I am so close now with getting the LCD working with the Pi Zero. I got the desoldering tools in the mail, so I went ahead and desoldered the parts I wanted and cut the board down. Unfortunately while doing so, I broke off a few pads. So the next step was looking at a schematic and figuring out which connections needed to be connected between the Pi and the LCD. I meticulously added wire and did repairs on it and tested each with a multimeter and then soldered wire between the Pi and the LCD.

I then went ahead and downloaded a more recent version of Raspbian and installed it on an SD card, hook...

I have made a bunch of progress. First I'll start with the calculator project. I received the PowerBoost and the battery in the mail, so that allows me to know how well stuff will fit. I started desoldering the connections on the LCD board, but that was soldered way too well, so I ordered a solder sucker and that should help with removing the main connector. I then took the insides of the TI-83 and placed them into the TI-86 case which was kind of a fun project in itself. It involved a little cutting, drilling, and soldering, but in the end it functions well. The only thing is that the labels ...

Well, for now I'm giving up on my 3D printer and moving onto a new project. After the new project is finished, I may circle back to the 3D printer. The new project involves putting a Raspberry Pi Zero W and LCD into a TI Calculator case and getting the buttons to function as a keyboard. I will also be adding a Lithium Ion battery so that the whole thing is rechargeable.

This is something I've had on the back shelf since December or so when I got the idea. In the mean time I've acquired a couple of TI calculators and the Raspberry Pi Zero W. I also got an extension cable and have been planning ...

Today I went and tried out a few new settings. I changed the numbers so that the dimensions were a lot more accurate. Then I went and even though the extrusion rate was too much, I increased it further because it didn't seem like it was flowing together nicely. For another cube, I increased the printing temperature and it seemed to bond together better. I have a suspicion that it's reading the temperature wrong and so I may need to further increase the temp. Regarding the motor slipping on the X-Axis, I realized that was one of the motors I had not upgraded yet, so that may be one of the thing...

I started working on a Bill of Materials. The problem I was finding with the I3 was there were quite a few variations. I believe I have narrowed it down to the MK2S version and I need to come up with a BOM for that. I selected that one because it seems to be a good balance between ease of parts acquisition and sturdiness/features of the printer.

In regards to my current printer, I remembered something about removing a diode if you wanted to power it externally, so I did a little digging. There's a diode on the RAMPS board that if removed, requires the printer to be plugged into a computer. How...

So I went to check if I had the latest firmware and I see they now have documented the process of setting of the configuration. So I downloaded the firmware, went through step by step and finished the settings. I was able to get it to compile and upload it to the 3D printer.

One thing I realized is that with all of the extra parts I have, I don't think it would be a huge cost to build and convert it to a Reprap i3 printer. I already have an extra set of smooth rods for the i2, which are longer than I need them to be, so it would just be a matter of cutting them down. Once I get the printer wor...

Some of the stuff I have planned (and purchased already) as upgrades for my 3D printer include dual Bowden extruders. I went with the Bowden style to reduce the size and weight of the one of the fastest moving parts of the 3D printer. The momentum caused by the old extruder would literally shake the printer as it went back and forth. Another upgrade is a full aluminum heating plate for better heat distribution as well as a sheet of Kapton tape over the bed so that the item will be removable. I removed the borosilicate (pyrex) sheet of glass because when I've printed directly on it in the past,...

After looking at a few charts, I believe the CAN inputs are for M-CAN (though I did see a couple of sources say C-CAN so I'm not 100% certain), which is the Multimedia CAN channel that the car interfaces with the AVN (Audio/Video/Nav) unit. The next step would be to find where the wires go to it.

At lunch on Friday, I swapped the data lines for the USB port and tested them only to discover that swapping them reversed them. So I looked at some more diagrams and it appears that the one I pulled up off the internet the day before was wrong and that I had originally been correct in the color codin...

I had an idea for adjusting the camera angle. I could probably make a wedge of some sort if I get my 3D printer up and running. Originally I was thinking of buying a block of plastic and cutting it to shape, but after thinking about it, I can produce exactly what I want if I get the printer up and running. It's a great motivation to work on it and simple enough that there is a relatively high chance of success. Plus I already have the correct filament in black. I would probably need to make a reverse wedge to go on the inside as well. The main potential problem I see here is that it may requir...

Today at lunch, I finished routing the video cable to the front of the car. After work, I headed down to my friend's house and finished connecting the camera to the stereo and it tested successfully. I realized that both the camera and stereo were trying to display guides, so I disabled them on the camera when adjusting the settings. I feel like the camera angle should point up a little more and I spent some time trying to figure out a good angle. I may try and create some kind of wedge so that I can change the angle a little, but it is still completely useable.

The next step I tried to do was...