Mark's Blog - All Comments

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

Former Member — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 21:29:28 GMT

Unfortunately 9/10 it is lack of motivation, most others are excuses covering for lack of drive.

People are easily distracted and complete the less difficult/time consuming tasks before sitting for research or completing a hands-on project. I believe the best solution is to think deep into your mind and rediscover the initial point at which this was a fresh, exciting new idea and the reasoning that follows it. Rediscover the motivation and drive you once had for wanting to complete this task and then see how natural your want to accomplish your project is again. Surface thinking sometimes needs a dive.[View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2bd7100c-0200-4317-a1ba-3b1883f01529/3010.contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

kas.lewis — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 20:38:42 GMT

One of the issues I have is getting another project before I finish the first (usually be request by someone else). The other issue is loosing interest due to unexpected delays. When I need to wait a month or more for parts or to get a simple answer such as how to get an I2C module working that can take the wind out of may sails and really slow a project down or stop it all together. What does help is when you are in a team and each member can help keep the momentum moving.

I think an interesting idea would be for E14 to hold a team challenge, where they would require each team to have 2 or 3 people to achieve some goal. At the very least it would be a fun idea to see how such a challenge would work out. I would be very interested in teaming up with [mention:6e474abc33b64a82aa78c9813503c962:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] as he is geographically close and has a LOT to share as do so many others here. It would be fun to hear some other peoples ideas.

Kas

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

DAB — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 20:34:48 GMT

After over fifty years of hobby and forty years of work I put most of my unfinished projects into one cause: OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS!

I could make the argument about time, enthusiasm, priority issues, or others, but mostly it boils down to a change in the reason why I wanted to do the project.

I used to worry about it, but then I realized that it just happens.

At work, I am very goal oriented to keep the customer happy. Those projects were always done on time and within budget.

Home projects, for whatever reason, just do not have the same level of importance.

On some neat projects, once I figure out how to make it work, I lose interest in making it work. Don't know why, but I just do.

In the end I have concluded that as long as you are having fun, it just doesn't matter!

So have fun, stop worrying and occasionally make something neat.

DAB

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

Former Member — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 20:11:55 GMT

I'd split the reasons into two distinct camps. True hobbyists, and professional engineers doing something in their spare time.

Professional engineers tend to suffer to one degree or another from not really wanting to spend their spare time doing what they do 9-5. I certainly have this problem, and while my 9-5 has swung between software and hardware over the years I've generally found my out-of-work interest heading the opposite way. There's also that certain stage where you'll settle for good enough and sort the rough edges later that you simply don't get to do professionally.

The true hobbyist tend to stick out as they generally don't know what they're doing, don't have even basics like a multimeter and simply won't spend the money on the appropriate and required equipment. If they do buy some equipment they'll usually buy the cheapest crap they can find and then wonder why they have problems.

I also don't agree that a hobbyist has demonstrated the ability to learn new concepts, indeed a lot that pop up in visible places will happily demonstrate for you that they have absolutely no interest in learning anything.

One thing that I might add to your list is that the drive towards miniaturization tends to put some stuff out of reach of people doing things at home. For some of us that's going to come down to no longer having the necessary eyesight and the frustration of trying to deal with ever smaller parts. In other ways it can simply put the necessary equipment out of reach financially. Yet people will often still take on things with the certainty that a toaster oven is the answer to all problems [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2bd7100c-0200-4317-a1ba-3b1883f01529/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

Personally I find that I've very few projects that I've not completed, but at the same time I do have various things where I'll have several prototypes, some completed, some abandoned, when it becomes clear that a certain approach isn't going to work out. I also find that I end up with finished and working things where I'd really like to do it all again and make different choices..

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

jw0752 — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 04:46:38 GMT

Mark you did an excellent job of outlining what I felt at one time was a flaw in my character. Eventually, however, I came to understand that my goals really weren't always the completion of projects. The projects were instead only a pretext to satisfy my curiousity and to learn new things. Sure, when I stumble, occasionally, on a real need the answer to that need gets designed and constructed, if I am clever enough to do it. If the need however is only a pretext to play with something new I usually read, and learn what I have to and then I put together enough hardware to confirm my understanding of the basics of the technology or hardware, document and file my notes and put the pieces of hardware back for future projects. I know from the start that I am going to stop short of completion of the project. I try to mix up my approach to learning just to keep it interesting. When I just need to relax I turn on the solder iron and salvage components from old boards. While I know that I don't even begin to approach the abilities and knowledge of most of the other members I am thankful that I at least know enough to appreciate some of the marvelous things they are doing and making. In summary I have to say that I have stopped even pretending that I will finish most projects and just enjoy working on them as long as they hold my interest. Thanks for your article.

John

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

mcb1 — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 00:51:34 GMT

Mark

How is the project de-railed .... you aren't pushing up daisies .... (well if you are the internet is still working)

So in theory you could still complete the project. [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2bd7100c-0200-4317-a1ba-3b1883f01529/contentimage_5F00_938.png:16:16]

I have so many projects I need to live until about 148 by today's list ...

although by then I may not be sure if I have finished or not. [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-2bd7100c-0200-4317-a1ba-3b1883f01529/contentimage_5F00_53.png:16:16]

Mark

RE: Why do many hobbyist projects derail?

johnbeetem — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 22:15:20 GMT

"Life is a journey, not a destination, Grasshopper." Or, see the dog version in a recent New Yorker.

