Scrap-Build: Engineering the Flight-Rig - Part One

Hello STEM fans, yet again, my caring duties have kept me quiet, but not for long, I want to introduce the Allotted Introvert. That's me, by the way. With my hands on an allotment, I want to build and discover.

My Core-Rig!

As a keen 'virtual-aviator', I wanted to create a rig that would allow me fly with a stick that sits in the correct position, but also allows for it in VR. Having the Saitek X45 in a proper location will make the immersion into VR a lot better and not apply that confusion when we have to reach for the mouse  without our real-world sight. If you haven't tried this, I suggest you go into a headset and see how your orientation gets confused!)

Bits and Bobs!

The Build:
Taking the initiative of attaching the shaft beneath my office chair, I set about pulling an old bicycle maintenance stand, apart. The clamp would attach, I could then use my appalling welding skills to attach additional bits. The parts I used, were:

An assortment of parts...

• Upper section, and clamp, from a maintenance stand
• The top-pole and plating from a crafter's side-table
• The swing-bracket-plate from a satellite dish

Tools:

• Small arc-welder
• Matt-Black Spray-Paint
• Allen-Key
• Clamps

Fixed on and ready to weld...

To begin with, I placed the top sections together and clamped it to a parasol-pole, this worked great. I then welded the satellite bracket to the left-end of the horizontal pole. and added the upright table-post. (This is where my welding really shows its poor grace!)

Swing-Bracket...

Bringing it together, I drilled the new holes to offset the plate and sprayed it all up. It looks fine now, and at this point, I am ready to attach the flight-stick and throttle to it. I will post the look of this asap, and show it working on a vlog-post.

Check-out Part Two, to see how I have changed it, further, and get a better shot of the end-result.

Be happy, get building!

Gavyn, @beingSTEM

Scrap-Build: Engineering the Flight-Rig - Part Two

And.........we are back! Thanks for moving on to this part of the build. After testing it, I found that there were a few problems. The main one was that the throttle platform was too low. I needed to make a drastic change.

What I did:

I decided that I needed to add another upright column and fit a plate to its top. It took a while to work out what to do, but I came up with this:

TV Plate and Welded Upright Column...

Using another part of the crafter's table, I made it adjustable by using the stand that included a clamp-section. I then added the rest of the maintenance-stand's top-pole.

Using three holes will help with changing chairs...

The X45 has now been attached and it looks, great. The throttle is a little more twisted than I had expected, but once I try it, it might be a better fit for comfort. I will be adding the promised video as-soon-as possible. Once it is available, I will add it to the bottom of this blog.

The swing-plate will be used, eventually...

As an addition, I intend to also use this rig for Elite:Dangerous. With my VR headset on, this will be a great reason to stream my own despair. Watch this space for how this goes, I am hoping not to need  a redesign, let's see, and keep an eye out for the video, below. (There is also a few more images, too.)

(Amendment: Since this was written, and since video was produced, I have upgraded to an X52 H.O.T.A.S. Once this is attached, I will take a picture and post it the gallery, below.)

Stay safe, happy STEM!

As promised, the YouTube video...

Quick Gallery

 

The Steep Steep Rise of VR

It has been a while since my last post, offering STEM based news has been on the back-burner for a while. With a harsh winter, lots of nurturing, and the realisation that I want to go out of the house to work, but can't, I return once again to talk about the new wave in STEM and beyond.

I have been a huge fan of Virtual Reality since the early 90s, It may have been mentioned in prior texts that I longed for the VFX1 in 1995(ish). This was a highly developed peripheral (at the time) offering a chance to step into a polygonal-world. By the standards that were set by Oculus a few years ago, this is now a dinosaur. My own knowledge was to grow drastically after a college study saw me use popular culture and new technologies to aid in my presented endeavours.

I was always going to jump on the wagon and get my hands over one of the latest headsets. I decided, early on, to pre-order an Oculus DK1 (Developer-Kit-1) headset, I waited months for the box to arrive and loved the use of it and what it taught me. That headset was quickly superseded, the DK2 (Developer-Kit-2) was better on the eyes, but it was when the CV1 was released that the DK1 headset turned into more of an ornament than that of a digital peripheral.

I have now moved on. This week, I became the proud owner of a HP Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headset. It is specified as an underdog to the HTC Vive and the Oculus setups, but having configured it, it is NOT far behind! The stark difference between my old headset, compared to this, is, quite frankly, staggering; it has a resolution that sits miles ahead of the DK1. To cap off the history and present trends, I will just say one thing. With a plethora of units on the market, they all have their place regardless of which hardware they are attached to. Cost is a big factor, with the former setups costing at least twice the price of what I paid out on the WMR headset. Money aside, let's get on with my thoughts...

