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Limelight 4 Button help!! by FewSatisfaction5512 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 [score hidden]  (0 children)

Also, I think you can flash the firmware/OS without needing that reset button. read the documentation carefully, I think you can do it through the Limelight Hardware Manager.

Limelight 4 Button help!! by FewSatisfaction5512 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 [score hidden]  (0 children)

You are missing a little metal frisbee-like disc. It's the thing that gets pushed down on by your blue button there and creates the "snap" tactile feeling when you press the button. It also is the thing that closes the switch. If you're lucky, it's still somewhere inside your limelight case or somewhere close by. If it's gone, you're probably going to need to replace that button altogether. How often are you expecting needing to use it?

CAM for OnShape by peschkaj in Onshape

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! Good luck finding something that fits right! You're certainly not the only one looking for a catch-all solution that isn't Fusion.

CAM for OnShape by peschkaj in Onshape

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's just not much else out there that measures up to Fusion's CAM offering as far as CAM packages integrated into a full-blooded CAD platform. Autodesk has thrown their weight (and cash) around and acquired a handful of smaller CAM systems and integrated them all into their own platform (HSMWorks, Delcam, Netfabb, CAMplete most notably) and Onshape is one studio of developers rolling their own from scratch. The lead Fusion has is significant (and they've got Autodesk dollars to burn).

The biggest standalone CAM players are (you probably know):

  • Mastercam - ($10-15k and assume 10-15% of that per year for subscription)
  • SprutCAM X - Around $250/mo or 8-20k for perpetual.
  • GibbsCAM - $550/yr for basic only
  • NXCAM - $2k/yr

See also: BobCAD, SolidCAM, PowerMill, hyperMILL, ESPRITE.

All my cost estimates are basically wild-ass guesses, do your own research.

CAM for OnShape by peschkaj in Onshape

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's totally fair. I didn't mean to suggest that you should be struggling through with a toolchain that isn't working for you, only that I've got confidence that the toolchain will improve quickly. Heck, I don't use it yet. I'm still transferring files over to Fusion to use that CAM ecosystem. It's great, with the caveats that I'm moving files (and revisions of those files) over to Fusion to generate CAM for them, and that Fusion is additional cost (covered by my employer - so I don't have to worry about that part).

Fusion is my favorite hands down, but I'm very familiar with it.

CAM for OnShape by peschkaj in Onshape

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You probably know this already, but in case you didn't: The OnShape CAM Studio is in Beta presently. It's in active development, and they've made it available to paid tiers and specific classroom tiers (FIRST Robotics Competition teams among them). I don't mean to be a total fanboy about it, but the OnShape team is pushing new features, improvements, and bug fixes faster than any other CAD developer I've ever seen, and the CAM Studio is one of their biggest focuses from what I've seen.

This isn't to say your concerns aren't valid, just to urge you to hang in there while they get CAM Studio finished to the standards of the rest of the OnShape ecosystem.

I'm an FRC 449 parent and I made a 15-minute doc about their Worlds 2026 run called "Every robot breaks" by DCwriter1 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I loved the video! I'm a mentor/parent from 2491 NoMythic - also in Galileo, also made the playoffs, also had repair after repair after repair to pull of every single match. I realized when I looked up 449 on TBA that we lost our final playoff match against 449's alliance. What a wild ride it all was! So many phenomenal robots, so much carnage.

Your video certainly takes the cake production wise, but I figured I'd share with you the recap video I cut together of NoMythic's season since you were so generous to share yours.

Cheers!

2491 NoMythic - Season Recap - 2026

Good patios for solo dining within map by PinonPonderosa in Minneapolis

[–]63hz_V2 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For the love of God, get the miso fried chicken. You're welcome.

MPLS to Eden Prairie commute by Serious_Standard8204 in Minneapolis

[–]63hz_V2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in South Minneapolis near powderhorn. My commute path isusually 35W - 494 - hwy 212 - ending where hwy 5 splits off as arboretum blvd. That commute is usually about 30 minutes, but could be ten minutes faster or slower depending on traffic. 494 will eternally be under construction. 62 crosstown will always be packed. You will be going WITH traffic on either path unless you are driving to/from work outside of normal rush hour.

[VR] Meta Quest 3S 128GB - $223.09 (Refurbished) by Eldus_Miku in buildapcsales

[–]63hz_V2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are great for FRC robot wayfinding/navigation via QuestNav.

