Making a 3D printed, servo-controlled pneumatic valve

Usually servo motors are limited in the circular motion in which they can twist. In the video below, Vincent Groenhuis demonstrates that with some fabrication added to the servos (like 3D printed parts) one can make a servo-controlled pneumatic valve.

The servo valve allows to control pneumatic devices using standard or micro RC servos, making it a very cost-effective solution for controlling pneumatic projects.

The valve body is the same as in the manual valve, so the connections are compatible with the manifold base, connectors/valves and logic gates.

After assembling the servo valve(s) these can be controlled using suitable servo controller hardware and software. There is one important peculiarity in controlling this type of servo valve: the setpoint is often not reached due to friction between the valve and switch (undershoot). If not accounted for, this would keep the motor powered and cause high current consumption, a buzzing noise and stress on the servo teeth. A good solution is to initially add 2° to the setpoint and revert to the original setpoint after 350 ms.

The motors are controlled using an Adafruit Motor Shield. There is an Arduino library for programming motors and other devices using these valves.

See the video below and the modeling on Thingiverse. Also see Vincent’s blog on his designs.

Artist WangShui collaborated with A.I. to make paintings #ArtTuesday @artnet

In the darkened halls of the sixth floor of the Whitney Biennial, viewers will come across a quiet alcove with comfortable couches positioned beneath gently glowing LED screens and surrounded by sculptural netting. The pulsating display is the work of artist WangShui—and of artificial intelligence.

When it comes to applications of AI in art, most have been more impressive technologically than artistically. But WangShui’s work at the Whitney Biennial represents a more sophisticated meeting of art and technology, where the artist has programmed AI to help create landscapes of otherworldly beauty.

Their contribution to the nation’s leading biennial serves as a reminder that as our increasingly plugged in world becomes even more technology dependent, artists are finding exciting ways to harness the power for art.

See additional information on Artnet.

Art and Nature in the Work of Ukrainian Artist Diana Yevtukh #ArtTuesday

Flowers made of thread placed in natural environments by Ukrainian artists Diana Yevtukh. Here’s more from COLOSSAL:

Ukrainian artist Diana Yevtukh draws inspiration from her surroundings by carefully situating cornucopian floral arrangements made of thread in the hollows of trees.  Base in Lviv, her work has assumed more urgency since the invasion of her home country by Russian forces earlier this year, and pieces like “Why did they do that to us” draw on her background in photography and design to spread the crucial message that Ukraine remains under threat.

The artist’s meticulous needlework pieces feature a medley of vibrant flowers like poppies, daisies, and sunflowers, which nestle into the surfaces and appear to effervesce from within. Her works are often juxtaposed with rough or decaying surfaces like old stone walls or rusting metal to “heal” the damage, emphasizing the possibility for beauty and strength in unexpected places.

See more!

The Creatures of Francis Upritchard #ArtTuesday

If the creatures of Fantastic Planet leapt off the screen and set up shop at an art gallery, it would look something like this. Here’s more on the alien art of Francis Upritchard, from Contemporary Art Daily:

Francis Upritchard’s sculpture has often drawn on antiquity, as with her Barbican Centre exhibition of centaurs and humans inspired by the Parthenon Reliefs. She mixes up classical references with prehistory, myth and futurism. As such Upritchard conjures a parallel reality where these contradictions coexist. Despite classical imagery, these figures bear the marks of human frailty with their extended limbs and dystopian textures. There is a sense of the uncanny, of mythic creatures and unknown forms lurking beneath the surface.

See more!

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Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!

Scott Listfield’s Astronaut Visits an Alternate Earth #ArtTuesday

The astronaut painted by Scott Listfield has traveled all around the Earth. Or at least the Earth-like spaces in Listfield’s haunting work. Here’s more from JUXTAPOZ:

Looking back at the different lives he’s lived, people he’s known, and almost 600 paintings he’s created, Listfield was able to see his signature astronaut in a new light. Revisiting some of the earliest settings as a means to revisit the time in his life when he first created those pieces, and walk in the shoes of a much younger version of himself.

The result is striking, balancing the alien with the familiar, the realistic with the fantastic. At its core, the show is about escaping—escaping as both a means of relief and self-discovery. As Listfield relives some of his earliest days and earliest work, he finds his way back to his own beginnings in parallel with the astronaut. The work is vast and varied.

See more!

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Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!

Make a Time-Lapse with Raspberry Pi

Caroline Dunn put together a fantastic tutorial covering how to make a time-lapse video with a Raspberry Pi HQ camera and a Raspberry Pi for Tom’s Hardware:

To create a sunrise video, we set up our Raspberry Pi HQ camera 30 minutes before sunrise to take photos every 3 seconds for an hour. After an hour, the Raspberry Pi will stitch the photos together at 30 frames per second to create a 24 second video of the sunrise. The Python code included with this tutorial allows the user to customize how long the time lapse camera will run, the number of seconds between each photo, and the frame rate of the time lapse video itself. As a bonus we’ve included instructions on how to set the HQ camera to start at a specified time of the day.

Read more

First Person Model Train Ride #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

The CalcProgrammer1 on YouTube and Twitter shared this project adding a Pi camera to their model train:

The railroad uses DCC with the Digitrax DB150 base station. I’ve connected it to a Raspberry Pi 3 running JMRI so we can drive trains with the Engine Driver app or the web throttle in addition to the physical Digitrax controllers. The next project is replacing all of the toggle switches that run turnouts with Arduino based controllers that can receive control from DCC.

More from Tom’s Hardware:

The train rides a track throughout a model town complete with houses, fences, beautiful landscapes, and even flashing railroad signs that light up when the train gets close. The front of the car features a Pi Zero 2 W with a camera module that captures the video feed of the journey. The car behind the Pi houses a battery pack used to power the Pi as it rides along the track.

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Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!