safety – Milwaukee Makerspace https://milwaukeemakerspace.org Conceive, Collaborate, Create Tue, 03 Nov 2015 20:30:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.4 Auto-Off Timed Outlets https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2015/11/auto-off-timed-outlets/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2015/11/auto-off-timed-outlets/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2015 20:30:38 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=8688 If you’re like me, you’ve left a soldering iron plugged in once or twice.  Hopefully you’re also lucky like me and it’s never started a fire.   Occasionally I’ll grab something off our Hack Rack and take it apart.  A) It’s fun and B) it helps cut down on the ever-growing pile of appliances in the East Room.  Recently I focused my efforts on a microwave oven.  During my salvage operation I managed to extract one plastic fan, two thermal cutout switches, a transformer, the magnetron, a huge capacitor, and the controls.  I soon realized that what I had in front of me was a digital timer wired to a normally open relay.  I couldn’t immediately think of something to do with it, but it seemed too good to toss or disassemble further.  About a week later I decided to wire it to a pair of 120-volt receptacles.  Voila.  Any appliance with a standard plug can be set to run from 00:01 to 99:99 before powering off.  Just press “TIME COOK” then enter the time in minutes and seconds, then start.  The relay closes the circuit and the outlets are energized.  When the timer runs out, a piezo buzzes and the outlets shut off.  The relay on the microwave’s circuit board is 120-250 volt at 16 amps, so I’m fairly comfortable it will handle one or two 40-watt soldering irons.

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Demolition Sunday https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2014/10/demolition-sunday/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2014/10/demolition-sunday/#respond Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:09:54 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=7794 SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

AT THE MAKERSPACE

Watch a door without become a door with a window!

See a hole appear in a wall…

Where there didn’t used to be one!

A safer door between the Meeting Room and the Metal Shop? CHECK.

Improved air flow in the Paint Room? DOUBLE CHECK.

 

 

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Easy RTC Time Set https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2013/12/easy-rtc-time-set/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2013/12/easy-rtc-time-set/#respond Sat, 14 Dec 2013 00:50:44 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=6794 RTC Time set

I made a few RTC / LCD clocks and disliked setting the time using an Epoch converter so I found a solution that uses 2 buttons to advance the Hours and Minutes.  I substituted toggle switches for the buttons because I didn’t want to have to hold down the button while the Minutes were advancing, thus enabling me to move on to determining how long it is until Spring!.

RTC Timer

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Home Theater with Insane Subwoofer https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2013/11/insane-home-theater-subwoofer/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2013/11/insane-home-theater-subwoofer/#comments Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:00:15 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=6043 After the mediocre commercial successes of some of my previous audio products, I decided to pursue a project that has absolutely no commercial potential.  Although my Automated Gmail Assistant had a 0.1% view to purchase rate, they definitely delighted their new owners!   On the other hand, my novel audio surround sound processor, audio-visual processor and audiophile headphones did not produce any revenue, despite being manufactured in an exclusive edition of one each.  Not to be discouraged, the goal of this project was to expand on the core idea behind the aforementioned audiophile headphones, but to overcome the main two drawbacks of using headphones:  1) Many people find that headphones are too uncomfortable and impractical for long term listening. And 2) most headphones lack the concert-like visceral bass impact, which is that feeling of the kick drum shaking your chest that only rock and roll shows could provide.

BIG_HMMMMMM2

Simply put, the Humorously Maniacal Milwaukee Makerspace Multimedia Machine (HMMMMMM) is a personal sized movie theater, with 5.16 surround sound.  That’s right, this theater is like a conventional 5.1 home theater, but with 15 extra subwoofers to delight the senses. While the bass in a live concert can be felt in your chest, the bass in the HMMMMMM can be felt in your soul(!).  In addition altering listener’s consciousness, the HMMMMMM will soon be used to screen our yet-to-be-filmed Milwaukee Makerspace orientation video as an integral part of our onboarding process for all new members. The HMMMMMM measures about 7 feet long and about 4 feet wide.  An eager movie-goer can simply climb up the integral stairs (shown on the left) and jump in through the 27” diameter escape hatch in the top of the HMMMMMM. Despite its crazy appearance, the HMMMMMM offers a surprisingly comfortable reclining position, much like that of a lazy-boy.  Check out this photo of the HMMMMMM under construction for a better idea of the ergonomic internal layout: There is a pillow for one’s head, and ones feet extend to the right.  The 27” display is mounted to the angled portion on the top surface, about 24” from the viewer.  Eventually, two 24″ monitors will expand the visual experience into the periphery.

