New Super-Silent™ Fans are one of the highlights of the new feature set. Providing a 10-decibel drop in most of the systems, these fans make Epilog lasers the quietest operating systems on the market.
An even more robust Vector Cutting Table is now included with the series.
The updated table is over one inch thick and removable from the system. When not in use, the table can be placed in the convenient new storage rack that has been built into the stand. The Engraving Table has also been reinforced for the flattest, most even engraving surface on every job.
Beneath the Vector Cutting Table is a new removable Crumb Tray that has been built into the table pan. Users lower the Easy-Access Drop-Down Door on the front of the system and pull out the Crumb Tray to remove the debris that has fallen through, eliminating a fire hazard and making system maintenance even easier.
The updated machines in the Legend Elite Series by Epilog include the Epilog Mini 18, Mini 24, and Helix. They feature Epilog’s Accupoint™ Motion Control System with linear encoders, NeverWear stainless steel bearings, and high-speed servo motors. The series also features Epilog’s Laser Dashboard™ and Photo Real Engraving™ with dithering patterns that produce the highest quality photo engraving in the industry.
Huh, we’ve not seen “Epilog’s Laser Dashboard™ and Photo Real Engraving™” – likely their own software since COREL is good for a lot of things, likely not so good for just running a laser.
The background is that I met Ayah Bdeir at the Global Entrepreneurship Week festivities in Beirut, and we started talking about her LittleBits project (which is, crudely, like Legos for electrics assembly – even someone as spatially impaired as me could build a microphone or pressure sensor in minutes). Ayah introduced me to the whole open hardware (OH) world and asked a lot of very good, hard to answer questions about how to use CC in the context of OH. It became clear that a lot of the people involved in the movement didn’t have a clear grasp of how the various layers of intellectual property might or might not apply. Ayah suggested in February that we put together a little workshop – almost a teach-in – around a meeting of Arduino advocates happening in NYC on the 18-19 of March. In a matter of three weeks, we got representatives from a bunch of major players to commit… (read more)
We’ll have posts about all this as it takes shape.
Auto Smiley is a computer vision application that runs in the background while you work. The software analyzes your face while you are working and if it detects a smile it sends the the ascii smiley face letters “: )” as keyboard presses to the front most application. Auto Smiley has many uses from just straight up convenience to enforcing honesty in your online communication
(OK, calling it a “hack” is an exaggeration, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity for the double entendre.) After building my Drawdio, I realized that I didn’t have a thumbtack to attach it to the end of the pencil (not Adafruit’s fault, I had just purchased the circuit board). So, I decided to take it in a different direction… It’s very simple to build, once you’ve made the circuit: find a knife with a non-metallic grip (wood, plastic, or rubber should all work). Attach the Drawdio to the handle — I used a zip-tie. Using copper tape connect one end of the circuit board to the blade, and the other end to the handle so that your hand will be touching copper when you hold the knife. That’s it! To use it, hold the Syntheslicer in one hand and a fork with a metallic handle in the other, and start playing with your food! Please don’t use your Syntheslicer as a weapon. Also, I wouldn’t recommend waving it around in public, especially in Boston: they’d probably think it was some sort of stab-bomb.
A group of artists and hackers have crafted a gadget that lets a paralyzed graffiti artist continue making art using only his eyes. And it costs about as much as an iPod shuffle.
Zach Lieberman of the Graffiti Research Lab started working on the EyeWriter with one man in mind: Los Angeles-based graffiti artist Tony Quan. In 2003, Quan was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, leaving virtually every muscle in his body paralyzed except for his eyes. Lieberman and developers from Free Art and Technology, OpenFrameworks and the Ebeling Group were inspired to create low-cost, open-source hardware and software for eye-tracking to help Quan draw again.
Eye-tracking technology, where computers and small cameras harness eye movements for writing, highlighting Web site text and other tasks, has lead to digital tools for disabled users. However, as Lieberman tells NPR’s Liane Hansen, those devices usually have hefty price tags.
Tonight, Saturday 3/20/2010 – 10pm ET – “Ask an Engineer” – our weekly LIVE video chat! What is “Ask an engineer”? From the electronics enthusiast to the professional community – “Ask an Engineer” has a little bit of everything for everyone. If you’re a beginner, or an seasoned engineer – stop in and see what we’re up to! We have demos of projects and products we’re working on, we answer you engineering and electronics questions and we have a trivia question + give away each week. To see previous chat event videos, please visit the forums.
