Tag: Improvements

Making the world a better place, one piece at a time

Sandisk 64 GB High Endurance Video Monitoring Card: Verification
The Sandisk Extreme Pro 64 GB MicroSDXC (whew) card in the Sony HDR-AS30V had been working fine, but recently the camera crashed in mid-ride after spitting out an unreadable video file. I reformatting the card, which seemed to restore its good humor, and preemptively dropped $36 on a fancy Sandisk High Endurance Video Monitoring Card from a Nominally Reputable Amazon seller:

Sandisk – 64 GB MicroSDXC cards

The package & card production values seem high enough to make me think it’s genuine, despite the white-label thing SanDisk has goin’ on; it matches their website pix closely enough.

Popping it into a USB 3.0 adapter, plugging that into the new-to-me Dell Optiplex 9010’s front-panel USB 3.0 port, and unleashing f3probe produced encouraging results:
```
sudo f3probe -t /dev/sde
[sudo] password for ed: 
F3 probe 6.0
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
         it can take longer. Please be patient.

Probe finished, recovering blocks... Done

Good news: The device `/dev/sde' is the real thing

Device geometry:
	         *Usable* size: 59.48 GB (124735488 blocks)
	        Announced size: 59.48 GB (124735488 blocks)
	                Module: 64.00 GB (2^36 Bytes)
	Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
	   Physical block size: 512.00 Byte (2^9 Bytes)

Probe time: 4'26"
 Operation: total time / count = avg time
      Read: 2'42" / 4197135 = 38us
     Write: 1'41" / 4192321 = 24us
     Reset: 1.00s / 1 = 1.00s
```
Just for completeness, I unleashed f3write to fill it with pseudorandom data:
```
time f3write /mnt/part
Free space: 59.46 GB
Creating file 1.h2w ... OK!                          
Creating file 2.h2w ... OK!                          
… snippage …                      
Creating file 59.h2w ... OK!                        
Creating file 60.h2w ... 99.99% -- 5.40 MB/s -- 1sf3write: Write to file /mnt/part/60.h2w failed: Input/output error

real	180m36.861s
user	0m40.520s
sys	6m44.024s
```
Dividing 64 GB by 180 minutes says the write speed works out to 5.9 MB/s, about a third of the “up to 20 MB/s” in the card’s specs. Huh.

Reading & comparing the data goes faster:
```
time f3read /mnt/part
                  SECTORS      ok/corrupted/changed/overwritten
Validating file 1.h2w ... 2097152/        0/      0/      0
Validating file 2.h2w ... 2097152/        0/      0/      0
… snippage …
Validating file 59.h2w ... 2097152/        0/      0/      0
Validating file 60.h2w ...  965376/        0/      0/      0

  Data OK: 59.46 GB (124697344 sectors)
Data LOST: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
	       Corrupted: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
	Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
	     Overwritten: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Average reading speed: 23.87 MB/s

real	42m31.288s
user	0m47.444s
sys	0m30.232s
```
So it reads lickety-split, but writes much more slowly. Fortunately, the HDR-AS30 camera pops out a 4 GB file every 22.75 minute = 2.9 MB/s, so the card has a smidge of headroom while writing.

The specs claim “up to 10,000 hours” of Full HD recording. If so, I’m looking at a card good for “up to 40 years“ of riding at 1 hour/ride and 250 ride/year. For 36 bucks, how can ya go wrong?

I’ll take it for a few rides to see what happens …

The packaging includes a link to a Windows / Mac data recovery program, plus the serial number required to activate the download. I’ll continue to eke out a miserable existence with ordinary Linux disk / file maintenance tools, as I’m no longer enthused about “free” programs requiring secret handshakes for activation on a single computer with an OS I no longer use, particularly a program that auto-pumpkinates after a year:

Please fill in the data accurately as this information will be needed to reactivate the software if you ever need to move the software to a different computer.

