This is a toy rocket Launcher for SAFE take-off. This is for small rockets such as the ones from Apogee.
I built mine around an Arduino.
The code is very simple and good introduction to micro controller coding in general.
Also built a few parts with the Makerbot, using TinkerCad for the design.
This weekend it was the First communion of my youngest son, Noe.
We made a feast with the family, I roasted a small piglet in the BBQ. It was my first roast and it was very nice. Very sweet and nicely cooked all the way through but still very juicy and tender. I am very pleased with the results.
We also had some very nice wine…
Made some foie gras from a fresh duck liver. The recipe is very simple.
1- Leave raw foie gras in milk overnight in fridge.
2- Take out of fridge, let it rest 30 minutes then separate the lobes and remove the veins. There is a big lobe and a small one, the veins travel differently in each. Simply use fingers or small knife. This is an important part, a thorough job here will make a very smooth foie gras at the end.
3- Put all the foie bits in a terrine and poor a couple of table spoons of Ports and a couple of table spoons of Armagnac. Sprinkle a few spoons of spices as you like. (I like 5 spices and pepper). You can put salt now but would recommend salt on the finished product rather than in the cooking. Back in fridge for the liquids to get absorbed in the liver.
4- Cook in the terrine in the oven at 160 degrees celsius, “au bain marie” ( poor boiling water around the terrine in a bigger container). I cook with the terrine “open”, so I can see what is going on and check the temperature of the foie. I usually wait for the foie to get to at least 55 to 60 degrees celsius. This might take 20/30 minutes ()?
5- Take the terrine out and let cool down. You can press the foie slightly so that the meat is all at the bottom and the fat comes to the top. For this you can use a small piece of wood of the appropriate size wrapped in cling film and let it rest on top of the terrine with a small weight on top.
5- When cooled, put in fridge overnight. The fat will go solid on top and provide a “air-tight” protection for the foie gras.
6- Eat the foie gras on a toast of bread with a bit of salt and a sweet wine.
Just an other robot I purchased for Easter….from the evil scientists here….good fun, all Arduino based, open source and simple to use as an extension to Inkscape.
We had a few goes at CNC drawing on the eggs of we had in the fridge…including this Nutrition Facts for the eggs.
Less than an hour build time.
There is nothing like coming back home (in London) from a long trip down to my parents.
The car is always full of souvenirs to eat or drink…
Unloading the car is always a bit of a pain and always marks the end of some sort of holiday but the first drink from one of the “souvenirs” is always there to boost the spirit as a starter.
Cheers until next time.
A few days in Alpe D’Huez at the Club Med., very nice weather and great relaxing with the family.
Snow was rubbish and slopes disappointing because the nicest runs were closed. (Sarene and the Tunnel)
Next year, back to Park City.
I had a problem today, I solved it and I learned a few new skills, it was a good day.
I recently added a secure bolt to the bottom of one of my outside doors to make it more difficult to simply break-in for any wannabe thief.
Although the bolt is effective to secure the bottom of the door, the way it is setup is annoying as the bolt constantly catches the step at the bottom as you open and close the door.
Essentially it needs something to keep the bolt “high” so that when you open or close the door it does not drag on the floor.
I thought I could solve this problem easily with a 3D Printed Part of my Makerbot.
I started with a quick design on Tinkercad. What a great piece of cloud computing…
Then downloaded the part to my computer, send it to the printer and… “et voila!”.
The workflow :
Problem -> Idea -> TinkerCad -> STL File -> ReplicatorG -> GCode on SD Card -> 3D Printing -> Physical ABS Part -> No Problem anymore.
See the pictures for more detail.
