Orange Pi, Orange Pi, and more Orange Pi

So, this was meant to be a victorious post. Ah ha! I'd gotten you!

But alas, it was not to be - I couldn't run 3D Slash on the Orange Pi, even after fooling 3D Slash with a symlink for OpenMAX libraries. So then I had to roll Plan B. Which has worked.

Let me back up a bit. I bought an Orange Pi a couple of weeks ago, and it showed up on Wednesday of last week. After mucking around with a few things, I noted my Russian keyboard wasn't being detected, and that a 4GB microSD would not be enough. So armed with a 32GB microSD card and a wireless 101-key keyboard, I then delved into the world of Orange Pi firmware issues, as my ethernet and most of my USB ports weren't working.

After getting that all working, I apt-get'ted LXDE (I was working from a minimal image). I then tried installing 3D Slash, solving dependencies, until I hit OpenMAX and no further could I go.

So Plan B was to set up a Samba and OctoPrint server, to host my 3D files I design on the Surface, and print them. I must say, at this point, it looks like Jason is going to sell me his UP! Mini, and I'll be rebuilding the control system in it with a RAMPS. That'll mean I can hook it up to the Orange Pi no issue, and have a fuller control over the print, as Tom told me my delamination problems with the Verbatim ABS is caused by a slightly too cool hot end. I told him I've got two temperate options with the UP! software - ABS and PLA. Having a RepRap controller in the body and workings of an UP! Mini will be ace. On my end, it's just a simple rewiring job from the UP! controller to the RAMPS. Then I'll need to configure in place, and then test with the OctoPrint install on the Orange Pi.

Why is Jason getting rid of his prized UP! Mini? He is getting a $500 CocoonCreate from Aldi, on special this week. It's a metal i3 ripoff, and Jason is fond of the i3 design (whereas I'm an i2 man). Although the CocoonCreate doesn't come with a heat box, I suspect being of i3 linage, it should be a decent printer all round.

Some photos:

That's all for today.

Am I crazy, calculations aside, a new short project from scrap

Hi again everyone!

I used to think I was crazy. Literally seriously demented, and awfully crazy. And probably beyond help...

Until I saw this:

I believe it is a 1/3 or 1/4 scale replica of a Czech electric locomotive, running on 240VAC overheads. The equipment in the machine room looks pretty beefy on the DIN rails in any case! It's on 600mm gauge, and can be found here:

http://www.zeleznice600.cz

Upon seeing this amazing creation, I breathed a sigh of relief - possibly I'm not so crazy after all? I shared my finds to Minimal Gauge Railways in any case, and surprisingly enough, Stockers didn't chastise me for being over gauge, like usual! I think he's used to me by now...

So, what does this mean for my railway? Calculations aside, I'm buying a rather well appointed van, in the gated community here! I'm paying a bit for it, but it will, with care, retain its resale value, or provide a rather comfortable home on a block of land for me when it comes time to step forward once more.

Hearing from other residents here, it is considered probably the "best van in the community" in terms of presentation and interior appointment. And in four years, interest free, I'll own it.

Ok, you say, so no money for trains for the foreseeable future, right? Yes, you're correct, so I have to go cheapskate:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/06/22/soda-can-solar-heater-v2-completed/

No, I'm not making exactly that Coke can heater, as I don't need hot air - I need hot water! One of the things I'm not getting with my van is a hot water service. Now, this isn't too much of an issue right now, as I boil my water for washing up in my kettle, two full jugs will fill my small sink, and I throw a heap of cold water on top to suit. Yes, it's a small jug.

However, I'm going to own this van and be paying it off over four years - that's March 2020 before I own it! - and having a supply of reasonably hot water would be nice.

That's a screenshot I did of this contraption - mine will be built from a Foxtel pay TV dish, reflective Mylar tape, a CPU water cooling block on the arm at the focal point (yeah, shrewd hey?), a small stand, insulated Pex piping to the water tank, possibly some kind of intercooler, or heat exchanger, and an Arduino with a control board, IR non contact thermometer, and a suitable program to log and control everything:

http://www.switchdoc.com/sunairplus-solar-power-controllerdata-collector/

http://www.freetronics.com.au/products/irtemp-ir-temperature-sensor-module#.VrrMO4ZXerU

A couple of solar panels to power the widgetry mounted to either side of the dish, and I'm in business! Solar hot water baby! Even on a cloudy day, I'm told performance is great, due to the concentration of the solar energy at the focal point. Now, I paid attention in Microwave Transmission Systems when I did my trade, that checks out.

