Back in 2012, I designed and 3D printed a desktop modular coil gun. I made a video of the build at the time and published it on YouTube, so I could share it with friends. The coil gun ended up on my shelf and I moved on to the next project. Looking back, I see that this particular video has gotten quite a few views since then. I have received a few requests for design details since then, many of which I haven’t responded to yet (I guess 9 years latency is pushing it a bit, but hey, I’ve been busy!

I have been making nixie clocks for some time now. I still have hundreds of various nixie tubes and dekatrons in my inventory, but I feel like taking a timeout from the clock projects for a while now and maybe focus on something else. I have tons of project ideas written down in my TODO list. Unfortunately, I don’t have an infinite amount of available time for these projects, so I will have to prioritize a bit.

A friend and colleague of mine handed me a LilyGo T5 a couple of months back (We sometimes trade electronics “overstock” resulting from getting over-excited during late night shopping sprees on AliExpress). I stuffed the T5 into my bag and mostly forgot about it until a few days ago. The device is marketed as a digital price tag, but since it has a capable onboard microcontroller (ESP32), SD card support, an E ink display along with WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, you can use it for so much more.

“The Automaton” is my take on how to do a low budget robot controller. Tech specs 6 - 45V input voltage range. Support for up to 32 servos with a maximum total current draw of 6A at 5V. 24Hz to 1526Hz PWM controller with 12 bit resolution. 240MHz MCU with WiFi and Bluetooth. 9DOF sensor fusion IMU that outputs absolute orientation angle at 100Hz. FTDI programming header. Expansion header with 14 available GPIO pins.

Inspired by the last local robot tournamet at Omega, the Norwegian initiative Lær Kidsa Koding and a few discussions at my local hackerspace (Hackhem) I decided to revisit the BBC Micro:bit platform to see if it would be suitable as a mini sumo controller. The idea was that it would be really cool to attempt a design of an entry level mini sumo platform, that used commonly available parts, didn’t cost an arm and a leg, was easy to build and easy to program.