The_Incomplete_HMMMMMM4

The audio portion of the HMMMMMM is a 5.16 system.  The high frequencies are played by 5 uninteresting Swan/HiVi speakers that are arranged in a properly boring 5 channel surround configuration.  The more exciting portion of the audio system is the subwoofer – well, the 16 (Sixteen) 10″ high efficiency subwoofers that provide that TrueBass™ sensation the masses crave.  Its clear from the use of 16 subwoofers that one object of the HMMMMMM was to create an audio system that plays low bass.  Playback of really low bass typically requires an extremely large speaker box, and still notes as low as 20 Hz are rarely audible.  However, inside any speaker box the bass response is naturally flat to much lower (subsonic) pitches.  For more on the sound pressure level inside and outside speaker boxes, check out this link.  The graph below is a measurement of the SPL or sound pressure level (how loud it is) versus frequency (pitch) at the listener’s ears in the HMMMMMM.

SPL_in_HMMMMMM

The graph shows that with a sine wave input, the SPL inside the HMMMMMM is 148.6dB at 40 Hz.  That means the acoustic pressure on the 27” diameter escape hatch is 45 pounds.  Excellent.  Note that earplugs in addition to earmuff style hearing protectors are mandatory to safely experience the TrueBass™.   To understand this strict hearing protection requirement, lets compare the sound pressure level inside the HMMMMMM to other audio systems that may be more familiar.  Note that the loudness of these other audio systems are not visible in the graph above, because essentially all other audio systems (including yours) are inferior.  Adjusting the margins of the graph a bit produces the following graph:

SPL_of_many_systemsThe plot shows how loud typical audio systems are, and how low they play.  For example, cellphone speakers play only a bit below 1khz, and are ~90 dB if they’re 40cm from you.  When a Jambox-type bluetooth speaker is about 60cm from you, it plays ~10 dB louder, and another 1.5 octaves lower, to 200 Hz.  Typical bookshelf speakers can get another 5 dB louder if you’re 1.5 meters from them, but only play down another octave to 100 Hz.  OEM installed car stereos are a big improvement, but they’re still not in the same league as the HMMMMMM.  Yes, the IASCA record holding car is louder than this, but it plays only from 50 Hz to 60 Hz, which isn’t even really bass.

Note that the difference in loudness between a cellphone and a car is 20 dB, while the HMMMMMM is 30 dB louder than a high-performing car stereo.  Also note that the frequency range of a piano, with its 88 keys, is about the same as a bookshelf speaker – a bit over 7 octaves.  Surprisingly, the subwoofer portion of the HMMMMMM has a 6 octave bandwidth, but it plays the 6 octaves you’ve never heard before!  The HMMMMMM plays 6 octaves below what your bookshelf speaker or Jambox calls bass. The HMMMMMM has a +/- 6 dB passband extending down to 2 Hz, with the output at 1 Hz being nearly still above the 120 dB “threshold of pain.”

Disclaimers: For safety, the big 2000 Watt amplifier that drives the HMMMMMM to its full potential is not available when the author is not present.  Ironically, the author has taught 75-100 people, the eager early HMMMMMM listeners, how to properly insert earplugs, meaning that the HMMMMMM is actually a learning tool for hearing safety! Finally, the author has some hesitancy in having the HMMMMMM reproduce recordings with 5 Hz content at 140 dB, because typical hearing protection has little effect at these unnaturally low frequencies.

PS:  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to help with the video scripting, filming or editing.

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Laser Cut Safety Lock-Out Tags https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2012/06/laser-cut-safety-lock-out-tags/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2012/06/laser-cut-safety-lock-out-tags/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:03:29 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=3784

Lock-out tags are used by factory workers to clearly identify broken or damaged equipment.  Milwaukee Makerspace is no exception.  A set of stop sign-shaped, 3″ wide, 3/16″ thick, red plastic tags have been created with the words “STOP – NEEDS REPAIR” in bold, white letters.  Tags are hanging over the first aid file cabinet by the light switches in the Workshop.  If you find a machine is out of service, please zip-tie a tag to the machine, preferably over its ON/OFF switch so people can easily spot it and refrain from using a potentially unsafe tool.

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