The HP headset is well-made and is comparable to the other WMR headsets on the market with only the viewing width being its moderate downfall. I found that this was quickly forgotten about as I stepped into the Cliff House that adorns the new updates from Microsoft.
What I love the most, though, is the ease of setup. I read about users that hated the idea of it being within Windows, seeing it as a problem. I have seen simplicity at its finest! I love that the update has given me a quick VR experience. With the headset fully connected, dropping the eyepiece down onto your face (a great feature) puts you into your virtual-home within two-seconds. Once setup, Steam is accessible with SteamVR and its sister plugin, SteamVR for Windows Mixed Reality, opening the headset to the Vive's world. What a boon! I love this headset, the controllers are highly impressive, too. Many have been disappointed by the scope of controller use, seeing them disappear behind the head is an annoyance that is down to the integrated spacial-cameras on the front. (More about these in a moment.) I have had no problem with this. As I used the software, I felt more comfortable having the controller's avatars in sight, anyway.

The spacial-cameras act like the sensors that come with the other headsets. These, however, are built in. Some might say that this can have its problems, but so far, this has only served to make things easier. On the whole, I have adopted this later than many and I know that there were some real issues at the beginning, but now, its all smiles from me! The biggest hurdle is the computer 'spec' requirements. It is obvious that you will need a big machine, but this has left many in the dark, dreaming of owning such technology. Comparisons? The HP, along with much of the other headsets in the range, need a lot less to get decent frames-per-second. This allows entry-level systems to be in the market, too.

Before I summarise with my final thoughts, I want to share the feeling of putting it on my face for the first time:

Once it was setup and the odd wrinkle ironed out, I tightened it to my face. I spent time to centre my pupils, minimising the blurry movement that can occur. I flipped it down and saw the tutorial spark up. Her delightful voice spoke to me, showing me what to do and introducing my eyes to the mighty Cliff-House. My first action was to swoosh the controllers around, using the pointed beams as light-sabres. (Yes, I included the sound effects!) I saw the holograms and impulsively added a floating spaceman to my porch.
After getting Steam up and running, I found out how to add the Netflix screen to my cinema-space. I then sat and watched the final minutes of an episode I had been watching. It really does feel like a huge screen ahead of you! (My favourite bit about this room is the night-switch. Pressing it will remove the walls and ceiling and give you a night sky that blankets the mountainous vista in front of you. What a delight!)

In Summary:

VR is really moving and I am a proud to be part of it. MY own projects in VR are under-way, some that have been on the cards for almost thirty years. The level of technology has moved with the ease of development, opening the industry to people like myself that can now step inside.
It is quite apparent that the commercial success will rely on the marketers aiming the wares at the gaming community in the opening years. The industry, though, is clearly aiming at the VR converted. It needs to attack the common individual, and maybe fight for attention from those that adopted the mobile phone so easily. As technology is unhinged, we are set to see new enterprise rise from the slump. I used to vision a 'Lawnmower Man' type scenario, spinning on a virtual plain or playing a Tron-type cycle battle. It is good to see films released that, once again, harness the use of headsets, Ready Player One is the modern equivalent that seeks to draw the believers and to coax a few more.

Social media and chat-spaces are all heading to Goggleville, as the technology moves to even higher climbs, will more people share their lives in a virtual setting, and if so, how bad could this be for humanity? My thoughts are straight forward, if treading carefully, this could be a saviour. My love for VR was always about 'possibility'! those that are less fortunate could have what they are missing. My biggest love is the thought of simulation. Anybody that knows me, knows that I am a simmer at heart, and love the pretend worlds that can be used to benefit my own emotional and physical future. For now, I hope this continues to grow, I for one, am sticking with it and truly love my new toy!

For further VR output, look at: Stem-and-Learning-Cycle

Written for BeingSTEM - 2018

(All writings are written with my own ideals in the hope of aiding others, some day.)

Is Howard Wolowitz a 'good' engineer?

The Big Bang Theory has been around for some years now, making more than ten seasons has given the general public a lot to contemplate. Each of the characters are unique in their convictions, and they can bring a different element of humour to the award-winning show.