Your expectations & preconceptions may vary.
2017-08-09
Quartz Resonator Test Fixture: Cleanup
Isolating the USB port from the laptop eliminated a nasty ground loop, turning off the OLED while making measurements stifled a huge noise source, and averaging a few ADC readings produced this pleasing plot:

Resonator 0 Spectrum

Those nice smooth curves suggest the tester isn’t just measuring random junk.

The OLED summarizes the results after the test sequence:

LF Crystal Tester – OLED test summary – Resonator 0

Collecting all the numbers for that resonator in one place:
- C0 = 1.0 pF
- Rm = 9.0 kΩ
- fs = 59996.10 Hz
- fc = 59997.79 Hz
- fc – fs = 1.69 Hz
- Cx = 24 pF
Turning the crank:

CC 2017-11 – Resonator 0 Calculations

I ripped that nice layout directly from my November Circuit Cellar column, because I’m absolutely not even going to try to recreate those equations here.

Another two dozen resonators to go …
2017-08-08

Torchiere Lamp Shade

A pair of torchiere lamps lit the living room for many, many years:

During their tenure, they’ve gone from 100 W incandescent bulbs to “100 W equivalent” CFL curlicues to “100 W equivalent” warm-white LED bulbs. The LEDs aren’t up to the brightness of the original incandescents, but you can get used to anything if you do it long enough.

After so many years, the plastic shades / diffusers became brittle:

Torchiere Lamp Shade - original broken — Torchiere Lamp Shade – original broken

That’s after a bump, not a fall to the floor. So it goes.

Some casual searching didn’t turn up any likely replacements. The shade measures 14 inch = 355 mm across the top, far too large for the M2’s platform, but maybe a smaller shade in natural PETG would work just as well.

ACHTUNG! This is obviously inappropriate for the original incandescent bulbs and would be, IMO, marginal with CFL tubes. Works fine with LEDs. Your mileage may vary.

OpenSCAD to the rescue:

Torchiere Lamp Shade - section — Torchiere Lamp Shade – section

That’s a section down the middle. The top is 180 mm across, leaving 20 mm of general caution on the 200 mm width of the platform. The section above the sharply angled base is 90 mm tall to match the actual LED height, thereby putting them out of my line-of-sight even when standing across the room.

I ran off a short version, corrected the angles and sizes for a better fit, tweaked the thickness to fuse three parallel threads into a semitransparent shell, and …

Torchiere Lamp Shade - M2 platform — Torchiere Lamp Shade – M2 platform

Producing what looks like thin flowerpot required just shy of seven hours of print time, as it’s almost entirely perimeter, goin’ down slow for best appearance. The weird gold tone comes from the interaction of camera flash with warm-white CFL can lights over the desk.

If you hadn’t met the original, you’d say the new shade grew there:

Torchiere Lamp Shade - no epoxy — Torchiere Lamp Shade – no epoxy

It’s definitely a Brutalist design, not even attempting to hide its 3D printed origin and glorying in those simple geometric facets.

Those three threads of natural PETG makes a reasonably transparent plate, clear enough that the bulb produced an eye-watering glare through the shade:

Torchiere Lamp Shade - no epoxy - lit — Torchiere Lamp Shade – no epoxy – lit

So I returned it to the Basement Laboratory, chucked it up in the lathe (where it barely clears the bed), dialed the slowest spindle speed (150 rpm according to the laser tach, faster than I’d prefer), and slathered a thin layer of white-tinted XTC-3D around the inside:

Torchiere Lamp Shade - lathe spinning — Torchiere Lamp Shade – lathe spinning

For lack of anything smarter, I mixed 2+ drops of Opaque White with 3.1 g of Part A (resin), added 1.3 g of Part B (Hardener), mixed vigorously, drooled the blob along the middle of the rotating shade, spread it across the width using the mixing stick, smoothed it into a thin layer with a scrap of waxed paper, and ignored it for a few hours.

If the lathe perspective looks a bit weird, it’s perfectly natural: I raised the tailstock end enough to make the lower side of the shade just about horizontal. Given the gooey nature of XTC-3D, it wasn’t going anywhere, but I didn’t want a slingout across the lathe bed.

