■ 1st place prize: A Parallax USB
Oscilloscope.
■ 2nd place prize: A Parallax Propeller
Starter Kit.
■ 3rd place prize: A Parallax BASIC
Stamp 1 Starter Kit.
RESOURCES
■ Parallax, Inc.
www.parallax.com
■ Jess Lewis Links:
Sound Card Oscilloscope
Hardware and Software
http://xoscope.sourceforge.net
Curve Tracer
www.techlib.com/electronics/curve
trace.html
■ Workbench Design Challenge
Discussion
http://forum.servomagazine.com/
viewtopic.php?t=8204
■ Ponginator
80 September 2008
enough about my workbench, let’s
have a look at some workbenches
created under some unusual and
rather challenging conditions.
THE $100 WORKBENCH
DESIGN CHALLENGE
WINNER!
I had quite a few entries in
response to the challenge and I have
to say it was a lot tougher to determine a clear winner than I thought it
would be! After much soul searching,
internal arguments, sleepless nights
(okay, maybe a coin toss or two), the
prizes went to the following entrants:
3RD PLACE – NICHOLAS
KUCKUCK OF
ROSEBURG, OR
Though only 13 years old,
Nicholas did a thorough job of
researching parts and tools. He was
one of the first entrants to choose
“surprise” packages of bulk
components from vendors to save
money while stocking up on parts.
His entry had a good balance of parts,
test gear, components, and tools.
2ND PLACE – JESS
LEWIS OF CHANDLER, AZ
Jess was the first entry I received
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPSo
FYHywJw
■ RoboSpinArt
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEK
PDoNCyZk
■ Ping Pong Printer
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep
5OC3E02I
■ Power Flowers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Ydkk4-6FsWk
■ The Robot Group
www.TheRobotGroup.org
■ Andrew Ayers Website
www.phoenixgarage.org
and it helped set the tone for all the
entries that followed. He include a
nice cross-section of tools and parts
coupled with a succinct summary of
the reasons for his choices. He also
included links to websites where you
can download free software that
would allow a PC to be used as an
oscilloscope and a curve tracer (see
Resources). The inclusion of “grab
bag” bulk items from some vendors
was an added plus.
And the winner of the
Workbench Design Challenge:
1ST PLACE – ANDREW
AYERS OF GLENDALE, AZ
In the end, I kept coming back
to the entry from Andrew Ayers of
Glendale, AZ. It’s pretty amazing
what he managed to get done with a
measly $100! Andrew spent a good
portion of his entry to describe the
reasoning behind his choices and
topped it off by doing extensive
Internet research from many different
vendors to find all the things he
needed. His careful shopping left
him with just enough money to buy
a piece of bubble gum! Check
out Andrew’s award-winning entry in
the sidebar.
Congratulations to Andrew and
to all the contest entrants. Contest
winners will be receiving their prizes
in the mail directly from Parallax.
I’d like to take a moment to
personally thank Ken Gracey of
Parallax fame for providing the prizes
for this fun contest. I also want to
announce that for those of you who
took the time to enter (but did not
win) your work was not in vain. We
will be sending a small (but quite
useful!) prize to each and every
person who sent in an entry!
Thanks again to all those who
participated. I will be posting all
the entries to the Nuts & Volts forum
so people can compare the entries
and discuss workbench design.
As always, if you have comments,
feedback, or suggestions for articles,
please feel free to email me at
vern@txis.com. NV