Like, honestly - do you think I'd pay hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars for a gas hot water service, and then the cost of the gas bottles on top, when I sweat every other day from the heat here? I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid!

This has actually piqued the attention of my Uncle Tom. I'll go into that at a later stage. It involves linear power generation.

I'm hoping to get the dish soon, I'll look around the dump shops and demolition yards. Only need one right now, this is a small test system, a proof of concept. I want to get some live data off this thing first, for about a year, then I'll move forward with it.

Do you know what makes it sweeter? I've obtained, by means, an RTL-SDR with an upconverter that'll allow me to do the HF bands. All good you say. Sure, now I can receive weatherfax from Charleville. So I can log my performance data against the weatherfax synoptic charts and cloud formation charts I receive! This is all for free! Just gotta get a balun for an SDR, and wire up an antenna between two poles for HF. By the way, the SDR and the Orange Pi that will be running it are still in the post, another two weeks away, I reckon.

I've also gotten the user manual and service manual for my beloved Sony stereo system I saved from the trash by realising that I can use the Game input on the front with a $3 cable and my computer. Looking into it, the CD load mechanism for the actual player part in the back of the sixty disc changer works fine, it's the changer itself that's not rotating. It seems a little jammed, but unfortunately for me, it is a mission to get to the bottom of the deck to get the carousel assembly out to get a look at it. Everything on the top has to come out first! However, if I could get the carousel working, I can use the game mixing. By the way, it's a linear transformer power supply, it'll work fine from a little inverter, unlike a switch mode which will blow fuses on the 12VDC side, no sweat.

Looks pretty linear to me!

I haven't tested my new soldering iron, I need some batteries for my new TVs remote, and my multimeter. Payday is tomorrow, I should write it in the list.

I'll be temporarily setting up my Orange Pi for the time being here in the old van, pending the move to the new van. There is a bit of work to be done, of course. I need to try to get a phone line connected at some point. Andrew has promised me reasonable priced ADSL.

It's all on the go now!

Powerwall killer

I am in the beginnings of negotiations with an electrical engineer to contract to me to write me a simple set of instructions to build my Powerwall killer. It'll use the little bit more expensive LiFePO4 battery technology, with the advantage it's far more stable than 18650 cells. It's a smiliar system to my Mums electric car she built, hers was at 144VDC, mine will be at 48VDC.

I'll keep you all updated. I have some upcoming posts about alternative suppliers of railway wheels and bogie construction...

Comments to the rescue...!

From down in the comments section of that insideevs article. I admit, not having a BMS on a pack like that would ensure I couldn't sleep at night.

Future reference! But shouldn't it be Captain Jack Harkness?

Can't touch this Powerwall...

"Can't touch this...!" as the old song put it. Yes, the heady days of my youth back up at Home in the 1990s. Wishing I could have a backyard scale model layout, and yet to realise that my stepfather would beat the trains, as well as a promising career as a draftsman, straight out of me.

I got back into trains in 2007, and started drawing again in 2013. I'd not lost my skills on either. Oddest thing.

Anyway, walk down Memory Lane completed, can you do as the song says, and touch this Powerwall? I'm thinking, this could be something good.

So Jeramiah at Ollin Board Company put me onto to Bestech BMSes. Now, I know the value of a decent BMS, given that I had looked through all the design documents that related to my adopted mothers converted 1983 Starion, that she modified with a bootful of LiFePO4 batteries, and a 22kW bus motor. Mum had made her own ATTiny battery balance boards, due to reversing a diode, the battery bank looked like a Christmas tree with flashing lights under normal operation. Which was quite cool I thought!

