Great to see some old faces back again!  Way too much talking going on, so I forgot to take any photos.

We had some artwork going on.  Diane finished sewing a plaid jacket for a granddaughter.  Stephen tried writing more of his electronic parts management software, but we all had lots to catch up on, so not much work going on at the table.  There where also some electronics projects on show as well.

Wow, what a meeting.  Some new faces and a Infrared presentation by Peter. So much going on, it was hard to catch-up with everyone.

It's hard to see in this far away photo, but the PSU wire was overheating due to the 4A flowing through it:

This thermal camera can track where you have been standing:

I wonder who this is:

thermal hand prints:

low temperature - 70 degree melting metal.  Great for casting at home:

and if thats not low enough, then there is always liquid room temperature metal:

Glow in the dark artwork taking shape:

a box of Laser cut fabric:

and sewn into place:

Lots of new PCB's have arrived and been put together.  The Boden - a breadboard able 3.3V to 5V data level translator:

The Bussel4, a Microbit 3V to 5V data level translator for driving RGB LEDs:

Testing solenoid placements on a Waveshare Alphabot2 robot:

A Testing solenoid testing ramp:

The SW Makers Acrylic Sign is finally all put together and pulsating with rainbow colours, all in a new MDF housing that just needs painting:

A great catch-up.  I missed photographing Harry's new Ender V3 3D printer.   It sparked a bit of interest around the table.

Tim was experimenting with temperature readings via a Raspberry Pi and DS18B20 sensor:

Diane was doing some practice drawings:

Stacy was making 3D flowers and leaves:

My new RGB LED PCB arrived and I quickly assembled it for the meeting:

and running our SW Makers sign:

The Raspberry Pi Z80 controller is also finished:

A bit quiet due to school holidays, but we had lots to chat about and a new member introduced himself. 

Phillip's Chip-8 is progressing:

Rick is building a 3D printed robot:  www.thingiverse.com/thing:2662828

As well as a lot of software development work being done on Alphabot2:

Colourful Bead work:

and some laser cut fabric patterns that have been sewed into place:

I tested some members USB-Micro cables so i could collect some data on a cable-tester-board I am building:

All cables where verified against a milli-ohm meter - this short cable measured very high

I spent a few days designing up a 18650 battery pack add-on for the Alphabot2:

The software for the basic ESP32 RGB Neopixel LED controller has been updated:

A few people couldn't make it, however there was a good turnout with robots running around and LED's blinking away.

Some laser cut Sashico templates:

The Chip-8 breadboard computer is progressing well:

Someone finished off soldering up a Jaycar electronic dice kit:

The Alphabot2 has had a 18650 Li-ion battery upgrade:

Bunnings sell a compacted foam board, on which I ran some laser cutting tests:

The Arduino Sensor PCB has had most of the sensor software written up for it:

Same with the basic ESP32 RGB LED PCB:

We might see the Raspberry Pi based Z80 controller assembled by the next meeting?

First meeting of 2021 and we saw and talked about a lot of new projects people have been working on over the Christmas break.  Discussions about Raspberry Pi Pico projects, learning KiCAD electronics design software, Laser cut able stamp rubber from AliExpress, lots about 3D Printing and electronics of course.

Harry has stripped down an old monitor, so that you could see through the LCD part of the screen:

He has also designed and 3D printed a set of RGB lights all controlled from a Raspberry Pi:

Rob received a special Christmas present - an Altair 8800 clone kit.  Looks very spectacular with all the blinking LEDs:

He is also working on building a front panel for a controllable Power Supply Unit:

Not wanting to dig out his Ferric Chloride and etch a PCB for a set of keys, he carefully dremeled the copper off the PCB:

Phillip brought along his Felix 3D printer and was printing out mounting brackets that he had designed up for Glad wrap and al-foil etc.  These are now neatly stored on the back of the pantry door:

This is a small two wire joiner I picked up from Aliexpress:

My apologies to the rest of the table for not photographing their projects (and mine).  Too much talking going on.

Another meeting that just was not long enough to chat with everyone.

A bunch of new people showed up, and one brought along a very cool Lego EV3 based Rubics cube solving machine:

This beautiful three dimensional art work has been built up from a compost of many materials:

Lots of new hand made 3D Christmas Cards:

Pre-Christmas present?  A new flexible stamping platform that was some extra 3D printed supports added to it:

A 3D printer was kept busy churning out new objects:

Someone has a bunch of new books to read:

Due to a number of different circumstances, a lot of people could attend this months meeting, so Phillip and I thought we might actually have some time to work on our projects during the meeting.  We where pleasantly surprised by some new people showing up.

After the library closed, some of us went out onto the front lawn and had a pleasant picnic lunch and continuing the conversations.

Congratulations to Caitlin who has published a Diyode article about her recent Women in Technology meeting that was held recently in Bunbury.  You can read it online:  diyodemag.com/features/model_makers_inspiring_more_women_to_get_into_tech

Peter dropped by and gave a demonstration of his 1980's dead-bug style electronic art work that incorporates LED's and electronic music synthesis:

We have a budding junior engineer who is exploring architecture:

Phillip has acquired an oscilloscope, so he can now see what's going on inside his computer build:

After a few mods and a few feature creep items, a new revision of the 12V Power Distribution Board is under way

Likewise with the USB LED board.  The microphone has finally been debugged and tested, so a new revision of the PCB will shortly be sent off for manufacture:

A new project has been started.  All going well, it will be demo'ed at the next meeting.  This is the core processor and power supply:

It was great to see so many new people pop in for the meeting.  Lots of Robots on display and new ideas flowing freely!

A dedicated Robotics (free) meeting is starting up and will meet monthly on the 3rd Sunday afternoon of the month:  https://www.imakers.net/events.html

Some new Raspberry Pi powered robots where being tested:

A PiCar-V had it's vision being tested:

More pop-out cards with unique folding built in stands:

and embossed outlines, created by ink topped with a powder, then baked:

Textiles abounded with colour:

Version 2 of the 12V Power Management Board:

A Microbot was flashing away, wrong side up:

Some home made test Electret ultrasonic amplifiers boards (MAX4466 and LM324):

The LED Matrix was being played with: