Smarter Life Challenge - USB-UART and other features

RE: Smarter Life Challenge - USB-UART and other features

marsmen — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 07:11:48 GMT

Hey Paul,

Great post!

I've learned to limit sharing ideas because it was frustrating to have people just rip them apart and try to stop forward progress and creativity because these others lacked vision. In fact, when I told my boss about winning into the finalists for the SmarterLife Challenge, he told me no one gave a "blank". I don't share his belief, lol.

When I read about some of the projects, I realized how massive a system I was trying to implement and chose to whittle down. Your coffee maker idea assisted me in this process. It gave me focus to choose one item, develop it, and set it up to hack it (incorporate) in the future to become part of this larger system. Over the last couple weeks, although it has felt a little like a winding road, there is continued learning, forward progress, and enjoyment!

I've used some of the $500 to buy Cypress Thermal Kit and CapSense Expansion Kit. I have L298N ICs and looked into one of the stepper motor projects, realized I had a drop in place IC. Then when I researched the Arduino board in that projects, I found out it actually uses the same chip family, L298P. Going through these things has been a lot of fun, tweaked some thoughts and perceptions, yielded blinky LEDs and gyrating motors.

Keep having fun!

Jim

RE: Smarter Life Challenge - USB-UART and other features

cy.gul — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:12:40 GMT

Paul,

I enjoyed reading your blog post. I too agree, a true hacker is one constantly looking to improve existing systems, even if there's a solution already available. I think you're on the right track with your design. Looking forward to see more, good luck!

RE: Smarter Life Challenge - USB-UART and other features

DAB — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:04:19 GMT

Hi Paul,

You have found the truth in engineering.

Its the learning process that makes a project worth doing, not just the device or function you want to implement.

Inquisitive minds draw a lot of inspiration by just going through the process with a single question as they go through the design. Why did they do it that way?

That single questions provides a lot of information once you solve it and it grows your awareness as an engineer.

Good post.

DAB