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Hay guys,
Sorry for the inactivity recently, I've been pretty busy with school and my project.
In case you don't know, or you forgot, it is currently my final quarter for my Associate's Degree in Electrical Engineering, and so it is time for my Capstone Project.
I was planning on building a life-sized Dalek robot that would be controllable by remote, or by being inside the robot, and using the controls inside. I have spent a few weeks building test circuits for the different parts of the robot, including the motors, the audio, and the lights.
I got the motor and audio circuits to work correctly, and was making some pretty good progress with the lights.
Unfortunately, I ran into a pretty big issue while trying to figure out how to interface with the control module. The analog control on the module appears to work by use of electromagnetic switches rather than your typical switch, and unfortunately, I cannot get any schematic for it, or any information on how it works, which is pretty important for me to design my circuit. And to make matters worse, I only have about two weeks until the deadline for this project, so I don't have anywhere close to enough time to do the reverse engineering on my analog control along with everything else I need to get done for the project.
Because of this, I decided to resort to my backup project, the Microwave Ray-Gun. So for the last week or so, I have been teaching myself how my microwave works, and learned what each part is as well as what they do. Lucky for me, all microwaves come with a full schematic, so I was able to refer to the schematic and diagram that mine came with to figure out most of the information I needed, and came up with a general schematic for my gun.
It may just look like a jumble of random wires and some components, but everything is actually connected in a way that resembles that schematic (that sort of looks like chicken scratch). The only differences is that I don't have a main toggle switch yet, and I have a wire shorting the fuse terminal (because I haven't got a new fuse yet), and the gun is ready to be connected to power for testing.
I wanted to test it today, but unfortunately, it started raining as soon as I cut out the microwave director channel (the white thing with the black thing on it in the upper-right of the photo). And since this thing runs on maybe 4000 to 5000 volts, and it isn't really properly grounded, I decided it may not be a good idea to test it out on when everything is wet...
So I'm hoping that it will be sunny tomorrow, so things might dry up a bit, and I will be able to test out if everything will work the way I am hoping it will, so I can start working on the casing design.
So far, I have only used what was inside the microwave oven originally, including all the wires. However, because the wires are fairly stiff, short, and have some connectors that I don't need, or are the wrong size for my design, I am considering investing in some new wire for when I am building the final design. I wanted to avoid spending any money on this project, cuz it would be pretty cool to create a ray gun with only using what I have, but it would probably be a lot safer, and easier to just buy some fresh wire and connectors.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try heading to the city early so I can go to the electronics store (the one for electrical engineers) and get the materials and components I need. And while I'm down there, I also plan to check out a growing electronic company for employment opportunities.
So, yeah. That's pretty much what I have been doing (along with all the work for my other classes). I'm sorry for being so inactive lately, and it looks like I will probably continue to be inactive for the next few weeks as I will be working to get this project complete.
As for my robot project, I am definitely NOT going to give up on it! I have already spent almost $1000 on it, and put a LOT of time into it to just give up. I am already enrolled in the Bachelor's program for Electrical Engineering, so I will just make the robot for my bachelor's capstone project instead, which gives me about two YEARS to get it done rather than just two weeks.
Also, I am not gonna stop working on it because I have more time (I am actually still actively working on it along with my microwave ray, I'm just designating more of my time to the microwave ray now). I will try to get the robot complete as soon as I can, to which then I will begin trying to add additional features, such as a live voice modulator, and work on the cosmetic aspect of the robot. I am also considering going back to the metal chassis design rather than the wood design, since I will definitely have a job by then, and might be able to afford the materials, and even some tools.
Well,that's it for now. I'll try to get done with this project soon so i can come back online. And i will be sure to show you guys the final product (as well as make a video of it in action to submit to YouTube! ;3 )
Sorry for the inactivity recently, I've been pretty busy with school and my project.
In case you don't know, or you forgot, it is currently my final quarter for my Associate's Degree in Electrical Engineering, and so it is time for my Capstone Project.
I was planning on building a life-sized Dalek robot that would be controllable by remote, or by being inside the robot, and using the controls inside. I have spent a few weeks building test circuits for the different parts of the robot, including the motors, the audio, and the lights.
I got the motor and audio circuits to work correctly, and was making some pretty good progress with the lights.
Unfortunately, I ran into a pretty big issue while trying to figure out how to interface with the control module. The analog control on the module appears to work by use of electromagnetic switches rather than your typical switch, and unfortunately, I cannot get any schematic for it, or any information on how it works, which is pretty important for me to design my circuit. And to make matters worse, I only have about two weeks until the deadline for this project, so I don't have anywhere close to enough time to do the reverse engineering on my analog control along with everything else I need to get done for the project.