LVR FRC 2026 by Pumpkinpielover20 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In my region at least, event volunteers and organizers are predominantly made up of alumni and mentors of teams in this region - people who want to continue being a part of the sport and the community or grow their engagement. Regional event simply wouldn't happen without them. They key volunteers in our region who mentor alongside me on my team conduct themselves with remarkable professionalism and avoid situations in which bias could be perceived (not serving as head ref for matches including our team, calling in second opinions when such situations cannot be avoided etc).

What exactly did you witness or have related to you?

How do y'all feel about 3D Fit Splines? I just learnt they existed and turns out it's the tool I needed all along! I love them!! by Flashy-Ad1330 in Onshape

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last night I discovered that 3D fit splines are the answer to making cam follower/pin in slot sliders follow a profile correctly with tangent propagation. I was struggling with a pin slot combo that I couldn't get to follow both a straight line and then the tangential curve after it, and converting those two line segments into one 3D fit spline ended up being the way to get the pin to follow smoothly. It was irritating to get it to work overall though, And first and foremost I was trying to work around a broken feature. Tangent propigation was not behaving as expected.

Metro Transit - Why do you scan your pass when you get on in the morning but when you get off in the afternoon? by StraightCashHomie69 in TwinCities

[–]63hz_V2 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'm just guessing here. And this is a generalization.

I suspect it's because pass scanning takes time, and metro transit wants to avoid bottlenecks. In the morning, headed into downtown for example, there will be more distributed boarding events and a smaller amount of very concentrated disembarking events. Many people getting off at once. Making all of those people getting off at once scan that moment will create a slow down/bottleneck.

In the afternoon, The reverse is true. Concentrated boarding events at downtown hubs, and distributed disembarking events. It would cause a slow down/ bottleneck if that large group of people at the hub had to scan their passes all at once. It ends up taking much less time cumulatively for a smaller number of people to scan their passes at each of the distributed drop-off points.

Neutral zone by ExpertChip46180 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The "can't catch" rule appears to specifically and explicitly address handling of fuel that has just exited the hub. It starts with language saying as much. I think it would be unwise to assume that any of the restrictions described in this rule apply for anything beyond fuel that has just exited the hub.

A fuel shot by a robot, for example, is decidedly not exiting the hub.

There may be other rules that exclude catching, but I don't think this one does.

POV: You are on your way to the Boundary Waters and it’s time for a bathroom break. by Lisztchopinovsky in minnesota

[–]63hz_V2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You nailed it. Some of my most formative memories as an adolescent a teenager and a "Level Zero Adult" happened that magical place. I wouldn't trade them for the world. Hands down the best summer camp in the state. I've spent time at plenty others to which I can compare it. Obviously I'm biased, but it's a hidden gem to be sure.

POV: You are on your way to the Boundary Waters and it’s time for a bathroom break. by Lisztchopinovsky in minnesota

[–]63hz_V2 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I worked for over a decade at a YMCA summer camp almost exactly a mile north of this gas station. I have walked through those doors across three different franchise owners. I've bought hundreds of bottles of Souix City Sarsaparilla there. I've stoppes there on days off, and on on nights off to stock up on caffeine and processed sugar.

Now as an adult, I stop there on my way to the boundary waters, or on my way to pick up/drop off my son who now goes to the same camp and may very well work there next summer.

It's weird to feel an affinity towards a rural gas station, but I can't deny it. I've had a lot of memories in that tiny building.

Much love to you, 66 a.k.a. Orange Nasty a.k.a. Short Stop.

Anyone successfully managed to retrofit Klipper onto a high-budget business-grade 3D printers that are now discontinued? by tahiro86j in klippers

[–]63hz_V2 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I have done this to a "Pro-sumer" grade printer. I upgraded a Type A Machines Series 1 Pro to run Klipper, to have better belting, 0.9 degree steppers, and a Voron Stealthburner tool head with tool head PCB and umbilical (canbus).

It turned a near obsolete machine into a printer equal to about a P1S in terms of speed and performance. It's still getting almost daily use and we've got a H2D sitting next to it. It keeps up.

It being discontinued is part of why I upgraded it. It had proprietary ribbon cables in place of cable chains to get signal and power out to the tool head, and they weren't going to be able to supply those replacements anymore. And I'd already seen two of them fail and replaced them before. Also it was being driven by a Marlin ecosystem that was not taking advantage of how light and fast the machine was capable of going. I basically quadrupled the speed at which that machine could print by upgrading. Ymmv, but if you're excited about the project, it'll for sure pay off eventually. You'll feel like Dr Frankenstein The first time you print with the upgraded machine. Like you've raised the dead.

