Your Personal Micro Blog(s)

I'd just avoid PIC entirely, dying breed. I do want to get some and a PIC programmer, but tbh, thats only to complete my collection. I have AVR's (although I blew up my ISP programmer a few weeks ago, hopefully its just the 3.3v reg thats broken but who knows), MSP430's, various ARM cores and a propeller, got to get a pic in there somewhere. PIC is a comparatively ancient architecture designed for a very specific purpose, its been bastardised over the years and is now an absolute PITA. AVR and MSP430 are both fairly conventional designs (MSP430 is perhaps a tad weirder than AVR, but not as weird as a PIC), ARM is also pretty conventional but a heavy hitter compared to MSP430 or AVR, Propeller is weird but mostly due to its strange octa-core design otherwise it too is fairly normal. PIC is just weird and not even consistently weird between generations. PIC32 is just a MIPS core so not so weird at least.






As for school stress. Sadly you just have to get on with it :/ At least you get the summer to piss around prior to uni. You'll generally find during first year of uni there is also plenty of spare time for personal projects, especially if you are doing computing, most assume you have no prior computing experience (considering not all schools offer it and not all applicants took it when they do come from schools that offer it) so start from square 1. If you've done the A-level, you are ahead of the game, I'd stick that in the personal statement somewhere (worked for me, got in without required grades).

Where are you off to on saturday?

 

I have been accepted by all universities that i applied to if i get the grades i need. Newcastle gave me a reduced offer of ABC which would put me in a very good position if i achieve. Then my insurance offer is Hull with 280 Ucas points (it was originally 40 points below Newcastle but due to the reduced offer...), so i can get in there on BBC. But if i get screwed over again on music technology then i will have a problem. But the school has said that if the other student in my class and I get screwed over again that they will launch official complaints towards the exam board and start phoning universities that we have applied to tell them about the issues that we have had, whether that will matter or not is another issue entirely. I should be able to get ABC, hopefully, maybe, possibly

I will be at Hull on Saturday.

 

Turnitin once moaned that I ripped off a section of the code in my appendix from a student at hull, except I only know 1 person that has been to the university of hull, they were not a computing student and dropped out (for good reasons) within a month. Yep, totally ripped off a hull student...

 

Finished the firing of Windows 10. It was fun, but used way to much RAM to be useful. Windows 7 is waiting and ready for Sunburst Rally action. Yes!

 

expedition is in the shop for the first time ever for reasons other then smog check and general maintnence

it wouldn't start the other day, yesterday we got a call from shop, engine, drivetrain and all that good stuff is in perfect working condition

so what's the problem? computer got corrupted or something, have to wait for shop to flash the computer, which requires them get in contact with manufacture (ford in this case) to get the stuff they need for that

 

Something very similar to that happened to my moms Expedition. Something was funky with the ECU and it would constantly kill the battery...

One ECU later, it's fine. Just for the record, my Japanese car has never had a mechanical fault and it been beat to hell. I think we Americans have forgotten how to build a car worth a damn.

No, I'll be nice, we're learning. American cars are way more reliable than their late 90s/early 2000s counterparts.

 

we've had our expedition since 2009(so for about 5 years), and has over 200K miles.

so now that i think about it not all too surprising, and needing a computer reset is a lot better then having something wrong mechanically as well, which most vehicles that would have something go wrong about this time would be mechanically.

 

tow truck dropped expedition off a few days ago, still not fixed

going to guess there leaving it here until they have the stuff they need? idk

but i did get to try starting it, it's clearly turning over perfectly fine, but it's not starting

my guesses (even though the shop said it's the computer, i'm going to make my own guesses at whats wrong)

not getting fuel (so, either out of gas, fuel pump, fuel line, fuel filter, something like that)

no spark (no idea what could cause no spark)

somehow the key we use (we have 2, but we usually only use one) lost it's programming to our car, so anti-theft is preventing it from starting

or as the shop said, the computer needs to be flashed

 

My Assumptions considering its a fairly modern car.

 

All of the above can occur when the computer needs flashing as aljowen points out

I would love to build an engine like some of the ones on home model engine machinist but with efi (I'd probably have a decent chance at getting efi working, less so making an engine)

 

For some reason, I want to build a 4A-GE 20 valve Toyota engine.

 

I'm highest bidder on this traction engine.

Meanwhile in BeamNG.Drive.

 

Actual one?

Home Model Engine Machinist has some emphasis on "Model". Literally they take a milling machine and lathe in their own garages and make miniature (usually functioning, sometimes steam and sometimes internal combustion) engines. Alot of them are really impressive like an 80cc V8, spark ignition (so same as a gasoline engine) with methanol fuel. Quite a few compression ignitions (diesel) and glow ignitions (well, glow engines like often used in RC vehicles, I think of glow engines as an assisted diesel).


I probably stand as a minority of people registered on their forums (although I am not active) who has no ability to build an engine, yet could probably make a true electronic fuel injection and electronic ignition system (for the spark ignited engines anyway, glow and compression have no need for ignition systems). Still, if I do ever get machine tools in future, building a few model engines would definitely be something to try, maybe if I can get a few functioning on carbs then I can try making an EFI one.

I have actually seen 1 model engine using EFI, but it was throttle body injection from a single injector on a miniature v8 (I believe was around 150cc) and used a 1st generation megasquirt ECU which is rather bulky for a model engine and is basically as close to an off the shelf ECU as you can get. I'd actually make a PCB and program my own ECU.

 

Indeed. They're relatively cheap in stock form, but something entirely custom would be a nice sense of achievement. N/A, built ground up including a balanced crank and higher-than-stock compression with some cams and an intake of some description. I don't really have it mapped out, I just know I want to do it.

 

Just tried ironPython out again, python for the .NET framework. I've used it before but only really as a quick way of packaging a python script into a .exe file for windows users without python installed, a task for which it works well as the end user only needs .NET (which is preinstalled anyway on windows) rather than having to go off and get python first, mac and linux users can use mono or better still I can distribute the script in source form for mac and linux users too (or windows users who do have the interpreter).

However being python on .NET. It turns out it has a rather useful bonus.
[xcode=python]
import clr #common language runtime, notably the actual .NET runtime is known as the CLR
#clr.AddReference(System) #Commented out as System is referenced by default
from System import Console
Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
Console.CursorLeft = Console.CursorLeft + 4
from System import ConsoleColor
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.White
Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Red
Console.WriteLine("From a .NET Console class")
print "But good old python print statements still work"
Console.ReadKey()
Console.ResetColor()
Console.Clear()
Console.WriteLine("Oh, its not pwettyfull anymore")
Console.ReadLine()[/xcode]

A whole lot of console there. But .NET classes can be used within python.

Also ironPython includes a realtime interpreter as regular python did, so I can now piss around with .NET from the command line.

 

Just bought a GTX 750 TI FTW, pre-owned. $140 DDD

 

found out why the shop dropped the expedition off without fixing it, THEY can't, it has to be done at an official ford licensed dealership or shop, which it seems they are not, so to the local ford dealership we go (once we can afford it anyway)

 

It's not necessarily that only ford can do it, I know of a place near Cambridge that can do VAG ECUs who are not part of theVAG group.

The hardware to do it doesn't come cheap. Most independent places simply cannot afford to invest the money in getting it and training staff to do it properly. This leaves you with official dealerships, most of the time they can't do it on site either and either send it to another branch or have the kit come to them in a van.

 

VCDS/VAGCOM.

Best bang for buck for a shop is this product at tree (hunnit) fiddy dolla. If you're looking for codes in just your own car, you can get a cheap eBay cable (~$5-10) and the free version of VCDS lite.