The lit-up result isn’t photographically different from the previous picture, but in person the epoxy layer produces a much nicer diffused light and no glare.

I might be forced to preemptively replace the other shade, just for symmetry, but we’ll let this one age for a while before jumping to conclusions.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Torchiere Lamp Shade
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU – July 2017

	/* [Build] */

	Section = false;

	Shorten = false;

	//- Extrusion parameters – must match reality!

	/* [Hidden] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.01;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	//- Dimensions

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	/* [Dimensions] */

	ShadeThick = 1.2; // perpendicular thickness

	BaseAngle = 42; // lamp base angle wrt vertical

	BaseTopDia = 131.0; // lamp ID at top
	ShadeBaseThick = 6*ThreadThick; // horizontal bottom thickness

	SeatDepth = 10.0 + ShadeBaseThick; // shade bottom to base top

	SeatDia = BaseTopDia – 2* SeatDepth / tan(BaseAngle); // lamp ID at seating depth

	ShadeTopDia = 180.0; // top OD, limited by printer platform width
	ShadeHeight = 90.0; // height above lamp base

	ShadeHoleDia = 36.0; // central hole dia

	ShadeAngle = atan(ShadeHeight / ((ShadeTopDia – BaseTopDia)/2));
	echo(str("Shade angle: ",ShadeAngle));

	ShadeHThick = ShadeThick / sin(ShadeAngle);
	echo(str(" horiz thickness:",ShadeHThick));

	NumSides = 6*4;

	$fn = NumSides;

	//- Build it

	render(convexity=2)
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=SeatDia,d2=BaseTopDia,h=SeatDepth); // section within lamp base
	translate([0,0,SeatDepth])
	cylinder(d1=BaseTopDia,d2=ShadeTopDia,h=ShadeHeight);
	}

	translate([0,0,SeatDepth]) // inside of upper shade
	cylinder(d1=BaseTopDia – 2*ShadeHThick,
	d2=ShadeTopDia – 2*ShadeHThick,
	h=ShadeHeight + Protrusion);

	translate([0,0,ShadeBaseThick]) // seating base
	cylinder(d1=SeatDia – 2*ShadeHThick,
	d2=BaseTopDia – 2*ShadeHThick,
	h=SeatDepth – ShadeBaseThick + Protrusion);

	translate([0,0,-Protrusion]) // socket clearance
	cylinder(d=ShadeHoleDia,h=2*ShadeHeight);

	if (Section)
	translate([0,-ShadeTopDia,0])
	cube(2*ShadeTopDia,center=true);

	if (Shorten > 0)
	translate([0,0,(ShadeTopDia + 2*SeatDepth)])
	cube(2*ShadeTopDia,center=true);


	}

view raw Torchiere Lamp Shade.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2017-08-02

Optiplex 9010: Xsetwacom vs. Dual Monitors
Having replaced the Dell Optiplex 980 (running from an eBay NOS power supply) with an off-lease Optiplex 9010, I was mildly surprised to find two Displayport outputs from the built-in Intel graphics chipset. Not being a gamer, I don’t care much about graphic performance, but plugging two 2560×1440 monitors into the jacks and having them Just Work was delightful. Indeed, Dell even managed to ~~fix~~ work around the error in the U2711 firmware requiring me to power-cycle the damned thing before booting the PC; now I can just turn the PC on and It Just Works.

Mysteriously, the incantation required to limit the Wacom tablet to the left-hand landscape monitor now uses DP1 instead of HEAD-0:
```
xsetwacom --verbose set "Wacom Graphire3 6x8 stylus" MapToOutput "DP1"
xsetwacom --verbose set "Wacom Graphire3 6x8 eraser" MapToOutput "DP1"
#xsetwacom --verbose set "Wacom Graphire3 6x8 Pen stylus" MapToOutput "HEAD-0"
#xsetwacom --verbose set "Wacom Graphire3 6x8 Pen eraser" MapToOutput "HEAD-0"
```
I’ll leave the “HEAD-0 incantations as comments, so as to have a hint the next time …
2017-07-31
Raspberry Pi vs. Music via NFS
Every now & again, streaming music from distant servers fails, for no reason I can determine. In that situation, it would be nice to have a local source and, as mplayer works just fine when aimed at an MP3 file, I tried to set up a USB stick on the ASUS router.

