Dander

A Question of the Day.  Is it ever good to "get one's dander up"?  Yes.  No. Maybe. Much is uncertain.

The phrase sounds, and is, American circa 1830's.  It might be a spin on a word from the West Indies that delightfully involves making rum.  "Dander, or Dunder" meaning the fermentation of sugar.  Inexpertly one assumes since it derives from the Spanish "redundar" which means "to overflow". 

Perhaps by now you've acquired my tendency to look at words and note similarities to other words.  Yes, redundar arrives straight from the Latin "redundare".  It's basic meaning is to be in excess, or superfluous.*

To be redundant in America is a little depressing but you are at least still drawing a paycheck.  In the UK "to be made redundant" means you've become obsolete and have been let go.

Near as I can figure Dander and Dandruff are not related at all.  The latter word is also of uncertain origins and one assumes Dandruff in any event goes down not up.  

And what about Dunderhead?  Dunder supposedly derives from Thunder via assorted Dutch influences.  It also rather suggests the influence of "Dunce".  As it happens the Spanish were not the only ones with interests in the West Indies.  If you manage your fermentation very badly - as a Dunce would - it might not just overflow but thunderously explode!

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*Darn it, more words linking to other words.  Superfluous meaning of course, quite literally, to be over flowing.....

FIRST Robotics 2024 - Week Three

We are at roughly the mid point of Build Season....and its an odd progress report.  Some things were done very quickly and very well.  Others that were assumed to be in hand or easy-peasy have proven otherwise.  One key system is pretty much non functional.   Sigh.

Drive base is good.  The electronics will be going on "under the deck" shortly.  We have nice bumpers.  The clearance is such that the game pieces will not get stuck under there.

We have an elevator.  It works but is still a little twitchy.   It is living on an old robot frame at the moment.  It's nice to have old stuff with the same mounting hole pattern.  Software can tinker with it as the main robot is being worked on elsewhere and otherwise.  Lots of metal shavings being generated.  That is one measure of progress.

The "end game" this year involves essentially doing a chin up on a saggy chain, then reaching the elevator up to drop a game piece in a high up slot.  Climber looks as if it will work.  Still need to attach a winch to the arms.  Nice level hang.  We have a bit of latitude as to the location of the remaining parts, so should be able to keep it that way.

Ah, but the device that actually picks the rings up and shoots them?  That's not going so well.  We are expecting to prototype two new designs on Monday.

Stay tuned.

A Happy Birbay

At some point having birthdays loses its novelty.  I barely notice 'em unless they end in a zero.  So my recent one was uneventful.  The highlight was artwork from the grand kids.  Hmmm....variations on a common theme here....

I guess this one is a reference to my age.  An old buck with 67 points on his antlers would not be able to lift his head off the ground.  I'm at least doing a little better than that crawling out of bed in the morning!

Delightful imps, the rather saucy nature of their greetings notwithstanding.

The Scrap Brotherhood of Cadott Wisconsin

Here's a little story I ran across.  As usual I was looking for something else.

Cadott is a small town to the east of us.  It was one of those second generation lumber centers.  The first generation were places on major rivers.  When the prime timber available for floating down to mill towns ran out, railroads were built and places like Cadott had periods of prosperity.  Usually these were brief.  Cadott and towns like it, strung out along the rail line, are quiet places now.

But there used to be a mill there.  And in 1880 there was also The Scrap Brotherhood.  This was a "benefit society" for mill workers.  Sort of a mutual aid group that supported each other in times of illness and such.  Jobs did not come with benefits back then.

In 1884 they built "a fine hall" known as Scrap Hall.  It was described as having a spacious stage and a seating capacity of 500.  Dances, dramatic performances, public meetings and such were held there.

Scrap Hall stood at the corner of Main and West, right across from the mill.  I can find it on plat maps starting in 1894, but the best detail is on the 1912 map.

The Brotherhood was well thought of in its time.  A brief newspaper mention from 1892:

Although evidently existing for at least 30 years I can't find out much more.  All members were required to be mill employees, and the occasional mentions exist of dances and such.  

The eventual fate of the Brotherhood and of Scrap Hall is ill defined.  Apparently the Hall was lost to fire at some point after 1912, and a blacksmith's shop was built on the site.  Here's how it looks in 2023.  The building, now expanded, is probably the successor blacksmith's shop and by its position likely sits on part of the foundation of the earlier, and more interesting, building.