This week we’ll go through some more of chapters one of the books we stock “Make: Electronics by Charles Platt” We checked out this book before putting it in the shop, its geared towards ultimate-beginners and teaches electronics starting from basic core of analog to some digital to microcontrollers. You’ll learn tools, prototyping soldering techniques, transistors, 555′s, etc. while completing useful projects. A nice and tidy intro! This book is a good accompaniment to learning microcontrollers/Arduino in that it fills the necessary electronics theory and background.
We have a small production delay with the MONOCHRON clock kit, we have alerted the few backordered customers and we’ve removed it from the store for backorder purchasing for now (special thanks to our very understanding and supportive customers). The customers we contacted will be sent an email once we’re shipping again and you can sign up to be notified at any time too. For the kit curious – Our laser filter system for a laser needed to be changed and the supplier was later than expected – while we have this time we’re going do some firmware updates and possible add more optional items to the kit and the store based on customer feedback, we’ll see how much time we have for all that. We’ll keep everyone posted of course! We’d like to once again thank all the customers who have created amazing widgets/clocks for this fun open source clock platform!
Adafruit is excited to introduce George Graves as the newest member of our technical staff. George has been recording and archiving our live “Ask an Engineer” video chats each week (Saturday night at 10 pm EST), and we’ve officially brought him on-board to help out. We’re excited to be working with George and expect great things from him in the future.
We asked George what got him interested in electronics: “When I was a kid, I’d take things apart, and then save all the little bits and pieces. But the electronics were always a bit of a mystery to me. I understood the basics, but never the details.” He continues, “A few years ago, I dove in head first. I was working on something that I eventually wanted to become a product to sell, so I started to design my first PCB layout. That’s when I got hooked, that’s when I fell in love.”
George’s comes to us with a unique skill set – he’s a video editor. So we’re looking forward to taking advantage of George’s talents. Welcome aboard George!
I just put together the BB power supply, and only have 29 more to go. One reason for selecting this PS was for the adjustable voltage, i.e. I needed a STABLE 1.9 volts (don’t ask). Anyway, if anyone else is thinking about this excellent little board and needs a voltage greater than 3 I highly recommend ditching the single turn pot (very imprecise and possibly noisy as well) and replacing it with an 18 or 25 turn pot like Digikey 490-2914-ND (92 cents). The switched 3.3 and 5 volts work great by the way!
Adjustable breadboard power supply – v1.0 – This project details the design of a very low dropout adjustable power supply. A good power supply is essential to electronic projects. While there are many existing designs for adjustable power supplies, this one makes improvements that make it more useful for hobby designs.
MIC2941 regulator has guaranteed 1.25A output
Low dropout, only 40mV – 400mV compared to 1.25V – 2.0V for LM317. This means you can use a wider range of output voltages including generating 3.3V from as low as 3.7V (such as 3 AA’s or a lithium ion battery)!
Short circuit and overheating protection
Input diode to protect circuitry from negative voltages or AC power supplies.
2.1mm DC jack and terminal connector for voltage inputs
Two indicator LEDs for high and low voltages
Output selection switch to select from 3.3v, 5v and Adjustable
Onboard potentiometer for adjusting voltage from 1.25V up to within 0.5V of the input voltage. (20V max)
On/Off switch for entire board
Heat sink included
Breadboard and battery clip or DC power supply is not included, you can use any DC power supply with 2.1mm plug (we have a nice one in the shop). For design documents, instructions, parts list, etc. Check out the project webpage!
You can get various t-shirts for women, men and children, plus a mug and tote bag. If there are particularly styles of t-shirt or other bits of merch that you know Spreadshirt does that you would like us to include, please let us know in the comments. I still have to add descriptions and stuff, but please feel free to have a poke about and give us feedback. All items are marked up by £1 which will go to cover costs of the Ada Lovelace Day event (comprising mostly of chair hire!).
Remember to stop back HERE on 3/24/2010 we are going to have HUGE “Finding Ada” sale!
Printable catalog (PDF)
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