A tiny Arduino laser cutter

The MicroSlice uses Grbl v0.8 for motion control. Grbl converts G-Code into commands that the EasyDriver stepper motor controllers understand. We need another program to send the G-Code to Grbl, for this I'll be using Zapmaker's Grbl Controller v3.0. Before you can begin you will need the Arduino IDE, available from the Arduino website. Make sure your Laser Diode is not connected to the power lines while you are configuring your MicroSlice. The Laser will power on & off during the setup & configuration process if it is connected. Grbl's wiki shows you how to flash the pre-compiled Grbl hex file onto your Arduino. For those of you who have a Raspberry Pi, as I do, you'll be pleased to know that you can control the MicroSlice using your Pi! We'll need to generate some G-Code. Before we can use our new G-Code we'll need to configure Grbl to use the stepper motors and end-stops. You can use either the Arduino IDE Serial Terminal (CTRL + Shift + M) to send commands to Grbl. You should also set;

Poor-Mans Smart-Grid - Blackout Protection by UPS and Electric Motorcycle The "Smart-Grid" is an interesting concept, which has potential to stabilize the electric grid, due to either times of high demand or the variability of renewable energy sources, through the use of automated equipment, turning devices on and off remotely. One element of the smart-grid we often hear about is using power from the batteries in an electric vehicle to supplement power to the grid. The Smart-Grid requires smart, bi-directional meters, and electronic components that can either charge an electric vehicle OR pull power from it as needed. At night, an electric vehicle owner charges their vehicle from wall power. The way I see it, the Smart-Grid is a great CONCEPT, but has a number of issues. On the other hand, what about a PERSONAL Smart-Grid? For my project, I required: An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Power cables and connectors (typical hardware store components) An electric vehicle - in this case, my electric motorcycle

Solar Swing-Set (PV Playhouse) This project is a Solar-Powered Swing-Set. No, the solar does not make the swing run. Rather, this project re-uses a child's playset as a ground-mount to support a solar panel. For some time, I've been playing with solar, and wanted to get more solar power in my life. (See Solar-Powered PowerWheels as an example project.) However, I actually have rather poor solar access at my house. While my yard has many trees, it has very few that are any good to hang a swing from. So, an idea was born. Lets take a look at tools, materials, and budget, and then dive in to building the SOLAR SWING-SET!

Hybrid solar panel (photovoltaic and thermal) I am not going to repeat all the details on how to build a solar panel, there are plenty of other instructables for this (search tool is your friend!). I will give some basics, though... and then focus more on the "hybrid" nature of my panel (PV + thermal). General characteristics: - about 0.5 m^2 area, at a maximum of 1 kW/m^2 of irradiation and 12% efficiency this should produce UP TO 60 W of electrical power. Materials: - 36 cells, 3"x6".

Solar Powered Cell Phone Charger You don't need much to get this project up and running. I actually bought everything I needed at Radio Shack, and will provide the SKUs for each item in case you want to do the same. Solar Cell (I used a 6v 50mA one) SKU: 277-1205Project Box (I used a 5x2.5x2 and it fits perfectly but any small enclosed box that you can cut holes into will do fine) SKU: 270-180312VDC Car Power Outlet Socket SKU: 270-1556Vecro (or your adhesive of choice) SKU: 64-2345 You will also need a soldering iron (15 watt. 3 Axis Arduino Based CNC Controller I've been playing with different CNC designs and Stepper controllers for many years now. I started building CNC machines long ago. My first inspiration came from Bruce Shapiro’s eggbot. I tried a few variations of it and even the board from evil mad scientist. Recently a project named GRBL came along that caught my eye. The latest generation controllers I have built all use the same simple and cheap IC's. I've used the cheapest parts I could find and still got great results with modest fine tuning.