That requires getting their version of SAMBA working with the Raspbian Lite installed on the streaming players. After screwing around for far too long, I finally admitted defeat, popped the USB stick into the Raspberry Pi running the APRS iGate in the attic stairwell, and configured it as an NFS server.

To slightly complicate the discussion, there’s also a file server in the basement which turns itself off after its nightly backup. The local music files must be available when it’s off, so the always-up iGate machine gets the job.

On the NFS server:

Install rpcbind and nfs-common, both of which should already be included in stock Raspbian Lite, and nfs-kernel-server, which isn’t. There were problems with earlier Raspbian versions involving the startup order which should be history by now; this post may remind me what’s needed in the event the iGate NFS server wakes up dead after the next power blink.

Set up /etc/exports to share the mount point:
```
/mnt/music	*(ro,async,insecure,no_subtree_check)
# blank line so you can see the underscores in the previous one
```
Plug in the USB stick, mount, copy various music directories from the file server’s pile o’ music to the stick’s root directory.

Create a playlist from the directory entries and maybe edit it a bit:
```
ls -1 /mnt/part/The_Music_Directory > playlist.tmp
sed 's/this/that/' < playlist.tmp > playlist.txt
rm playlist.tmp
```
Tuck the playlist into the Playlists directory on the basement file server, from whence the streamer’s /etc/rc.local will copy the file to its local directory during the next boot.

On every streamer, create the /mnt/music mountpoint and edit /etc/rc.local to mount the directory:
```
nfs_music=192.168.1.110
<<< snippage >>>
mount -v -o ro $nfs_music:/mnt/music /mnt/music
# blank line so you can see the underscores in the previous one 
```
In the Python streaming program on the file server, associate the new “station” with a button:
```
         'KEY_KP8'   : ['Newname',False,['mplayer','-shuffle','-playlist','/home/pi/Playlists/playlist.txt']],
```
The startup script also fetches the latest copy of the Python program whenever the file server is up, so the new version should Just Work.

I set the numeric keypad button associated with that program as the fallback in case of stream failures, so when the Interwebs go down, we still have music. Life is good …
2017-07-30
Vacuum Tube LEDs: Mogul Bulb Side Light

The knockoff Neopixel on the 500 W mogul-base bulb failed in the usual way, so I rebuilt it with an SK6812 RGBW LED in a round cap:

Mogul lamp socket – SK6812 LED side cap

The nice 1-¼ inch stainless socket-head cap screws replace the 1 inch pan-head screws that engaged maybe one thread due to the additional spacer between the USB port and the upper hard drive platter I added for good looks.

I tried a few iterations of an aluminized Mylar (*) disk with various sized pinholes over the RGB trio to crisp up the filament shadow, because the SK6812 LED casts a more diffuse light than the W2812 LEDs:

Aluminized Mylar pinholes for SK6812 RGBW LED

Even the ⅛ inch pinhole made the bulb too dim, so I settled for a fuzzy shadow:

500 W Mogul bulb – SK6812 RGBW LED – no pinhole – green phase

The firmware has a tweak forcing the white LED to PWM=0, because this bulb looks better in saturated colors.

(*) Here on earth, aluminized Mylar is nonconductive.

2017-07-27

Tour Easy Daytime Running Light

Pending more test rides, the flashlight fairing mount works well:

Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount - front overview — Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount – front overview

Despite all my fussing with three rotational angles, simply tilting the mount upward by 20° with respect to the fairing clamp aims the flashlight straight ahead, with the ball nearly centered in the clamp:

Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount - front detail — Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount – front detail

That obviously depends on the handlebar angle and the fairing length (which affects the strut rotation), but it’s close enough to make me think a simpler mount will suffice: clamp the flashlight into a cylinder with a slight offset angle, maybe 2°, then mount the cylinder into a much thinner ring clamp at the 20° tilt. Rotating the cylinder would give you some aim-ability, minus the bulk of a ball mount.