I'm going back to tried and true deep cycle SLA battery technology for the solar electrical system quote here for the office at the park. Obviously I'd like to build a Powerwall, but I simply don't have the time, or the funds, to tool up, so SLAs are my next best bet. The upshot is, I'm going to train myself on the same technology a "-1" series locomotive is going to use, albeit, at a different voltage, but exact same equipment. Powerwalls are laudable goals. But in the meantime, I gotta do what I'm familiar with as part of my trade, and what's easily accessible, and deliverable in a decent timeframe. Retrofitting a "-1" series to a "-1500" series is not outside the realm of possibility, but I think I'd like SLA as well as Powerwall technology, even just to compare the two.

I thought about it long and hard, and noted the Victron BlueSolar controllers I had been recommended for the job by my brother Andrew have what's known as a VE.Direct port, a TTL serial port, easily adapted to a USB port. Looking at all the specs of the MPPT controller, it does all pertinent energy measurements, and for the $500 I'm spending, also can adapt to a 48VDC system easily. I'm going for 12VDC as part of this contract, to power a laptop, an EFTPOS machine, some LED lights, and possibly a small 600W inverter. (See AtoB Magazine Issue 108, by David Henshaw - http://www.atob.org.uk/store/products/b-108/ - for information on low energy draw kettles). As part of it, I'm going to use a small Raspberry Pi, with a wifi interface, so I can download the data out of it once a week, and check all the health of the system. That'll be my interface to the BlueSolar controller, and allow me to package up the weeks data in a set of nice CSV spreadsheets that'll make pretty nifty charts and graphs. I'll probably keep records of these backed up, in case there is ever a fault with the system, I can show the clients. They'll know in advance if I'm in Sydney or Newcastle on business or visiting family.

This is my hard hitter for a LiPoly 18650 cell Tesla Powerwall ripoff:

http://bestechpower.com/481v13spcmbmspcbforli-ionli-polymerbatterypack/BMS-D270.html

And using a spot welder, made from a microwave oven transformer to spot weld the tabs onto the 18650 cells, like this:

http://www.avdweb.nl/tech-tips/spot-welder.html

And have the fuse wire from cell to bus bar, to protect the integrity of the pack.

My upcycling obsession doesn't end there. Wait till I got kids...!

http://diy-alternative-energy.com/10-not-so-usual-things-to-make-with-55-gallon-plastic-barrels/

The dog house particularly piqued my fancy. Dogs don't care about how much you spend on their house, as long as it's dry and warm. A 100L drum with a saw and a blowtorch suits the bill.

Honestly, I'm not usually one for videos, as my bandwidth remains so pitifully limited, but this was a good video:

http://insideevs.com/cant-wait-afford-tesla-powerwall-build-300/

Now you see why I want to upcycle a busted microwave!

This video, the Bestech BMS, the work Ollin Board Company and Rory have done, and yes, the spot welder, mean I can live my dream of owning a reasonably priced Tesla Powerwall, and not only that, but adapt that technology to my "-1500" series locomotives. I think this is going to be quite fun!

Until next time...!

Pure magic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S3JKAf5E05A

Increased car body, increased tonnages, recalculations, lumbar support, CAN bus masters

So, when I had decided I was going to make my stock dual gauge, 7.25" and 12", I had nominally increased the car body width to 600mm. And yes, that is indeed suitable for the Casino layout, despite being 100mm over the AALS interoperability standards.

However, I run into this, when I got myself a present of a 2m baby tape measure:

The 20L drum I was going to use is only 300mm wide, which would be dwarfed by the 600mm car body width. The "clap boards" under the rotating drum would be disproportionately huge, and angled totally wrong to allow easy unloading without a shovel.

I had to come up with a better solution. The problem was, I would have to increase my per-wagon tonnage.

Add to this, I had gotten the density constant for the sand wrong. I had used a constant of times 1.44. When I rechecked the site I had done the calculations at, not only had I gotten it wrong, I noticed an option I hadn't before - "Sand with gravel, wet."

The density constant of wet sand with gravel through it is times 2.02. So assuming a 100L plastic drum can carry a nominal 100kg of water, multiplying 100kg by the constant of 2.02 equals 202kg weight of load. Round that to 250kg for each wagon, four wagons make a tonne loading.

A 100L plastic drum is 445mm diameter, by 800mm tall. The wagon would need to be 1,000mm long at least, and would best be a bogie wagon to allow operation on tighter curves. This, however, forces the costs per the wagon through the roof, especially considering I have to have most of the parts custom made. At some point, a laser cutter and CNC mill of my own are on the agenda.