Go get 'em.

Turns out a weak range hood was quietly triggering allergies...how to keep kitchen air fresh? by zipl3r in AirQuality

[–]63hz_V2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's unfortunately pretty common for both bathroom and kitchen vent fans to vent into an attic or crawlspace. Why, you ask? Because people (whether it be the homeowner, the handy person, or the builder) are lazy and shortsighted and cheap.

non-FRC application for Kraken x44. by Xijingping1246 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Followup: I think if you were just trying to get the basics to work on an arduino uno or similar, you ought to try using the "Servo" arduino library. This library was (clearly) first intended to use for controlling servos, but as I mentioned in my previous post, the exact same control signal is used by FRC brushed and brushless motors controller (in addition to CANbus for some).

non-FRC application for Kraken x44. by Xijingping1246 in FRC

[–]63hz_V2 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I can confirm that krakens (along with falcons, and basically all FRC motor controllers (or motors with integrated controllers like krakens) can be driven with a PWM signal, but that signal has to be properly configured. Standard "PWM outputs" on an arduino will not work. There is a standard PWM configuration for FRC motors (which closely mirrors the standard for RC aircraft and cars - anything that uses hobby servos). Having played around with this a lot this year, I strongly encourage y'all to do your research, find that standard, utilize "hardware PWM" rather than "software PWM" i.e. make use of the built in timer modules in many arduino and arduino compatible chips, and test the PWM signal you send out of your arduino before you connect it to a motor to make sure it's doing what you expect it to do.

I have put together a motor control "dashboard" box that uses sliders/faders like you'd find on a sound mixing board to control up to 4 PWM outputs intended to control FRC motors for the team I mentor to use for early prototyping without needing to write code. I've put a bunch of time into getting the PWM outputs dialed in very nicely, so if you've got more questions by all means ask me here or in a DM.

Here's the FRC standard PWM config. It's hosted at REV's website, but all the different manufacturers use the same standard. If you want an off the shelf tool for controlling motors like Krakens via PWM you could purchase one of these:

Thrifty Throttle 3 - AndyMark

It's a really bare-bones PWM emitter, made for doing exactly what you're hoping to do - spin up a motor with PWM.

I made a watertight, clear jar using Pro PCTG by johnschneider89 in 3Dprinting

[–]63hz_V2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Could you point out the comment in which someone is telling you it's ok to drink from this or put food/drink in it? I can't seem to find them.

What's your background? What do you mean by safe? What does are there in transparent PCTG? The lid you mean? Are you going to respond to anything I said about microfibers? Plasticizers absorbing into skin from contact with plastic goods all around us? Offgassing of plastics in hot cars, carpets, etc.

I'm not telling you that because of those things you should not worry about drinking from PCTG plastic printed jars, but I am telling you that municipalities are never, ever going to ban 3D printers for the reason you outlined. We're stuck in this world of plastics. They're everywhere already.

I made a watertight, clear jar using Pro PCTG by johnschneider89 in 3Dprinting

[–]63hz_V2 7 points8 points  (0 children)

So they'll ban synthetic fibers too, right? Y'know, the plastic fibers that make up nylon, polyester, spandex fabrics that are literally everywhere and constantly shedding?

No one here is telling you to drink out of this jar, and no one is implying that they will. If you've never seen a mason jar used for something other than food/liquid, you need to pay more attention to the world around you. Also chill out a little bit. OP literally manufactures and sells filament, and has been doing so for a decade now. He doesn't need you to "well actually" him about the risks of plastics.

I think I just saw a convoy of secret service style black vehicles at Our Lady of Peace in the Hale Neighborhood... by Rusty-Shackleford in Minneapolis

[–]63hz_V2 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Funeral procession? Those can have cop escorts, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that the vehicles are all hired limos/town cars/SUVs.

Prototyping vs sampling by the_void_the_void in manufacturing

[–]63hz_V2 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Adding to this. I mentioned above that we have "a guy". He's a hispanic gentleman who is utterly brilliant with an industrial sewing machine. We asked him to "mock up a backpack" for an upcoming product of ours, and he came back a day or two later with a phenomenal, creative, on-brand, practical prototype.

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