Since the first 3D printer I constructed, a variation on the Rostock, only worked so-so, I decided to tear it down and reuse its components for a new printer. In this first article about my new printer, named HAluBot, I’ll go over and explain my design choices and show some renders of the CAD model I constructed.
In the summer of 2012, I stumbled upon the fantastic delta 3D printer by Johan Rocholl, the Rostock. Until then, 3D printers didn’t really interest me, but the Rostock looked so nice that I couldn’t ignore it. So I decided to build a derivative version myself, and started designing.
I recently had to program quite a few microcontrollers and got annoyed at one hand having to both hold the PCB and use the keyboard to program a chip. Therefore, I decided to upgrade my programming pen, so that I could trigger programming with its build-in pushbutton. The solution I came up with was to add a tiny USB keyboard circuit to the pen’s interface.
One minor annoyance when programming microcontrollers in-circuit, is that often quite a bit of PCB space is lost due to the programming connector. Furthermore, when you have to program many chips, repeatedly reconnecting the programming cable quickly becomes a chore. So when I found an article about constructing a programming pen that would help solve both of these problems, I decided to build one for myself.
The screen that we watch TV on at home has build-in speakers, but, because it’s actually a computer display, hasn’t got an infrared receiver. This made it impossible to set the volume with the TV receiver remote. I recently bought some Stellaris LaunchPad development boards and figured this was the perfect opportunity to make something useful with one.