Because of this, I decided to resort to my backup project, the Microwave Ray-Gun. So for the last week or so, I have been teaching myself how my microwave works, and learned what each part is as well as what they do. Lucky for me, all microwaves come with a full schematic, so I was able to refer to the schematic and diagram that mine came with to figure out most of the information I needed, and came up with a general schematic for my gun.
It may just look like a jumble of random wires and some components, but everything is actually connected in a way that resembles that schematic (that sort of looks like chicken scratch). The only differences is that I don't have a main toggle switch yet, and I have a wire shorting the fuse terminal (because I haven't got a new fuse yet), and the gun is ready to be connected to power for testing.
I wanted to test it today, but unfortunately, it started raining as soon as I cut out the microwave director channel (the white thing with the black thing on it in the upper-right of the photo). And since this thing runs on maybe 4000 to 5000 volts, and it isn't really properly grounded, I decided it may not be a good idea to test it out on when everything is wet...
So I'm hoping that it will be sunny tomorrow, so things might dry up a bit, and I will be able to test out if everything will work the way I am hoping it will, so I can start working on the casing design.
So far, I have only used what was inside the microwave oven originally, including all the wires. However, because the wires are fairly stiff, short, and have some connectors that I don't need, or are the wrong size for my design, I am considering investing in some new wire for when I am building the final design. I wanted to avoid spending any money on this project, cuz it would be pretty cool to create a ray gun with only using what I have, but it would probably be a lot safer, and easier to just buy some fresh wire and connectors.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try heading to the city early so I can go to the electronics store (the one for electrical engineers) and get the materials and components I need. And while I'm down there, I also plan to check out a growing electronic company for employment opportunities.
So, yeah. That's pretty much what I have been doing (along with all the work for my other classes). I'm sorry for being so inactive lately, and it looks like I will probably continue to be inactive for the next few weeks as I will be working to get this project complete.
As for my robot project, I am definitely NOT going to give up on it! I have already spent almost $1000 on it, and put a LOT of time into it to just give up. I am already enrolled in the Bachelor's program for Electrical Engineering, so I will just make the robot for my bachelor's capstone project instead, which gives me about two YEARS to get it done rather than just two weeks.
Also, I am not gonna stop working on it because I have more time (I am actually still actively working on it along with my microwave ray, I'm just designating more of my time to the microwave ray now). I will try to get the robot complete as soon as I can, to which then I will begin trying to add additional features, such as a live voice modulator, and work on the cosmetic aspect of the robot. I am also considering going back to the metal chassis design rather than the wood design, since I will definitely have a job by then, and might be able to afford the materials, and even some tools.
Well,that's it for now. I'll try to get done with this project soon so i can come back online. And i will be sure to show you guys the final product (as well as make a video of it in action to submit to YouTube! ;3 )
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 853px
File Size 227.9 kB
Oh yeah, getting hit with 120 VAC is NOT fun! I have had the unfortunate displeasure of feeling that once...
But with this microwave, the voltage in in the kilo-volts range! At least once it passes through the transformer. That shit is pretty much guaranteed death.
But with this microwave, the voltage in in the kilo-volts range! At least once it passes through the transformer. That shit is pretty much guaranteed death.
It's 230VAC here and electric fence units typically are between 2/10kV this one was about 4kV. Compared to that the light switch was just a tingle.
It was probably similar in power to this one.
https://am.gallagher.com/nz/product.....s/mains/G38111
It was probably similar in power to this one.
https://am.gallagher.com/nz/product.....s/mains/G38111
What do you intend to do with the device? I mean what do you plan to aim the "ray gun" at?
The dangers presented by a project such as this just seem to outweigh the possible gain from such a thing. The risk of absorbing microwave radiation, crippling berylliosis from a damaged insulator, and of course the risk for a high voltage shock either AC or RF.
The dangers presented by a project such as this just seem to outweigh the possible gain from such a thing. The risk of absorbing microwave radiation, crippling berylliosis from a damaged insulator, and of course the risk for a high voltage shock either AC or RF.
Well, i plan to test it out on various objects (aside from humans or animals) to see the effects. One example is the florescent light, which as you can see in here has a pretty cool effect.
It is true that this project is CRAZY dangerous, but it was something that I thought I could easily do, and will likely not use again after my initial presentation, because it is incredibly deadly. Not to mention that it can and will disable many types of elecronic devices, especially those used for electronic communications. And the FCC would definitely have a problem with it.
It is true that this project is CRAZY dangerous, but it was something that I thought I could easily do, and will likely not use again after my initial presentation, because it is incredibly deadly. Not to mention that it can and will disable many types of elecronic devices, especially those used for electronic communications. And the FCC would definitely have a problem with it.
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