Now, the problems with my back are no secret, my lumbar, ie, the lower back, is twisted, and even since I hurt it at Wards River, I have been in constant pain pretty much. I was thinking about assisted support, but it come to a head when Glen said "My recommendation to you is Gauge 1 - anything larger, and you can't physically move it, and hired help is not able to get it right..."

I beg to differ on both points.

While I'll need to be careful with my back, and certain activities I physically won't be able to do, I am able to assist my lumbar with a powered supporting brace, like a wearable robot. Don't ask me the price, but I will find out soon enough:

http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/products/Lumbar_LaborSupport.html

If I have to go to full leg support later, I just will do it. I'd like to be able to operate my trains.

Note the name of the company - Cyberdyne Systems. As in Terminator. Cyberdyne was also featured in the Aliens novels, which is today's piece of pub ammo.

I noted an ex-worker of Cityrail was laid off when she failed a medical, the railways stipulating that her oesto-arthritis in her knees and hips affected her ability to walk on ballast, leading to the fears the damage incurred could give her cause to sue on OH&S negligence. My own railway will be earthen ballast, at track level, allowing a mower to run over it easily, so if there is any concerns that walking on actual ballast would aggravate my back problems, it simply won't happen with at grade earthen ballast.

That gives you the general idea of what I'm thinking.

So, with all of this in mind, I now have a 4.6 metre long train, at one tonne, with four wagons, but the wagons are considerably more expensive due to the need to construct dual gauge bogies. The superstructures will remain wood, perhaps with some metal bracing/ framing. Add a tonne and a half for the loco and brake van, and that's a 12 metre or so train at two and a half tonnes weight.

Hired help? I'm quite articulate and detailed with my needs and specifications, I'm used to explaining to various tradesmen what I am requiring, I've made a damned good foreman in my time, never paid for it, but I am able to run a worksite, or a radio operations centre, just as easily as one another. I would incrementally test the tradesmen, the next issue is cost. Looks like I'll have to earn some money, right? I was going to get Casino Engineering to make me up a track welding jig in any case, so I'll start getting an idea of wha this will all start to cost me soon enough.

Speaking of being articulate with needs and specifications, I emailed Benjamin about the details of the VESC programming I was needing. However, the VESC being open source, I can just look at the source code, and examine it myself. I have this great start, I imagine a stub in the traction control section to run a custom program to pulse the pin to activate the sand blower under the wheel as it slips would be the ticket here:

http://vedder.se/2015/08/vesc-writing-custom-applications/

I don't normally program in C, but I know enough to get myself into trouble.

MU (multiple unit) detail:

http://www.railway-technical.com/muops.shtml

Rather than needing a "cross over" the insertion of a MU jumper cable will signal the Arduino CAN "Master" which serves as local throttle and reverser. According to this quote:

"

0. The Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is a multi-master message broadcast system that is suitable for systems where data contained in short messages are needed to be received at multiple locations simultaneously. Because messages are sent to all the nodes in a system, CAN is especially suited to systems where consistency in the received messages at all the receiving nodes is needed 

"

Source: http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slla159/slla159.pdf

The CAN bus is a multi-master bus, meaning the "Slave Mode" of the VESCs is higher up in level on the OSI model and can easily be programmed for. Again, the source code, and thus, protocol, is open, so I'd be able to craft up a control scheme using a "Master" controller per chassis, but each "Slave" VESC will defer to any Master, and if any Master signals them (within reason, there needs to be a time delay, so two locos can't literally be commanded to pull apart if someone was riding in the second units cab, then again, possibly a key to put into the controller as a token?) the VESCs will Dial-A-Power and all that. I'm thinking I might make electro-pneumatic wagon brakes to compliment the independent and regenerative brakes on-loco, based on CAN bus. Once again power will be passed through at +24VDC, and a set of two small 7.2Ah SLA batteries hooked up in series will save the day.

I use those two on long train trips to provide extended power to my MacBook and Surface, as well as 4G phone and iPad. I believe they were $30 each from Jaycar, minus the bags and cigarette lighter sockets. They'd work great to provide on board power for a wagon. Little sensor package over the CAN bus, why not, we can do it. Always wanted to play with CAN bus, nows my big chance!