It sounds like you're buying boards to learn something. Once you have finished reading the documentation, you've learned 80% of what you're going to learn, without having to deal with the frustration of loading Windows drivers. You've also learned enough to spark your interest in learning something else. Recommendation: download the documentation and read it, only pretending you have the board. Then write software. Then buy the actual hardware.

Many of my projects are mostly software, and I only need hardware towards the end when I actually need to see it working with real hardware. So I write the software first, and only when the software is almost done do I order hardware. Sometimes it's possible to test most of the software using hardware I already have, so that helps postpone the day of ordering something new.

OTOH, there are products well worthy of support like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard/Bone, and Papilio, so even if you don't ever use the board you have helped a worthy project thrive, which helps others.

JMO/YMMV

RE: PIC18F vs PSoC 4: A tale of two embedded project platforms

cy.gul — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:20:51 GMT

Hi Mark,

I enjoyed reading through this blog article, very well written!

Good to see you working with these oh-so-popular WS2811 LED strips. Interesting parallels drawn between a software vs hardware implementation. What sort of added benefits do you see in the hardware-based PSoC implementation?

And oh, there's a project here that has implemented a similar controller for the WS2811 LEDs on a PSoC 4, and its encapsulated into a nice 'component' that you can just drag-and-drop on to your schematic. Thought you'd be interested in taking a look at that too - PSoC 4 Pioneer Kit Community Project#100 – PSoC 4 Times Square LED Billboard

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

Former Member — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 15:08:51 GMT

My first job as an electronic technologist was to wire wrap a new I/O board for a Data General mini-computer. This was a computer that took up an entire wall in the classroom at the tech institute I was working at. The space was used by the computer, the tape drive, the card reader, and I think a teletype printer of some sort. All that power...and now I have it in my 10" netbook.

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

packetgeek — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 23:28:30 GMT

Augh! Wire-wrap and sockets (and yes, wire-wrapped sockets) with a S100 bus! Pardon me while I have a shuddering flash-back. My first thought was that the S100 board (shown above) violated a number of spacing guidelines for heat disappation (instructor back then was a retired USMC Drill Instructor and less-than-optimal spacing was a sure-fire way of failing his course). Final lab for a class back then involved using touch circuits to control lights and dial a phone (by pulsing a relay).

Also, I remember the 555 timer fondly.

- Tim

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

Former Member — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 20:56:58 GMT

Back in the late 70s I ordered a timer from James Electronics (now Jameco). It promised all kinds of possibilities. Now back in those days, catalogs were scarce, there was no internet and no email, so I wasn't really sure WHAT I bought. My timer came in and it was a single 8 pin IC, the venerable 555. What the hell is this? I knew nothing. I expected something with a control knob on it and some kind of display! I started studying, took a correspondence course from National Technical Schools, realized that wasn't enough, quit my high paying job (6 weeks holiday) and went back to school. I was almost disowned by my family for doing such a radical thing. Graduated with honors, 'cause I was so determined (I was 31 years old), got a job in a prep lab for the Instrumentation Department of that same technical school. Then the learning really began! In order to repair student experiments and prepare others for the instructors, I had to learn digital electronics, and began with Motorola development boards, using 6800, 6802, and 6809 MPUs. I loved the stuff, and gobbled it up like a dog with an ice cream cone. Knew most of the assembler codes by heart but always walked around with a programming card in my shirt pocket just in case! What a nerd! I ended up teaching digital electronics and made this my life long hobby. Two years ago I abandoned the old Motorola stuff, and got into Microchip PICs and have been happily programming and making circuit boards ever since. I have the ME Labs LabX1 development system, and the Mikro Elektronika EasyPicV7 development system. I use a USB scope from Parallax. The 555? I made probably 100 circuits with this, but now use 8 pin PICs instead since I can get the same functionality, but all in software. Cool stuff.

I like what you did with the Agilent Mark. that is really cool.

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

Former Member — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 16:46:19 GMT

Mark, I can still read most of that hex listing without needing to look up the opcodes.. At around that time I was in the same position of not being able to afford an assembler, so I wrote my own assembler/disassembler in hex. The font your printer used looks oddly familiar too [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-0119576d-532e-4986-ad1c-e52d3b3e0be5/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

I might still have the tape it was saved on somewhere, I have a vague recollection of seeing it a few years ago. Like you I'd have no way of playing it today even if I ever do find it again.

I think todays hobbyist/engineer misses a lot by not having experienced things like this. While the relevance today is less, it's part of that lifetimes worth of experience that you just can't easily obtain any other way. I have some difficulty imagining todays generation sitting down and reading a dead tree version of certain Rodnay Zaks book when they can just get instant google gratification.

RE: Set backs and progress on developing a WS2811 LED string controller

michaelkellett — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:52:10 GMT

You may need more than one clamping device - at high frequencies one end of the 4m string has little control over the other. Does the LED 'tape' have power supply decoupling caps ?

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

fustini — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 22:17:50 GMT

Great post!

RE: How I learned embedded hardware and firmware - circa 1984

Former Member — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 20:41:21 GMT

Hi All , I want to study embedded hardware. Can you give me some recomendation?PLS This is very interesting device.Do you have one???