Tog Hackerspace – Page 72 – The Dublin Hackerspace

01/11/201612/05/2018

First cuts with TOG’s DIY CNC router

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A few months ago we’ve mentioned a DIY build of a CNC router. The project turned out to be more complicated than we anticipated. The steel-based construction is not very forgiving, and the large size of the machine doesn’t help. Still, due to all the help from many members we managed to overcome a number of difficulties and do a few test engravings in MDF.

MDF is not a difficult material to mill – the most noticeable problems are the awful dust and the fluff around the edges of the cut. The furry edge is easily fixed using sand paper, but the dust will probably require some more drastic measures in order to protect our lungs. Eventually we’re planning to cut and engrave a variety of materials, many of which have interesting properties but are incompatible with our laser cutter.

Visit us during one of our Monday CAD nights to see the new machine in action or in the video below.

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01/11/201601/11/2016

Science Hackday Dublin 2016

Science Hack Day Dublin is a 36 hour hardware and software hackathon. A social event with creativity and love of science at its heart. Each year it brings together coders, designers, scientists, engineers and makers simply to make interesting things. Why? For adventure, for playfulness, for science! The event takes place on the 19th & 20th November.

This year we are super proud to be hosting the event in our own space. We have been helping out since the very first Science Hack Day many years ago. We are excited to offer a big range of tools and experience to all the participants. Now entering its 5th year, its the best community hackathon around.

Visit the Science Hack Day website for tickets.

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28/10/201612/05/2018

Rebuilding an Ebike Battery

ebike-battery A few of our members and visitors use Ebikes. We were presented with an Ebike battery which had a dead cell. The plan was to replace the cell with a new one. This is not ideal, since you end up with a mix of old and new cells, but the balance circuit should make it usable. On further investigation we found that there were a number of dead cells. So we set about rebuilding the whole battery with new 10Ah cells.

The cells are 10Ah LiFePO4 type…. 12 of them in all. The new ones are a little bigger than the old ones, so we will have to modify the case a bit, but that won’t be a show stopper. Drop in during our fortnightly electronics night to see the build in action.

27/10/201627/10/2016

Night of Talks, Undersea and Space Thursday 17th of November

As part of Science week, TOG will be having some events

We are privileged to be having a talk by Doctor Marc Ó Gríofa about his work with NASA, training astronauts in extreme environments simulating life on Mars and zero gravity on the International Space Station. Marc is a Physician, Scientist & Engineer along with being an expert diver, and works to train astronauts while testing procedures, for future International Space Station and Mars missions.

Coming from County Meath, he now spends his days 19 meters below the sea in Florida.

His day job is part of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations programme, or NEEMO, which evaluates tools and techniques being tested for future space exploration.

It does this by sending crew members to live in simulated spacecraft conditions and conduct simulated spacewalks outside of their undersea habitat. Spending weeks at a time they train and test procedures as if they were on Mars or in zero gravity.

There will also be a talk before hand by Daniel Cussen on receiving live video direct from the International Space station with cool videos, and Conor Forde on Cubesats & Space Commercialisation: Lowering the barrier to entry.

The event is open to all and free. No need to book. Try to arrive before 7:00pm on Thursday 17th of November 2016 as the talks will start at 7:00 sharp with Marc from 8pm to 9:30pm. There is free on street parking in the area. Be sure to give yourself time to find TOG. There will be time afterwards to take a tour of the hackerspace and see what we are all about.

26/10/201626/10/2016

One Year in Blackpitts

tog-location This October bank holiday weekend brings an important milestone for us. It will be one year since we did the big move from Chancery Lane to Blackpitts. Over the bank holiday of 2015, we cleared out our old space and moved the lot to 22 Blackpitts, just a short distance away.

In the year since then, we’ve done incredible work. TOG continues to grow. All of our old favourite theme evenings are up and running. We’ve built a fine common room, set up our kitchen, built classroom, electronics/laser cutter room and a general workshop. We’ve welcomed new members, each of whom bring their own unique skills and interests.

November will also be an important month for us as it will mark one year since we set up of our new organisation Tog Hackerspace Designated Activity Company.