately, I don't have a 360 pr PS3. Are there any racing games for PC you can recommend?

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by jwallace15

From what I can see, Forza 4 looks good. Unfortunately, I don't have a 360 pr PS3. Are there any racing games for PC you can recommend?

iRacing is phenomenal, but pricey.

F1 Challange is good, technical, and very hard.

Those are the only two PC games I've really had much experience with that'd I recommend.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Adam Freeman

You pay all that money for a Traxxas, so that they don't break. Must be driving it really hard....or really bad.

I just recently bought a Redcat XTG for me and my 5 year old son to play with. We got it last Friday. Two battery packs later, he smashed it into a pole and broke the lower control arm at the hinge pin. Hopefully the epoxy holds and we will be back up and running tonight.

Heading to the r/c track this weekend. Good thing I ordered some spare parts.

While I am on record that a Slash VXL has more speed than I have talent (especially on the relatively tight track I run at), I can also hide behind the fact that I bought the Slash used. The previous owner had put on 1/8-scale wheels and tires, different shocks and bearing blocks, and a few RPM bits; the only upgrade I've added was going to RPM rear A-arms after the stock set broke near the pin (looks like the pin got loose).

The chassis went because the transmission wasn't screwed into the rear skid plate--I hadn't torn into that part to see how it all worked, so I didn't realize that its omission meant the whole rear end of the truck (transmission, motor, shock tower, A-arms) was sending all of its load through a small tab on the main chassis plate (plus whatever marginal support the skid plate provided). Really, it's a miracle the truck made it through practice, two heats, and half a main.

Last time I ran, the truck was tracking oddly; first hunch was a diff issue, but further inspection showed the bearings were going (again--one was bad when I bought it, but a fix was in the box). No telling where the last owner drove (there were sand paddles in the box mounted on stadium truck tires), so I figure that's just life. I'm just going to replace all eight on the truck with brand new ones so I don't get bit by this again.

Naturally, while troubleshooting that bearing issue I disconnected the motor from the ESC so I could get the whole back half of the truck off. While doing so, one of the ESC's plugs decided it was going to go along for the ride with the motor lead. I'll have to break out the soldering iron before my next run too.

It's the risk you run when buying used--but this has been a good lesson in a lot of things about the truck. I'm sure to run out of things to break eventually!*

*famous last words...

[Botwoon]

Originally Posted by Billfred

While I am on record that a Slash VXL has more speed than I have talent (especially on the relatively tight track I run at), I can also hide behind the fact that I bought the Slash used. The previous owner had put on 1/8-scale wheels and tires, different shocks and bearing blocks, and a few RPM bits; the only upgrade I've added was going to RPM rear A-arms after the stock set broke near the pin (looks like the pin got loose).

The chassis went because the transmission wasn't screwed into the rear skid plate--I hadn't torn into that part to see how it all worked, so I didn't realize that its omission meant the whole rear end of the truck (transmission, motor, shock tower, A-arms) was sending all of its load through a small tab on the main chassis plate (plus whatever marginal support the skid plate provided). Really, it's a miracle the truck made it through practice, two heats, and half a main.

Last time I ran, the truck was tracking oddly; first hunch was a diff issue, but further inspection showed the bearings were going (again--one was bad when I bought it, but a fix was in the box). No telling where the last owner drove (there were sand paddles in the box mounted on stadium truck tires), so I figure that's just life. I'm just going to replace all eight on the truck with brand new ones so I don't get bit by this again.

Naturally, while troubleshooting that bearing issue I disconnected the motor from the ESC so I could get the whole back half of the truck off. While doing so, one of the ESC's plugs decided it was going to go along for the ride with the motor lead. I'll have to break out the soldering iron before my next run too.

It's the risk you run when buying used--but this has been a good lesson in a lot of things about the truck. I'm sure to run out of things to break eventually!*

*famous last words...

I've had an RC18B that I converted to a T, then upgraded to the 18B2 chassis when it came out, and is currently not operational anymore. I had it running somewhere in the high 40s to 50s on the original chassis, the steel diffs you could buy for it held up much better than the current one.

Presently I've got an SC10 and SC104x4, which needs a new idler gear and spur. I've really had no time to go to any of my local tracks for a long time, and as such haven't had the motivation to fix it up. I've got a friend with a Slash, so I'll probably loan out the SC10 to his brother and have all three of us go down to the track sometime; there are some really awesome tracks in socal. I've met a lot of people in FRC who are into RC, in fact I know that Adam Heard is an avid RCer himself. Titan had crawler tires on the jaws, and Encore's pitching wheel had some small slicks stretched over it