FIRST Robotics 2024 - Week Two in Video

 For those of you who prefer video to monologue!

In case you were wondering, we do have enough of those big orange game pieces to make it to Week Six.  After that....maybe we start striking poses on the field elements!

FIRST Robotics 2024 - Week Two Report

Week two started with sub zero weather and a delay in delivery of key components.  That's the bad news.  On the flip side, we are at a stage of needing components for the final build far earlier than usual.  If this design "works" we'll have it rolling with a bit of time left to practice.

Ah, but that big "if".  The current design had three complicated things.  An intake/launch device that reminds one of a pizza box with powered rollers.  A pivoting elevator to move the box up and down/in and out.  And a second elevator for the grand finale climb.

Elevator two has been replaced with something simpler and more fun.  Elevator one is a known mechanism with only a few quirks due to not being upright most of the time.  It will work with modifications.  The pizza box is going to need several iterations.

A few pictures from early in the week.

We had all the elevator parts in stock.  You need precision for this, so the connecting brackets are carefully lined up with these expandable through clips.  They are called Cleco clamps.  I just like to say that word.  Powder coating is lookin' sharp.

Howard, last year's robot, had already been taken apart down the the drive base.  With a new base likely in a few days it was time to pull the motor modules off, clean them up, add new grease and replace a few bearings.  The robot had to live in my garage for a while over the summer.  An unfortunate consequence is a bit of rust here and there.  I'm not sure if robot deconstruction more resembles Nascar Pit Crew or Hyenas versus Antelope Carcass.  Bit of both I guess.  In past years we sometimes held a mock serious Robot Funeral but Covid put us all in a more somber mood.

Software is working with one of our other test bed robots.  It cruises around orienting by these sort of bar code signs.  They are called April Tags.

We got our batch of team designed, laser cut parts in this week.  Here's the base and an elevator mechanism.

The base will stay bare metal, but the other lasered parts....

Of our three weekday sessions, one was OK, two were very good.  Saturdays are when we get about half the work of the week completed.  Wonder what we'll see then?

Saturday started slow but built momentum as the day went on.  We now have three robots "live".  One is just a test bed for shooter mechanisms.  One is our competition machine.  The drive base is done and seems rock solid.  Here's a pic with several of the mechanisms at least laid into place.

It's coming along.  The third machine is the software development base.  The team has made considerable progress on this one.  Watch it lock into its launch location using the bar codes on the field elements for orientation.  This is with no human hand at the controls.

Basically we are on track.  There's now only one mechanism that concerns me and it has at least been started.  Onward.

Axman Redux

It's been a long time since I went over to Axman Surplus in St. Paul.  I've been trying to reduce the amount of random stuff in my basement, and Axman has serious Hoarder potential for those of us who like gadgets and kitsch.

I had heard that the place was broken into during the unrest a few summers back.  Looters in search of items that could be swigged or re-sold probably stood there a moment in silence, then went on to more productive targets.   

Is Axman still the King of Surplus Stores in 2024?

Without filling up my basement workshop (which I do refer to as Area 51) I can still enjoy the creative, ironic signage...

On that last one I think they missed a Cerberus reference.....

A few items at Axman are not for sale, being more permanent décor.  This emotive Jesus has been there for a long time.  His sign used to say "Go Easy on Jeezy".  Still Covid Days in his corner.  Guessing that raising Lazarus is harder than it once was...

Sometimes things get a little dark.  This looks to be a sort of pull over doll's head wig,.  Probably it went with the mannikin heads you often find staring at you from a top shelf.

Not that the Kitty and Shark masks for kids directly adjacent are all that much better.

Yes, Axman is still The King, at least by the standards of shopping entertainment per dollar spent. And I always enjoy the odd stickers and signs slapped on the outside of the building.  I've long suspected they mostly represented local bands who appear and disappear like May Fly hatches.  But I'm never quite sure...

DOGS Should VOTE.  (said to be a reference from a video game called Second Life.  But maybe also a band?)

I actually think this last one is Peak Axman.  A band called PathosMosfet would be pretty cool.  Combine a Emo sort of vibe with the name of an electronic component.  Or is it a reference to a specific brand of Italian made Amp?  Or both?  This time internet gives no answers...