Or dispense with the separate cylinder, build the entire mount at the (now known) aim angle, clamp the flashlight directly into the mount, then affix mount to fairing strut. Rapid prototyping FTW!

For now, it’s great riding weather …

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU – July 2017

	/* [Build Options] */

	FlashName = "AnkerLC40"; // [AnkerLC40,AnkerLC90,J5TactV2,InnovaX5]

	Component = "Mount"; // [Ball, BallClamp, Mount, Plates, Bracket]

	Layout = "Show"; // [Build, Show]

	Support = false;

	MountSupport = true;

	/* [Extrusion] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25; // [0.20, 0.25]
	ThreadWidth = 0.40; // [0.40]

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.01; // [0.01, 0.1]

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	/* [Fairing Mount] */

	ToeIn = 0; // inward from ahead
	Tilt = 20; // upward from forward
	Roll = 0; // outward from top

	Shift = -5; // realign to plate center

	//- Screws *c

	/* [Hidden] */

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	/* [Screws and Inserts] */

	BallInsert = [2.0,3.5,4.0];
	BallScrew = [2.0,3.5,2.0];

	ClampInsert = [3.0,4.2,8.0];
	ClampScrew = [3.0,5.9,50.0]; // thread dia, head OD, screw length
	ClampScrewWasher = [3.0,6.75,0.5];
	ClampScrewNut = [3.0,6.1,4.0]; // nyloc nut

	/* [Hidden] */

	F_NAME = 0;
	F_GRIPOD = 1;
	F_GRIPLEN = 2;

	LightBodies = [
	["AnkerLC90",26.6,48.0],
	["AnkerLC40",26.6,55.0],
	["J5TactV2",25.0,30.0],
	["InnovaX5",22.0,55.0]
	];

	NumSides = 8*4;

	echo(str("Flashlight: ",FlashName));

	FlashIndex = search([FlashName],LightBodies,1,0)[F_NAME];

	BallThick = IntegerMultiple(5.0,ThreadWidth); // thickness of ball wall
	echo(str("Ball wall: ",BallThick));

	BallOD = max(45,IntegerMultiple(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD] + 2*(BallThick + BallInsert[OD]),2.0));
	echo(str(" OD: ",BallOD));

	BallScrewOC = BallOD – BallThick – BallInsert[OD]; // from OD to allow different body diameters
	echo(str(" screw OC: ",BallScrewOC));

	BallLength = min(sqrt(pow(BallOD,2) – pow(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],2)),
	LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPLEN]);
	echo(str(" hole len: ",BallLength));

	ClampThick = 2*ClampInsert[OD];
	echo(str("Clamp wall: ",ClampThick));

	ClampOD = BallOD + 2*ClampThick;
	echo(str(" OD: ",ClampOD));

	ClampScrewOC = BallOD + 2*ClampInsert[OD];
	echo(str(" screw OC: ",ClampScrewOC));

	ClampLength = 0.70 * BallLength;
	echo(str(" length: ",ClampLength));

	//- Adjust hole diameter to make the size come out right

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes
	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);
	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);
	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}

	//- Ball around flashlight
	// Must print two!

	module BodyBall() {

	difference() {
	intersection() {
	sphere(d=BallOD,$fn=2*NumSides); // basic ball
	cube([BallLength,2BallOD,2BallOD],center=true); // max of flashlight grip length
	}
	translate([-LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0]) rotate(180/NumSides)
	PolyCyl(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],2*BallOD,NumSides); // flashlight body
	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([0,j*BallScrewOC/2,0]) // commmon screw offset
	translate([0,0,-BallOD])
	PolyCyl(BallInsert[ID],2*BallOD,6); // punch screw shaft through everything
	translate([0,BallScrewOC/2,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(BallInsert[OD],(BallInsert[LENGTH] + 3*ThreadThick + Protrusion),6); // threaded insert
	translate([0,-BallScrewOC/2,BallThick])
	PolyCyl(BallScrew[OD],BallOD,6); // screw head clearance

