I am often called upon at work to photograph various items for inclusion on our website. Today’s request was for images that will find their way to our technical support pages and I decided to shoot them in the evening so that I could take advantage of my home studio lighting setup. Pictured above is a close up of the nozzles we use to print Nylon and fiber from. Below are two examples that will be used to illustrate issues with printing.
As fall approaches and the morning air turns cool our fields are often bathed in a blanket of mist. I love this time of year and am looking forward to the autumn foliage as I remember my father who was born on this day in 1924.
Since leaving iRobot a lot has changed. My former boss and three of my five direct reports have left the company. Doug is moving to Ohio to head up R&D at the Transportation Research Center, an automotive test track facility. Lynne (could not join us this evening) has joined venerable Mercury Computers to lead their engineering team. Marlene now runs program management at Levant Power, an active suspension startup in Woburn. Rob and Hiten continue to excel at iRobot and have just released the company’s first self navigating Roomba, a project we all worked on for years. Our dinner reunion this evening was to wish Doug farewell and catch up on the latest happenings. It was a lot of fun and something I hope we can repeat in the future.
Followers of this blog are well aware of my penchant for tripods. I currently own six and, hand to Bible, I use them all. To them, it will come as no surprise that my recent love affair with 3D printing has now turned to that object. I spent a good portion of the weekend designing two models, a super light weight baby (perfect for desktop macro photography) which stands a foot tall and a collapsible big brother which is twice that. When I got to work this morning, I launched a single print containing all four parts (3 legs and an apex). When it was time to head home my tripod was done. All that remained to be done was attach the legs with standard hardware and affix a suitable size ball head. Despite their diminutive appearance, the legs turned out to be incredibly strong as did the apex. The feature which establishes the leg angle is not quite as stiff as I would like so it is back to OnShape for some refinement of the CAD model. The real beauty of 3D printing is that you can rapidly iterate on a design concept as often as needed to achieve your vision.
Jeanine participated in the Three Squares Ride For Food this morning. She raised ~$3500 as she completed the 25 mile course that started and ended at the Nobles campus in Dedham. Committed to eliminating food insecurity in New England, a more worthy cause you will not find. Jeanine, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, can be seen here with her fellow riders wearing their custom food helmets.
My soccer team lost our first match in some time by a score of 1-0 to a strong Midfield team. It was a close match but the better team won. We have our work cut out for us if we hope to repeat as Division 1 champions this year. I had two shots on net. Both were on frame but neither with enough power to be a real threat.
I only use two types of filters in my photography. Circular polarizers remove reflections and glare and enhance color saturation. Neutral density filters cut down the amount of light reaching the camera’s sensor, allowing for long exposure times which can be used to create motion blur (I use these a lot when shooting waterfalls). Good filters are not cheap and worth protecting when carrying in the field. Many cases exist but they are generically sized and tend to be bulky. I designed and printed this filter case for the ones I like to carry with me. It is lightweight, compact and more protective than most cases I have seen.
Maya returned to action on the soccer pitch this afternoon. She has been nursing a sprained ankle for the last ten days and it finally felt strong enough to test in competition. Judging from her performance. I would say she has made a full recovery. Unfortunately, her team fell to Acton Boxborough by a score of 2-0.
The crew refinishing our hardwood floors completed the job today. I am often dissatisfied with the work of contractors because they rarely do it as well as I can (simply because I care and I don’t rush). This project was an exception and we are very pleased with the results. Beyond opening the windows and running the AC there is little to be done about the unpleasant smell of the drying finish, however.
While moving Maya’s bed from her room so that the floors could be refinished, I discovered that the central “beam” structure that supports the mattress had developed an enormous crack and was drooping by several inches. It should be noted that such a failure would most likely be caused by a large child jumping on the bed (ah hem, no further comment). This evening I repaired the failed structure and added a pair of sistering beams which should more than triple the strength of the existing one. Pictured here is the glue-up of the final assembly.
Maya composed this chic outfit and did not object when I insisted on taking a photograph. Her ankle is slowly healing but in true Calabria fashion, she is pushing to get back on the soccer pitch prematurely. Being elected co-captain of her team has only added to the pressure to rejoin her teammates.
After 12 years of heavy use we are having the oak hardwood floors on our second floor refinished. We are getting an early start on preparing the house for sale after Maya leaves for college. At that time we are looking forward to moving into a much smaller home and reducing our carbon footprint. Still too many variables to know when and where we will move but giving ourselves a couple of years to get ready will make the transition that much easier. Pictured here is Maya’s bedroom and a close examination will reveal the tired and worn flooring.
We are having our upstairs hardwood floors sanded and refinished starting tomorrow. In preparation, Jeanine and I spent the better part of the afternoon moving furniture and contents out of the three rooms that will be worked on into the two that will not. During this process I found a wooden excavator and flat bed truck with trailer which I made for Kyle and Nicolai respectively when they were wee toddlers. I have built large pieces of furniture which took less time to build than these toys. The excavator has a fully articulating boom and bucket, rotating “house”, and operational tracks, all fabricated from wood. The flat bed truck has rotating wheels and I have witnessed more than one child using it with the trailer attached as a skate board. Both toys have held up remarkably well and it is my sincere wish that they be handed down to my grandchildren one day.
In soccer action this morning my team left Concord at 6:30 am to reach Taunton in time for warmups and an 8 am kick-off. We trailed by a single goal from the early minutes of the game until the last second of the match. In that last second, we scored an equalizer which felt more like the winning goal. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net the referee blew his whistle signaling the end of the game. The tie was good enough to place us atop the league standings.
The rains which fell most of the day were a very welcomed departure from recent record high temperatures. I spent the day indoors designing new parts to print at work. Jeanine and Maya did a little bit of mother-daughter shopping, something they rarely do. On this outing, someone drew on Maya’s face with a black marker of some kind. I attempted to document the results which can be observed at the interface of the eyelashes and eyelids. I think Maya is a stunningly beautiful young woman and in no need of further augmentation.
My socket wrench caddy and power-bit caddy designs/prints earned me a second place finish during our weekly “Part of the Week” party/competition. Although I missed top honors, several colleagues asked if they could get the design files to print these bit and socket holders for their own toolboxes.