This is all about Howard, the Beatle-haired, hoochie-pants-wearing, guy, with a need for intimacy, however crude it might be. His background has been well explored, coming from a Jewish single mother provided the core of his humorous activities for the first half the show's seasons. He is not what society recognises he should be, instead, he is keen to woo any lady that are close enough to be verbally attained. In the first season, he is up for dating the blond-beauty across the hall from his friends' apartment. My beef is not about the fact that he is a 'lady-killer', but that he is bordering on engineering's version of the pretend executive. He is unable to complete tasks, making errors that would see him cast out, and with that, a definite NO to space travel. That's right, if you are unaware of this character, he is also, as of the end of season 5, an astronaut. This was to fix engineering issues and then maintain them in the International Space Station. This is baffling in its own right. A quick mention should also go to his disregard for that which he has access. He once used a government recon-drone to find the 'Next-Top-Model' household, and if that wasn't bad enough, he then decided to break communication with a Mars Rover, just because he was attempting to impress a girl. The man is a threat to national and global security!

Mars-Rover Mayhem!

So, let's look at the evidence for my theory that Howard is only half the engineer, and not the storming one that he achieves the accolades for. Thus, here we go...

Howard's Toilet Mishap:

In season 2, Howard is tasked with producing a zero-gravity toilet that ultimately ends up on the ISS. This toilet is later found to have issues, namely the release of excrement within the confines of the space station. After an evening of problem solving, he finds a solution to it, but not without a lot of messing about, and considerable help of his 'doctor' friends. This is okay if it is a singular mishap, but it is the beginning of many issues that serve to evidence my, eventual, theory. The end of this episode, incidentally, sees the ISS in orbit and the astronauts claiming that they need to leave the station for a space walk; they then alert Houston to the pending poop-fest that is now inside the capsule. This shows that, even with a lot of effort, it all failed anyway.

The Drone Dismemberment:

After Raj purchases a drone, Howard and Sheldon discover that it doesn't work properly. What does Howard do next, yes, he takes it apart. It is at this point that Sheldon reminds him of the toilet. Howard then makes the excuse that it worked, but it wasn't designed for the 'Russian potato-based diet'. Even after the eventual phone call to customer services, the drone picks up another signal and goes AWOL from their control. Another mess up from a skilled engineer? In his defence, Howard is also asked to fix Sheldon's train, informing the viewer that there is a notable skill in him that Sheldon can see, that's high praise, given the nature of Sheldon's character.

Miss-Use of Government Funds and Inventory:

This is a storm, so keep your hats firmly held on your heads. The largest misdemeanours that occur, other than the Next Top Model house, are:

• Robotic Arm: This is taken home and used to massage his shoulder. With his perversion taking hold, he then decides to use it for extras. Getting stuck, he is whisked to hospital, where the nurse frees is with the escape key. This happens a second time before the end of the episode.
• Creation: Howard makes a networked pair of mouths, for kissing! Creates Bernadette's diamond ring, with his mother's back hair, on the University's hydraulic press. He cooks his paninis to perfection with a heat-cupboard, offering this service to his buddies.

So, it isn't a great problem, pressing the diamond, and he is actually quite skilled at jewellery. This was evidenced when he joined the girls, and Raj, on one of their get-togethers. In this episode, they are making jewellery; he excels at this. The materials? They come from the University, where else?

Professor Hawking's Service:

Howard's skills are called upon by Professor Stephen Hawking. Making a visit to Pasadena, he is here to do a series of lectures and requires Howard to keep his chair in tip-top condition. After one of his servicing trips, he is found with a left over sprocket, and he doesn't know where it belongs! Another piece of evidence to show that he is inept!

On the Defence!

As a character, he is very funny and his absence whilst visiting the ISS was noticed. The show lacked the ludicrous outcomes of a needy nerd, hyped up on the fun with his wife and friends. There is no true answer to this, he must be good at some parts of his job, if not all. If NASA approve of him, and the University use him on loan from the Space Administration, then there has to be an engineering genius within him, possibly shown away from the contexts of the episodes that we see.

He is quite clearly engaged for humour, and I know that this is a silly question really. I like the character, and believe the show could offer up some of Howard's 'excellence' for a while. Even though the humour might lack a little, not being a mummy's boy, a pervert, and a doormat to Sheldon, would be a breath of fresh air. The latest offerings that see him as an inventor, creating a working radar system for use by the military, is closing in on this. The choice to make him need his friends to contractually keep him in the loop is a little sad, though. This was another way to show that he is a dependant, not able to survive without the hand of another to stabilise him.

Either way, he is a great character. Long live Howard Wolowitz! What do you think? Are there any parts of The Big Bang Theory that show him in a stronger light? For now, I hope that he is given some strength in future episodes, at least before the last one airs.

