Electro-mechanical sunglasses III

[gfish]

Over the weekend I took advantage of my dad's drillpress to put together the electronics enclosure. The light sensor still isn't mounted, but I can do that with a hot needle once I finalize the internal connections. The knife switch is main power (I was feeling silly), and the smaller toggle switch is the light sensor bypass which changes the big potentiometer knob from a gain adjustment to direct manual control of the servo.



Special bonus video update!

The prototype nylon gears arrived today, so I grabbed some bolts and a plank of wood from the hardware store and made a complete mounting test. In the final version, the two big gears won't be directly mounted to the frame, of course, but instead have their centers cut out for the polarized sheets. They'll be held in place by the small spur gears and little metal clips screwed into the side of the frame.

I'm now thinking I'll try making the frame out of wood, at least at first. It will be a lot cheaper, and I already have the tools to work on it in my apartment. Done right, it could still look quite nice, particularly when I upgrade to real brass gears later.

Comments

[ashley-y.livejournal.com]

Mad science requires knife switches.

[neuro42.livejournal.com]

needs a panic button, for peril-sensitive mode.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

If I was doing this with a microcontroller, like a sane person, I'd add a microphone and have it flash full opaque in response to loud noises. But this is all component electronics, and I'm not going to attempt that.

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Mark II! With laser rangefinders!

[niac.livejournal.com]

Glad to see it's coming along. Next time you're in Seattle, I'd like to compare notes on BM for this year.

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Although, activating lasers while unable to see does not sound like a particularly good idea. Ah, well. :)

[najalaise.livejournal.com]

Nah, it'd be great! You wouldn't even have the option of looking into laser with remaining eye. Safety first!