Bang ! Engineering http://bangengineering.com/blog Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:18:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en O-Ring Plug Use an material for the o-ring which is compatible for both water and the type of oil you're using. one design I just ran across this morning on one of our exhibits (designed to hold a vacuum, but that's just the inverse of what you want to do ;) ): A cap ... http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=24 The 10 Commandments of Wireless Communications This is a repost from Mike Fahrion of BB-Electronics which has a great technical library.  I'm putting it up here because it's so good, I'd hate for it to disappear off the web. Follow these rules, and you'll have happy Wireless.  Ignore them, and experience BER! 10 Commandments of Wireless Communications http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=21 Some sample code to ignore! /*Pier Piling Pivot Arduino control program by Earl Stirling for the explOratorium installed on Fort Mason Piers */ /* version 0.813 07/jan/2009 */ /*This is a state machine. This program counts on tight(ish) loops with no stalling. I recommend using anything that stalls, the functions delay() or delayMicroseconds(), they're unnecessary, and you might miss a timeout */ /* */ //These are the states that the ... http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=20 Giant Vertical Turning Lathe I've been working on a giant VTL with Peter Luka. It's a pretty impressive machine. Made by Schiess in 1953 Germany, it weighs 45,000 pounds, has a 2 meter wide chuck and an 80 inch throw. Since it's a vertical lathe, everything is sideways. The chuck is actually ... http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=19 The Electromagnetic Spectrum a handy reference: http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=15 Information and Entropy from MIT I've been studying a lot of information and coding theory lately for work and personal research, especially computational thermodynamics, and its relationship to other sciences. I've been reading the coding and information theory and thermodynamics of computing sections of Feynman Lectures on Computation, a great intro. Another deep ... http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=14 Redndant Engineeringing take 2 (and 2.50) To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as large as necessary. Take 2.50: To the engineer, the capacity of the container has been over designed by a factor of approximately 1.905 assuming a 5% volume ... http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=12 TCMP: Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol http://xkcd.com/c269.html http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=11 “It’s a good thing I put half my water in a redundant glass.” Engineers are neither optimists nor pessimists: http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=10 Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/mackay/book.djvu http://bangengineering.com/blog/?p=4