Written for @beingSTEM - 2017

Can Assistance based AI change the way that we exist?

Our lives are surrounded in technology. The very notion of putting our phones down depicts the end of the world. As a late-night screen-reader, I am often kept awake by the emitted glow of blue light.
Putting this aside for a moment, our very nature as human beings is changing, we are less likely to communicate than we once did, and we have become more self-affirming than ever before. If for nothing else, social media is a great way to show off. The very idea of 'keeping up with the Jones's' is unfathomable to me; I see no real point in comparison to others, let alone trying to be like them.

Small processors could still help!

So, the very emergence of this technology might be the new age of humanity. There have been many key moves in our history, the things we like and the ideals that spark our curiosity have all been altered in some way. I think about the floating chairs in Wall-E's world as a possible future, although it should be mentioned that even this has, at least, a social aspect to their existence.

This post is all about how technology could assist us in more than just imaging what we had to eat. At what point did we decide that friends and family, and the greater population, would like to know what our baked potato looked like during dinner, or how healthy your oats, with tangy fruit bits, looked this morning?
The game has been raised with personal assistant modules, our Mobile phones harbour Siri, or Windows being the bearer of Cortana. These assistants may still be in their infancy, but how can they form the basis for a better existence?

Siri is seldom used on my phone, though the concept is very intriguing to me. A.I. has handed me a warm, funny, feeling, since I was asked a question that regarded the socially anxious aspects of such a thing. Back in the day, some twenty years ago now, I was asked: "If an A.I. was advanced enough to replicate that of a human being, and that said technology was installed into a machine that has the appearance of a specific individual, would they BE that person if THEIR memories could also be added?" This holds a big dilemma, humans would understand that this person is now synthetic, but holds the potential wisdom of the real person that is known prior.

So, even if people would not accept this dilemma, what if our assistant software was built upon A.I.? The world that is pictured in iRobot shows the open use of helper droids, there are even friendships built on synthetic connections, creating a society of human to A.I., and A.I. to A.I. companionship. This world is capable of using technology for good, we are hounded by stories of rogue machines and failing societies, all because of a device that finds its own voice and destroys them.

Okay, this has gone a little awry, the use of our personal devices should become more than just an excuse for capturing our daily monotony; what about them running our errands and keeping us on our feet? 'We can download an app for that!' This is what we hear all of the time on TV, the ever beloved big Bang Theory have even addressed the concept of writing apps to do specific jobs, in their case, reading equations in an instant! What apps exist right now? Fitness ideals are matched to your body's needs, nutrition can be managed, and even the calendar has its place in our day to day lives.

What was that? Can I hear you shouting? "Get on with it you muttering fool!" Okay, here we go! If our lives are anything, they are a busy entanglement of business, pleasure, and a small bit towards the progress of our self. Even though the technology and software exists to provide help in many areas of our lives, there is a lot of room for improvement. I am quite outspoken about my distaste for many of modern societies whims, and the very thought of many of today's quips feels like hives in my brain! I have come to a conclusion that we are often looking at the negative, imagine a world that foresees negativity and adjusts you with small, mental, alterations. If A.I. was specifically tendered to the user, as it learns, it helps you to move forward; as it strives to help you, it makes ideal suggestions to 'bypass' the very problem in the first place.

I first had this concept a few years ago. The emergence of QuInt, was an idea based on one premise, 'Questionable Intelligence'. Ultimately though, the software was a personal companion, the technological and funding limitation is what stopped any further extension of it. The following is the theory base that I wanted to work on:

• QuInt is a companion based A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) that serves to both adapt and adjust to the user. The personal outcomes that are expressed by this entity are built from what it knows about you. Key focus is based on shrinking the overall processing, meaning that the end result is 'small-brain' compliant. (Concept derived and highlighted by G. Rudd, July'2014) [The term 'small-brain' is given in reference to the use of smaller computer processors. This is when comparing them to the large A.I. systems that make up the 'super-computer' realms of technology.]

This idea is still sitting in my own, 'small', brain. There may be a use for it some day, but for now, I truly believe that the use of A.I. could be used to aid in humanity, not accelerate the application for social prowess or build ways for us to create destruction.

What are your thoughts on A.I., will it destroy us? Are there any ways that you have thought of for using A.I. in a 'positive' light? Until the assistance is compiled, let those of us that care, keep doing so!

On an extra note, I am intending to further my understanding of A.I. Visit beingstem.uk to see the progress, and even be a part of it.

