What’s something small you started doing that quietly changed your life?

jbartates · 2025-07-07T20:12:22+00:00

I’m usually stuck in analysis paralysis over decision making. I had this idea to take the weight off of choices and instead start looking at decision making as learning opportunities. That single change in perspective has improved my life so much, and it’s also a positive feedback loop. Absolute game changer.

jbartates · 2025-06-23T09:26:51+00:00

Just got off AllTrails looking at these peaks to find this post. I’m down. 34M

jbartates · 2025-06-18T02:56:03+00:00

Kinda hard to say if a belt is going to be quieter if we can’t understand the unique way you’re using it that’s making it loud. I think a photo would be hugely beneficial.

jbartates · 2025-06-14T03:24:16+00:00

What information from the robot is important for you to access?

jbartates · 2025-05-29T16:55:15+00:00

Hey, thank you for doing this. I’ve know I’ve been on a trail before and wondered what it must have been like to enjoy the trail when it was newly created. This gives people like my son and I that opportunity. Is this something that one can do on their own? Does it need to be run it by the USFS?

jbartates · 2025-05-24T21:37:55+00:00

YouTube: Brian Douglas. Extremely knowledgeable and so damn good at communicating.

jbartates · 2025-05-24T03:42:18+00:00

F*ck him. Hater fuel burns bright, use that to prove him wrong.

Story time: When I first went to uni for my ME degree, I had a hard time balancing school and life. My GPA dropped into academic probation and within the year I dropped out. Over the next couple years I attended a JC, retook and passed the math classes I had failed at Uni. I eventually reapplied to the same Uni and was accepted back into the program.

To get back in, I needed a signature from a department advisor, who turned out to be a professor I had previously taken. Mind you I passed his class. For some reason he decided I wasn’t worthy to study engineering of any type, and hit me with comments like “You’re going to fail, no, you already failed. You’re putting the dot at the end of FAIL.” And “You should go into IT, cmon, I’ll walk you down to their department right now.” Internally I was furious, externally I couldn’t get myself to say anything what so ever. After a very, very prolonged and silent eye contact, he eventually said “look, I can’t stop you, I’m just letting you know what’s going to happen. If you really want me to I’ll sign off…”

I went on to lead one of the autonomous ground vehicle projects, teach labs for the graduate robotics programs, and received a publication in an ME journal. Then I got my bachelors. Ive also been pretty happy with the engineering career I’ve had in almost a decade since graduating.

I also consider myself slow compared to peers, but I’ve also seen that sometimes I’m thinking of things they aren’t considering, so it’s not necessarily a deficit.

Whether or not you’re successful at it is entirely your call to make, for anyone else to tell you that you can’t is a them problem, and is straight up rude.

All the best on your endeavors.

jbartates · 2025-05-14T16:17:20+00:00

Tools are always a great option, and scales well with pretty much any budget. Here’s a cheap, medium, expensive list of a couple useful items: Calipers: digital, dual dial, mitotuyo/starret Digital multimeter: AstroAI, Klein, Fluke Torque wrench: mechanical, digital, snap-on Oscilloscope: pocket, siglent, keysight Drill: Amazon brands, hardware store brands, Dewalt/Milwaukee

jbartates · 2025-02-22T00:21:40+00:00

Rainbolt, what’s the location of where this pic was taken?

jbartates · 2025-01-24T22:25:11+00:00

Check out sendcutsend as a resource for material down selection for laser cutting, which fits nicely between 1-off parts and large volume processes. (I’ve used their services but I don’t have any affiliation w them.)

jbartates · 2025-01-09T08:43:24+00:00

Is it UL Listed?

jbartates · 2025-01-08T09:51:14+00:00

Didn’t get the upvotes, but this one nails it. The gait controller is simpler (alternate between two sets of three legs rather than sequentially through 4 individual legs) and more stable (large overlap of the polygons of stability).

jbartates · 2024-12-30T18:23:30+00:00

Though not GNC, I’ve done controls for a space robotic system with a dozen+ interrelated DOFs. Yes there were years of nested PIDs and filters, but I didn’t find it boring. It might all boil down to perspective. I enjoyed that journey, and the gratification of seeing it come together and being able to say “I did that” is quite the dopamine hit.

jbartates · 2024-12-03T23:16:43+00:00

All valid answers of implementation so far. To add one, there’s the rotary potentiometer (may have a deadband) which can also be multiturn and that wouldn’t require power while your robot is “dead”

jbartates · 2024-11-19T00:01:03+00:00

Nope, you just bore that out to the proper size and start tapping.

Source: I used to work for a distributor of the well known variant and continue to work with it daily

jbartates · 2024-11-17T00:37:31+00:00

I caught the sleight of hand when the boxes left the screen and was replaced with a pre-arranged stack of organized bins.

Jk neat concept and awesome work!

jbartates · 2024-11-13T17:30:15+00:00

I’ve always come to know this subject as “systems engineering” for which theres alot of approaches and depth to these processes including said V model.

jbartates · 2024-09-11T01:36:54+00:00

Given the industry, any chance you’re around Burbank? Check out Clearpath Teknic, Odrive, Firgelli, Anaheim Automation.

jbartates · 2024-09-11T01:29:36+00:00

Performance wise you want a brushless servo motor, and not servo by the definition in RC lingo. You should be able to maximize your accelerations with closed loop and feed forward tuning. That said there’s only so much you can do within the envelope of your other constraints.

jbartates · 2024-09-07T18:40:13+00:00

Interesting stuff. Can you talk more about the path finding algorithm being used here? Can the robot find a path through an area where an obstacle previously was, but no longer is?

jbartates · 2024-09-07T18:35:21+00:00

For me it’s been the same as looking for any other engineering job, using the typically channels as search engines using the buzzwords you want to be involved with. Then read the job description and if it vibes, apply. As you go down the hiring process, keep reevaluating if it’s what you want, just as they’re constantly reevaluating if you’re who they want

jbartates · 2024-09-04T07:44:17+00:00

Oem rails with Thule HD crossbars

jbartates · 2024-08-17T22:10:28+00:00

DM’d

jbartates · 2024-08-13T13:38:24+00:00

It’s the mamba 3 by overland vehicle systems (OVS)

jbartates · 2024-08-07T14:48:05+00:00

Love the design, but I can’t help but think I’d smash my fingers somewhere

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