Author: Peter Jones

Tonight I need to do the final coding and build my proof of concept. I figure six LEDs will be enough to verify the concept, and that’s still few enough that I can breadboard it all easily enough.
I also should figure out how many, as in sort, l have in the way of resistors. I know I have enough LEDs. Arduino is go. I might want shrink tubing. If I need more resistors, I’ll get heat shrink tubes while I’m at it. Otherwise, I could always just use a lot of hot glue.
We’re doing this.

Setup
// Initialize all the pins

// global variable declarations
// array of anode pins by pair
// array of cathode pins by pair
(These should line up for easy reading)
// array of LED exclusives, as in if A, no B or C, except it will be numbers…
// array of LED current states by anode
//array of LED states by cathode

Loop
// grab a random number to choose led
//Check state cathode, if zero
//check state anode if less than two
//set cathode to +1
//set anode to anode+1
//Set each cathode on exclusion list to x

//update LEDs
//all anodes more than 1 go low, else high
//each cathode goes to abs(cathode state)
//change cathode state to cathode state+1
//If cathode state is now zero, set anode to anode-1, set cathode exclusions to zero
//Repeat

I think I need to order new batteries now. I’m getting tired of seeing a stack of local drafts on my phone when I go to post something new. Plus, it probably makes me seem even more like I’m having a psychotic break when I post half a dozen items at once. Or it makes me look lazier when I don’t post for a week.

The last time I looked at building a couch, either I was rolling in money or the price on upholstery springs is insane. Unless I’m wrong, an upholstery spring is still just a loose coil of semi-rigid metal.
I adjust looked at done instructions for making my own springs, but I want terribly impressed. I’ll probably research it more myself. If probably do well to keep on looking for a super at less than autonomic astronomical prices. I wonder if my co-worker’s husband who does car upholstery has an idea?

A while back I looked into the MIT free online course work for the beginning robotics class. First of all, the very idea of making information free and storage from an education is great. So I printed off the course notes (the advantage of working in a print shop) and then let them sit on the shelf for a while. Just started digging in, and I finally am starting to feel any need to learn python. It seems like a great language for doing some really sketch things. So that’s on my plate now. As it is, I was poetically going to want to use python anyway when I got going with my BeagleBone Black, and bite I realized I have a nice primer written explicitly for robotics and electronics.

A rough list of dimensional constraints for the couch. The back half the height of the seat side. The seat needs to extend under the back by a few inches, I like four. If the inside back droid down as a table, than the back and the base needs to come to take height for me. The base should be wife enough for me fetal position or two adults, whichever is greater. Sooo… figure a 48″ seat, make the seat 24″ deep. This means the back is also a respectable 24″ tall. I’m 5’6″, so if I set the bench top to hit at roughly 32″, that means from floor to base is….carry the three…demux the muxer…8″. Sonofa… I need to look at that more.

I knew something was bugging me about the couch. Pushing out the arm means the arm is always pushable. Because as we all know, no one ever puts any pressure on a couch arm. So basically, assuming I’m not building a trap to teach people (read as me) to not have bad posture, I need to rethink this.
Having a void in the couch seat to facilitate the folding doesn’t work. I like to sit on couches. Similarly, a void on the arm means that there would be a loss of continuity of support. I thought of doing a internal pivot, but I’d have to build a lot of extra frame and cushion areas, just to have even worse areas for things to fall.
A push button sounds okay, except the whole button bit. Things like that stick, and I hate having to fix that. Also, the buttons always look out of place.
Do the seat box mostly normal, but do the supports underneath off center enough to accommodate the seat. Then it’ll just need some well cut and ironed fabric to hide the mechanics.
Now I just need to start figuring out numbers. If there is one thing experience had taught me, it’s that not all couches fit through all doors.

When I talk about one of my projects and someone don’t listen, I don’t take it personally. I just don’t talk about it again with that person. Much like I ignore write a few conversations that happen around me, I don’t expect their participation. I tell myself this.
This is no where near as dramatic as it sounds. My projects are done for me. My doing them is for me. My talking about them is for me. Really, my talking or writing about them is the vocalization of challenges, providing my subconscious a current perspective of the problem at hand.

I think I know how I want to build my couch. I mean, I know what the look is, but I want more. Due to limited space, it would be awesome if the couch was also a bit more functional. I was thinking a fold up work bench and table, maybe some storage, I’m not sure.
So the back will fold upwards, with counter weights to aid in it’s ascent, this was obvious. Just having tools and what not mounted inside would be a huge impact on space.
The couple of known unknowns though were: what do I do with the seat, why doesn’t the back fall down. I could go with any number of unsightly solutions. I considered gas shocks, and hoists to keep the back up, even a two-by-four to act as a cam. The seat could fold down into a ramp? Something worse.
What if I combined them. The back flips bottom to top. This forms a vertical line from the base to the top of the couch. Then, the seat folds left to up, with a locking mechanism for the back.
I need to have a way for one of the arms to move out of the way, thinking of using a roller or two as cams. I spring load the atm into the vertical position. The arm has a roller on it’s seat side, which matches a rounded cut in the seat box. As the seat pushes up, it displaces the arm.
Still not sure what storage options  versus tools I want in there. I definitely need a bench sturdy enough to clamp stuff to as I beat on it. I’m not sure if this will be that bench.

I’ve been blowing off the final build lately. Probably it’s the let down of finishing something, the necessity of making room to do it, and fear that my design is wrong all slammed together.
I’m getting Mexican with one of the Wif’s friends tonight, but if I remember to, I should totally start shady mocking up the first bottle. I don’t think I have enough resistors, might not have enough board either for the whole project, but at least I can see if it will actually fit like that or if I need to go all hot glue on a brother.
The other thing I need to do is code it make sure my code works. I obviously won’t be breadboarding the whole build, I just need to verify that things light correctly with a reduced matrix. It’d probably be a good idea to verify the code does a good job of maintaining a steady light output.