Written for @beingSTEM - 2017

The Technology Slump

After a hiatus from writing my STEM blog, I decided to write my thoughts from last week. I was thinking about the world that we live in, what we have acheived, and what we will acheive in the future.

My thought rested on one key idea, asking if I'm in the wrong timeline? No, not like an episode of Fringe or the X-Files, but more about my place in history. I am aware of how wrotten the 19c was, the illness and very young deaths make it a no return policy, but I believe they might have had a positive outcome that works to mark-out these measly notions.


With technology being at a sombre spot in this era, we were still open to many new ideas. There was a lot to explore, places to see, and information to attain. I am worried that we have hit a slump! We have advanced so fast with our tech in the last century that we may be ahead of where we should be, and until the advancements reach planetary exploration, these new-land-discovery urges can only be a dream.

We might be talking about going to Mars by 2030, though I'm sure it will happen later than expected, what we have now feels like it is holding us down to the ground. As an exploratory person, I love to find new places, create new ideas, and build, just build! I feel that my skills and ideals are wasted right now, being better used 150 years ago, or 150 years in the future? What can I do about it? Let's look at these:

• We are splashed with information all of the time, there is little to be learned beyond the struggle to surpass our current tech level. Although the Internet is a great idea, we are able to share and archive like never before, so what is there to explore anymore?
• Our idols have shifted to 15 minute has-beens, people who are famous for being a face on a cheap TV show. The engineers of the past, scientists that saw huge acclaim, are seamingly forgotten about. It is these people who could alter the future of our planet, making new leaps into a better future.
• With a positive mortality rate, are we making things worse? It's not great dying at 35, but with so many more people pushing 100, are we simply working against the planet's capability? Perhaps this pushes more reasoning towards the off-planet living many have dreamt about.

I could spout on about this, but the key focus is on the fact that I am hard pushed to find new ideas now. As a wee 10 year old chap, I would hash new sketches, build basic prototypes from scraps, all this whilst bearing in mind that 3D printers were still two decades away! This was an inspiring time for me, one that I fear has left me, and the world, for good.

So, should we sit back and wait for the new age to begin in the hope that we make it there, or should we be the ones to start it? What would it take, a new focus on tech for a better future, not a more comfortable one? Perhaps that is were we are going wrong?

What do you think? Tech is great, and serves a key purpose in modern life, but there must be something you would prefer in your life, perhaps from the olden days, or for a future yet to be seen.

Register at beingstem.uk and be a part of the STEMvolution. Until next time...

Tolerant World: Adding warmth to those that don't have it...

As I sit under the moon, typing by the warming hum of my PC, I can only sense the feelings that hamper our homeless citizens. The town that I live in is home to many without a safe-space; sleeping in doorways and hoping for a couple of quid for a 'bite' is all they have.

It would be easy, and is for many, to look down on these individuals, knowing that we are tucked away in the relative security of our closed block. I am not going to do this, and want us all to make a step into the new initiative, that is, Tolerant World.

Picture it: I was in a McDonald's restaurant in Stoke-on-Trent, having a coffee with a friend, when suddenly I noticed that the 'loyalty' stickers, that I collect and swap for another beverage after the sixth, were making huge leaps forward, into the trash!

What do you think was running through my brain then? What if...we could gather the dead stickers and offer them to the homeless on cold, winter, nights? If only 25% of people that threw them away would place them into one place, we could make sure that the cold months were a little more easier than what they are now.

I have come to these assumptions:

1. McDonald's must budget for these stickers being used at least 75% of the time, if not, it could have ramifications beyond their control,
2. The people that throw them away aren't bothered anyway, what is the loss to them?
3. In every 1000 binned stickers, 25% would equate to 250 of them, which then would cover 41 loyalty-cards with 4 left over.
4. There are other loyalty schemes for hot beverages in the market place. Can we get something out of these multi-billion dollar companies? They could help the 'high-street' in the process!
5. As a hot beverage drinker, I believe they do make a difference in the cold weather, even if it is a small one.

So, with these in mind, a little more research and some 'fire' in the form of support, this could become a reality. Whether they are issued to charity houses like Shelter, of to hostels that are already on the ground, it could start a ball rolling in a positive direction.

STEM should not sit in the background, keeping the buildings high and providing technological breakthroughs without first being mindful of what is on the ground beneath it all. A tolerant world would make all the difference, not just to the poor and needy, but to ALL of us, we are all human and could all try a little harder to respect it as a fact!

What are your thoughts? Are there ways that you could help? You may have ideas that could launch this initiative and help it become a reality? For now, let's hope that one day we cold really see a 'Tolerant World'.