	translate([0,0,-BallOD/2]) // remove bottom half
	cube(BallOD,center=true);
	translate([0,0,BallOD – BallThick/2]) // slice off top = bottom for E-Z build
	cube(BallOD,center=true);
	}

	if (Support) {
	NumRibs = 24;
	RibHeight = (BallOD – LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD]/cos(180/NumSides) – BallThick) / 2;
	ChordC = 2sqrt(BallThickBallOD/2 – pow(BallThick/2,2));
	intersection() {
	cube([BallLength,2BallOD,2BallOD],center=true); // max of flashlight grip length
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	for (i=[0:NumRibs – 1])
	rotate(i*360/NumRibs + 180/NumRibs) // avoid screw holes
	translate([ChordC/2 + BallOD/8,0,-RibHeight/2])
	cube([BallOD/4,2*ThreadWidth,RibHeight],center=true);
	}
	}
	}

	//- Fairing Bracket
	// Magic numbers taken from the actual fairing mount
	// Centered on screw hole

	/* [Hidden] */

	inch = 25.4;

	BracketHoleOD = 0.25 * inch; // 1/4-20 bolt holes

	BracketHoleOC = 1.0 * inch; // fairing hole spacing
	// usually 1 inch, but 15/16 on one fairing

	Bracket = [48.0,16.3,3.6 – 0.6]; // fairing bracket end plate overall size
	BracketHoleOffset = (3/8) * inch; // end to hole center

	BracketM = 3.0; // endcap arc height
	BracketR = (pow(BracketM,2) + pow(Bracket[1],2)/4) / (2*BracketM); // … radius

	module Bracket() {

	linear_extrude(height=Bracket[2],convexity=2)
	difference() {
	translate([(Bracket[0]/2 – BracketHoleOffset),0,0])
	offset(delta=ThreadWidth)
	intersection() {
	square([Bracket[0],Bracket[1]],center=true);
	union() {
	for (i=[-1,0,1]) // middle circle fills gap
	translate([i*(Bracket[0]/2 – BracketR),0])
	circle(r=BracketR);
	}
	}
	circle(d=BracketHoleOD/cos(180/8),$fn=8); // dead center at the origin
	}

	}

	//- General plate shape
	// Centered on the hole for the fairing bracket

	Plate = [100.0,30.0,6*ThreadThick + Bracket[2]];
	PlateRad = Plate[1]/4;

	echo(str("Base plate thick: ",Plate[2]));

	module PlateBlank() {

	difference() {
	translate([BracketHoleOC,0,0])
	intersection() {
	translate([0,0,Plate[2]/2]) // select upper half of spheres
	cube(Plate,center=true);
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1])
	translate([i(Plate[0]/2 – PlateRad),j(Plate[1]/2 – PlateRad),0])
	resize([2PlateRad,2PlateRad,2*Plate[2]])
	sphere(r=PlateRad); // nice rounded corners!
	}
	translate([2*BracketHoleOC,0,-Protrusion]) // screw holes
	PolyCyl(BracketHoleOD,2*Plate[2],8);
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(BracketHoleOD,2*Plate[2],8);
	}
	}

	//- Inner plate

	module InnerPlate() {

	difference() {
	PlateBlank();
	translate([0,0,Plate[2] – Bracket[2] + Protrusion]) // punch out fairing bracket
	Bracket();
	}
	}

