On 5/17/13, John Gardner wrote: > ...But then what? > > In my case, it was a stepper-driven contraption that drove an > > IC engine camshaft between centers, with a Mitutoyo electronic > > dial indicator resting on a cam lobe. The indicator was held in the > > quill of a vertical mill - I could read a lobe into memory, pick up the > > indicator. move the next lobe under it, and resume measuring, thus > > not only measuring lift/degree, but the phase relationships between > > lobes... Which you might think immutable, but sadly, not so... > > > > On 5/17/13, IVP wrote: >>> Amazing... Once, I couldn't get enough of playing with steppers... >> >> Well, yes, I could sit here all day and make them go round and round, >> backwards and forwards >> >> But then what? >> >> I'm going to post them this video, which I find endlessly fascinating an= d >> a wonderful repository of motion at work, and see if it inspires anythin= g >> >> Mechanical Principles, by Ralph Steiner >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D0yVc52QP9rY >> >> It seems to me that kids now don't do most things that we used to, >> mechanically speaking, because so much now is digital and, for want >> of a better term, pre-packaged with next to no mechanical hackability. >> Or it's so cheap if it breaks you just throw it away rather than repair >> >> I can imagine that in the not-too-distant future, things like stepper >> motors will be almost obsolete in most appliances as they are replaced >> with solid state. The floppy drive has gone, the CD/DVD drive will be >> next, then the HDD >> >>> Maybe a Twitter stepper app? >> >> Go on ...... >> >> Joe >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive >> View/change your membership options at >> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist >> > --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .