Bowled over by all the fantastic activity. I have an 1897 steam launch which I have restored and built repro machinery, over 20yrs steaming now. I have spent a lot of time trying to make an ‘engine indicator, but realise now that I am on a hiding to nothing! The answer has to be electronic, a no go area for me. I have a large well equipped workshop, and do regular trips on the river yare. Can I interest anyone in making a steam engine ‘tuning aid’?
Just a reminder everyone, its Tim’s SQL part 2 session tonight. So if you want to take part remember to bring along a laptop. Apparently we also have sofas.
The usual making and discussion will continue in the main room.
[…] Keith, from Ipswich Makerspace, has blogged about his visit to the CamJam and has covered various things including some of the talks he attended. Read it here. […]
[…] Keith Ellis and the guys over at Ipswich Makerspace did brilliantly well with their robot, TractorBot, at last year Pi Wars. They won Best Robot under £75 and placed very respectably in most of the challenges. (You can see the full results here). They have decided to open-source their designs and code for TractorBot, which means that other competitors this year will have a head-start on many challenges if they take the time to go through the code. Design specs will also be released so if you want a good base to start from, you could do far worse than take a look! You can read the start of their open-sourcing project here. […]
Hi. My son came along to the raspberry jam and at the end of the day I bought for him a raspberry pi 2 and some other bits and pieces to get started. I couldn’t buy a wifi dongle there, so I bought one from Maplin. My nephew helped my son to set up the raspberry pi at home. However, he told me that the wifi dongle isn’t compatible with the raspberry pi as it only works with a Windows operating system. Is he right? I spoke to someone at Maplin on the phone but he wasn’t sure. The product is a TP-LINK Archer T”U Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter 802.11ac (AC600). Can you help at all? Do I have the right product or do I need to buy something else? I hope you can help. Best wishes, Giles Gilbert
Check out this page, there are lots of guides on getting wifi working along with a compatibility list. I’ve had TP-Link dongles working so don’t assume it does not work. http://elinux.org/RPi_USB_Wi-Fi_Adapters
Very impressive guys. I’ve opeted for the generic SR-04 due to having no experience with any sensor like this previously. Looking forward to seeing how this performs for you.
Must dash…off to get my robot’s claw attachment laser cut… 😉
[…] were from Rapid. With luck they had the same size hexagonal hub so they fitted straight onto the 3D printed hub converters we had made for the larger wheels. The wheels were quickly fitted and went for a test […]
[…] has bee refining the proximity code along with his library for the VL6180 sensor. TractorBot now gradually reduces speed as an object is approached. Hopefully this will enable us […]
[…] Most of you will already know this, but in case you do not, the second Ipswich Raspberry Jam is being held on 27th February 2016 at the UCS Waterfront Building. It has been added to our event page so for more information see this page. […]
[…] we have not one but two Tech Talks to take your minds off the gathering gloom. First up we have David Kirby (Thurs 5th Oct), a talented local sculptor and maker who will be explaining the ins and outs of mould making and […]
Hi,
Yes, we have plenty of space and a good range of equipment. We also have 3d printers, a laser cutter, a CNC machine and a well equipped woodworking workshop. Feel free to drop by and have a look around.
Hi, I see there are two events on Sunday. For complete beginners age 7 and 10 (and their novice mum) which would be better to attend – morning or afternoon? Thank you
A great page! Thank you for the information and putting it out here. I am in the process of (trying) creating a USB button controller and this helps out.
Really interesting to come across your hack for the boilermate 2000
I have one of those systems and also have 5.8kw of solar which i would love to use with the electric heating element during the summer, rather than gas all the time.
I seen that it has 2 x 4.5kw heating elements , which i could use just one or wire them in series (2.25kw) but i read in the instructions the electric element runs the hot water at a higher temperature and runs all the time. Iv designed a system to read how much solar is being produced and switch a relay on or off when gets to a certain level.
Have you got any ideas on how the switch side of it operates ?
Instead of the Glasslin “Clock” I have a Honeywell Thermostat in at the minute.
Maybe desolder the knob and have a separate microcontroller and relays to emulate that manual switching between Normal (Gas) and Emergency HTG&HW modes when the solar is above a threshold.
I’m not 100% sure the schematic of that XB386 PCB behind the switch, it appears to light the LEDs, and cuts off the switched live to the HTG and HW pumps depending on what mode the switch is in.
I would be tempted to redesign that board to let it drop a PSU and ESP8266 on it.
Just interested in how these clever hacks have progressed. I also have a boilermate 2000/switch electric heating element. I’m also having solar installed in the next few weeks and thought about this possibility myself.
Thanks for your write up, I found it very helpful. I have been controlling my Electromate2000 via Home Assistant / MQTT for 12 months now. I control 3 switches; [Peak/Off Peak] & [Summer/Winter] to give me 3 temperature ranges + [Enable] allows me to heat the water only when rates are low. I have a separate WIFI thermostat to control the radiator temperature. I would love to access to the actual temperature sensors data from the CPU, your analysis makes it more likely that this is possible. The GT155 board in your unit has a square LED driver IC and a debug port , I don’t suppose you have any idea what information is available via that debug connector? I was thinking of buying a spare board with that connector on the off chance that I can access the required data via this connector.
Hi, I read your comments with interest as I have a Boilermate 2000 and have done a fair amount of reverse engineering on the system too – mainly to assist with repairing the control board where the opto-triacs used to fail at regular intervals. The temperature sensors seem to be based around the DS18B20 IC – certainly the Arduino library for that device is able to read temperature from it.
For the domestic hot water temperature control, the motor appears to be driven by a zero voltage crossing trigger triac that is fed by a PWM signal which sends bursts of mains power to alter the average power input – hence changing the pump speed
Too whit, too weyhay !
PiWars 2014 - The TractorBot Story - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] To read the full story on how we did, see this post […]
Talk, Talk, Make (Node-Red) - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] Our calendar of events can be found here. […]
Bowled over by all the fantastic activity. I have an 1897 steam launch which I have restored and built repro machinery, over 20yrs steaming now. I have spent a lot of time trying to make an ‘engine indicator, but realise now that I am on a hiding to nothing! The answer has to be electronic, a no go area for me. I have a large well equipped workshop, and do regular trips on the river yare. Can I interest anyone in making a steam engine ‘tuning aid’?
Hi Phil,
Sorry for the slow response, we are not ignoring you. Our resident boat person Tim will be contacting you shortly.
If you could ping an email to info@ipswichmakerspace.com we will get some dialog going.
SQL for beginners - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] see our events page for more […]
Just a reminder everyone, its Tim’s SQL part 2 session tonight. So if you want to take part remember to bring along a laptop. Apparently we also have sofas.
The usual making and discussion will continue in the main room.
CamJam – June 2015 – Keith Ellis | Cambridge Raspberry Jam – CamJam
[…] Keith, from Ipswich Makerspace, has blogged about his visit to the CamJam and has covered various things including some of the talks he attended. Read it here. […]
Soldering tutorial - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] whilst preparing for my recent tutorial on how to use the Ryanteck Debug Clip on the Mac, I recorded myself soldering it […]
Good on you! 🙂
Ipswich Makerspace open-sources their Raspberry Pi robot from Pi Wars | Raspberry Pi Pod
[…] Keith Ellis and the guys over at Ipswich Makerspace did brilliantly well with their robot, TractorBot, at last year Pi Wars. They won Best Robot under £75 and placed very respectably in most of the challenges. (You can see the full results here). They have decided to open-source their designs and code for TractorBot, which means that other competitors this year will have a head-start on many challenges if they take the time to go through the code. Design specs will also be released so if you want a good base to start from, you could do far worse than take a look! You can read the start of their open-sourcing project here. […]
Hi. My son came along to the raspberry jam and at the end of the day I bought for him a raspberry pi 2 and some other bits and pieces to get started. I couldn’t buy a wifi dongle there, so I bought one from Maplin. My nephew helped my son to set up the raspberry pi at home. However, he told me that the wifi dongle isn’t compatible with the raspberry pi as it only works with a Windows operating system. Is he right? I spoke to someone at Maplin on the phone but he wasn’t sure. The product is a TP-LINK Archer T”U Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter 802.11ac (AC600). Can you help at all? Do I have the right product or do I need to buy something else? I hope you can help. Best wishes, Giles Gilbert
Hi Giles, I’ll post your question on our Facebook page and hopefully someone will be able to help out. This looks like the WiFi dongle you have http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/tp-link-ac600-wireless-dual-band-usb-adapter-a23rt.
Regards
Steve Chalkley
Ipswich Makerspace
Check out this page, there are lots of guides on getting wifi working along with a compatibility list. I’ve had TP-Link dongles working so don’t assume it does not work.
http://elinux.org/RPi_USB_Wi-Fi_Adapters
Steve, It looks like it might be worth trying for a free replacement !
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?206057-Epilog-Mini-Motherboard-Replacement-FREE
Thanks Mike, I think Andy has had a good offer from the manufacturer to buy back the laser cutter. We now need to find an alternative cutter 🙁
Very impressive guys. I’ve opeted for the generic SR-04 due to having no experience with any sensor like this previously. Looking forward to seeing how this performs for you.