	//- Clamp around flashlight ball

	module BallClamp() {

	BossLength = ClampScrew[LENGTH] – ClampScrewNut[LENGTH] – 2ClampScrewWasher[LENGTH] – 4ThreadThick;

	difference() {
	union() {
	intersection() {
	sphere(d=ClampOD,$fn=NumSides); // exterior ball blamp
	cube([ClampLength,2ClampOD,2ClampOD],center=true); // aiming allowance
	}
	for (i=[0])
	hull() {
	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([i(ClampLength/2 – ClampScrew[OD]),jClampScrewOC/2,-BossLength/2])
	rotate(180/8)
	cylinder(d=(ClampScrewWasher[OD] + 2*ThreadWidth),h=BossLength,$fn=8);
	}
	}

	sphere(d=(BallOD + 1*ThreadThick),$fn=NumSides); // interior ball

	for (i=[0] , j=[-1,1]) {
	translate([i(ClampLength/2 – ClampScrew[OD]),jClampScrewOC/2,-ClampOD]) // screw clearance
	rotate(180/8)
	PolyCyl(ClampScrew[ID],2*ClampOD,8);
	}

	}


	color("Yellow")
	if (Support) { // ad-hoc supports for top half
	NumRibs = 6;
	RibLength = 0.5 * BallOD;
	RibWidth = 1.9*ThreadWidth;
	SupportOC = ClampLength / NumRibs;

	cube([ClampLength,RibLength,4*ThreadThick],center=true); // base plate for adhesion

	intersection() {
	sphere(d=BallOD – 0*ThreadWidth); // cut at inner sphere OD
	cube([ClampLength + 2*ThreadWidth,RibLength,BallOD],center=true);
	union() { // ribs for E-Z build
	for (j=[-1,0,1])
	translate([0,j*SupportOC,0])
	cube([ClampLength,RibWidth,1.0*BallOD],center=true);
	for (i=[0:NumRibs]) // allow +1 to fill the far end
	translate([i*SupportOC – ClampLength/2,0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0])
	cylinder(d=BallOD – 2*ThreadThick,
	h=RibWidth,$fn=NumSides,center=true);
	}
	}
	}
	}

	//- Mount between fairing plate and flashlight ball

	module Mount() {

	translate([-BracketHoleOC,0,0])
	PlateBlank();

	translate([Shift,0,ClampOD/2])
	rotate([-Roll,ToeIn,Tilt])
	intersection() {
	translate([0,0,-ClampOD/2])
	cube([2ClampOD,2ClampOD,ClampOD],center=true);
	BallClamp();
	}

	if (MountSupport) { // anchor outer corners during worst overhang
	RibWidth = 1.9*ThreadWidth;
	SupportOC = 0.1 * ClampLength;
	difference() {
	rotate([0,0,Tilt])
	translate([Shift + 0.3,0,0])
	for (i=[-4.5,-2.5,0,2.0,4.5])
	translate([i*SupportOC – 0.0,0,(ClampThick + Plate[2])/2])
	cube([RibWidth,0.8*ClampOD,(ClampThick + Plate[2])],center=true);
	# translate([Shift,0,ClampOD/2])
	rotate([-Roll,ToeIn,Tilt])
	sphere(d=ClampOD – 2*ThreadWidth,$fn=NumSides);
	}
	}
	}

	//- Build things

	if (Component == "Ball")
	if (Layout == "Show")
	BodyBall();
	else if (Layout == "Build") {
	translate([0,+1*(BallOD/2 + BallThick/2),0])
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BodyBall();
	translate([0,-1*(BallOD/2 + BallThick/2),0])
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BodyBall();
	}

	if (Component == "BallClamp")
	if (Layout == "Show")
	BallClamp();
	else if (Layout == "Build") {
	Both = false;
	difference() {
	union() {
	translate([Both ? ClampLength : 0,0,0])
	BallClamp();
	if (Both)
	translate([-ClampLength,0,0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BallClamp();
	}
	translate([0,0,-ClampOD/2])
	cube([2ClampOD,2ClampOD,ClampOD],center=true);
	}
	}

	if (Component == "Mount")
	Mount();

	if (Component == "Plates") {
	translate([0,0.7*Plate[1],0])
	InnerPlate();
	translate([0,-0.7*Plate[1],0])
	PlateBlank();
	}

	if (Component == "Bracket")
	Bracket();

view raw Fairing Flashlight Mount.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2017-07-25

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