Controlling solenoids. As i plan my pneumatic system, I need some way to control my solenoids. I am thinking about possibly a midi-based system, and need a device that converts midi wiring/protocol to the 12/24v required by most solenoids. Mediamation seems to make such gear. Another one from Laserium tho it only support signals up to 10V. The Gilderfluke Servo controller or analog brick may do the trick, but using DMX digital input instead of MIDI – but this is ok, my control software is native DMX anyway – I have email into gilderfluke requesting advice.

Update: nice mail from the gilderfluke folks:Are your valves analog or digital (just on off)? If they’re analog, then, yes, you are correct. The BR-ANA card will fit the bill. If they’re digital, either the MultiBrick32 or our Zbricks would do nicely. I recommend the more expensive MultiBrick 32 because it has a microprocessor that is able to filter out the occasional bad packet of DMX. If your application doesn’t have a critical need to prevent the occasional “hiccup” (1 or 2 frames worth) and the valves are digital, then the Z-Bricks are a very cost effective solution.

Another DMX alternative is a Dove Analog Dimmer. I use Dove dimmers now for my 120V and 240V gear (lighting and fog systems) and I have been happy with their sturdiness. $795 for the unit I want.

Cheap Long Distance. Nice comparison site found by Rich. We’re gettign screwed. Time to switch.

BBerry Free Weekend. Left the BBerry on my nightstand this weekend. How refreshing! I have been a slave to email, you start to get driven by your inbox and forget what your goals really are. It was great to be free, I am going bberry free every weekend from now on. And another huge benefit – my family is much happier!

Pneumatic Circuit Software. I’m trying to find some software to help me calculate loads, capacities, latencies in pneumatic circuits. Up at FluidPower.net they have lots of pointers to various packages but they seem more academic and less engineering-oriented, or they are expensive industrial control packages. Automation Studio looks pretty cool actually – but there is no price listed, you have to contact them for a quote, that means \(\)$. Autocad has pneumatic symbols but it doesn’t look to me like it does the calculations (and I don’t want to pay that much). Nothing on download.com, nothing on sourceforge.net. There must be some cheapo package somewhere that universities use – couldn’t find much tho at the UW fluid mechanics course site. I guess I have to calculate my Halloween circuits by hand – I am going to have 10 loads of various sorts with various duty cycles, I was hoping for some software that would calculate reservoir tank needs and compressor size needed based on input configuration, duty cycles, cylinder sizes, etc.

Fluidraw is another option I just found. Seems to be more a drawing package tho than an analysis package. But a good site on pneumatics.

Some nice overview and prop ideas at Earthsands. The Stumpjumper is a classic. And another great overview article.

Servos vs Pneumatic Systems. As I was poring over my links to pneumatic systems for Halloween projects, I noticed all my links to servos as well. It is easy to get confused about which system to use and why. Either servos or pneumatics can be used for interesting animation effects. At Delta Computer Systems there is a good comparison of fluid power versus electromechanical power systems [PDF] – some of the advantages of hydraulic are explained here, including better performance for limited duty cycle applications which will certainly be true of my props. Electromate has a short comparison of the different kinds of motion systems.

A couple of sites that talk about theatrical flats, for making prop walls. HSTech, Northern VA Community College, and NC State.

Worst Breakfast Ever. The Hungry Man All Day Breakfast.

Vibe Install. After reading Walt’s glowing review of vibe yesterday in the Journal, I downloaded and tried today. The download and install were fine but I hit a brick wall – it requires a static IP address. Ouch, that seems like a pretty big mistake.

The Sonics Could Be Worse. OK, the Sonics have a history of bad decisions at the center and power forward positions. And you have to lay the blame at Wally Walker’s feet. Still though, I guess it could be worse – Vin Baker is imploding and Shawn Kemp’s troubles are legend. We could have stood pat with one of those guys, the team would have been worse.

Jahshaka. Looks like a pretty comprehensive authoring app for video. so much of the low end commercial stuff is garbage. might be worth trying.

audblog audio post – just my free trial, boring test message.

A great pneumatics primer. I may have posted before.

Pneumatics for Halloween. A pointer to a good pneumatics primer on my Halloween at the Ludwig House blog. I’m thinking that a pneumatics project will be my big effort this year. I’d like to learn about the gear and my feeble attempts at animation last year (small motor driven) basically sucked.

Great source of lighting gear