Must dash…off to get my robot’s claw attachment laser cut… 😉
TractorBot 2015 is born - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] week we got lots of lovely kit from which TractorBot 2015 will be built. This week we started to put it together, albeit in a bit […]
Wheels and 3D printers - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] were from Rapid. With luck they had the same size hexagonal hub so they fitted straight onto the 3D printed hub converters we had made for the larger wheels. The wheels were quickly fitted and went for a test […]
Code and 3D models - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] has bee refining the proximity code along with his library for the VL6180 sensor. TractorBot now gradually reduces speed as an object is approached. Hopefully this will enable us […]
Ipswich Raspberry Jam - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] Most of you will already know this, but in case you do not, the second Ipswich Raspberry Jam is being held on 27th February 2016 at the UCS Waterfront Building. It has been added to our event page so for more information see this page. […]
AutoDesk Fusion 360 walkthrough - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] See the event page for more information […]
PiWars 2017 - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] Jon […]
PiWars 2017 - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] Keith […]
PiWars 2017 - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] Phil […]
October Gets Talky, Tech Talky - Ipswich Makerspace
[…] we have not one but two Tech Talks to take your minds off the gathering gloom. First up we have David Kirby (Thurs 5th Oct), a talented local sculptor and maker who will be explaining the ins and outs of mould making and […]
Did you guys get along to Ipswich Art Gallery to see Oliver Postgate’s homemade animation rig in the clangers and bagpuss exhibition? Similar stuff!
Hey
I wanted to know if there is space for me to do my own work also do you have a soldering iron, screwdrivers and other electronic equipment?
Hi,
Yes, we have plenty of space and a good range of equipment. We also have 3d printers, a laser cutter, a CNC machine and a well equipped woodworking workshop. Feel free to drop by and have a look around.
Hey
I’m looking for a place to do my own work like soldering, testing etc.
Do you have any ventilated rooms that I can work on my electronics also do you have a soldering iron, a TV and a fume extractor?
Are you still running the dojo Sunday 13 in the afternoon? I can see it on EventBrite but not here on your webpage.
Thanks,
Julia
Yes, Coder Dojo is running this Sunday. I’ll update the site today. Thanks for your comment.
Hi, I see there are two events on Sunday. For complete beginners age 7 and 10 (and their novice mum) which would be better to attend – morning or afternoon? Thank you
Hi there, both sessions are the same, so whichever time suits you best. If you are attending please do book you space (its free) on the Coder Dojo website https://zen.coderdojo.com/dojos/gb/ipswich/ipswich-ipswich-makerspace
Look forward to seeing you.
Thanks, that’s great.
Eventbrite says 13:30 start??
Sorry, yes it starts at 13:30. Coder Dojo site will always be correct, sorry for the confusion.
+1 star for sanding the floor
– 3 stars for breaking 3 of the sanding belts :-O
Hey, I didn’t star myself! I sanded the floor too! Ok, so the handle came off and the sander sodded off across the room…, but I still did some… 😂
Nice work Mal, well done.
A great page! Thank you for the information and putting it out here. I am in the process of (trying) creating a USB button controller and this helps out.
Really interesting to come across your hack for the boilermate 2000
I have one of those systems and also have 5.8kw of solar which i would love to use with the electric heating element during the summer, rather than gas all the time.
I seen that it has 2 x 4.5kw heating elements , which i could use just one or wire them in series (2.25kw) but i read in the instructions the electric element runs the hot water at a higher temperature and runs all the time. Iv designed a system to read how much solar is being produced and switch a relay on or off when gets to a certain level.
Have you got any ideas on how the switch side of it operates ?
Hey. My system has a physical switch to turn on the electric element into “Emergency HW” or “Emergency HW and Heating” mode. Covered by this:
http://www.boilermanuals.org.uk/boilers/Gledhill/boilermate%202000.pdf Page 25
Instead of the Glasslin “Clock” I have a Honeywell Thermostat in at the minute.
Maybe desolder the knob and have a separate microcontroller and relays to emulate that manual switching between Normal (Gas) and Emergency HTG&HW modes when the solar is above a threshold.
I’m not 100% sure the schematic of that XB386 PCB behind the switch, it appears to light the LEDs, and cuts off the switched live to the HTG and HW pumps depending on what mode the switch is in.
I would be tempted to redesign that board to let it drop a PSU and ESP8266 on it.
Just interested in how these clever hacks have progressed. I also have a boilermate 2000/switch electric heating element. I’m also having solar installed in the next few weeks and thought about this possibility myself.
Thanks for your write up, I found it very helpful. I have been controlling my Electromate2000 via Home Assistant / MQTT for 12 months now. I control 3 switches; [Peak/Off Peak] & [Summer/Winter] to give me 3 temperature ranges + [Enable] allows me to heat the water only when rates are low. I have a separate WIFI thermostat to control the radiator temperature. I would love to access to the actual temperature sensors data from the CPU, your analysis makes it more likely that this is possible. The GT155 board in your unit has a square LED driver IC and a debug port , I don’t suppose you have any idea what information is available via that debug connector? I was thinking of buying a spare board with that connector on the off chance that I can access the required data via this connector.
Hi, I read your comments with interest as I have a Boilermate 2000 and have done a fair amount of reverse engineering on the system too – mainly to assist with repairing the control board where the opto-triacs used to fail at regular intervals. The temperature sensors seem to be based around the DS18B20 IC – certainly the Arduino library for that device is able to read temperature from it.
For the domestic hot water temperature control, the motor appears to be driven by a zero voltage crossing trigger triac that is fed by a PWM signal which sends bursts of mains power to alter the average power input – hence changing the pump speed