Welcome!

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Welcome cyber traveler! You have entered the realm of Project FRAC: a DIY robotics hobby project. This site chronicles the journey of an electronics amateur who is building a pet robot from scratch, plus associated topics like electronics, embedded computing and maker culture.

FRAC prototype 1This project aims to popularize (amateur) robotics by showing that entry-level resources and materials are available and affordable to anyone. A secondary aim is just to showcase this cool little hobby and get feedback from and engagement with the community: your ideas, experiences and reactions are much appreciated! read more...

Exit Mac, enter Windows

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After upgrading the OS on my 2008 MacBook Pro, it was struggling with today’s performance needs. The constant disk swapping because of insufficient RAM (2GB!) made the machine pretty unworkable; starting up or opening an app took several minutes, and for every mouse click or window switch there was a 20-30 freeze. Combining this with the fact that it did not have a battery nor a working DVD drive anymore, it unfortunately needed to be retired as my primary laptop. After some consideration, I decided to go for a brand spanking new Windows 10 machine instead, which can run everything robot that I used on my Mac. (Still no regrets after a couple of weeks of running with it). read more...

Camera? OK!

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Finally, I took some time to connect the camera! This required almost complete deconstruction, since the Raspberry Pi had to be dislodged in order to access the CSI to insert the new, longer, camera ribbon. Also, the camera unit needed to be turned 90 degrees to let the cable stick out the side of the robot’s head, so the head was disassembled as well. Anyway, here’s to the first time that FRAC is looking at itself! I have a feeling this might come in handy somehow…. read more...

D’oh!

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This just goes to show how inexperienced I really am: during the weekend I was struggling with my too-short Raspberry Pi camera cable…